A Little Not So Scary Fun is Right Around The Corner! Updated 10/26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The picture below is a picture of my DS at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween party in 2007. That was our first and last time we attended this party. I start this pre-trip report with this picture because we will be attending this party for the second time and we are all very excited about it. Looking back at this picture, I am a little sad that he is no longer this little. He was 4 years old here and just over a month from turning 5. He is now 11 and turning 12 soon. He is growing up too fast!
We will be driving down the day before and staying the night somewhere. We usually do this so that we can have our whole first day there. We like to go ahead and check into our resort, explore, swim, go to DTD, etc.
We have 5 day base tickets and the Plus Dining Plan. We like the base tickets because we have a tendency to stay in a park all day. If we take a break, we take it in the park. In the past when we have purchased hoppers, we didn’t hop. We love the Plus Dining Plan. We love being able to have a table service meal each day, it is the perfect break for our family. We have discussed several times just paying out of pocket but we know that when we get to the restaurant we will just end up ordering the least expensive meal on the menu. Even if we plan before hand we will still have a hard time ordering what we want. With the dining plan we have no problems doing that. For this trip we were able to get Free Dining. We saved $1300 scoring free dining! We were all very happy with that savings!
Here are a few more pictures from that first time at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.
Our DS was Peter Pan and DD was TinkerBell. DH and I do not dress up but for this party we were "The Lost Boys", to match the kids.
DS was amazed and a little caught off guard by the Headless Horseman in the parade. He loved it and still talks about it.
Tinkerbell didn't quite make it to the end of the night.
Photobucket and I have not been getting along over the past several hours. I have worked on it off and on since last night trying to get the pictures to resize correctly. I think it is finally fixed. At least for the first post.
Great start! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip.
Thanks! I have never done a PTR so I hope I can keep everyone entertained a little with this one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I always enjoy your TRs and am excited to see another. What sweet photos of your first Halloween at the world when the children were so small.
Thanks! I'm so excited you are following along! I was wanting to include pictures but wasn't real sure what to include and then thinking about our trip, I thought a few from a past Halloween trip would be perfect.
If you followed us on our last adventure to the world then you will recognize some of the cast. If not then you get to learn all new information! For those of you that followed along last time, no worries, you get to meet someone new as well. Now on to the introductions!
First up is Me! I’m Tabitha, the writer of the TR’s, the main planner of the trips and I love all things Disney. I am 39 years old, have 2 amazing children and am married to my best friend.
UP next is my wonderful husband of almost 16 years, Jamie. We will be celebrating 16 years on December 31st. Jamie is 35 years old and loves all things Disney. He helps with the planning. We choose our dining and FP+ selections together.
Next up we have our DS Asher. He is 11 years old, loves all things Disney and loves to help with the trip planning. He stays on top of what has been done and what still needs to be done without checking my notes. He just remembers and reminds us… a lot.
Next we have our amazing DD Selah. Selah is 8 years old, loves Minnie Mouse and has seen every episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse too many times to count. Selah is our little miracle child. When Selah was 7 months old she started having seizures. At 19 months old her drs. discovered a brain tumor on her left temporal lobe and at 23 months they removed the tumor and most of her left temporal lobe. After this, drs. really couldn’t tell us how much she would develop. Everyday is an adventure. She amazes us everyday.
Selah loves selfies. She loves to see her reflection and knows where to find it. Cameras, mirrors, cars, windows, etc. She stops to look. So funny!
Up next, my DMIL, Wanda. Wanda joined us on our last trip and is very excited to be joining us for this one as well. On our last trip we asked Wanda to come along to help with Selah. With that we also paid her way. This time around we did not have the funds to pay for an extra person so we planned to go it alone. In the spring, just before Disney announced Free Dining for the fall, Wanda asked if we minded her coming along and staying in her own room. We, of course, welcomed her along on the trip. Our last trip was Wanda’s first trip to WDW and she is hooked.
Last but not least is my DM Elaine. When Wanda asked us about coming along she also asked if I thought my mom would like to come along. My mom is a big Disney fan as well and hasn’t been to WDW in several years. I told her I was sure she would want to go if she had the funds. Wanda then asked my Mom and my Mom jumped at the chance to go. My Dad was all for my Mom going when it first came up but in recent weeks has become just a little mopey because he is not going. I suggested to him to start planning their next trip.
In this picture we have, from left to right, my dad Kevin, mom Elaine, Me, Jamie, my brother Kevin and his wife Jennifer.
That cast of characters makes a total of 6 people traveling in one mini van and staying in two rooms. As long as everyone packs conservatively everything should fit nicely.
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.
I had no idea you were planning a trip. I can't wait to hear all about it!
We have been planning this for a long time but we kept having to push it back. It was originally scheduled for last fall. Because of having to reschedule several times I haven't said much about it until recently. We are so excited to be going back!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great start! Looking forward to hearing all about your trip!
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.
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He was 4 years old here and just over a month from turning 5. He is now 11 and turning 12 soon. He is growing up too fast!
For this trip we were able to get Free Dining. We saved $1300 scoring free dining! We were all very happy with that savings! 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
Your pictures are the showing up the right size, too. 
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
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