A Magical Golden Birthday - the PTR - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 am having the same problem with turning the big 4-0 in the next 1 1/2 yrs. I am already trying to convince DH that if I have to turn "that age" I should get to be in WDW to make it easier. I still haven't convinced him yet but I still have time
Already our 180 day ADR window was fast approaching (funny how planning a Disney trip makes time fly, huh?) I made a few lists (quite a few actually ) of TS restaurants and CS places that we thought we might like to try. We had a few favorites from previous trips and some new places that sounded like possibilites. I especially wanted to try a signature dining place to celebrate my big occassion.
I was also checking airfares everyday but having no luck getting as good a deal as we've been able to snag in the past. My goal is always to try for less than $200 pp for round trip but I'll reluctantly go as high as $250 if absolutely necessary. We live smack in the middle between Pittsburgh and the Baltimore/Washington airports. I always try to find flights out of Pittsburgh since the drive to that airport is less hectic and easier on our nerves. I rarely can find the right combo of price and flight times - and I was having no luck this time either. Usually then we find good flights with JetBlue out of Dulles. This year though, it seems JetBlue has rearranged their schedule and I wasn't finding a cheap early a.m. flight to MCO and our return flight was hitting the back side of the Columbus Day holiday - who knew that would cause increased airfare?? I put the air search on the back burner, again with the faith that something good would come along.
I got my final ADR list wittled down and organized for Judi to be able to call right on the 180 day mark. Here's what we got:
Wednes. Oct 6 - dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse (new for us!). DH and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary that evening. We'll complete the evening festivites with IllumiNations at EPCOT. Thurs. Oct 7 - early breakfast at Crystal Palace so we can be in the MK before the crowds - love that empty park atmosphere! Friday Oct 8 - late lunch at the Coral Reef - one of DH's fav's from our lst trip. Saturday Oct 9 - late dinner at California Grill (new for us!) so that we can watch Wishes and begin my birthday celebrating! Sunday Oct 10 - This is my big day! - breakfast at Kona Cafe and then after a full day of whatever strikes me as fun - dinner at 1900 Park Fare with my all time favorite Princess and her dysfunctional family. Monday Oct 11 - dinner at LeCellier - another fav for both me and DH.
and then sadly, Tuesday Oct 12 - a farewell breakfast at 1900 Park Fare (breakfast here is a first)
On our arrival day, October 5, we plan to try to have an early dinner at Beaches and Cream and then head back to the GF for an early evening at the resort since we'll be whooped from travelling. Anyway - those are the plans that we had set up as of April 5 - want to bet there are some adjustments??
Next up - getting a parks schedule together and planning some fun extras.
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A Fairy Godmother wannabe -
Look what a little Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo can do!
I am having the same problem with turning the big 4-0 in the next 1 1/2 yrs. I am already trying to convince DH that if I have to turn "that age" I should get to be in WDW to make it easier. I still haven't convinced him yet but I still have time
Good luck in convincing your DH! We all need to be a kid again and where better to do that than in WDW?! Start planning, I'm sure he'll give in!
__________________
A Fairy Godmother wannabe -
Look what a little Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo can do!
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) of TS restaurants and CS places that we thought we might like to try. We had a few favorites from previous trips and some new places that sounded like possibilites. I especially wanted to try a signature dining place to celebrate my big occassion. 
ADR choices! 
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