Sue and the DoD trip that "Just might end up on the Internet somewhere" report!--COMPLETE 6/5/09 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Sue and the DoD trip that "Just might end up on the Internet somewhere" report!--COMPLETE 6/5/09
Well....where to begin?
I thought about not doing a trip report, since I knew there would be many other DoD trip reports, but here I am anyway. There were so many great experiences, great friends, great memories and great times that I think I do need to write this.
Oh, and did I mention pictures?
Yeah...over 700 of them. And Steve wasn't even here to help me along.
So, how did this all come to be. Well, back in Novemebr (November 22, 2008 to be exact), my DS got down on one knee and said those magic words to my now future DDiL, and she said yes. They set a date...October 3, 2009! Not much grass growing under their feet, huh? That doesn't give us alot of time to save, plan, etc. So we decided that in addition to doing debt reduction, we now had the wedding (or, the wadding, as JoanW would call it) to save for. That curtailed any major trip plans for 2009. And after all, we had done a magical trip to the UK and a DVC cruise in 2008, so we really couldn't complain, could we?
Well, OK, maybe I could whine a little bit.
I watched the DoD forum with bated breath as so many really cool people began to sign up. Gee, it would be great to go, but no, not this year. Gee it would be great to go, but we have the wadding. Gee it would be great to go, but we said no trips. Gee it would be great to go...well, you get the picture.
I am not sure of the exact date and time, but I think it was early January (OK, it was January 5, if you must know) that Steve got fed up with listening to me mope. I think his words (and I paraphrase here) were "If you don't book this bleepity bleepity trip soon, I am going to book it for you." OK, dear, if you insist.
I had decided that I was going to book it on points rather than through the travel agency to try to save some money. I knew I would be giving up some of the events, but I figured there were going to be enough other meets that I would be fine!
I called Member Services and had a choice of OKW or SSR. I love both resorts, but chose OKW because I love it just a tiny bit more. A studio for 5 nights, a quick check of the Southwest website, a click to Dollar rental and it was GAME ON!!
Now I needed a travelling bud. Hmmm...who could that be? Now this date I truly don't recall, but I'm sure that Angie (poohsgirl) knows what day I contacted her about joining me. And, just like my future DDiL...she said YES!!
So we were set! Now that I had confirmed, the planning began!!
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Not much grass growing under their feet, huh? That doesn't give us alot of time to save, plan, etc. So we decided that in addition to doing debt reduction, we now had the wedding (or, the wadding, as JoanW would call it) to save for. That curtailed any major trip plans for 2009. And after all, we had done a magical trip to the UK and a DVC cruise in 2008, so we really couldn't complain, could we?
OK, dear, if you insist.
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