PTR-- MY 1st PTR---Family and Friends 7/20-7/30 2015 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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PTR-- MY 1st PTR---Family and Friends 7/20-7/30 2015
Family and Friends 7/20-7/30 2015
WDW has always been my Happy Place. I remember my mom and taking me and my 5 brothers when I was a kid. Then as I got older, we would all go as a big huge family. My parents with my youngest brother, Me with my DH and our kids, my oldest brother with his wife and their 3 kids, my second oldest brother with his wife their daughter and then 3rd oldest brother would usually solo the trip. SOmetimes a few extra tag alongs as well. We would travel in a very large group of 12-18 people. Well a few years ago both my parents passed away. My mother was battling heart disease for a long time and passed in March of 2013 and once my mom passed, my father was diagnosed with bone cancer and he passed in November of 2013. Very suddenly and still a shock.
Prior to my parents passing we took one HUGE last trip all together to WDW. we spent 18 days at the AoA in the Cars area. we did the DDP and ate at every character dining they have and did every show. With my mom we all kinda knew it would be the last time she could travel.
I wasn't sure if I would be able to go back to WDW after they both were gone but in January of last year I decided that I needed to go. I needed to remember all the happy times we had together at WDW and not let it be a bad thing but my Happy Place again. I went and spent 9 days at the Caribbean Beach Resort with a friend. It was very mixed emotions throughout the entire trip.
So now its time to head back and take the kids again. They are excited and a bit overwhelmed as well. My girls miss their grandparents dearly and have a ton of happy memories of WDW with them. They have never been to WDW without them and they are a bit worried about getting emotional on the trip. My girls were very very close to my parents. My Oldest(13 now) helped to care for my mother and father when they were ill. She would top to their house everyday after school and check up on them and keep them company. She would have my mother help her with her homework and then she would help her make bread before I would pick her up. All my girls enjoyed their time with their grandparents.
So here is my first ever Pre-Trip-Report.
WHO IS GOING?
-Me, DH, My Best Friend, 6 little girls. (ages 13, 12, 10, 10, 8, 3)
WHEN DO WE LEAVE?
-Only a few weeks from now. Flying out on July 20th and returning home on July 30th
WHERE ARE WE STAYING?
-Staying at the ASM. Me, Dh, and MY DD’s(4) in a family suite. The Best Friend(Tim) and his DD’s (2) in a standard room. He has been but this will the very first trip for his girl’s. They have never been on an airplane before either.
SPECIAL REQUESTS
-We requested Calypso building 10, handicap accessible family suite (I use forearm crutches and rent an ECV for the trip), and rooms close to each other.
ANYTHING IMPORTANT
-We are doing the DDP and the kids are super excited for the character dining. I also plan on surprising them with nightly gifts from Mickey and a trip to the Pirates League.
The Day by day break down. Not much details yet.
Day 1: We arrive to Orlando at around 4:30pm. So we plan on just hanging out at the resort and letting the kids enjoy the pool for a bit.
Day 2: Epcot here we come. This is my favorite park and my kids love it too. It’s a tradition to see Figment on our first full day. Since we live in So Cal and go to DL often, Figment is a real treat because he is different. My DD(10) has an entire collection of Figment stuff that she loves. She even has some of my old Figment stuff from when my folks took me to WDW back in the late 80’s.
Dinner at the Polynesian Ohana’
Day 3: AK with breakfast at Tusker house.
Day 4: We start the day at MK with a pirate makeover for the kids, then lunch at Be Our Guest.
Day 5: Back to Epcot.. I really love this park. Early dinner at the Garden Grill. We haven’t eaten here before.
Day 6: Headed to Hollywood Studios. Dinner at Hollywood & Vine with the Fantasmic package.
Day7: AK for some Yak & Yeti Lunch and Hoop-Dee-Doo For dinner.
Day 8: The Polynesian for an Ohana Breakfast. Some off property shopping, swimming and relaxing. Then back to Epcot for dinner at Akershus with the princesses
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