TR: If This was Vacation--I'll Stay Home Next Time - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Now I know why I travel solo and have very few problems and no one to argue with!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I’m getting annoyed at M&M on your behalf! Can you say entitled!? can I ask who paid for the rooms? Did you use your points? If so, they should be a lot more grateful. Even if they paid their share, they are not being very cognizant of the fact that this was your vacation, too.
We paid for rooms and tickets and a family meal. The rest was on them. M&M were only going to stay for part of the week and are not really Disney fans. The only thing I felt taken advantage of was coming back to get their keys fixed. I think Minnie could have handled that. I did have to laugh--when I went to the front desk to get the keys fixed, the day manager was out there. She came over with our room charges and said--you will notice we added a credit on there--you and Carl need to have a drink on us.
Saturday came and went with very little drama. Carl and I headed to AK and rode a ride and had a drink and headed back to the room in time to see M&M off. Other than a delayed flight, they made it home safely and Mickey is now back at work, no other side effects of the surgery.
The rest of us flew SWA back to Kansas City later in the day. Donald missed another football game, but the score was so bad, even he admitted he would not have wanted to waste money on a ticket to the game. Daisy had a little drama of her own the next day--someone sideswiped her car in a Taco Bell parking lot. No one was hurt and the driver fessed up to the large dent in the side of her door.
Our two pooches, Pluto and Goofy are glad to have us home. Carl is back to work and traveling while I do the post travel clean up. I've learned a few things, taking my "what if" planning a little more seriously than I have lately. My contacts list now includes the numbers for both the Orlando ER and Urgent Care, the Front Desk for each of the Disney properties.
Those infamous color-coded spreadsheets are now more respected and I will be making sure that all travelers have a virtual copy of them. I will make sure that I have the Lyft and Uber apps updated on my phone--these services were invaluable. I will also make sure that a suggested packing list includes CASH. That's one thing neither of my kids took along with them, was much CASH. They think that they can do everything with their card, and though 99% of what you need to do, you can do it with a card--you may not want to expose your card numbers in strange places.
Our next trip is April--3 weeks both coasts and the Panama Canal--just Carl and me. No kids or dogs. And we will be celebrating. And yes, I have started my color-coded spreadsheet.
This was definitely NOT the vacation I had planned, but the outcome worked. We experienced life in the midst of vacation that could have been tragic. It was unpleasant at times and inconvenient and made me (us) think outside of the Mouse--but we are alive, and we still are talking to one another. So, in a while--we will probably laugh about some of it.
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You DEFINITELY earned the drink the manager gifted you!
Glad you’re still talking to each other. As many have said, you had the patience of a saint and tolerated a LOT more than many would have. Your kids are lucky!
After what the kids put you thru I would suggest you order your drinks like I do. Two 55gal. drums and a straw at a time should work very nicely. Better travels in April
Wow, sadly I can emphasize with your vacation. Last year we took the trip from Hades with my in laws and extended family. I swore never again. I'm glad you and Carl have a nice long vacation coming up to make up for this one!