I Have to Talk to SOMEONE About This Trip PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Following along..great beginning. I have been POR Riverside many times and just love it, but never stayed at PFQ - so I can't wait to hear about it all. The boat to DS (formerly k/a Downtown Disney) is a real plus to staying at these resorts!
POST #2
I forgot to mention that we have a River View room at POFQ and after looking over the map, I'm not sure there's bad room in the joint! I have never been a "room requester" so I probably won't for this trip either.
When it came to booking ADR's such last minute that honestly wasn't a big deal. We've done quite a few of the popular places and since the kids are in the dark on this one, I had carte blanche to book anything. We're not big TS people anymore - used to be back in the day when 8 of us went - and that's ok. DS gets super restless having to sit and eat, mostly he gets anxious that a baby might cry. That's one of his biggest sensory triggers. I know, yet he LOVES WDW where he is surrounded 24/7 by babies. Go figure, lol. My kids have been asking to go to Splitsville since they first heard it was being built. We've never been huge DS fans, mostly because it always seems to take an hour to get there. We did go in April, as requested by both kids. DS loves to design a tee and DD just loves to shop, lol. Anywho I booked us an ADR at Splitsville for Christmas Eve. Fancy, right? We've done the fancy Christmas Eve meals, this trip is about crossing things off our list I have an early ADR for dinner on Christmas at the Boathouse booked and a late breakfast at 1900PF on 12/27. We've done that 2x and it's one of our fave character breakfasts. Thought we'd hit MK early then take a break for some food. That's it for ADR's for us and should workout just fine.
I get to book FP+ on 10/25 and what timing. I leave before dawn (5ish am) the very next day for a school trip with DS. Imagine if THAT was FP+ day?? The kids and I had a conversation the other day about fave rides. DS was so much more adventurous in April I wasn't sure if he'd repeat the rides. Sometimes he's a "one-and-done" kid! I asked "If you could only pick 3 rides in each park, what would they be?" Gave me a good idea on what to try for on FP day. We also utilize the DAS for my DS which helps immensely and he has finally started to understand the whole return time system. Only took 3 years from the change, SMH.
I picked them up some adorable Disney tees at Kohl's. I plan to wrap them with their MB's and give it to them 12/24. YEAH! Oh snap, DD just walked in from practice. Gotta go!!!!
Things sound great IMHO. What I love about Disney is the options - something for everyone no matter your taste. Seems like your recon has given you a lot of valuable information that will help you choose the FPs.
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Sounds like you've got some great plans! I've never been a big TS person either. I just like to eat when I want and not have to worry about being somewhere at a certain time to eat. Splitsville on Christmas Eve sounds like a blast!