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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Location: Physically stuck in Michigan while my heart and soul reside in Disney.....
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A Princess Only Trip.......UPDATED 12/25/12
Whooooo hooooooo.........Here we go!
A little background: This is a mother/daughter trip. Me (Liz), 42, Tinkerbells biggest fan. My daughter, Cheyenne, 13, loves all things Disney especially Lion King.
My husband (Disdadnmi) and I already had children when we got married and have made many trips together as a couple. The kids had lost interest in Disney for a while and started to make noise about going again. We decided to take our respective children on trips separately to spend some time with them. Cheyenne and I had a WONDERFUL trip! As I am sure they will when they go in February. I am also looking forward to many more trips together with Brent, we are hoping for something next Christmas season. After seeing the MVMCP this trip that is a MUST do again! I will tell you more about that in the TR.
Arrival Eve/November 14th 2012:
This was a hectic day! I worked a full day (left appx 20 minutes early) and Cheyenne went to school for a full day. Our flight left at 8:30ish, so it was a mad run from work to the airport. Of course I was full of grace and 100% prepared for just jumping in the car and going immediately after work, no panic mode there, no last minute things I thought of all day at work that I wanted to do before we left. (insert sarcasm here) Last minute I realized the bag I had to carry my laptop in wasn't going to work......so I asked Brent if I could borrow his, I had to switch over all the papers and laptop quickly. The plan was to have the car packed, which we did, and immediately upon arriving home from work Brent was taking us to the airport. I was so thankful for this.....I didn't have to leave work early to find a lot, park etc. We could just be dropped off at security, no weekly parking expense and most of all we were seen off on our trip by my Cinderella loving husband and my 17 year old wonder teen, Victoria. They walked us in and to security. We had boarding passes in hand. Said our many goodbyes, hugs and kisses....and we were off!
Security was a breeze....well mostly. My DD had high top converse on and double knotted them. LOL, took a little bit of energy to get them off and in the bin. But its all good now.....we are on the way! Neither one of us had eaten since lunch so we grabbed a slice of pizza and a pop while waiting for our plane. The plane came on time, we boarded and had a pretty smooth flight. I worked on some paperwork for a while then napped a bit. Cheyenne listened to her iPod. Landed in MCO, and seen the Palm trees......yep, we are in Florida now. Ahhhhh that deep breath of being on vacation.
Straight to Magical Express, as these girls are good and packed in carry on bags only!! Whooo hoooo! And as luck would have it the ME bus was there waiting to take us to POP! We arrived at POP and received our paperwork. Pool side room in 50's! Yes, we will take it! By this time the food court was beginning to close......we scurried, with luggage and paperwork in hand, to the food court to at least get and fill our mugs. We snagged a snack while there. Now, off to our room!
Nice room, right on the corner of the first building, birdseye view from the 3rd floor. We were still in 'excited' mode so of course we couldn't go right to sleep. We had our snack, then unpacked. Upon unpacking the computer bag I found a surprise Brent had packed for me when he let me borrow his bag. Aweee. It was a tshirt with Brent, me, and the 3 Princesses that we saw on a previous trip. The caption said "Brent and Liz. The Magic Continues......". That was a MUCH needed and appreciated surprise. I went to bed a happy girl that night after a quick stroll around POP.
Tomorrow is a much anticipated day! We have tickets to MVMCP! Something totally new to both of us! We were both very excited.
Day One/November 15th 2012:
We woke up early out of sheer excitement! I know we were still both a little tired from our day of travel, work and school yesterday but we were way too excited to sleep. We opened MK today. The feeling of walking in the park....the smell of Disney, the feel of Disney, just absorbing all that is right with the world. We made it! Surrounded by giggling children, happy adults and CM's that were happy to be doing their job you just couldn't help but smile and know that you are home.
We immediatly snagged fast passes for the Princesses and Mickey, we had an opportunity to see Mary Poppins in that area by the fast passes too. She was gracious as ever, assuring us she would be at the party tonight if she was able to get the children in bed early enough.
We then went to Tomorrowland. We road the People Mover and Space Mountain. Turns out Cheyenne, who used to be terrified of roller coasters, is now a roller coater freak! She loved Space Mountain, she said "lets do it 7 times in a row!!" AND SHE MEANT IT! I said........"lets just come back later and see how long the line is." It was so good to see her excited about this trip and enjoying it. I was having fun with her too.
About this time our FP's for the Princesses were due! So we scurried back to Main Street. When we got in the Princess room my eyes immediatly scanned Cinderella to see if it was our "special one" from previous trips. It was hard to tell initially and with the new hair and dress they all had a bit of a different look about them. As soon as she saw me she just lit up! It was amazing. I mean she truley lit up, she called me by name! She said "Liz!! How are you?" She immediatly scanned the area and said "where is Brent?" I explained to her that this was a mother daughter trip and he was at home but would be here in Febraury. She was disappointed he wasn't there but said she was looking fwd to seeing him then. She said it was nice that we were able to take a "Princess Only trip too". She was overjoyed. Really, honestly happy. People like that are just so real. I can't explain it, it just radiates from her. She introduced herself to Chey and told her how special her parents were to her. HOW SPECIAL WE WERE TO HER!?!?!??! I always seen it as how special she was to us. She genuinely meant it tho. Chey chit chatted with her for a bit while I dialed up Brent on my phone. I was taking a chance by calling him at work that he wouldn't be able to pick up but I knew he would want to know where we were and who we were with. Cinderella talked to him for a few minutes, I thought she was going to cry, she looked so happy. She told him how much she missed him and couldn't wait to see him again. I couldn't wait to hear his reaction to the phone call. Hopfully he will chime in here with his thoughts. By this point I looked up and realized there was quite a line forming....lol. She handed me my phone back and hugged me one more time.
Cheyenne had already moved on and was done visiting Princess Aurora by this time. We stopped to see Rapunzel, she scolded me for coming this far from home and not bringing my frying pan. As we were leaving Cinderella stopped and talked to us a bit more. She was so amazingly magical. We just love her. The magic she has shared with us is amazing and undescribable.
We strolled around the park a bit, going on POC, HM and the Train, then went to our lunch ADR at Crystal Palace. Chey was a bit nervous about this since last time we were there Piglett caught her with a place full of bacon.....gasp!! It was fun. The food was great. There was no doubt we were enjoying the day.
After lunch we walked around the perimeter of the park and discovered that FantastyLand was doing "dress rehearsals!!". We got in to see some soft openings. It was just as amazing as I thought it would be. Just beautiful. [IMG]inside Gastons Tavern inside of the new Little Mermaid Ride
After the eventful morning we headed back to POP to get ready for the party! We were so excited about the MVMCP! This was going to be something new for both of us. It was too cold to swim but we walked around a bit, changed for the party, and reenergized.
Walking into MK we noticed a sign that said the party was sold out! Glad we bought tickets ahead! Still wondered what kind of crowds that would bring us. I will say tho, Disney does a great job at disapating the crowds with extra shows etc during peak times.
We were there early so we grabbed dinner at Caseys. We walked around the park soaking up the beauty of the Christmas decorations. It was so pretty. We enjoyed some of the hot chocolate and cookies. We had a Passporter meet and greet with Nurse_Mom and family! That was great! Such nice people!
Stood under the snowfall on Main Street. I am sure this was a little less thrilling for us Michigan people, knowing we would be heading home to this soon enough. It was beautiful tho. Just beautiful. And so festive. The MVMCP and Parade is a MUST do for anyone down there when it is going on. It is just nothing short of amazing.
We slipped in to see the princesses during the party. The Princes were there!! Rapunzel and Flynn. Flynn drew us a Flamingo (Flynnmingo). Aurora was with Prince Phillip and my precious Snow White and her Prince we the third ones. They were all charming. Made me a little sad my Prince wasn't there. We were told Cinderella had too much to do with the party etc to be in Town Hall tonight. I was kinda bummed but after this mornings visit, there was no way I could be disappointed. And we did see her in the parade.
We headed back to POP after the party with smiles on our faces, and a night to remember forever.
__________________
Last edited by smilechaser; 11-24-2012 at 11:16 AM..
Nice picture of us!!! Is was so nice meeting you!!! The party was neat. After we left you, we met Jeff Lange. He makes movies on YouTube and for Orlando Attractions magazine. I agree the snow was ok. I swear it made it feel colder!! It's snowing here today in OHIO!
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what a super start to your Princesses Only trip!! Cinderella was just amazing! I agree with you about how it feels to walk into Disney World and just feel at home I can't wait to read more!
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When we got in the Princess room my eyes immediatly scanned Cinderella to see if it was our "special one" from previous trips. It was hard to tell initially and with the new hair and dress they all had a bit of a different look about them. As soon as she saw me she just lit up! It was amazing. I mean she truley lit up, she called me by name! She said "Liz!! How are you?" She immediatly scanned the area and said "where is Brent?" I explained to her that this was a mother daughter trip and he was at home but would be here in Febraury. She was disappointed he wasn't there but said she was looking fwd to seeing him then. She said it was nice that we were able to take a "Princess Only trip too". She was overjoyed. Really, honestly happy. People like that are just so real. I can't explain it, it just radiates from her. She introduced herself to Chey and told her how special her parents were to her. HOW SPECIAL WE WERE TO HER!?!?!??! I always seen it as how special she was to us. She genuinely meant it tho. Chey chit chatted with her for a bit while I dialed up Brent on my phone. I was taking a chance by calling him at work that he wouldn't be able to pick up but I knew he would want to know where we were and who we were with. Cinderella talked to him for a few minutes, I thought she was going to cry, she looked so happy. She told him how much she missed him and couldn't wait to see him again. I couldn't wait to hear his reaction to the phone call. Hopfully he will chime in here with his thoughts. 
By this point I looked up and realized there was quite a line forming....lol. She handed me my phone back and hugged me one more time. 
[IMG]inside Gastons Tavern
inside of the new Little Mermaid Ride
We were told Cinderella had too much to do with the party etc to be in Town Hall tonight. I was kinda bummed but after this mornings visit, there was no way I could be disappointed. And we did see her in the parade. 
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I just love that you have some very special princess interactions!
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