FIRSTS, BIRTHS, and GIRTHS…A September 2013 PTR - Page 15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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All caught up! Such great purchases! All of them. I have a question about the Disney bag - online it says it's vented. Is it like mesh? Is the bottom completely solid? We're going on our first cruise this fall and I'm thinking I need a beach bag for CC,but I'd like a mesh one so the sand will come out easier.
Loving the movie nights!
And congrats on the weight loss! I started a bootcamp this week and am hoping I can lose some too!
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.
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.
Congrats on getting a camera! We got our new one about a month before our last trip. I was thankful to have it for a while before needing to use it in WDW.
All caught up! Such great purchases! All of them. I have a question about the Disney bag - online it says it's vented. Is it like mesh? Is the bottom completely solid? We're going on our first cruise this fall and I'm thinking I need a beach bag for CC,but I'd like a mesh one so the sand will come out easier.
Loving the movie nights!
And congrats on the weight loss! I started a bootcamp this week and am hoping I can lose some too!
The sides are like a tight mesh, the bottom is canvas and the pocket with the logo is plastic. We will definitely be using ours for pool time and the beach! Good luck with your boot camp! You'll have to keep me updated on your progress. I've been going up and down this week...we've had two luncheons at work in the past week plus Hershey Park last Saturday...I'm avoiding the scale right now like it's a bad break up!
Thanks! Turns out they needed a signature to drop it off; which they didn't get yesterday. So I had to sign the little receipt...according to the tracking, it was delivered today!
Quote:
Originally Posted by wendygrubb
You have to let us know how the camera works and how complicated it is. I would love one but sm technically challenged
I will give you my most honest opinions...I've already researched online tutorials to learn the basics and the functions...and ended up finding the Disney Photography Blog. OMG! Those people take AMAZING photographs! I can only hope!
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Congrats on getting a camera! We got our new one about a month before our last trip. I was thankful to have it for a while before needing to use it in WDW.
Thanks! I'm in complete agreement; I'm hoping to give myself plenty of time to learn the camera itself and everything it's capable of creating. I also looked into some photo editing apps for my iPad since we do not have a regular computer...so excited!!
I was just talking about Hershey Park the other day! I love going on the Chocolate World tour!
That's my favorite ride in the whole park....aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnndddddddddd we didn't ride it. We were there with a bunch of friends and their families and by the time we usually ride, everyone was ready to head out and since we had the child of one of my friends riding with us, we all needed to leave together. I'm fine with it though because we will probably try to go back again some time this summer.
Grab a cookie and get comfy...I have LOTS of Disney reporting today!!!
Before I get to Dinner and a Movie Night, we ended up with a surprise movie night last Tuesday! DD asked DH about watching a movie before I got home from work and all she could do was describe it since she forgot the title. DH didn't understand what she wanted to watch because we have never seen it; even though she has. When I arrived home, she described the movie to me, which I recognized because "Santa" gave it to her for Christmas but we hadn't watched it yet. Our surprise movie was...
(I do not own this photo)
Here's the backstory: I bought this movie from Amazon for DD for Christmas because I knew she had already seen it and talked about how much she liked it; and I wanted to see it too! So after the new year, we decided one night to watch the movie and tried it in two of our DVD players. No dice. I was completely bummed that I probably purchased a defective DVD. I set it aside with the intention of returning it to Amazon, yet somehow it mixed back in with DD's movie collection. For my birthday in mid-January, my parents bought me a new Blu Ray DVD player because ironically the two we had, bit the dust (they were handed down so I wasn't too upset about it). I never considered trying The Haunted Mansion in the Blu Ray until DD asked to watch it last week. I was skeptical it would work at first, crossing my fingers and pinching my eyes shut; then I heard the familiar sound of a loading disc and DD and I did the happy dance! I FINALLY was able to watch The Haunted Mansion and LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! The humor in this story put a smile on my face throughout the entire movie. I LOVE MADAME LEOTA! DD sat still and watched the entire movie...she LOVES it! My favorite part of the entire movie was the graveyard scene with the barbershop quartet-monuments. Barbershop takes me back to my childhood so I had warm fuzzys at that point in the movie. Unfortunately, DH was unable to watch this one with us; I can't remember why, but I know he had some things he needed to take care of before the weekend.
Fast forward to:
Dinner and a Movie Night - May 3 - The Lion King
Dinner: Umm...hmmm...I Can't Remember! Clearly We Weren't Themed!
(I do not own this photo)
What can I say about this movie? It's fantastic! DD loves any female character, DH loves Rafiki, and my heart belongs to Pumbaa! We were all back together again watching the movie as a family. However; I AM BOUNCING WITH EXCITEMENT OVER THIS WEEK'S MOVIE! My favorite childhood movie is coming up this week! Hmmm...
Over the weekend, we ran some errands and ended up picking up some items in Walmart. DD was interested in redecorating her bathroom, so we looked at the designs and she loved the owls. I placed everything we needed into the cart, then DD looked over to her right and 4 more designs over was Minnie Mouse. That was it! Everything had to switch to Minnie Mouse! I took all of the owl stuff back out of the cart, put it back on the shelves and put all the Minnie Mouse items into the cart. I can't be mad! It's Minnie Mouse! Everyone's happy!
Now...on to the good stuff...Disney-related trip updates!!!
I GOT FREE DINING!!!!
Thank goodness I have a Disney Visa! I bit my nails for days hoping that the promotion rumors were true! Of course we kept our Deluxe Dining Plan so we simply paid for the upgrade. I AM SO HAPPY!!!! Thanks to this promotion, we are one payday away from being PIF!!!
Everybody Dance Now!
I hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend and if you are traveling during the new promotion dates, that you get what you need!!! Have a wonderful day!
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.
Just saw the free dining info and immediately came to your ptr in hopes it would work during your dates!!! Whoop hoo!
YEAH!!! Even DH is dancing!! The rest of my family staying onsite has to wait until Thursday for the general public release, but at least they now know and are 100% sure there is a free dining promotion!
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.