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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, it seems to be that time again. The time of excitement and stressful planning all rolled into one big ball of fun. I feel like I just did this…oh yeah, that’s right I did. It took me almost 6 months to finish my last trip report, but I got it done, and here I am right back to where I started with the promise to not do that again.
It took me a while to figure out a title for this little report, but after much thought and a couple of sleepless nights I came up with something. It might not be a great something, but at least it’s something. So why did I come up with this title? Well, you see this trip was never meant to be, but...insert wavy dream sequence here…
We had just returned from our vacation in January, and I had no intention of going again this year. A baby and a recession make it very difficult to travel to Disney twice in one year ...at least for us, so in my mind I was done with my travel plans. A friend of mine, that I so happen to work with, was in the midst of planning her own WDW vacation. She kept coming to me for advice and help, and it was starting to put all of these ideas into my head, but I shook it off and tried to remain as helpful as I could be without wanting to immediately hop on her bandwagon. During this time I had also written my first complaint letter to Disney (why is this important?)…for those of you that read my last trip report you are in the know, but for those who didn’t, here’s a quick synopsis:
My DH and I took my then 8 month old daughter to her first ever character breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. After being ignored more than once by the characters and having horrible interactions with those who chose to acknowledge us, I wrote a letter so that it wouldn’t happen again to another family. I had also complained while I was there, but it didn’t really help.
So after Disney received it, a very nice CM named Jessica called me to apologize and make things better. I didn’t want compensation or anything like that, but after it was all said and done, I was the proud recipient of two 2-day passes. Needless to say, you put my Disney-planning friend and 2 free passes right in front of my face, and it was like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit, pretty soon I was bound to take the bait.
I had asked my DH, Chad, if he wanted to go with me, and to my horror his response was, “We just got back and you want to go again?” Umm, yes I do! “Why don’t you just ask your mom to go with you, you’ll have more fun with her anyway.” Umm, yes, you’re right, I probably will! But my brain still couldn’t grasp the fact that he didn’t want to go back to Disney.
Well, you didn’t have to tell me twice, afterall, my mother is my Disney partner-in-crime, and even though I love traveling with my husband, my mom and I have our own way of doing things that work so well. We like the same things and what’s better than going to your favorite place with your best friend? So, after a quick phone call to mom, she said, “Heck yeah!” and with that we were making our plans.
So who am I making plans with?
Well, of course there’s me, Melissa (34). I can’t very well make plans for MY vacation without me.
My Disney-lovin’ mom, Dorothy (62).
My beautiful baby girl, Hope (just turned 15 months!)
And the person who started it all, my friend Dawn, along with her husband Brian, and their twin girls, Abigail and Molly (5). For the sake of their privacy, unless otherwise allowed, I won’t be posting many pictures of them. However, since they will be part of the report, I thought that mentioning them as important players would be smart.
Now, I know last time I wrote a report I had a ton of lurkers…you know who you are, yes, I’m talking to you…and I would love nothing more than for you to come out of the shadows of hiding, say hello, and be part of this fun-filled experience. If you need a little bit of coaching, take a hint from Splash Mountain’s very own Br’er Rabbit :
How do you do?
Mighty pleasant greetin'
How do you do?
Say it when you're meetin'
How do you do?
With every one repeatin'
Pretty good sure as you're born
All together now!!! Just kidding everyone...you don't want to hear me sing. But it would be very nice to meet those who find me and my little adventure so interesting that they actually like reading about it. Totally absurd if you ask me.
So with that I will leave you all on the edge of your seats. When are we going? Where are we staying? What are we doing? To be or not to be??? You’ll have to wait and find out.
Up Next: The monorail line or next door neighbors with Epcot?
It sounds so great right now. I cant wait to read more. Ok this may be a really stupid question but you didnt happen to grow up in Florida? You look familiar and its probably just from looking at all the posts here and seeing your pic on them but we are the same age. Just wondering if I knew you once upon a time LOL
Yay, I am excited to read about your plans! I think it would be a lot of fun to do Disney with my mom and Sam but I don't think my husband or most of all my dad would let us go without them! ha! Free tickets and you still don't have to get Hope an airline ticket, you are doing good!
__________________
Teresa
Sammy 5 years and Peyton 15 months - September 2013
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
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Wow, Melissa, this is starting to sound like so much fun; I can't wait to read more. Too bad your DH won't be with you but, you three amigas look like a great travel combo.
Sharon
I'm so glad you're doing this Melissa! I can't wait to hear all your plans.
It makes me want to convince my Mom to go with me sometime, but I'd have to work much harder than you.
What a great start Melissa! I loved your last TR & couldn't wait for you to start this one! How lucky you are to do a girls only trip! My Mom & I are bestest friends too,but I don't think I could ever get her to go to WDW with me....but who knows...maybe someday!
Can't wait to read more....hmmm....I wonder where you will be staying???
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About This Page: 
I feel like I just did this…oh yeah, that’s right I did. It took me almost 6 months to finish my last trip report, 
but I got it done, and here I am right back to where I started with the promise to not do that again. 
Well, you see this trip was never meant to be, but...insert wavy dream sequence here… 
A baby and a recession make it very difficult to travel to Disney twice in one year 
...at least for us, so in my mind I was done with my travel plans. A friend of mine, that I so happen to work with, was in the midst of planning her own WDW vacation. She kept coming to me for advice and help, and it was starting to put all of these ideas into my head, 
but I shook it off and tried to remain as helpful as I could be without wanting to immediately hop on her bandwagon. During this time I had also written my first complaint letter to Disney 
(why is this important?)…for those of you that read my last trip report you are in the know, but for those who didn’t, here’s a quick synopsis:
Needless to say, you put my Disney-planning friend and 2 free passes right in front of my face, and it was like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit, pretty soon I was bound to take the bait. 
yes I do! “Why don’t you just ask your mom to go with you, you’ll have more fun with her anyway.” Umm, 
and even though I love traveling with my husband, my mom and I have our own way of doing things that work so well. We like the same things and what’s better than going to your favorite place with your best friend? So, after a quick phone call to mom, 
she said, “Heck yeah!” and with that we were making our plans. 
say hello, 
and be part of this fun-filled experience. If you need a little bit of coaching, take a hint from Splash Mountain’s very own Br’er Rabbit : 
Just kidding everyone...you don't want to hear me sing. But it would be very nice to meet those who find me and my little adventure so interesting that they actually like reading about it. Totally absurd if you ask me. 
You’ll have to wait and find out.
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Teresa
Too bad your DH won't be with you but, you three amigas look like a great travel combo. 
how the CM acted as an "enabler" in all of this with those free passes.
Can't wait to read more!
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
...
Susan
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