Dreams Come True - Our 1st Family WDW TRip Report - Completed w/Photos - Updated 10/7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Dreams Come True - Our 1st Family WDW TRip Report - Completed w/Photos - Updated 10/7
Cast of characters:
me: 39 (been to WDW 5 times - 1st time was when I was 6)
dh - 43 (found disney through me!)
ds - 2
dd - 4
Stayed at CS resort Sept 21st - 29th in 9B Cabanas (thanks passporters!)
Overall impressions of CS:
Atmosphere/grounds - A
(loved the plants, the pool was very nice, the hammocks, and the overall feel)
Room - B
(loved the location and proximity to everything. The hot water for the inroom sink was really hot really fast and the cold never got too cold)
Food - D
(did not care for the pepper market and the general chaos...the mayan grill was a fiasco the one night we had dinner there and the food was horrible)
Resort Location - A
(15 min to MK and Epcot, 25 to DTD...never had to wait long for a bus either to or from the parks)
DME was very fast and efficient. I was amazed. We were off the plane, through check in, on the bus and to our resort within about an hour or so. Kids did not nap on plane or in the bus. We checked in quickly and napped when we got to our room. Bummer was my DH sent our costumes to the resort and they were no where to be found. Still don't know where they are! He will check with the postal service tomorrow. THe manager credited us for the MNSSHP party and an additional $150 dollars so that was very nice. We decided to make the most of it and go anyway as the kids would not know the difference. Hardly anyone was dressed up and it was sooooo blistering hot. We would have melted! To tell you the truth, the MNSSHP was NOT a good 1st impression of Disney for the kids. Abby was freaked out by the scary music. We had a hard time finding the trick or treat spots and it was PACKED! The kids did meet princess Minnie at her house and that was neat! We also met Goofy right at the entrance. I had to run and get the autograph books from the nearest store as we were not prepared!! Anyway, we stayed for the fireworks and the music also freaked out my daughter. She told us she was done listening to the scary music. The fireworks were cool though and we assured her MK would not be like this the entire time. She was very excited to see CIndy's castle and wanted so badly to go inside. little did she know we had ressies for CRT the following night! All in all, MNSSHP did not work for us. THe heat, the crowds, the scare factor were all a little much. The scary music plays sooo loudly through the park! Maybe I should have prepped Abby more?! Anyway, we skipped the parade and went back to the room for a good night's sleep.
A review of CRT to come ....and it's a good one! THE highlight and magic moment of our trip.....
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or in the bus. We checked in quickly and napped when we got to our room. Bummer was my DH sent our costumes to the resort and they were no where to be found. Still don't know where they are! He will check with the postal service tomorrow. 
THe manager credited us for the MNSSHP party and an additional $150 dollars so that was very nice. We decided to make the most of it and go anyway as the kids would not know the difference. Hardly anyone was dressed up and it was sooooo blistering hot. We would have melted! 
To tell you the truth, the MNSSHP was NOT a good 1st impression of Disney for the kids. 
Abby was freaked out by the scary music. We had a hard time finding the trick or treat spots and it was PACKED! The kids did meet princess Minnie at her house and that was neat! We also met Goofy right at the entrance. I had to run and get the autograph books from the nearest store as we were not prepared!! 
Anyway, we stayed for the fireworks and the music also freaked out my daughter. She told us she was done listening to the scary music. The fireworks were cool though and we assured her MK would not be like this the entire time. She was very excited to see CIndy's castle and wanted so badly to go inside. little did she know we had ressies for CRT the following night! All in all, MNSSHP did not work for us. THe heat, the crowds, the scare factor were all a little much. The scary music plays sooo loudly through the park! Maybe I should have prepped Abby more?!
Anyway, we skipped the parade and went back to the room for a good night's sleep.
THE highlight and magic moment of our trip.....
Deb
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