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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hello everyone!
I’ll say up first I don’t usually read many trip reports, because I never know where to start! LOL! But I wanted to write one up so I wouldn’t forget our trip, and I figured it would be nice to share it with you. So here goes nothing... the first post is a summarized version of a PTR, because I don’t want to bore you with all the little details about the planning stages! (plus everything is really mixed up in my head it probably would come out even more jumbled than it did!!)
Okay, well first up I lied in my title; this isn’t my first time to DisneyWorld. This is me and my brother the last time I went:
And this is me and my parents now (no my hair is not dyed, LOL! well at least not within the last 6months! and I usually dye it lighter not darker!):
LOL! The first picture is from 1987 when I was 4. So do the math, and yes I’m 27 now (yikes!) I really don’t remember anything from our first trip, so I consider this my first trip! I can’t really tell you how this trip came to be, because I honestly don’t remember. I’d say for the past five years or so I’ve been wanting to go back to WDW, but university and real life got in the way. Last year was no different, but I had been working full-time for two years, and I guess somewhere the stars aligned and things fell into place. At the end of the school year I got a gift certificate for Chapters from a teacher and thought “Hey what the heck, why don’t I get a Disney book just in case!” I kind of fell in love with Passporters books. I liked how it had a lot of information, but without going overboard. I loved the little pockets and how it was a little scrapbook in itself. So I bought the book and I guess that could be considered the start of our “1st” Disney vacation.
I started temporarily planning our vacation for the first week in February, but seeing as that would have been during the SuperBowl, I decided to move up our vacation to the last week in January. I began planning our days and looking at restaurants for ADRs. Again, things just fell into place and I began actually booking ADRs in early August, and then when Disney released Free Dining I booked out 7 day/6night package, which then became an 8 day/7night package because the only direct flight back was at 1pm, so meaning an extra day (and an extra ADR!). When all was said and done, our trip was set for January 25th, 2011 until February 1st, 2011 at the All-Star Sports hotel. (we’re HUGE sports fanatics, so it was very fitting for our family!).
Of course, like any trip numerous changes were made to our park plans, and ADRs, which results in lots of liquid paper being used in my Passporter !(note to self, use pencil next time!) And I did stress a lot, trying to plan the perfect trip (which I knew wasn't possible), but in the end things went even better than I could have ever imagined. We did most of what we had planned, and even though some things were skipped, it's all the more reason to come back for another vacation!
So without further ado, here is my "first" trip to DisneyWorld!
Up next: The journey to Orlando (aka my first plane ride!)
Last edited by home4us123; 03-14-2011 at 06:16 AM..
Reason: fp590
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