Christmas Is Comin' Early Dec 11- 19th 09 PTR~~Updated 12/06 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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Christmas Is Comin' Early Dec 11- 19th 09 PTR~~Updated 12/06
Cast of Characters:
Me (41) been to Disney 7 times
DH (45) been to Disney 4 times
DD Abby (6) been to Disney 2 times
DS Alex (4) been to Disney 2 times
My parents:
Dad (68) - total Disney nut. Goes to Disney with mom every other year
Mom (70) - loves Cinderella.
MIL (68) this will be her 2nd Disney trip
Trip: CSR Dec 11- 19th (3rd time at CSR)
Here are some pics from the last trip:
I can't believe it. Disney offer after Disney offer I tried to convince DH to go back to Disney a year earlier than planned. Nothing was working. We're selling our house, we're moving, we're building. Blah, blah blah. The deals kept coming and I kept at it. We even held a room for the free dining offer but let it expire. Then persistency paid off! After getting a quote for the 4/7 deal and asking again if we could go, one night DH came home from work and said, "Let's do it. Let's go back to Disney!" Thus a trip is born. My parents were eager to get on board so when MIL heard that she got on board as well.
So, we called our TA and booked 3 rooms for as early in December as we could get. Going back to CSR for a 3rd time. Not that we mind, but next time we will definitely try another resort!
Once the trip was booked DH said, well, why not add another day and come back on Saturday? Um, ok!
Airfare is booked and our flights rock. The price was awesome - $200 each person on Southwest.
Friday the 11th - leave Milw at 9:30 arrive in Orl at 1:15
Saturday, the 19th - leave ORL 6:25, arrive back in Milw 8:25
So, my TA is handling ADRs and I'm in massive planning mode (as you can see from all my questions on the board!
We are sooooo excited to see Disney at Christmas! We thought we would go next year but I am thrilled to be going this year! DH wants to go back every year since the kids are only young once. Do I have a winner of a hubby or what? Our DD says "Disney is just magical!" Yes, it is, Abby. Yes it is!
Next up: What we'll be celebrating and how are we going to tell the kids?
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
So I got to thinking about the celebration part of the trip and I could not believe I didn't think of this sooner. December 15th is Alex's (DS 4) homecoming day. In adoption terms that means it's the day he came home with us. Some people call it "gotcha day" or "family day." Alex was adopted from Guatemala and we went to Guatemala to bring him home just two weeks before Christmas! What a special gift! So, I told my TA to please note in our ADRs we will be celebrating that while in Disney and especially on his day! We usually do something special at home but it will be even more special at Disney! So as not to make Abby (DD) feel left out, I thought we should celebrate her adoption as well since her official day is January 22nd - so why not celebrate it a little early? We will order a special cake for Alex on his special day and we'll just make Abby feel special whenever we can - noting in the ADRs we are celebrating our children's adoptions!
Now, as far as telling the kids...it's killing us but we will tell them on St Nick's morning. I thought we could get them autograph books, pins from e-bay and stick the tickets in their stockings. That should be fun. As long as we can all keep it quiet until then!
UP NEXT: Ummm.... when are we going to be able to get ADRs and to CP or not to CP? (Marnie, you had a role in that one! )
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Nothing was working. We're selling our house, we're moving, we're building. Blah, blah blah. The deals kept coming and I kept at it. We even held a room for the free dining offer but let it expire. 
Then persistency paid off! After getting a quote for the 4/7 deal and asking again if we could go, one night DH came home from work and said, "Let's do it. Let's go back to Disney!" 
My parents were eager to get on board so when MIL heard that she got on board as well.
Deb
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Maybe we'll see you there, as your trip coincides with the PassPorter gathering at WDW. 
What a special gift! So, I told my TA to please note in our ADRs we will be celebrating that while in Disney and especially on his day! We usually do something special at home but it will be even more special at Disney!
We will order a special cake for Alex on his special day and we'll just make Abby feel special whenever we can - noting in the ADRs we are celebrating our children's adoptions! 
That should be fun. As long as we can all keep it quiet until then! 
keeping the secret!
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