Two’s company, Three’s a crowd…let’s make it four! 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Two’s company, Three’s a crowd…let’s make it four! PTR
So, I looked at my countdown app today and it said 37. Well, technically not 37...it's 37 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes...Wait...37 DAYS! OMG, how did that happen! Here I am reading everyone elses TRs, and pining for our turn at WDW, and here is is...It's almost time!!
So, that means it’s time to start a PTR!
When DH Jeff and I first bought into DVC, we anticipated that our trips would be mainly the two of us. And that’s how it played out for the first couple years. Last year we asked DS Tom to join us and we had a great time together! This year we’re adding one more! Hence, my title for this TR.
So, let’s start with our cast of characters…
Me (Donna), 57 years old, lover of all things Disney. This will be my 12th trip to the world. A few things about me…In addition to Disney, I love cooking and baking, I play guitar, and I work part time at our church and direct the contemporary ensemble there.
DH (Jeff), 58 years old, has grown to love Disney as much as I do. This will be his 11th trip to the world. He is an engineering associate at a manufacturing plant. He enjoys gardening, woodworking, playing baseball, and can fix just about anything! He just finished making a beautiful kitchen island out of black walnut for one of our daughters. It’s gorgeous!
DS (Tom) is 28 and this will be his 5th trip to Disney. He is a cook at a Greek restaurant. He likes bike riding, running and working out, and also cooking!
And this year we are so pleased to have Tom’s GF joining us!
We met Kayla a month or so after she and Tom started dating. She is such a sweet girl and she and Tom are a perfect match! (Ok, now I had to put on my Fiddler on the Roof CD!) When we found out she loved Disney as much as we did, it was obvious that we should ask her to come with us. And of course she accepted our offer!
She and Tom are each paying their own way, with Jeff and I using points for the accommodations. We are all so excited and can't wait to experience WDW together!
We like to do Disney in September because of the low crowds. Last year our trip was September 16-23. We bought APs and the Tables in Wonderland card planning to use them again before the year was out. Because of that, this year’s trip needed to happen before September 16th. So, we’ll be in the World from September 7th to the 14th.
I was a little disappointed to find out that quite a few PPs are going to be traveling in late September and we’d be missing out on some fun PP meets, but we’ll just have to look forward to doing that sometime in the future.
September is quite hot, but we’ll come prepared with neck coolers and misting fans. And we plan our days with a nice break in the afternoon so we can go back to the resort for some pool time and a rest. It usually works out pretty well.
Oh so sorry we won't get to meet up! There certainly is a big group going!
This is my first September trip, though I have done July (TWICE...how dumb am I?) And early October.