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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So I am going to do my best to piece this trip together and write a decent TR....
A little back story that will come into play as I go along... the month before we left I started having kidney stone issue for the first time in six years. I was put on several medications including one that was to help a stone pass and a couple painkillers to take if things got very bad.
We were all packed and ready to go. My husband set up the taxi/shuttle to take us to the airport. We asked that they arrive just as my son would be dropped off on the bus and we would get the kids and the bags in and off we would go! Oh well, it was a good plan. The driver got "lost" and took 40 extra minutes to get to our house. I was not pleased and now worried that if there was a long line at security we might miss our flight! UGH! We did curbside check in and the guy was very nice and told us we were fine and not to worry. Hmmmm. We got inside and sure enough a tiny line at security! We whisked through and I thought we were home free......not so much! Our flight was delayed.....so all the stressful rushing was for nothing.
It was supposed to be a 615 departure and arriving at 755 (855 to us). We had to pick up our rental car and drive 45 minutes (in LA traffic which is 24/7) to our hotel with two tired boys. This was not going to be easy with things running on time so a delay was not what this mommy needed to hear!! They were guessing our delay to be an hour but of course that was not to be the case. We got the boys settled and pulled out the surprise plane toys and snacks and went and bought dinner. We ran and chased after boys on the moving walkways to wear them out. I went and bought a couple travel blankets since I knew it was very likely the boys would sleep on the plane or at the gate even, I found some soft fleece blankets that rolled up with a handle so we could "attach" them on the rolling carryon. So in the end it was a 2 hours and 10 minutes delay. We would be landing at 1015 local so 1115 to us, and that is before we deal with rental cars and getting to the hotel. They made up about 15 minutes in the air from what I remember, and both boys were out cold when we landed. So now we have a heavy sleeping child each plus a carryon bag and my hubby’s laptop bag and my purse and a diaper bag and only two adult to manage all it. We decided Kent would carry Ethan to get our gate checked stroller and try to get him in it while sleeping, then wheel it into the cabin and run back to me (we were close to the front so we would be able to see Ethan) to get the bags and I would carry Ty. THANK goodness the flight attendants saw the struggle and jumped right in. They grabbed all the bags so that I just took Ty and Kent had Ethan and helped us get them (still sleeping) into the stroller and made sure we had everything. We were the last people off the plane but with their help it took much less time.
I was running on empty at this point and I was very stressed since we were still very many difficult steps away from a warm bed. Someone up above saw I needed a boost and took pity on me...because as we got off the plane and waited for our luggage, four separate people stopped to tell me how well behaved and sweet our boys were during the long wait in Denver and the flight. One other lady said the same just as we were getting on the plane in Denver, I guess that we did something right! They were very kind and said how cute the boys were and handled the whole thing like little troopers. It really did help to hear that.
We had originally planned to all go on the rental shuttle to get the car but both boys were sound asleep. So plan B (an ongoing theme for this whole trip, poor planner girl) was that I would find a safe and busy place near one of the door to the pick up area to sit with both boys and all the luggage while Kent went to pick up the car and he would come back and get all of us. So we found a perfect spot and I bundled up the boys in a travel blanket each since it was chilly and rainy outside and they were sprawled in their stroller seats. I was so pleased I had picked them up and for not too bad a price from what I recall. It took Kent a little over an hour to get on the shuttle, get the car and then get back to us. Ty woke up just before that and was not very happy. He snuggled with me and we waited. I was very happy to see Kent with the rental. He had taken our boy's car seats with him and put them in at the agency so we just put the boys right in. Ethan was still asleep amazingly though. Ty was confused but awake and doing better. I got the address of the hotel into our GPS while Kent loaded up the back.
We made it to our hotel in about 35 minutes I think so I believe it was about 1am local at this point….
Coming up: our hotel room and a brand new day….
__________________
Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
Last edited by MinnieJen; 01-13-2011 at 08:08 PM..
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We got inside and sure enough a tiny line at security! We whisked through and I thought we were home free......not so much! Our flight was delayed.....so all the stressful rushing was for nothing. 
We would be landing at 1015 local so 1115 to us, and that is before we deal with rental cars and getting to the hotel. They made up about 15 minutes in the air from what I remember, and both boys were out cold when we landed. So now we have a heavy sleeping child each plus a carryon bag and my hubby’s laptop bag and my purse and a diaper bag and only two adult to manage all it. We decided Kent would carry Ethan to get our gate checked stroller and try to get him in it while sleeping, then wheel it into the cabin and run back to me (we were close to the front so we would be able to see Ethan) to get the bags and I would carry Ty. THANK goodness the flight attendants saw the struggle and jumped right in. 
They grabbed all the bags so that I just took Ty and Kent had Ethan and helped us get them (still sleeping) into the stroller and made sure we had everything. We were the last people off the plane but with their help it took much less time. 
Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
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