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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The mood is right; the spirit's up.
We're here this week; Almost enough
We're simply having a wonderful Disney time
Simply having a wonderful Disney time.
The party's on; the feeling's here
That only comes when we're here
We're simply having a wonderful Disney time
Simply having a wonderful Disney time.
The word is out about the town
So lift your glass and don't look down.
Simply having a wonderful Disney time
(I'll admit that writing a pre-trip report for a December trip in the middle of summer is somewhat daunting. I actually had to look up some of the lyrics for the song and you wouldn't believe what I found..."The MOON is right"??? So LICK your glass"???? Have these people even LISTENED to the lyrics???).
This is the 3rd family pre-trip report I have written in 3 years. And it's probably also the last one I'll write for a long time. We've had 2 wonderful trips thus far (and I'm counting on our upcoming one to be just as fantastic), but financially it's time to take a break. When we go to Disney we've been going whole hog. My job is rather stressful (of course is there a job out there that isn't?) so when it comes to vacation, I want to be taken care of (I'd say relax, but that word rarely enters my vocabulary. I've tried several times to take the "type B' approach to Disney, but the commando in me just takes over the second we touch down in Orlando).
During our first family trip (that is our first trip with Jimmy -- SDS and I had been 10 times prior) I had decided to really SPLURGE and not only stay at the Contemporary (Sds's favorite hotel and I knew it would be Jimmy's too) but go Club Level. Well let me tell you, once you stay CL, it's hard to go back. All the resorts we've stayed at have been great (even All Star Sports in the middle of Pop Warner), but the magical service we received at the Atrium Club at the Contemporary spoiled me. I mean REALLY spoiled me!
September is one of our favorite times to visit WDW, but with Jimmy starting kindergarten this year that wasn't going to be possible. And one of Jimmy's favorite things about the holiday season is driving around and seeing the holiday lights. No one can deny that Disney KNOWS how to do holiday lights! So...
I wanted to go when the holiday goings on were in full bloom, but NOT during the actual holiday week. (With my personality Christmas Day at Disney would be STESSMAS Day!). I'm not one who believes in taking kids out of school for a vacation (HONEST! I swear!), but kindergarten in only 1/2 day in our town (rationalizing, rationalizing) and at the age of 5 this would be the perfect time for Jimmy to soak up all the holiday joy that Disney has to offer.
So...after talking to the school principal after an orientation meeting ("Hi...My kid's really excited about coming here and so are we...what is your policy on taking him out of school for week for a family vacation?" Great way to make a first impression, right?), I booked a trip for the first week of December (From Saturday, Dec 4th through Saturday, December 11th).
Now initially I had wanted to do CL at the Boardwalk. We've never stayed there, but I'm really wanting to try it. Plus it's so close to Epcot and DHS where lots of holiday action is. So I broached the subject with Jimmy & Sds.
Jimmy: "Can I see the water parade?" (Electrical water pageant).
Me: "Ummm...not from this hotel."
Jimmy: "That makes me sad."
OK, I knew the kid loved the nightly routine of watching the electric floats from our balcony before bed (he can still recite the order in which they go -- ending of course with "The Grand Old Flag"), I just didn't know HOW much he loved it. (OK, I knew...I just wanted to try something different).
So I go for CL at the Contemporary. And I'm probably the only one (or one of the few) that requested a water view (so Jimmy can see the pageant at night). I've had MK view and to be honest (no shooting me), I think I like the water view better. Very relaxing.
I'm so excited I get to read another one of your TR's. Great start. I would love to stay at CR someday. That's my DS Jared's dream resort. Can't wait to read more about your plans.
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Great start.
I know what you mean about pulling the kids out. My girls are starting a new private school and we are going the last full week before Christmas break starts. I am going to talk to the headmaster and their teachers and pray they don't have tests this week. My DH is a little worried, but I think it will be okay. They will just miss the Christmas party and I think the girls will be okay with that since we are going to Disney!
Great start. I'm the opposite...so long as they are doing well in school I have no problem pulling them out. I've pulled DS out of 1st and 2nd and SS out of 9th and 10th. They've both survived. Just bring straws back for the class and the teacher will forgive you.
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
We may live in the "tristate area", but being 20 minutes away from Newark Airport means that that's where we are going to fly out of (yea, we could do JFK or LaGuadia, but by the time you factor in the cost to get there and the time, Newark is THE option). If we lived further away (from Orlando that is), I would consider a non-direct flight, but it just seems silly to me...and annoying...and heck I want to get to my destination NOW! (that commando comes out in me at the strangest times! ). Plus, for some odd reason non-direct seem to be more expensive. (Who wants to fly from Newark to Cleveland to Orlando for $800 a person???). When it comes to airlines we've got 2 choices: Continental or JetBlue. When comparing prices, I need to factor in the cost of baggage. It's $60 a person round trip extra for a checked bag (and if we're going for a week with a 5 year old, I NEED 3 bags). So that adds up to an extra $180. Even factoring that in the two airlines are pretty close in price.
Now we have flown both airlines. Continental for our first family trip to Orlando in 08 and Jetblue in 09. With the free satellite tv (and radio) on every flight JetBlue wins hands down. (Not all Continental flights have seatback tv...most do, but not all). And then there was the staff who were incredible our last trip. AND there was the pilot who invited Jimmy into the cockpit as we deplaned when we arrived home last time. That gesture alone was pretty much one that made me resolved to ALWAYS fly JetBlue when I could. (kindness goes a long way with me ).
So you've probably guessed what airline we went with (even when it turned out to be a bit more expensive than the other airline).
I want as much WDW time as I can get...so I booked a 7 AM flight out. Which means leaving our house at 5. I'll have Sds (the hubby) get up at 4;15 and will get Jimmy up at 4:45 (potty, dressed and a muffin and he'll be set). Me...I'll set the alarm for 4, but knowing me I'll be up WAY before then! This should get us into Orlando before 10 AM. And hopefully at the Contemporary around 11.
(Time for a side note: While the DME buses are great and entertaining during the "long" ride to WDW, the Contemporary is ALWAYS the last stop. With 2 years experience behind me, I've come to the conclusion that the excitement and the "lurchy" stopping and starting as you enter the various resorts, does not agree with Jimmy's tummy. While we travel with the Nemo bucket for "protein spills", this year I'd like to avoid one. Even if Jimmy was a pro last time at "aiming". So here is my plan: Whatever the first stop is for DME, Jimmy and I are getting off the bus. Sds will stay one with carry on luggage. If the first stop is the Wilderness Lodge, we will get off, go into the hotel and walk through. Ok, we may take a photo at the totum poll if I can talk Jimmy into it. We will head out back past the pool and out to the docks. Maybe we'll even see the geiser go off. We will take the boat across to the Contemporary and meet Sds there. If the first stop is the Poly or the GF, we will get off and head into the hotel and upstairs to the monorail. We will take the monorail to the Contemporary and get our first view of the Magic Kingdom all decked out for the holidays! Either way, I'm hoping that this route will remove the threat of "protein spillage". Of course, to be on the safe side, I will still have the Nemo bucket and plenty of tissues. But I'm thinking this might be the solution to our problem).
We will be taking an afternoon flight home a week later. Which was more expensive. Much more expensive. But I had a choice of 4 flights home. The earliest one was at 8 AM. That would mean that we would have to get on a bus around 5 in the morning. And while I am willing to do that on the way down, I am NOT that thrilled at doing it on the way home. Plus the last night who wants to go to bed early? I didn't want to take an evening flight and get back in late night. While we do have Sunday to recover, it's still going to be a busy Sunday and I wanted to have a little bit of Saturday home to collapse and start laundry. Which leads me to the afternoon flight. The 3 PM flight gets in before 6 -- if all goes well that is. We will have time to "sleep in" [ha, ha...maybe till 7?] and enjoy the hotel a bit before heading out to the airport. We could check out the decorations at the monorail hotels once more and lounge in the lounge. The cost of "me time" is more than I'd like, but my family and I are worth it!
(Another side note: Contemporary is the last off DME and first on. How unfair is that? Add at least 40 minutes to our trip to the airport because we'll be picking up at the other resorts.).
On last note on transportation: I could have asked my brother to drive us or even possibly my parents, but it being such an early morning flight out, I've asked the Sexton at our church to do the honors. It's kind of a side job for him and he doesn't charge much (I usually give him more than he asks for and always give it to him up front). He's an early morning guy any way, so just last week I made sure that I got noted down in his "little brown book".
Transporation is set...now the three of us are ready to go...Did I say three? Our next "chapter" I'll talk about how three has turned into five!
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Liz 
We're trying CL for the firs time in June 2011, and I can already tell we're going to be spoiled.
what a great start to your TR. Ready for more...
). Plus, for some odd reason non-direct seem to be more expensive. (Who wants to fly from Newark to Cleveland to Orlando for $800 a person???). When it comes to airlines we've got 2 choices: Continental or JetBlue. When comparing prices, I need to factor in the cost of baggage. It's $60 a person round trip extra for a checked bag (and if we're going for a week with a 5 year old, I NEED 3 bags). So that adds up to an extra $180. Even factoring that in the two airlines are pretty close in price.
(Not all Continental flights have seatback tv...most do, but not all). And then there was the staff who were incredible our last trip. AND there was the pilot who invited Jimmy into the cockpit as we deplaned when we arrived home last time. That gesture alone was pretty much one that made me resolved to ALWAYS fly JetBlue when I could. (kindness goes a long way with me ).
While we travel with the Nemo bucket for "protein spills", this year I'd like to avoid one. Even if Jimmy was a pro last time at "aiming". So here is my plan: Whatever the first stop is for DME, Jimmy and I are getting off the bus. Sds will stay one with carry on luggage. If the first stop is the Wilderness Lodge, we will get off, go into the hotel and walk through. Ok, we may take a photo at the totum poll if I can talk Jimmy into it. We will head out back past the pool and out to the docks. Maybe we'll even see the geiser go off. We will take the boat across to the Contemporary and meet Sds there. If the first stop is the Poly or the GF, we will get off and head into the hotel and upstairs to the monorail. We will take the monorail to the Contemporary and get our first view of the Magic Kingdom all decked out for the holidays! Either way, I'm hoping that this route will remove the threat of "protein spillage". Of course, to be on the safe side, I will still have the Nemo bucket and plenty of tissues. But I'm thinking this might be the solution to our problem).
Jen
Cassie
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