The Many Adventures of the Ayers' Family 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I’ve tried to start a PTR before and failed miserably but this time I’m hoping that I can keep on top of it! Life sometimes gets in the way and things like my PTR fall to the wayside. I promise to try my hardest to keep this one going.
Why this trip?
It was around the dinner table that discussions of Disney World started. My Mother in Law came over to the house for dinner and my husband just started talking about the food that they have at Food and Wine Festival in the Fall. Then he started talking about the rides and the parades and even brought up some videos on YouTube to show her. You could really tell that she was interested in what he was showing her.
After dinner, my MiL left and the husband and I started talking about…what if we could take her? He asked me to just put some pricing together to see what we could swing. I’m really good at finding bargains so my planning began.
After a week or so, we sat down and I showed him my spreadsheet…yes my spreadsheet, of all the costs and options that we could do. I even took into account if they offered free dining or other special promotions. I gave him about 10 different options ranging from off property to 2 value rooms to 2 bedroom villas. He was a definite NO on staying off property because he loves the convenience of free parking and the transportation system. We talked about it for awhile and he finally looks at me and says, “This will be my mom’s first and probably only trip, let’s make it special.”
You don’t have to tell me twice! We decided that we could swing the trip (with a few hours of overtime here and there and some saving) and we ended up choosing to stay in a 2 bedroom villa!
When are we going, you ask?
So with the accommodations decided on, we needed to decide on when. We narrowed it down to either Christmas or Halloween. We knew his mom would absolutely love the Christmas decorations so originally our plan was to go the first week in December. So we looked at pricing and it turned out that going in October would be a little easier on the pockets. So we decided we’d go for Halloween, October 19th – 24th are our dates!
Where are we staying?
As mentioned earlier, the husband okay’d the 2 bedroom villa. We knew we either wanted to stay at Boardwalk or AKL, so I put my DVC point skills to the test or found a rental for a 2 bedroom (dedicated) standard villa at AKL – Kidani Village! The room is PIF!
I guess we need park tickets!
The company I work for actually sponsors the “Big Golf Ball” as my daughter calls it. Since they have a partnership with Disney, I get a 12% discount on my tickets, so we are getting a 4 day park hopper pass!
To make things even better, I talked my husband into buying tickets for the MNSSHP! This trip is turning into something truly amazing.
What about the food?
I ran the numbers and asked my fellow Passporters for advice, and it looks like we are paying out of pocket. Since I’m sure we will be enjoying the offerings at food and wine festival on a daily basis, having a dining plan just didn’t seem economical.
So, who’s all going?
Me: I’m Jaime, step mother of 2 teens, wife of a big kid, full time financial analyst, and full time graduate student. Yes, I have a lot on my plate, so Disney trips are much needed after a year worth of school and work. My first trip to Disney was for my 2001 Senior Trip. My favorite park is Epcot and my favorite ride is Living with the Land. Don’t ask me why, but I love this ride!
DH: This guy really just goes to make me happy and I love him for it. He’s been my partner in crime for the past 10 years; we’ve been married for 9 of those years. His first trip to Disney was in 2008 and we actually took our much delayed honeymoon to Disney in 2011. His favorite park is Epcot (mostly because he likes spending his time at the Tequila Bar in Mexico) and his favorite ride is Rockin’ Rollercoaster.
DD: This is my little monk monk, she’s 15 and a complete daddy’s girl. She’s been going to Disney since 2008 and has been spoiled by it. She’s a freshman in high school and a member of DECA. She wants to be a marine biologist with she grows up. Her favorite park is Animal Kingdom and her favorite ride is the Safari.
DS: This guy is 13 and he’s a step momma’s boy. He loves being outside and building things. Just this past weekend he helped me put a Koi pond in my yard. He’s in the 7th grade and trying out for the baseball team this year. He wants to be an architect when he grows up. My husband and I joke and say that we hope he’s not just saying that like George Constanza. Of course we kid. His favorite park is Magic Kingdom and his favorite ride is Test Track.
DMiL: This is my dear mother in law. This will be her first trip to Disney and I’m so glad that I could make this happen for her. She’s always done so much for everyone else and we figured it was our turn to give back. When we told her about the trip, she was in complete shock but now we can see that she’s excited. She doesn’t like to talk about going because she’s afraid it will jinx the trip, but we are all paid up and we are going!
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and Welcome aboard! 
He’s been my partner in crime for the past 10 years; we’ve been married for 9 of those years. His first trip to Disney was in 2008 and we actually took our much delayed honeymoon to Disney in 2011. His favorite park is Epcot (mostly because he likes spending his time at the Tequila Bar in Mexico) and his favorite ride is Rockin’ Rollercoaster.
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