I Will Get Into Le Cellier If It's The Last Thing I Do: 3/14-3/20 (Pre Trip) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I Will Get Into Le Cellier If It's The Last Thing I Do: 3/14-3/20 (Pre Trip)
Well, I'm back for another installment of "Will it be a year before John updates us on his trip?" I promise that I'll be conscious of writing when I get home.
There are pros and cons to planning a Disney trip spur of the moment. The biggest pro is obviously that the waiting isn't very far away. I'm almost never 3 months away from a planned trip...ever. The con? I don't get to drag out my pre-trip report. Once I decide on dates, I gotta scramble for plane tix, ADRs, etc... I think the pro outweighs that though!
The reason for the current title? I'm not important enough on the boards for people to really remember me, but 2 years ago I had an ADR for Le Cellier on my last day. We met some family in Orlando and we were stretching our pockets as it was the last day, so we decided to bail on our reservation. Maybe we'd try and walk up with the family for dinner. So we missed our lunch ADR, but lo and behold, they're not accepting walk ups later that night. Upset? sure, but not heart broken. I always know I'll be back. Fast forward 7 months, and I'm making plans for my second trip with the girlfriend for Jan 2009. No matter how many times I call, I can't get Le Cellier for lunch or dinner at any time whatsoever on the whole trip. Based on suggestions from you guys for that pre-trip report, I try walking up at weird times, no dice. We can't get a table for 2 at all. We go home with cheddar soup and filet mignon-less.
It's 2010, once again we've booked dates a mere 70 days from the trip. Will we get Le Cellier?
CAST: John (me, 26, once again older... ugh) Last time I was on my way to making detective, well I have the position now. It's fantastic. I love my job, I love working in NYC. I can't ask for anything better. Things I'm looking forward to on this trip? Being in WDW. I completely cheated on the mouse in October. I stayed at SSR for 2 nights but spent the 2 days at Universal's halloween stuff. I've never felt so horrible. Who enters the gates of the World without stepping foot in a park? Ugh. I'm a terrible person. So, I can't wait to be back. I also can't wait for Space Mountain: The Refurb, and Splash Mountain (because it was closed last time).
Liz (DGF, 21, still gorgeous) Liz just spent the fall semester in England studying history. She still runs a ballet studio. She's almost finished with college. She's still not ready for me to pop the question though. Too much life in the way right now.
WHERE: Off property again, you can't beat free timeshares. We're staying at Vistana this time. We were at Vistana Villages in 2008, and Mystic Dunes in 2009.
WHEN: March 14-20, 2010
HOW: No idea. I'm printing money in my basement I think.
Next Up... Travel/Budget Plans and how they came about....maybe ADRs if you're lucky.
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.
We pulled a Le Cellier cancel last year too. I thought I'd be tarred and feathered! We travel at "slow" times, so getting the ressie was never a problem. Can't wait to see how it works out for you!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
My cousin and his girlfriend call me and say they're going to the Bahamas for Valentine's Day weekend, do we want to come? Of course we do. That would be nice. We're all looking at plans and everything. We're looking at all-inclusive resorts, airfare, etc... It looks like it's going to be 1000-1200 a person for 3 nights. So Liz and I discuss it, and she says that's a lot of money for such a short period of time, I want to go to Disney for Spring Break. This blows me away. I didn't realize she was thinking about it. So, I say...we can swing both. I check out my funds, and realize, "Whoa! I'm way more broke than I thought." So, we decide a week at Disney is wayyyyyyyy more fun than 3 days in the Bahamas. Sorry cousin, you're out.
So I check to see how Disney's 2010 specials are looking. $750 gift cards (could pay for dining for the week), 30% off rooms. It looks like we can definitely do it. I start looking at AKL, WL, POFQ, and PoP. The deals look nice, and we still have yet to stay on property. I work out all the crazy numbers and realize, I still feel broke. Airfare is like 129 each way, the rooms are still pretty expensive. I checked on the dining plan, everything. The trip would be like 1400 for each of us, and I basically pay everything. I break the bad news to Liz....but I'm not deterred.
I start asking the family members if they plan on going to Florida this year. My parents say yes. There time share is out. My Uncle Karl says no. We can have the week. We're BACK in business! With the timeshare at no cost, we're looking good. I check on car rentals now and ughh. They're at 400 a week no matter who I look at. We're still 100% in but wow the price is still looking steep. Park tickets were 800 for both of us, the airfare was not the cheapest it could be. Then....everything starts breaking our way.
Airfare drops from 129 to 104. I looked at the park tickets wrong, they were 600, not 800. Just saved the budget 250. I check my email and hotwire just so happens to show me car rentals in Orlando. I click on it. Holy cow, I can get a car for $188. We just saved another $200 from the original budget. Airfare goes down AGAIN to $84. I book the airfare.
Our spring vacation plans go from 1200 a person for 3 nights in the Bahamas to 1200 total for 7 nights in freakin WDW! I think someone upstairs was telling me that 15 months was enough time off. I obviously wasn't being punished for my cheating in November.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
Sammi
so you get it!
Linear Mode
