Our "30 Year Anniversary" Disney Vacation 2014 [February 7-14] - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Peter and I were ready to head back to Florida.....our last trip to Disney was in January 2012, when Peter, Nathan, and I spent a week in a pirate-themed room at CBR.
Nathan and I ended up back at CBR in December that year, along with 4 other classmates (and their moms) celebrating their graduation from high school with a 5-day Senior Trip in Disney!
Peter and I had planned to return in February last year, but decided it was best to skip a year, since we had some major events coming up with both of our boys. Nathan graduated from high school in June, got his Merchant Mariners Credentials, and got a job a month later. (More on this later). In the meantime, Logan had gotten engaged, bought a house, and he and Lindsey began planning their dream wedding (which took place on May 17th, 2014.....I'll share pictures soon!) We were bummed that we had given up our trip last year, especially since it was our 30 year anniversary and it was supposed to be a "just us" trip again!!
In October, we got the calendar out and a return trip was booked for February 2-7. We took advantage of the Play, Stay, Dine discount, and chose the value resort, All Star Movies. This was a first for us, and while I was excited to try a different resort, I was a little apprehensive about staying at a value resort. We normally stayed at a moderate -Caribbean Beach 2010, 2012, & Sr. Trip 2012 and Coronado Springs 2008 and then Peter and I stayed in our dream resort, Beach Club, in 2011. I thought that staying at ASMovies was going to be a bit of a downgrade, but, we would be on property, so we'd get to enjoy all the perks, like Extra Magic Hours, Disney transportation, and of course, the DINING PLAN!! We {love} Disney's Dining Plan. It always works great for our family. We not only get to eat at the best restaurants in WDW, but it's already paid for before we go {we only have to worry about the tip!}.
A few days before Christmas, we decided to change our trip dates because (a) we realized we would be leaving for Disney a week before Nathan had to go back to work and time with Nathan is very precious these days...Disney could wait! and (b) our original check-in day was Feb 2nd....Super Bowl Sunday! We weren't counting on the Bears being in the Super Bowl, but no matter who ends up there, we love watching it at home. So, I got on the phone with WDW and moved our trip up a few days...new dates would be: check in SAT FEB 08 and check out THURS FEB 13. A few travel days would be added in since we drive down, but those dates worked much better! We were very excited to be going back for our second "just us" trip.
The weeks flew by, we were busy with the holidays, having a little re-do project done to our house (which I'll share pictures of later), I was planning a big wedding shower for Logan and Lindsey (March 1), and planning for the upcoming wedding in May.
Awww, can't wait to see the wedding pictures! Very cute mousekeeping envelopes!
Thanks!! The wedding was beautiful! I am going to try to put a few pictures up before moving on with my TR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
You've had a lot going on! Can't wait to hear ( and see) the details of everything - new job, wedding, & of course your trip!
It has been a year of change at our house. Many changes, including having a (semi) empty-nest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Sounds like you all have been quite busy, Susan! Love the Mousekeeping envelopes.
Thanks! I love making and filling the tip envelopes to leave for mousekeeping. A friend of mine took her first trip to WDW with her family last month and I helped her with a little trip planning. She had her girls fix envelopes to leave each day.
Between the cold weather, the house re-do, wedding planning, and just being in a rut from normal life stuff, this year's trip came just in time! This would only be the second time that "just the two of us" were going to Florida, and we were very excited! Our first alone trip was in 2011 {the year I was sick most of the trip and we both came home with Swine Flu!!!!}
Despite not feeling all that great, we still managed to have a pretty good time, but nothing to compare to this trip. We kept saying all through the trip that other than 2010 when both boys went with us, this year's trip has been the best trip yet!! The weather was gorgeous and warm and everything about the trip went so smoothly and was very relaxed and fun. I can't wait to share all about our trip and give my review of things we tried for the first time {and yes, even after going to WDW 7 times, there are still things we have yet to try}.
Day 1: Thursday, February 6, 2014
Since we drive down, we add a few days for travel going and coming. We decided to leave on Thursday, since we were scheduled to check-in on Saturday morning.
(packed suitcases means It's Disney Time!!!....pardon the mess in the background....I left behind LOTS of painted moulding!)
We left a very cold Virginia, and started our drive south! The drive was uneventful, just the occasional stop at a rest stop or for gas, and of course, to have lunch at Cracker Barrel.
(this should hold me over for HOURS!)
(somebody else is going to Disney!!) We stopped for the night in Florence, SC and checked into a Courtyard Marriott. After dinner at Outback, we called it a night.
Day 2: Friday, February 7, 2014 A quick breakfast at the hotel and we were back on the road by 9:00. We entered Georgia around 11:30 and it was 55 degrees and sunny!
We stopped for lunch once we entered Florida. It was a little overcast, but 61 degrees. As we got closer to Orlando, we started talking over where we should spend the night. We weren't scheduled to check-in until Saturday morning, but we thought since we were that close to Disney, why not start our vacation a night early. I called WDW to see if we could get a room at our resort and we lucked out and got one!!! We were so excited!
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Great Start!!!
I love eating at Cracker Barrel, it always reminds me of vacation because we always stop at the one in Pensacola, Florida when we drive!!
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