10 KTTW Cards, 4 Rooms, and a Woods View! - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was thinking about touring FW to see all the Christmas decorations on our upcoming trip, but with all the ADRs I have planned, I'm not sure we'd have enough time. I've seen some video on youtube and they look awesome!
If you do have time it really is incredible!
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Originally Posted by shazza
Sounds like a fun tour, even if Dad thought it was long . Glad you had fun. My brother still makes fun of me for liking the Country Bears.
It was!
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Originally Posted by Tabitha34
The tour sounds great! Glad you had fun!
Thanks! It was fun !
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you had a great time on the tour! Sorry it was too long for your Dad!
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As I mentioned before, I have a bad habit of being prepared months in advance, but then about a week before, I'm scrambling to get lots of stuff done! Well, this trip was no different! About two weeks before our trip we went up to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond to get trip supplies (Clorox Wipes, Sunscreen, Ponchos, etc.) and I had a plan of taking out my suitcase that night – well that night, turned into the night before !
I pulled out the two suitcases (a big red bag which we were checking and a small tan one which I was carrying on) and began to pack. Unfortunately, I had a Chemistry test the next day (H2O is about the only formula I know ), and so the night before our trip was a late one! After being mostly packed, I called up D.O.D. to make sure he had everything we needed (I was staying at my Mom's) for tomorrow's departure!
I would be missing school for three days and made sure all my teachers knew. I started off each conversation with “I'm not going to be here Thursday, Friday, or Monday” and hoped it would end there – of course, I had to explain myself … well sort of … it was a bit like pulling teeth “Where will you be” “I'm going away” “Where are you going” “Out of the state” “Where” “Florida” “Why” “I'm going with my Dad” - it ended there with most of my teachers. A few required more details, for which my Mom found the following great excuse letter (credit to The Mouse for Less) for...
RE: [students name and vacation dates]
Please be advised that [student] will be out of school during the week of [date]. We ask that his absences be excused.
The reason for [student]'s absence is that our family will be out of the state during this week. While we are gone, we will be visiting Walt Disney World. We believe that [student] will be learning many things during this trip and that his education will continue in his absence from school.
Some things [student] will learn about:
* Different cultures of the world, including architecture, language, diet, and dress, by visiting the different countries in the Epcot World Showcase (Japan, China, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Canada, France, etc.) [student] will have the chance to explore the exhibits for each country and speak with natives from each country who work as cast members.
* American history by viewing the Hall of Presidents presentation in the Magic Kingdom and the American Adventure show in Epcot.
* Nature and conservation at Animal Kingdom.
* Science by exploring the Mission:Space ride in Epcot where he will have a chance to see and feel what it would be like to travel by rocket to Mars and by experiencing the Universe of Energy exhibit which teaches about fossil fuels, energy, and conservation.
* Economics by managing his own spending money and making budget decisions on how to spend his money.
[student] will also be learning about map reading by navigating in and to the different theme parks, as well as the resorts and water parks via the Disney bus system, sociological aspects of crowds including patterns and behavior, physics of the different rides, breakthroughs in technology at the Innoventions computer lab in Epcot, art and animation and the history of film, and mathematics.
We believe this will be a wonderful and educational experience for [student] and hope you agree not to charge him with unexcused absences as a result. If it is possible for [student] to take any assignments with him to be turned in when we return or to turn in before we leave any work that will be due while he is gone, please let us know as soon as possible.
Thank you for your attention to this. If you have any questions or need any further information, please feel free to contact me.
[Parent's Signture]
The next day I turned in my work for when I wouldn't be there, took my Chemistry test (and passed!!), said goodbye to my friends (who were all very jealous ), and just as I left school early at 2:45, D.O.D. pulled up in the car. We swung by my Mom's, picked up my bags, I said goodbye, and we were on our way to JFK!
Up next, the beginning of our trip and our night at ASM!!
Dutch - I'm so stealing this excuse to use for my daughter when we are going to The World 11/29-12/6 and Im taking her out for 7 school days. This is an awesome excuse!!
Seeing the lights at FW is one of the many things I want to do! I've seen a YouTube video of the site with the miniature castle & wishes music ~ amazing!
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. Glad you had fun. My brother still makes fun of me for liking the Country Bears.
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
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), and so the night before our trip was a late one! After being mostly packed, I called up D.O.D. to make sure he had everything we needed (I was staying at my Mom's) for tomorrow's departure!
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