WIZARDS, REAL AND AMAZING, CHRISTMAS PARTIES AND CANDLELIGHT- PTR - Page 12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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.
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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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I'm amazed the luck you have at the casinos in AC. I may have to bring you along the next time I go to AC. I went in June and lost overall, but not too bad, but did pretty well on my last day there!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I'm amazed the luck you have at the casinos in AC. I may have to bring you along the next time I go to AC. I went in June and lost overall, but not too bad, but did pretty well on my last day there!
Oh gosh, Dave!. This was all on the ship. I have t been to AC for quite some time. We are planning on going down for a night sometime soon!
AN UPDATE IN PROGRESS AND A HUGE BIRTHDAY FOR MY BETTER HALF!!
So we are fast approaching our FP time!! I need to wait until after I talk to my sister today, but I have a fairly good idea of what we will go for with FP's.
Just as an aside, today is Muffin"s 60th birthday!!! Gosh he's old!! We are having a party at my house at 4PM today in case anyone wants to come! . I am more than sure we have enough food, enough drink and enough spare room in case you have too much of the latter!. Anyway! That is the reason I will see my sister today!
We are having meatballs, roast beef and a hoagie bite tray along with various snacks. Both of our crazy families and a few close friends will be here. In total, we are expecting around 40 people.
Getting back to Disney stuff:
We changed pretty much our whole schedule around for the latter part of the week to spend some time with Laura and Angela. It turns out that they will be spending their first night at Disney Springs, which works out great because that is our MVMCP night. I don't mean it's great we won't see them but it's great that they have something to do!
My sister will join us for part of the day on both the 9th and the 10th as Angela will be rehearsing for the CP or in group activities with her school. Since we originally had planned to be in AK and then Epcot on the 9th we changed that to MK and then DHS. We normally don't go to EMH parks but the reasoning behind this was that my sister has never been to WDW at Christmastime and we wanted her to be able to see all of the parks!! Our dinner reservation for this evening will be at Sanaa. If my sister is able to join us, I am more than sure that this reservation will not be a problem to change.
On the 10th, we are planning on going to AK during the day with my sister and then going to MK in the evening with a dinner at the California Grill. If my sister is able to join us for dinner tonight we will most likely have to give up this reservation as you all know. We the Cali Grill but we my sister more so we will see what shakes down! If MK is insane, we will most likely head back to AKL after dinner. Our plan B is to switch our Jiko ADR to tonight and enjoy the resort for the evening with my sis!
Laura and Angela will also obviously be at Epcot on Sunday, the 11th. We have the CP dinner reserved with my sister for the 8:15 PM show at La Hacienda de San Angel. We originally had booked Chefs de France but Muffin suggested that my sister might like La Hacienda better. We ate here last year for the CP and really loved it. The location can't be beat and the atmosphere is very festive!! Laura has to attend both shows this evening but should be fine with a 4:30 PM ADR. (She may even be able to get us good seats!!)
When I see her later on today, we will firm all this up and go over details. I will post an update with my revised plans to follow!
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
. Well Muffin's 60th birthday party was a huge success!! My sister and I did not get to talk too much Disney but that is because everyone was having such a great time!!
What she did tell me was a little disturbing. Her group is booked through a travel agent so she could not give me a reservation number and furthermore, her travel agent said that she did not think that they could make fastpass reservations in advance.
This information put me in a tough spot. I didn't want to tell my sister that by staying on property, you really can make fastpass reservations 60 days in advance. I understand that by booking as a group, you can't do that yourself but am I crazy in thinking that any travel agent worth their salt would do that for you?!
Maybe I am and maybe by booking through a travel agent, you really can't do anything on your own. Maybe the group got such a great discount that the travel agent doesn't need to do anything else for them.
In any case, I think the whole setup stinks. My sister and niece will most likely not be able to get on Frozen Ever After, Soarin', or 7 Dwarfs Mine Train unless they are willing to wait in line for those attractions.
I am going to call my friends at WDW reservations tomorrow and find out what is up. This really does not make sense to me at all. Anyway! We will make the best of it no matter what!!
Back to Muffin's party!!
Everyone came and everyone seemed to have a great time!! Here are a few pictures:
Dave- Muffin's BFF for 45 years!
Muffin's sister Lois and Finn
Adrienne- my BFF and Dave's better half
Bob-Lois' husband
Colin- my nephew
Katie and her boyfriend Andy
Diane- Muffin's warehouse manager
Sean and another of Muffin's sisters, Eileen
Finnegan
My niece Alex
My brother Mark and Finn
Paula- Mark's girlfriend and my nephew Mark
Muffin's brother Bob and sister Lois
My niece Megan and Muffin
Sean and Meg
Marianne-another of Muffin's sisters and Lisa, Bob's wife
Sean, Jane and Finn
My Dad and his wife, Caroline
Me and my bro
One of my very bad selfie attempts
My nephews Anthony, Mark and Colin
Another bad selfie with my sis
Much better!
Jane's parents- Joyce and Ralph
Muffin's Dad and Dave
My dad
Laura' s husband Dave and Anthony
Me and Katie
Lisa and Finn
Me and my niece Angela
Me and my nephew Jesse
Katie and Muffin's mom lighting the candles
Singing Happy Birthday
Muffin and Dave
Muffin and his mom
Alex, Jane and Megan
Angela and Finn
It really was a good time and people stayed and helped clean up and Muffin got lots of great stuff!! He said he couldn't have asked for a nicer birthday!! Also, Mike and Gabby Skyped with everyone and Logan called too!!
Great photos and looks like everyone had such a great time! Sorry to hear about the Fastpass+ situation!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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