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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok folks - sorry it has taken so long to get to this. I am still arguing with my computer to get the pictures the right size so have some patience with me. (I know that is a tall order since I have absolutely no patience). Hopefully you are all better people then I!
Alright so let us start at the beginning (a very good place to start ) We were supposed to leave April 27th (Wednesday) orginially at about 5 or 6. According to AAA trip trek (I used that for directions even though I have a GPS. Good thing too because I have no updated my GPS so it did not know Wilderness Lodge or the road it was on exhisted) it was to tak us 13.5 hours to get there. I figured we would get there about 8 am or so. Adding in stops and eating. Preview - best laid plans of mice and men!
So that was the original plan but that changed. To give you a bit of a preview of my life I have been suffering through infertility for 2 years. Actually April was my sad 2 year anniversary of this sadness. I have had 3 miscarriages and countless money has been spent on infertility treatment. Sadly my insurance does not cover it and so it is all out of pocket. It has been incredibly hard and stressful. To anyone going through it - know you are not alone although infertility is still so rarely talked about.
The reason I share this with you? Because a couple weeks before our trip - I got a positive pregnancy test. I was so scared. Understand I have had 3 positives only for it to end negatively. So I have been robbed of that immediate joy seeing that positive. I had to go get bloodwork and amazingly the numbers looked good. I was skeptically optimistic. My numbers had never risen so well as they were now but I also know how easily that can be dashed away.
Fast forward to the day we are supposed to leave. What was scheduled? My first ultra sound. We had thought it best to keep the appointment. We figured if it was good news then we could celebrate, and if it was bad we would have Disney to cushion our sadness.
So unfortunately we had to leave at around 1pm to get to our doctor appointment by 3pm (which is actually on the way to Disney so not a huge problem). To give you an idea on how nervous I was - under any other circumstance my BP and heart rate would have warrented a visit with a cardiologist. It was awful. I have never felt this way before in my life. Do not recommend it.
Ok so we finally left the appointment at around 4pm. Oh wait, you wanted to know what happened right? Sorry silly me.
Well the bad news. Our Disney trip was not going to be as planned. The good news - that was because I was bannned from most of my favorite rides to protect my 7week old peanut!
I got to see the heart beat and everything and my DH and I cried. What a wonderful memory we were gonna create at Disney. Our first family vacation! To say we were walking on cloud 9 was an understatement. I am pretty sure given the right tools we could have made our car fly to Disney. That is how happy we were. I am still painfully aware that this joy could be cut short but for now - I am celebrating. Even if it does not work this has been the happiest weeks of my life.
Ok so back to the trip! We were really making great time after the doctors appointment. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel right before 95. Well that was a bad choice. I LOVE Cracker Barrel but tonight the service was awful. I do not think this poor waiter was prepared for the load of customers he had and it took us forever to get our drinks and I never did get a refill. The food was good though so I let it slide. No one could bring me down from my high.
So our original plan was to switch off driving and drive through the night. That did not happen. By about midnight I was cranky and could not sleep in the car and looked at my DH and said "Sorry but I simply cannot do this". He agreed that he was tired. We also realized that we were making too good time. If we had kept going we would have reached Orlando/ Disney Bubble at like 6 or 7am. That would not have gone well.
So we found a Best Western in Georgia (nearly to Florida) and called it a night. Because we were checking in at 1:20am we got a good deal. It was a beautiful room for only like $69. King size bed, nice tub. Free hot breakfast. Shame we did not plan on staying longer.
So that was our first day. More to come..............(pictures too I promise!)
Congrats! Sending loads of that your little peanut has a warm and safe 9 months in utero before he/she arrives to greet the world! Stopping for the night sounds like it was a great alteration in your plans!
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That was one of the best posts I've read. I am so happy for you.
We will be praying for your little peanut.
I can't wait to hear more from you guys. Have fun!!!!
Chuck&Michelle
__________________
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
OMGosh!!!! You could have warned us ..............I am sitting here at work..............don't know you from Adam...........and am crying in Joy for you and DH!!!!!! WOW!!!! I truly hope and pray that all works out for the best!!!! That is just an amazing story!!!!
Can't wait to hear about the remainder of your trip..........we've just barely begun this one!!!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
OMG !! and Congrats on great baby news and that it all works out well for you!!!!
Thanks. I am still nervous but I really believe the pixies and good thoughts help snuggle this little peanut in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start! Congrats on the ultrasound and the great news!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jakesmom1118
Congrats on the wonderful news and can't wait to hear more
Thanks - I am excited to tell the rest of the story. Although I must admit nothing was as exciting as the first pre-day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by islandgirl
Congratulations and !!!!!!!
Pixies (and prayers) that everything goes well for you.
Oh....and YAAAAA!!! you started your TR!!
Thank you so much! I really hope it goes well too. I already love this peanut more then words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Congrats! Sending loads of that your little peanut has a warm and safe 9 months in utero before he/she arrives to greet the world! Stopping for the night sounds like it was a great alteration in your plans!
Thank you so much for your kind words and pixies!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck&Michelle
That was one of the best posts I've read. I am so happy for you.
We will be praying for your little peanut.
I can't wait to hear more from you guys. Have fun!!!!
Chuck&Michelle
Thank you. Prayers and well wishes mean so much. I truly believe if you think positive positive things will happen. With all this extra positive wishes I feel so much safer!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jennie622
Happy Dance Time!!! Congratulations to you!!! I am sending much love and strength to you and your growing family!!!!
Thanks - I am dancing too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
OMGosh!!!! You could have warned us ..............I am sitting here at work..............don't know you from Adam...........and am crying in Joy for you and DH!!!!!! WOW!!!! I truly hope and pray that all works out for the best!!!! That is just an amazing story!!!!
Can't wait to hear about the remainder of your trip..........we've just barely begun this one!!!!
Aww I am sorry I did not warn you. I certainly do not mean to make people cry at work! Thank you so much for the pixies. My peanut and I cannot believe all the great support we are already getting. Already this is one disney blessed baby!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BoBissa
Congratulations! I don't know you, but my eyes are a little misty right now. Happy Baby dust heading your way!
Awww it is touching that so many of you got misty eyed from my news. It almost makes me cry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG
Congrats on yalls little peanut! I am so excited for you both!
I just had to take a moment and say an extra thank you to all of you guys offering pixies and wishing us well. I truly believe that your extra wishes bring me the strength I need.
It has taken some time to get to this spot and I am just so honored that so many of are supporting me. I do not think I could thank you all enough! Hopefully this shows just some of my joy and appreciation for all of you offering such support.
We woke up to an alarm at around 7am. We were actually quite refreshed. We got some yummy free breakfast but sadly as we ate we saw the first pictures of the devistation in Alabama. It broke our hearts and I must say that I hope any of my PP friends who are there are safe and sound. Many pixies to you that despite the devistation you are able to survive. As said in Dumbo "The very things that held you down are going to carry you up".
With full tummys and rested bodies we headed out. We were very close to the FL border. ( I just found I wrote we were in Brunswick GA. If you are ever driving the Best Western there is GREAT! I highly recommend it!) Thankfully the drive was uneventful and it did not take long for us to see the wonderful sign. Does that not warm your heart? I know it makes me excited! I was definately jumping out of my seat. As we got closer our excitement grew and then I saw this. This is a wonderful sight! Well maybe not the amount of people or the fact my poor confused DH was in very much the wrong lane. Little disney drama to start off the morning but it ended well. We finally made it to the right spot and saw the signs I had not seen since 1997. It brought up some strong feelings for me as I stayed here the first time I ever came to Disney with my Oma who has passed away. It meant a lot so I cherished the views. These images really mean so much to me. It warmed my heart when I pulled up and I really felt like I was coming home. I see buying points at WL in our DVC future. We were fully prepared to not be able to check in yet, it was a little before noon and really we just wanted to get out of the car. I did not do online check in. Really it was I just forgot/ was so caught up in our nerves over the doctor appointment. We were lucky because there really was no line and we got up there to find out our room was ready! 6118 was our new home for the next several days.
Here is some pictures of our wonderful ready room. How cute is this coat rack? I just could not resist. Disney is always so good at the cute touches. Our woods view
We unpacked some and enjoyed our view. As always our plans are to go to MK the first day and ride PotC as the first ride (peanut safe destination!). So we headed out - ready to make memories!!!!
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) We were supposed to leave April 27th (Wednesday) orginially at about 5 or 6. According to AAA trip trek (I used that for directions even though I have a GPS. Good thing too because I have no updated my GPS so it did not know Wilderness Lodge or the road it was on exhisted) it was to tak us 13.5 hours to get there. I figured we would get there about 8 am or so. Adding in stops and eating. Preview - best laid plans of mice and men!
The food was good though so I let it slide. No one could bring me down from my high. 
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Pixie Dust
OMG 
!! 
and Congrats on great baby news and 
Susan
..............I am sitting here at work..............don't know you from Adam...........and am crying in Joy for you and DH!!!!!! WOW!!!! I truly hope and pray that all works out for the best!!!! That is just an amazing story!!!! 
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