The Great Disney Do-Over—PTR for Aug 2010 - UPDATED 8/2 - Page 25 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I just found your TR and have read the whole thing!! So great to hear all your stories - even the ones that were very trying for you and your family - and I am so excited to hear about your upcoming trip! I hope it is very magical for your whole family!!!
I just found your TR and have read the whole thing!! So great to hear all your stories - even the ones that were very trying for you and your family - and I am so excited to hear about your upcoming trip! I hope it is very magical for your whole family!!!
Looking forward to more......
Thank you so much!!!
I love your sig pic! I am excited for my girls to do BBB!
Shelly, I'm all caught up now. I can't believe it's almost time for you. I hope that you and your family have a wonderful time. I know the stress of going with extended family and it will be so much easier with just you and your DH and kids. I can't wait to hear all about it.
Can't believe your trip is almost here!! Seems like yesterday you started this TR - all caught up again!! Good luck with packing and with the FL heat!!
less than a week....hope this trip is everything you dreamed of...we are a couple days behing u, so i will be praying for cooler weather
Thanks! I have been checking the extended forecast on accuweather....I am hoping for a freak cool front before the end of next week!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lissybri
Shelly, I'm all caught up now. I can't believe it's almost time for you. I hope that you and your family have a wonderful time. I know the stress of going with extended family and it will be so much easier with just you and your DH and kids. I can't wait to hear all about it.
Thank you so much!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoJayMom
Can't believe your trip is almost here!! Seems like yesterday you started this TR - all caught up again!! Good luck with packing and with the FL heat!!
Thanks--we started laying out the closthes options today. The next step will be to try and "coordinate" as best we can.
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.
Okay, I'm all caught up - don't ask me how, but I missed your TR completely! I read it all in one sitting though, and it was fantastic. Made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes, a little bit of everything.
I absolutely agree that it's as if God gave you a do-over. In other words, even though you did have some enjoyable time, that's not how a Disney vacation is supposed to be.
I'm glad that you were able to get the GAC. Disney should be magical for everyone there, and if waiting in lines takes away some magic, by all means she deserves to get to the front of the line.
That sounds very difficult dealing with all those people for the GG. I would not be happy if it was all DBF's Family! I have a bit of the same issue - he will not stand up to family members, even if it's for his own good. For example, his brother and sister have each (separately) stolen from him, committed credit fraud (charging things to his cards without permission) and so on and so forth. Yet, he still allows them to walk all over him. I can't stand it, but if I say anything, I'm the "bad guy" trying to come between him and his family. At least you didn't stay with them 24/7 though and were able to enjoy your vacation with your husband and kids.
Your upcoming trip sounds wonderful! I've never stayed at Beach Club, but we went there for dinner once and it was gorgeous.
As far as Tokyo in Epcot, do you mean Tokyo Dining or Teppan Edo? We've eaten at Teppan Edo and I believe there would be things for a picky kid on there. They have chicken breast and steak. All the food is delicious.
Okay, I'm all caught up - don't ask me how, but I missed your TR completely! I read it all in one sitting though, and it was fantastic. Made me laugh, brought tears to my eyes, a little bit of everything.
I absolutely agree that it's as if God gave you a do-over.
I'm glad that you were able to get the GAC. Disney should be magical for everyone there, and if waiting in lines takes away some magic, by all means she deserves to get to the front of the line.
As far as Tokyo in Epcot, do you mean Tokyo Dining or Teppan Edo? We've eaten at Teppan Edo and I believe there would be things for a picky kid on there. They have chicken breast and steak. All the food is delicious.
You're leaving so soon! Have a wonderful trip!!
So sweet of you!! Thank you for your wonderful comments!
We are going to Tokyo dining (back story below). After reading Cam's TR, I wished it was for Teppan Edo, but I am looking forward to Tokyo. It will be a nice change of pace. And the picky DS can have fried chicken!
Backstory about Tokyo: (I do not think I detailed above):
We originally planned to meet some friends for dinner at Ohana--they were arriving 2 days before we leave and thought it would be fun to meet up with them (GG of 8). We are all good friends and see each other often in the real world. But we have different styles and kid temperaments and I was worried that rushing to meet them for a late dinner (at another resort meaning transportation hassles) would cause us some stress, and we were meeting up with my SIL and her family the next day. Even so, Ohana was on our wish list and meeting friends would be fun for the kids, so we booked ADRs at the same time...or so I thought. Turns out our ADR was for the Thursday before we even arrived at WDW. By the time I realized it, free dining was out and what I had "planned" for was not available and this was the only remaining option. I know I could have kept trying, but I saw it as another "sign." Tokyo was literally one of the only options available at Epcot that night. At first I was worried but now am looking forward to it!
btw-A GAC works kinda like a FP--in fact if there is a FP line, GAC folks use it. For some things, the wait was minimal. But when the regular lines were over an hour, and all FPs were out, the FP line was still pretty long. But we could handle a line that was steadily moving.
This weekend, DH and I chose the WDW clothes for our kids. Pretty easy. Next step was to try and "coordinate" the outfits so we look like we "go together" in pictures. That was much more challenging! Especially when we add in clothes for DH and I! I am also expecting to sweat profusely and need to change clothes a bunch of times a day which would totally throw off any attempt at coordination, anyway. Not the biggest worry, I guess. This is the kind of thing you waste time on when you have planned everything else so well/so far in advance! LOL!
It has been hot here in MN lately. We have had a number of days with the heat index around 100. I do not do so well. I like hot. I HATE humid. I have been checking Orlando weather and getting very scared that their heat indexes are 100+ every time I look. I am seriously doomed. I do not like how I look in ponytails. I sweat. a lot. My face gets red. I may just have to sit out of all the family pictures...
You will LOVE Tokoyo Dinning, I promise you. We had one of the best meals from our trip there last year ( Ohana being the other). We both got bento boxes and couldn't have been happier with the service, our table, the scenery and most of all the food!! We did pay OOP for some extra sushi as an app though.
My reason for choosing Tokoyo over Teppan Edo is I feel like you can get great hibachi just about anywhere these days, and as much as I do love "the show" they put on, I just wanted something a little more different.
I hear you on the coordinating thing. I tend to do that as well. Helps me remember what my DD is wearing in case she ever does get lost. We use to go around christmas so that was easy, I would always bring blacks, whites and reds.
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