The "Should we really be going again" pre-trip report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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The "Should we really be going again" pre-trip report
Ok, so here we go!!! I've written trip reports before (on another site) but never a pre-trippie before. So, sit back and relax and have a cup of tea or ice cream or whatever you need to get through my long winded posts!
Cast:
Me: Regina - mom, wife, history professor
DH: Clint - Dad, husband, and I still can't figure out what his job EXACTLY is. He is kind of like Chandler in Friends. We know he has one and we know the company but I really don't know what it is he does every day! And, yes he has explained it to me several times.
DS(5): Tommy - the "mostly good" boy. He has his moments but for the most part, he is really well behaved, a good listener and math wiz. This will be his 4th trip
DS(1 1/2): Sean - the active one. Not much to say other than that. He is REALLY active. He is constantly in motion and gets into EVERYTHING but then again....don't all 1 1/2 year old boys? This will be his 2nd trip.
Now, there are more members to the cast but I'm not exactly sure if they want me publishing info about them on here so I'll have to get permission before I put anything up here. The most info I'll give you is that it is DB, DSIL, DNephew, DNiece.
Now, before I mentioned that DS5 is the "mostly good" boy. But when him and DNephew get together, that "mostly good" changes.
Both families have different arrival/departure dates so I'll mostly post our dates. And they are:
Friday, August 25th to Monday, September 3
I'm not at all happy about these dates. We much prefer to go in the winter and escape some crowds and blistering heat but it's just not possible anymore. We don't want to take DS5 out of school and I can't take off as I don't get vacation time and really do not want to take off in the middle of the semester. The good thing is that we can take advantage of free dining.
We will be driving from NJ and my brother and his family will be flying. We much prefer driving right now. Maybe when the kids are older flying would be more convenient but we find it very difficult to worry about suitcase weights, strollers and security checks. This will be the 5th time we are driving and find that DS5 is quite accustomed to it. We shall see how DS 1 fares since last time we was only 2 months old and slept the majority of the trip.
And lastly (for now at least) the resorts. We prefer to stay on property and usually in the moderates. This is the first time in a long time that we will be staying back at Carribbean Beach. We did it for DS5 because he is into pirates right now. We are concerned about the amount of walking that is involved with this resort but as of right now we have resolved ourselves to using the van if it becomes a problem. I'm not sure which I prefer though. The hot walk back to the room or getting into a hot van to go back and forth. I think this one will just have to work itself out on the trip.
Yes, I DID say resorts above!!! DB and family will be staying at the Wilderness lodge. Not really much else to say on this. They have always wanted to stay there and since there is free dining, they are making up that difference by staying at a deluxe for the first time.
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