Pretrip Report: Anticipating the MAGIC (instead of doing laundry) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
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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I don't know how to quote back to several comments at one time and I don't have time to figure it out--- SO----
Sue-I'll try to share pics of our (5 year old now!) nursery sometime. First I have to clean it up! The draw back to having two girls 4 years apart is keeping track of all the clothes. Seems like I constantly am going thru one tote for the baby and putting other stuff away that has been outgrown by them both!
emilyandlogansmom--Here's hoping it's not too crazy busy there and that it is a gorgeous day for weather! I can't wait. I see you are from Omaha...I grew up about an hour east of there in Red Oak, IA. Spent lots of time at the Old Market and the Henry Doorly Zoo! Someday I'm going to take my girls to that zoo too!
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Today I am hosting a pampered chef party, so instead of doing a lot for the trip which is what I need to be doing-- I did some house cleaning. Don't want the consultant making Mexican lasagna in a messy kitchen. It's also gorgeous weather here in Wichita today so we had lots of play outside time. Starting tomorrow it is time to get serious about the clothes for the trip.
I did however go shopping yesterday. My girlfriend that is going with us needed a new black skirt, so I tagged along... and ended up buying another dress for the cruise. I've spent so much time getting everyone else's clothes the last month or two that I haven't bought much for myself! I bought 2 dresses last fall and now have this one too. I'm excited.
I also.... got the CC company called and put a travel notice on our account. I also saw that since I ordered my Disney Visa Rewards card, we'd earned another 40 DRD--so I got that transferred over! Filled out all the online documents. Still need to get the trolley tickets for Key West purchased (thanks Kenny for your info on that!)... but I'm out of ink in my printer so figure I better get that taken care of first It's always something isn't it!
My friend is having potty training issues with her 3 yr old. They were doing great, but he had a bit of a regression about a week ago when he was sick. (or so she says). She was all wound up yesterday saying her 3 yr old was going to ruin their trip. (she's wound rather tight, can you tell? I'm wayyyy more go-with-the-flow than that!). I said "look...whether you can put him in the Oceaneer Club or not...you are going to see some Beautiful places, eat some incredible food, get away from LIFE for awhile, sit on a verandah and watch the ocean go by and eat a Mickey Bar.... It is going to be a WONDERFUL trip NO MATTER What!". I also reminded her that DH and I will not be kid-free- we'll be juggling DD1 around even if 5 yr old decides to live in the Oceaneer Club, and we plan on having a blast!
Isn't life all about perspective?
My BFF asked if I thought this family and we would still be friends after the trip. I said I figure so....there might be some tongue biting...but we're going into it knowing we are going to go different directions sometimes, etc. Hopefully we'll have enough breaks from whomever we need breaks from that it will all work out fine! (Shoot, I'm surely even going to need some breaks from my own DH right!?).
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I can't wait. I see you are from Omaha...I grew up about an hour east of there in Red Oak, IA. Spent lots of time at the Old Market and the Henry Doorly Zoo! Someday I'm going to take my girls to that zoo too! 
It's always something isn't it! 
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