Six months and counting…But will I be able to walk by then? My Disney hopes and Fantasy wishes PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Six months and counting…But will I be able to walk by then? My Disney hopes and Fantasy wishes PTR
Well here I am again with another PTR which will hopefully catch your interest and keep you coming back. Some of you have followed me through a couple of my National Lampoon Vacations and recently a belt busting vacation with Deluxe Dining, Food and Wine and every dining room dessert on the Disney Dream. Yikes!
You may also know that I’ve been a bit on the accident prone side. Just about recuperated from a shoulder injury in December 2010 and now a injury to my Tibia which occurred last year. Long story short for you newcomers…I smashed my leg on a stone wall at Down Town Disney (day one of our 5 night Disney…4 night Disney Dream vacation) and spent the whole 9 days limping, with a leg swollen twice it’s size but still getting around. I wasn’t going to cancel this trip for anything even if I did have to wear flip flops with my gown.
Today we’re a little more than 6 months out. My leg is better but the healing process is soooo slow. Blunt force trauma, leaving a severely bruised bone and some nerve damage and now shin splints. Arrgghhh! I wrap my leg every morning and unwrap it at night before I go to bed. I take a prescription strength Aleve 3 times a day. It helps...sometime. Thus my title which probably drew you in. I just don’t know where I’ll be in months….fingers crossed.
I’d like to introduce you to my little family;
Linda…me ~ Still designing here on the boards and loving it. I’m so addicted to Disney that last October I was willing to put my fears aside and fly for the first time in 16 years. I did it and now there’s no excuse because we are no longer driving over 1,300 miles down the East Coast. Can you say Disney every year. Yeah!
Daniel…dear hubby ~Totally hooked on Disney Cruises. Hoping he will agree to celebrate our 23rd Anniversary this trip. Actually convinced him to dress up for MNSSHP and the Fantasy’s Pirate night party.
Heather…dear daughter ~ First cruise she was suffering a breakup of nearly four years with her boyfriend. She was devastated. Last cruise she was sick. Took ill a few hours before our flight but persevered though it all. (Sinus infection…nothing catchy.) This time she’s over the jerk and I decided to lock her in the house the week before we leave so she stays healthy.
Where are we going? Disney for 4 nights, staying at Port Orleans French Quarter (a first) and then sailing on the Disney Fantasy for 7 nights…our first Western Caribbean cruise.
When are we leaving? Leaving on October 9th and returning on October 20th. Actual 12 day vacation. If we drove that would climb to 18 days. Yep…three days down…three days back.
So how are my plans going?
Southwest Airlines with EBC…done
Limo from home to PVD…too soon
Limo from Resort to Port…Done
MCO to Disney...must call soon
MNSSHP...waiting for tickets to go on sale
ADR’s…April 12th. (only 2 days to go!) I don’t see any issues with getting what I want but you never know. By the way we are doing Deluxe Dining again.
So what do you think of our choices?
Oct 9th - Arrival day...Lunch…Fulton’s Crab House
Dinner…Yachtsman Steakhouse
Oct 10th - DHS day...Lunch…Mama Melrose -
Dinner…Hollywood Brown Derby
Oct 11th - MK day...Lunch…Crystal Palace…and if I planned well MNSSHP
Oct 12th - Epcot day and F&W...Lunch…Biergarten -
Dinner…Flying Fish
Yes…we are skipping Animal Kingdom this time around and dropped park hoppers also. Of course we’ll snack at a few places already chosen. Ghirardelli’s at DTD. We plan on tackling the Earthquake…wish us luck. Starring Rolls at DHS, Main Street Bakery and either Columbia Harbor House or Starlight Café for dinner during MNSSHP and of course the Food & Wine Festival…just not so much this time. I’m also planning on a couple of celebratory cakes (little cakes!) and this is just the Disney part.
Next up…Our Fantasy plans and what I’ve been doing to get ready for our first 7 night cruise…you guessed it…lots of shopping!