School is out...Lets go to Disney World!! May PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Hey everyone and welcome to my PTR!! I can't wait to plan my trip with all of you.
I was never able to go to Walt Disney World as a child (my parents did take me and my brother to Disneyland once) and I honestly didn't think it was in the cards as an adult. Than my eldest DS was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis when he was in Kindergarten and was able to go on a Make a Wish trip. He chose to Walt Disney World!!!
So in September of 2009 we boardered a plan and was on our way to Florida. We stayed at Give Kids the World, spent a day at SeaWorld, Island of Adventure, 3 days at Disney World, and even got tickets to Mickey's Not So Scary Holloween Party. While planning the trip I thought it would be our first and only trip for a long while but things changed the moment I saw Cinderella Castle looming before me at the end of Main Street USA.
We ended up skipping a year since I learned that I was pregnant with #4 right after returning from Disney. It was a very hard pregnancy which ended up with me giving birth to a 14 week premature baby. He is doing incredible though and actually turns 3 today.
Due to having 4 kids (each with diffrent wants at WDW) I decided it was more fesible to take them all on seperate vacations every other year and at one point I would attempt to do a large family trip. This way I could keep the trips at budget and the kids could feel special for their trips and do what ever they want(with in reason).
In 2011 I returned to Walt Disney World with my eldest DS. We went at the end of May and spent 6 days/5 nights at Pop Century. We had a great time and he was thrilled to find out that we were going during Star Wars Weekends. Last year I was feeling the Disney Blues and had a chance of talking a short 4 day trip to the world on my own so I took it. I had a great time!! Though I must admite on the last day I was missing my kids (It didn't hurt that it was raining all day either.)
At the end of this May I wil be returning to Walt Disney World with my one and only DD to celebrate her 8th birthday (though it isn't officially until July). We are also very excited that her brother and his father will be joining us this year. My son's father wasn't in his life until recently and has decided to tag along and treat his son to a trip. He does understand that this is his sisters trip so if she wants to do a princess thing that he doesn't want to do he needs to grin and bear it.
Our dates are May 26th-June 1st and this year we will be staying at POR. We had originally had booked for POFQ (where I stayed last March.) We even upgraded to a Royal Guest Room and still saved money.
That is about it for now, I promise to return soon to indroduce you to our cast of characters.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Wow, I come back and have so many messages. Thank you everyone for joining in. I hope I can keep the PTR intresting for everyone.
I am very excited about staying at POR for the first time. I walked by the resort last March and it looked so beautiful.
So as I promised lets now introduce us to our cast of characters for this Walt Disney World Trip.
First there is our fearless leader and Disney expert. . .Me!!
My name is Corrine, I am 39 years old, and just became a TA. I used to be a Developmental trainer but had to quit working when I was pregnant with my youngest and decided to stay home so that I could make sure my kids were alright. I love to sing, write, and basically anything that is creative. I have always loved Disney, but I previously said I didn't think that a trip was in my future. I have since learned that I will do what I have to do to go on these trips and enjoy the time I have with my family.
My favorite park is Magic Kingdom, but to tell you the truth I love them all and I can't come up with a least favorite. My favorite character is Tinker Bell and Mickey Mouse. My favorite dark ride is The Haunted Mansion and my favorite thrill ride is Tower of Terror.
My biggest Disney Dream right now is to go to Walt Disney World at Christmas time and to go on a Cruise.
Next in our cast of charters is my DD Ameliya. Just recently she has requested to be called by her full name instead of her nick name Mia. This will be her second trip to Walt Disney World, but since this trip is for her she gets to be in charge of a lot of things we are going to do. We are officially celebrating her 8th birthday even though it will not be until July, but we wanted to go as soon as school let out to try to avoid some of the summer rush. She loves Disney but is at that age where she is not into Princesses as much. She has actually chose to do the Mermaid make over instead of the BBB.
Her favorite park "I can't choose!!" Her favorite Disney Character is Belle, Mickey Mouse, and Minnie Mouse. Her favorite ride at this time Splash Mountain but it might change for this trip. She is most anxious to see all the new things at the New Fantasyland.
Our next cast member is my eldest DS Liam. He is very lucky that his father wanted to take him along since he originally was not supposed to go on this trip. He is very excited about going though I keep reminding him that it is his Sister's trip and I don't want him to argue about doing things. I am hoping that he will be a little more excited about going on some of the bigger riders this year.
His favorite park is Epcot. His favorite Disney character is Mickey Mouse though he likes them all. His favorite ride is Test Track and he is looking foward to seeing it after it's refurb.
Last but not least is the reason Liam is able to go, his father Chris. I must admite that we have not always had a great relationship and he wasn't part of his sons life for a long time. He is trying to making things right and is very excited about going with us for the trip. I am excited because it is saving me money on the resort plus I was able to upgrade to a Mod. He has never been to Walt Disney World so I am very excited about introducing him to this wonderful place. He has been to Disneyland a couple times, but it will be his first time living the magic with a child.
So there is our cast of characters!! Next to come up will be our ADR's. And yes I was up at 6 in the morning Central time to make sure I snaged all the reservations I wanted.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.