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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Glad you had a good visit to Chicago! Sounds like things are starting to progress in planning mode. Helping with the upcoming trip will help things feel faster too.
That it does, but not fast enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The exhibit at Chicago looks so cool! Looks like it was good practice with the boys and the strollers.
Lots of practice that's for sure. We are planning lots of outtings this summer so we get use to it ourselves. DH wants to make sure they get use to fireworks as well. We had a little show on New Years Eve for them and they did okay with the quiet ones, but the noisy ones not so much.
Not sure I can wait till June to start making our plans. I know every morning is one day closer, but it just seems like its so far away.
Pushing strollers around is fun. Although in January we haven't had much trouble in WDW with strollers and getting around. Not very crowded. The fireworks didn't go over well with my son when he was 18 months old. When he was awake that is. There were a few times when he had already fallen asleep and he was fine. When 2 he cried through the 4th of July show at home as well. Some kids will do fine. Others won't - not matter how used to it they are.
My DH and I have come to a fork in the road with this trip. We are thinking about driving now. I'm not sure how that will be with 2 - 2 year olds, but I see how it would save us some money in the end. We have till June to decide, but I think the one thing at the top of my list is I can bring whatever I want. I'm so overwhelmed about this, I know I shouldn't be, but I am.
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Good luck with the decision. How long would the car ride be? How do your children do in the car now? I know I wouldn't want to take my kids on a drive down to WDW, but I've been in the car with them for 3 hours and they are not pleasant. But if it saves money and it's the only option I would do it!
Good luck with the decision. How long would the car ride be? How do your children do in the car now? I know I wouldn't want to take my kids on a drive down to WDW, but I've been in the car with them for 3 hours and they are not pleasant. But if it saves money and it's the only option I would do it!
It would be about 18 hours give or take. We have already talked about stopping overnight some where. The boys do great in the car, 90% of the time they fall asleep or jabber back and forth. We did a 6 hour road trip to MI in Oct and they slept most of the way until it was time to eat. We are planning little road trips this summer just so they get use to being in the car more. We figured it would save us $1500, we would use points for the hotel stay so that helps even more.
Waiting to do an update on trip plans till I make our DVC reservations next month. Once I do that the ball will start rolling. Quick question if you have DVC have you ever gotten the vacation insurance?
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So since I've starting this PTR ( I guess I can call it that), a little bit has changed to I guess I will do a little recap.
Our Plan is to be there from Jan 25 - Jan 31. After doing some number crunching, seeing how my boys are at times and not knowing how they would be if we were to fly, DH and I have decided to drive from the Chicago area to Orlando. My Parents are going to fly and we will just meet them down there on the 25. So we will probably leave early Saturday morning and stop in Georgia and then leave Sunday morning and meet my parents at the resort.
Here is the Cast of Characters:
Jacki (Me) 36, I love anything Disney. I became addicted when I went for the first time in 2006. Even became DVC members with my parents.
Ken (DH) 36 ( will be 37 when we go). Is learning to love Disney as much as I do. Really wants to go for a Star Wars Weekend.
Lukas (DS1) Will be turning 2 while we are there. Love Disney Junior. Usually gets to watch it while have a snack when we get home in the afternoons.
Alex (DS2) Same as his brother, Will be turning 2 while we are there. Love Disney Junior. Usually gets to watch it while have a snack when we get home in the afternoons.
MaMa (my mom) not disclosing an age . Can not wait to share the Magic of Disney with her Grandsons.
Gramps (my dad) 66. Is just along for the ride.
Since we have decided that we are only going to be doing 3 days of parks, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We have 2 open days to do whatever we want. DH has actually requested that we do some exploring off property which is fine by me. Since we are driving we won't have to pay for a rental car and we have an extra row so we can fit all 6 of in there.
I'm starting to get into planning mode. We did find out that my in-laws will not be joining us on this vacation. I love them dearly, but sometimes I need my space.
I get to make our reservation next month and we are hoping to stay at BLT or Wilderness Lodge, fingers crossed that one of those places work for us.
Hope the drive goes well! Our boys did pretty good so I hope yours do too!
I've never gotten the vacation insurance through DVC as I figure you can usually get your points back so not out much really. We just cancelled our June trip last month and I had some points that were in last use year so I wouldn't be able to use them, but they were able to put them in this use year anyway.
Hope the drive goes well! Our boys did pretty good so I hope yours do too!
I've never gotten the vacation insurance through DVC as I figure you can usually get your points back so not out much really. We just cancelled our June trip last month and I had some points that were in last use year so I wouldn't be able to use them, but they were able to put them in this use year anyway.
Thanks for sharing the points info. My mom is the one who is freaking out about the snow already I keep telling her its not even summer yet and she is thinking about snow. YUCK!! Everything will work out.
4 weeks and I can make our reservations!! I can't wait. May has been a busy month for us, birthdays, Mother's Day, Family coming into town and now the boys have been sick. Hopefully they are better by the weekend. I found a Zoo that is about and hour away and free, so we thought we would take a day trip and check it out.
DH said the other day that once Christmas and New Years is over the boys will have no contact with their cousins till after we get back from Disney. He cracks me up I understand why, but you can't be that mean to our family.
My Dad is getting very excited about going, he keeps telling me all the fun stuff we need to do with the boys. It's very cute. Trip will be a lot different for him since DH are more willing to let my parents take the boys to do something. Maybe we can get a date night out of it.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
I understand why, but you can't be that mean to our family. 
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