The After a 12 year break...TWICE IN 10 MONTHS?!?! WOOHOO!! - UPDATED 7/7 - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
Day 1: Travel...rain...and finally...Disney dreams come true.
We loaded the car and left at about 4am Central time. Stefffe drove the first leg while I slept, then I took over and drove the rest of the way. We figured 14 hours drive time and it ended up being 14 and a half, but we stopped to eat twice, ran into some pretty heavy rain in Tallahassee that lasted all the way to Gainsville, made three gas and potty stops, and went through a time zone change. All of that put our arrival at 9:30pm Eastern time.
After a really quick check in at All Star Sports, we hopped a bus to MK. We rode Haunted Mansion twice(LOVED IT!!!!), Splash, BTMRR, and Small World. By this time it was after 1am so we went back to ASSports to get some sleep.
The good news is, Stefffe FINALLY rode Splash after all these years. The bad news is, there were technical difficulties with the audio, which would be one of the themes for the week. We ran into technical difficulties on a lot of attractions. The other theme for the week was me asking my 10 year old dd if she was drunk last August. She kept asking, "Did we do this last year?" and saying "I don't remember this from last year". There were a few things she remembered, like the 3D movies and all the Mountains, but for the most part it was like being there for the first time again for her.
Coming up - Day 2 at Epcot and AK.
Barry
__________________
The early bird may get the worm...but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese
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.
OK now I know NORMAL does not apply to Barry lol... Steffeeeeeee you have my complete understanding as a wife lmao.... I am so glad that you have had a great time and can't wait to hear more of the wonderful trip. 14hrs drive + EMH @ MK??? = being and WDW and NOT NORMAL!!!! lmao....
WOW!! A 14-1/2 hour drive + MK, got give you a hand on that one!! But I'm glad ya'll had a safe trip and still had enough energy to hit some rides. Can't wait to hear about Epcot!!
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.
After getting a good nights sleep of almost 5 hours we were up at 7am and I went for breakfast at McDonalds which is across the street from ASSports. If you have a car, its easier AND cheaper to eat breakfast there than it is to get food from the End Zone Food Court. We did'nt know it was there until we drove by it on our night of arrival.
After breakfast, it was time to start our Disney vacation for real. Arriving at Epcot just when they started admitting people through the turnstiles, we separated, with Stefffe and Kayla lining up for rope drop to go ride Test Track, while I wormed my way towards the rope for Soarin'. At rope drop, the fast walk/race to Soarin' was on. I was one of the first people in the building, got FP's and by the time I was on the escalator out of there the stand by line was 45 minutes. It was jammed every time we looked for the entire trip.
After meeting up with Stefffe and Kayla, who had already been on TT once, we rode it together. As many times as I've been on it, that was the first time I'd ever ridden it from the front seat. It was great not having to look around someone's head. While we waited for our Soarin' FP window to come around, we decided to check out the rehab results of SSE. Since it's been 13 years between rides, I'm not qualified to compare the experiences, so I'll just say we liked it enough to ride it multiple time during our trip. It was a LOT different than I remember it being.
Finally...it's time for Soarin'. We love love LOVE Soarin'. What a great experience. Once we were done with Soarin' we still had a little over an hour before our ADR so we decided to take a much needed nap on Universe of Energy. It would have been great had Kayla let me sleep. She kept asking me..."are you okay?"
Once my NON nap was over, it was time to go down on the farm with Mickey, Pluto, and Chip & Dale. The food was Yummo and the service was great, but the Garden Grill was experiencing technical difficulties...no spin. It's just not the same if it's not rotating.
After a break for a Wal...
We interupt this trip report to bring you the following bulletin. I just boiled my gumbo over REALLY REALLY BAD. I'll be back later to continue our tale.
Barry
__________________
The early bird may get the worm...but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese
Ooops. Gotta hate when the boiling over of gumbo gets in a way of a trip report. You guys are impressive with a 14.5 hour road trip plus EMH MK. Sorry to hear that the World was having technical difficulties while you were there.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Oh No!! Hope the gumbo was saved. What kind are you gumbo are you making and if I bring my own bowl of rice - can I come over to eat???? The last time I had a good bowl of gumbo was waaaay to long ago!
Can't wait for more....
Oh No!! Hope the gumbo was saved. What kind are you gumbo are you making and if I bring my own bowl of rice - can I come over to eat???? The last time I had a good bowl of gumbo was waaaay to long ago!
Can't wait for more....
Chicken and Sausage and the rice AND potato salad are already made. What time would you like to eat?
Barry
__________________
The early bird may get the worm...but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese
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but I don't like the sounds of that 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
She kept asking, "Did we do this last year?" and saying "I don't remember this from last year". 
There were a few things she remembered, like the 3D movies and all the Mountains, but for the most part it was like being there for the first time again for her. 
Margaret
I admire your stamina 
More please 
But I'm glad ya'll had a safe trip and still had enough energy to hit some rides. Can't wait to hear about Epcot!!
It's just not the same if it's not rotating. 
Lisa 
Linear Mode
