Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Love the start - so excited for you, can't wait to read along and hear about all your adventures.
Thanks so much for the reminder to print out the confirmation email for the kids' tickets! I almost forgot!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
getting everything done before you go! You'll be there before you know it
I know I'll be there before I know it, but now I'm worried I'll be there and be missing a lot of stuff I wanted to bring!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm so excited for you! Very glad the severe weather a lot of the country has been having seems to be over. If you'd been flying yesterday I think there would have been delays at the very least. Have a great time!
I was thinking exactly that yesterday! I really hope it's smooth flying for us tomorrow!
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We're here and having a great time! Yesterday was very long, but the flight was great and we made it to OKW around 6 last night. We got checked in and were given building 56 at the very end Peninsular Road. I was hoping we wouldn't be so far from Hospitality House but the room is very nice.
I hadn't mentioned who my dear friend is who let me rent points from her...it's lauriep! I had mentioned earlier in the year that I was thinking about finally making it to WDW with my kids, and she told me she had some points she wasn't going to be able to use this year and would I like to rent them from her! Thanks so much Laurie! Being able to rent points for a week really made it so much easier to plan this trip! And then there was a surprised waiting for us when we checked in...an awesome gift bag from Laurie welcoming us to her DVC home! Laurie, you are way too sweet! Thanks!
Anyhow, after we dropped off our stuff in our room, we headed out with DTD as our destination. I had been up since 4am and the kids since 4:45am, and we had only been snacking all day. We went out to the South Point bus stop with the intention to catch the first bus over to hospitality house so we could take the ferry to DTD, but the first bus that arrived was headed to DTD! Perfect!
I had no idea which bus stop we should use as our plan was to eat at Cooke's of Dublin...a first meal tradition for me and the kids...ok it's only our second time but now it's a tradition! We got off at the first stop, Marketplace. Yeah I know, we got off at the wrong stop! After a nice long stroll through Marketplace, we finally arrived at Cooke's. it was fairly busy but we got a table in the patio area. Fish and Chips and Scallops and Chips! I have to say I wasn't as impressed as I was back in January 09 but it was still good!
We were so tired after dinner! Still we browsed through several shops. We picked up a few things along the way. Might as well get a little shopping done while we were there!
I couldn't remember where we were supposed to catch the OKW ferry so I did the next dumb thing for the night...we walked back to the boat dock by Rainforest. I know! What a dummy! Lol! Got there and too the DTD ferry to West Side. Got off the boat there and right back into line for OKW! There was a long line but we made it onto the next boat no problem. By the time we made it back to the room it was about 10. We all took showers and climbed into bed. The kids were asleep before midnight (which felt like 9pm to us). I think I was overly tired and tossed and turned a bit.
I was almost asleep when I heard my phone ring! It was my mom. In my sleepy stupor I was trying to figure out why she was calling. She forgot there was a 3 hour time difference. She said, "Why are you sleeping already? It's only 9:30." Lol! Once she realized her mistake, she let me go but not before still telling me about her day!
I finally fell asleep after 1:18...that was the last time I saw on my phone!
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2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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Sounds like a great, if exhausting, first night! I was delighted to help you and the kids do this trip with my "friends and family" discounted DVC rates! Makes it really feel like a vacation home when you can let friends use it. Sorry you didn't get a better room location. Hope you got enough sleep that you could wake up refreshed!
Glad you made it safe and sound. Nice to spend a little time in DTD when you arrive. We tried on our first night of our last trip but it was Memorial day weekend so the place was totally packed, no way were we going to fight that. Sorry your Mom forgot about the time difference. My sister got that a lot when she first moved to California, everyone was calling thinking Virginia time. LOL She had to mute her phone just to sleep.
How sweet of Laurie!
Glad you got a little time in to shop andhave some dinner. One of these days I'm going to stay at OKW - I really like the look of it.
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getting everything done before you go! You'll be there before you know it 
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
How wonderful of Laurie to do that for you. 
Liz 
Sorry your Mom forgot about the time difference. My sister got that a lot when she first moved to California, everyone was calling thinking Virginia time. LOL She had to mute her phone just to sleep. 
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