Reconstructing the Magic with Cam and Luke UPDATED: 12/23 Christmas Present and Our Final Day - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Reconstructing the Magic with Cam and Luke UPDATED: 12/23 Christmas Present and Our Final Day
Travel Day, Saturday, October 6
I awoke first at 5:10, too early, and only napped on and off until the alarm sounded at 6:32 AM. Luke took his shower while I straightened up the last of the packing and then took a quick bath. Truly, we got ready much faster than normal, but then we’re not normally going to Disney World.
A little before 8:00 Luke’s brother Rob arrived to chauffeur us to our regional airport. Suitcases were already in the hallway, ready for loading in the car. Then our first snafu occurred, the garage door opener broke. Luke jimmy rigged it so it wouldn’t be unlocked. By 8:10 we were on the road and headed to the airport, arriving at 8:15. We leave very close to our airport. The bag check line was fairly long as this was a full flight. From there we moved into the security line where I practically had to strip. We were approved to fly, repacked our stuff, got redressed, and waited in chairs for boarding.
We began boarding at 9:10. We were in Zone 6, the last one called, but no problem as seats are assigned on Allegiant Air. When the all clear was given, the plane taxied to the runway a whole 10 minutes early (9:40). I paid $2 for a can of coke that Luke and I shared. The pilots began our descent at 10:55 (CDT), telling us we had about 20 minutes until landing at Sanford. The wheels hit the runway at 11:20 (CDT), and by 1:00 (EDT) we’d had a bio break, retrieved our luggage, and finalized renting a Jeep Patriot for the week. We were off to Disney World. We paid one toll of 75 cents to connect to I-4. Rain came while we were at Alamo, playing peek-a-boo with the sun. It was definitely scattered rain as we’d travel out and in, though it was quite heavy at times.
These two pictures were taken about 10 minutes apart. We enjoyed the drive through Orlando and traffic was only heavy when the rain was pouring down. We were mainly guided by Luke’s instinct, which is usually spot on. He exited I-4 at the Epcot resort exit and right on our left magically appeared Caribbean Beach Resort.
We parked outside the Customs House and walked in to complete our registration. Our room was ready in Trinidad North, Building 33, Room 3329. We were close to the bus stop and a short walk to Port Royale. After taking a few pictures of the room, hungry stomachs told us we need to get lunch.
I washed my hands and got so excited when I accidentally created a hidden Mickey.
Right as we were heading out, someone knocked on the door. It was a CM with a card and balloons for Luke’s birthday.
Next: Shopping, Eating, and Family
PS Photobucket is trying out a new format that has been nothing but trouble today. I went back to the old format and still had problems created I believe by the new format. Frustrating!!! GRRRRR!
It's exciting that this trip for just you and Luke is different right from the start--your local airport, different airline, arrival in Sanford, renting a car, no DVC resort. Seems like all that went very smoothly. Certainly nice to do away with the long drive to the airport.
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. We dodged it that whole week.
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
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