Celebrating as One Big Happy Family: 5/10/14 - 5/18/14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Celebrating as One Big Happy Family: 5/10/14 - 5/18/14
Celebrating as One Big Happy Family
May 10th - May 18th
Beach Club Villas
I honestly think this is the first time I’ve waited this long to start the PTR portion of the TR, but like I tell my daughter, “Don’t get another toy out until you put away the one you’re done playing with first”. So I took my own advice and finished my cruise TR first before I began tackling this one. With exactly 16 days left until we head back “home”, I have lots to fill you all in on, and lots that I’m still trying to take care of before we leave.
This trip has been in the works for some time. After the last Disney-only trip we took in November of 2012, I made a promise that we would come back when Hope turned five. 5 years old!!! I still can’t believe that my little girl is almost 5 years old. When the heck did that even happen?!?! Anyway, the seed was planted and the plans were put into motion to make this birthday trip to Disney a reality for her. While all of this was going on, my brother and SIL got caught up in the hype of all our vacation planning, and maybe it was because they have a daughter who’s now starting to really get into Disney or maybe it was because anything with the word vacation in it sounded like heaven to them, they decided to join us.
See, my brother and SIL just had twins a year ago in March, and to say that things have been a little hectic in their house is a very big understatement. My oldest niece just turned 4 years old in April…four days after the twins had their first birthday, and because turning one is sort of a big deal, they had the big birthday party, and she didn’t. She sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of day-to-day life, and with them not knowing when they’d be able to go to Disney again, they decided to have some much needed one-on-one time with her on a very fun vacation, in lieu of a birthday party, while the twins will be staying home with a relative.
Which brings me to the reason for this trip report title, as if it really needs an explanation, but here’s one for you anyway. Not only will be celebrating Hope’s and my niece’s birthday, we’ll also be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary (April 24th), my brother and SIL’s wedding anniversary (May 10th), Mother’s Day (May 11th), my parent’s wedding anniversary (May 15th) and Chad’s birthday (May 17th)…all together as One Big Happy Family. Tada!
Which also brings me to the who’s-who of our big happy family. For those of you who’ve read my trip reports in the past, you know who most of us are, but for anyone new that’s stopping by, here you go...
Me - Melissa (37)
DH - Chad (36)
DD - Hope (4)
My Parents
Mom/Mimi - Dorothy (66)
Dad/Poppy - Mike (65)
And new to my reports, my brother, sister-in-law and niece
Brother - Mike (32)
SIL - Corinne (31)
Niece - Trinity (4)
Of course, based on what’s listed above under the dates of our trip, we’re staying at my favorite resort, the Beach Club Villas. And what’s even better about all of us staying there as one big happy family, we all have our own separate rooms to go back to each day. This allows our big happy family to stay happy for the entire week.
So stay tuned for more details that have already been planned, and some that are still in the planning stages. I have a feeling this is going to be a very exciting trip.
About This Page: 
So I took my own advice and finished my cruise TR first before I began tackling this one. 
With exactly 16 days left until we head back “home”, I have lots to fill you all in on, and lots that I’m still trying to take care of before we leave. 
I still can’t believe that my little girl is almost 5 years old. When the heck did that even happen?!?! 
Anyway, the seed was planted and the plans were put into motion to make this birthday trip to Disney a reality for her. While all of this was going on, my brother and SIL got caught up in the hype of all our vacation planning, and maybe it was because they have a daughter who’s now starting to really get into Disney or maybe it was because anything with the word vacation in it sounded like heaven to them, 
they decided to join us. 
My oldest niece just turned 4 years old in April…four days after the twins had their first birthday, and because turning one is sort of a big deal, they had the big birthday party, and she didn’t. 
She sometimes gets lost in the shuffle of day-to-day life, and with them not knowing when they’d be able to go to Disney again, they decided to have some much needed one-on-one time with her on a very fun vacation, in lieu of a birthday party, while the twins will be staying home with a relative. 
Not only will be celebrating Hope’s and my niece’s birthday, we’ll also be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary (April 24th), my brother and SIL’s wedding anniversary (May 10th), Mother’s Day (May 11th), my parent’s wedding anniversary (May 15th) and Chad’s birthday (May 17th)…all together as One Big Happy Family. Tada! 
And what’s even better about all of us staying there as one big happy family, we all have our own separate rooms to go back to each day. This allows our big happy family to stay happy for the entire week. 
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