"What an idea.....A mad, crazy, wonderful idea." -- A May '14 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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"What an idea..A mad, crazy, wonderful idea." -A May '14 PTR!
I love Alice in Wonderland. I love the idea that a dream world can exist, in all its wonder and beauty and strangeness. I love the idea that the impossible is, in fact, quite possible.
This is a PTR about dreams.....About achieving impossible things. It's about still having an inner child who marvels in innocent wonder at the sight of a castle, or bursting fireworks, or a princess-come-to-life, or the very simple pleasure of sitting on a bench and eating an ice cream treat. And, I think, these are some of the very same reasons why so many of us here go to Walt Disney World, and return time and time again: it's MAGICAL.
So without further ado, here are the details I know y'all can't wait to read about!!...... ( ←, no, I'm not actually from the South, but I consider myself a displaced Texan currently exiled in the frozen North).
Dates & Location:
May 14-20, 2014. Split stay between POFQ and AKL villas! I have stayed at both previously and am head-over-heels in love with them. This is a girls get-away trip. And, for some, a much-needed mental health break.
Cast of Characters: Me (aka LegoMom, or, more formally, Maria) – I am “thirty-eighteen” years old by the reckoning of my birth certificate. I feel more like an even 30. And while at Disney, 10. Tops. I am a wife, and mother, and the staff to 3 cats. But none of them are accompanying me on this trip.
NK (aka Tink) – one of my dearest friends in the world. She has been a sounding board, a laugh machine, and an all-around “there when you need me most” kind of gal. They don't come much better than Tink. Shares my affinity for cats (and is, in fact, owned by two).
TK (aka Kat) – ditto for Kat what I said above about Tink. Also shares my affinity for cats, and is owned by 3 of her own. Which has nothing whatsoever to do with this trip, but it might be useful information in the future. You never know.
And just so you can put a face to the name (if you so wish), here is a pic of me [immensely] enjoying a Pina Colava at the AKL pool bar a few years ago:
(I should've cropped out Screaming-White-Shirt Guy in the background but.....meh, I was too lazy!)
As of this writing, we are at the 98 day mark!!! WOOT! Double-digit-dancin' baby! I would love to have posted this yesterday at the “official” double digit day, but alas, life just didn't allow for it. Today we are in the midst of a whopper winter storm and getting upwards of 14” of snow. The whole family has a snow day, so I thought what better time to start a Disney trip PTR. The coming months will highlight my plans, growing excitement, and maybe some past pictures for visual appeal. The actual TR will follow and should provide at least some measure of amusement (gauging from past trips.... For instance, during my last trip, I was treated to waiting in line for Spaceship Earth behind a family that included a 3-yr. old boy who was simply determined not to wear pants. Or the father in World Showcase who exclaimed in exasperation to his child, “We're in Disneyland!....we're not here to do Africa stuff!” I'm telling you, there are some interesting characters in the World, and I don't mean the ones in costume... ).
I will post links here to subsequent chapters and edit the title with each new update. I hope you'll come along for the ride!