Celebrating as One Big Happy Family: 5/10/14 - 5/18/14 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Congrats on the new camera!! I like Snapfish and as far as I know, I don't think they have a limit of storage. I usually store all my pictures on Flickr, but I pay for the extra storage space.
So Flickr charges for extra space as well? Dang!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nanajoyx2
Holly, my DH's birthday is on Christmas Day, too. But he thinks it is a great day for a birthday. One of his close friends has the same birthday, only a year later.
I look at it as one big celebration!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackid2
YAY!! Single Digits Hope looks so adorable in her dance outfit.
Congrats on the new camera!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Totally jealous of the new camera! And your old one is a Nikon? How did I miss that. And you know who to talk to if you ever want to part with it.
I would feel so bad even considering giving you my old camera. I'm telling you, it's a dinosaur. Although I think I'm going to have to take that dino with me on vacation one last time.
Well, tomorrow's the big day! Our trip is finally here! Last night I treated myself to a mani/pedi, and tonight I'll treat Hope to one at home. After I get her all dolled up, I'll finish up some light packing while Chad cuts the grass one last time, and then we're off to bed for our very last sleep 'til Disney.
We'll be flying out of Baltimore at 9:45am tomorrow morning. We booked our tickets through Southwest, however, we are apparently now flying out via AirTran. Because of that, we had the option of selecting our seats prior to check-in or having them assigned when we check-in at the airport. Of course, if you choose to select your seats prior to airport arrival, you must pay a fee for that luxury, which I originally didn't want to do. My plan was to just let the agent assign our seats to us, as long as we were together. Well, that's the big thing, there's no guarantee that we'll all be seated together if we wait until we get to the airport. If it were just Chad and I, I wouldn't care. I've flown by myself before, and I don't need to spend the exra $10 per seat fee just so we can sit next to each other.
The issue I have is with not being able to sit next to Hope. If there are no seats together when we check-in, they can't very well ask someone to move for me, when they've clearly paid to select their seats ahead of time. We'd be stuck sitting apart, and after some searching online, I found out that it does happen. Airlines have been charging for every little thing for several years now. I'm okay with not getting a full meal, or a blanket, but to now put a price tag on my peace-of-mind...that's a bit much. So they got me, they got my $30 extra dollars, as well as my brother's and my parent's, and after looking at the seating chart this morning, I'm glad I made the decision to pre-pick our seats because there's only one availble seat left on the plane. Who knows where we all would have been sitting.
I guess I could write a complaint letter, but what good would that really do? The airline CEOs could care less about what the little people want, and as long as people continue to pay to pick their seats, they're going to keep charging for it.
Off my soap box now. I've also been keeping an eye on the weather down in Disney, and it looks like it's going to be HOT! Guess those pool breaks will really come in handy, so it's a good thing we'll be breaking at the best pool on Disney property.
So, I guess this is it until we get back. I'm off to finish up some work at the office, and then I'll be heading out on our vacation to Celebrate as One Big Happy Family!
I hope your trip is wonderful! I'm sure I'd have paid the extra fee, too, and grumbled about it. We're paying more and more to be more and more uncomfortable in the shrinking seat space.
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I hear ya sista!!! I am debating on picking out seats for out annivesary trip next weekend. I really don't want to sit apart from DH. DH's sister booked out flights through SW, but we too are flying AirTran. That's why I am biting the bullet and paying AA's prices for out Oct Disney trip. They still have seats you don't have to pay for and can pick in advance. I want to make sure the girls and I sit together. Between our carryons, I think I can make one checked bag work and my mom is driving down from Pensacola so she is going to bring all the toiletries we need.
Hope you get a great nights rest and safe travels.
Have a very magical trip!!!! Totally jealous by the way!!!
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Gah! I was so far behind on this PTR (not even sure I've managed to comment, but I've been reading) and it's already go time. Sounds like a fun trip is planned. I love the pictures of Hope through the years. So stinking cute.
Along with not being the best at keeping up with this PTR I haven't had time to read all the comments you've received, but you asked about flickr and that's what I've been using and my pictures can be put into my TRs no problem. To me it isn't even hard. Just have to copy the right link for the size picture you want to include. I keep hearing people complain about Photobucket and resizing and I'm confused by how that can be an issue. On Flickr you just upload your original and you can go to a page that has "All Sizes" and just copy the link for the size you want. They have about 10 different sizes to choose from. Flickr doesn't have any photo editing tools (or I don't think it's really used for that) so if you're used to doing that stuff on Photobucket you might miss that I guess. With Flickr I've got 1 TB for free.
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I think it is a shame that the airline is charging to pick your seats and like you said, they know people are going to pay just for that peace of mind.
OMG I hate the airlines - but what can you do about it. They ALL do it. I just really would like to know what my money goes for if not a seat on the plane!
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Although I think I'm going to have to take that dino with me on vacation one last time. 
which I originally didn't want to do. My plan was to just let the agent assign our seats to us, as long as we were together. Well, that's the big thing, there's no guarantee that we'll all be seated together if we wait until we get to the airport. 
If it were just Chad and I, I wouldn't care. I've flown by myself before, and I don't need to spend the exra $10 per seat fee just so we can sit next to each other. 
Airlines have been charging for every little thing for several years now. I'm okay with not getting a full meal, or a blanket, but to now put a price tag on my peace-of-mind...that's a bit much. 
So they got me, they got my $30 extra dollars, as well as my brother's and my parent's, and after looking at the seating chart this morning, I'm glad I made the decision to pre-pick our seats because there's only one availble seat left on the plane. Who knows where we all would have been sitting. 
I've also been keeping an eye on the weather down in Disney, and it looks like it's going to be HOT! 
Guess those pool breaks will really come in handy, so it's a good thing we'll be breaking at the best pool on Disney property. 
to Hope!!
*Melissa
Liz 
Holly: 
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