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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I wasn't planning to do a trip report, but I have had a few people ask me. And since I hate to disappoint anyone , I am going to do one - kind of. My idea is to hit the "highlights", or bullet points, of the trip, rather than doing a typical linear report. I'll try to cover everything from restaurants, to CMs, even doing laundry! I will try to do each one in a separate post to make it easier to read/search. Hopefully I can be of some use to someone looking for information. I'll let you know when I have hit everything I can think of, and if there is anything I missed, please let me know. Then I will jump over to the Universal Orlando section and cover that part of the trip there.
So, for starters, introductions (for those of you who don't know me).
Me - Jennifer - 38, a stay at home mom. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia Syndrome, so my needs physically do tend to impact what we do (and the writing of this TR)!
DH - Fred - 41, an IT Architect, Chicago Bears fan, and lover of roller coasters and the Simpsons.
DS - Ethan - 11, and at that age where nothing is too fun - at least that he tells us. Also a roller coaster freak and one of the top clarinet players in his band.
DS - Nicholas - 7. Not much for rides, but loves music and meeting characters.
We also have some supporting characters for the cruise portion of the trip - Fred's parents, my parents, my sister, her husband, and their three sons (10, 7, and 4).
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*****TRANSPORTATION*****
We flew down on Northwest - oops, Delta. Pretty standard stuff. I'll cover the return (uggh) in the Universal portion.
We decided to use Quicksilver for this trip rather than renting a car. It was a wise decision! Our driver was waiting for us at baggage pickup. The kids got a kick out of the fact that he was holding a sign with our last name on it, just like on TV. He helped us get our luggage and took us out a door to a parking area that was under cover and only had 3 cars in it. The towncar was wonderful - soft leather seats with plenty of room for all 4 of us and the driver. We fit 2 big suitcases, a garment bag (my sister forgot it at home!), and 2 small suitcases in the trunk with room to spare. The car rode wonderfully - a big plus with my medical problems - and the driver was very nice, although not too talkative. I was able to pay by credit card when we reached the hotel. The same driver picked us up at the port and took us to the Hard Rock. I think using Quicksilver is a great idea for anyone considering it.
To get to the port in the morning, we decided to use a taxi instead of the shuttle. The shuttle was $3 per person, and the taxi was $4 per person. We thought it would be great to go on our schedule, instead of the hotels. It was, but I need to let you know - after the taxi picked us up, he told us that we had to go to another hotel to pick up two more people!! So much for quick and easy. I would still use a taxi, though. It was nice to leave when we were ready.
Here is Nick in the taxi on the way to the port:
__________________
Jennifer
Last edited by jhoshowski; 12-11-2009 at 08:45 PM..
I should have mentioned in my first post that I am not going to ask the moderators to change the title every time I post, as I am planning to post at least once a day or more. . .I hope!
*****RESIDENCE INN AT THE PORT*****
We stayed at the Residence Inn Cocoa Beach/Cape Canaveral the night before our cruise. It is very close to the port (it and the Country Inn & Suites are the closest). We decided to go with a 2 bedroom suite since Fred's parents would be there with us. We paid less that $200 including tax during Thanksgiving weekend, which I thought was very reasonable - especially split two ways!!
The room worked out well for us. There was a kitchen area with a small table, fridge, stove, sink, and microwave. Basic dishes and pots and pans were provided, as well as in room coffee and microwave popcorn. There was also a living area with a chair, sofabed, TV and tables. Each of the two bedrooms had a king bed, TV, closet, and full bath.
One thing to note was that each of the areas was small. It worked out fine for a night, but I wouldn't want to squeeze six people in there for a longer period of time.
The free breakfast included fruit, yogurt, pastries, bagels, cereal, eggs, waffles, juice, milk coffee. . .a good sized spread. Seating was limited, but there were also tables on an outdoor patio and in a conference room across the hall.
We didn't have time to check out any of the other amenities, so I can't help out there.
All in all, I would choose to stay here again!
__________________
Jennifer
Last edited by jhoshowski; 12-12-2009 at 02:17 PM..
*****DCL TERMINAL*****
My DMiL decided she had to have a cigarette before we went into the terminal. Here we are, waiting for her.
L - R: Me, Ethan, Nick, DFiL, and DMiL in the back smoking.
We made it into the terminal about 11:10 AM. Went through security, up the stairs, and got our boarding number - OMG - it was 8! I thought we were doing good. We made it through check in and the picture line very quickly, but the line for the kids club was HUGE. I am thinking they should have had a separate line for those who had already registered their kids online, and those who had not. Don't know if it would have helped, but maybe.
If you want to buy something at the snack counter, you will need to use your ID card to do so. We did and settled in. The terminal got VERY crowded. I can't imagine it on a sold out cruise. Nick wanted a picture.
Boarding started just before noon, I think.
Great start Jennifer! Glad you enjoyed the Residence Inn! We too got there closer to 11 and were amazed at being in group 8! Last time it was closer to 10:30 and we were group 2!
*****STATEROOM*****
Our stateroom was exactly as described in the Passporter, etc. The split bath was a great convenience to have, especially with kids. Our stateroom host was Ben-Vos. He was very nice. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures!
*****SAIL AWAY PARTY*****
We were up on deck 10 for the sail away party, near the stage. It was a great place to watch from. the kids could see everything that was going on and we weren't in the middle of the crush.
Here is where we stood:
Picture of the party:
Also, I forgot to include our photo from when we got on the ship:
*****LAUNDRY ROOMS*****
The laundry rooms were very small. Like, uncomfortable for one person to be in, let alone two or more. Of course, they were busy on the at sea day. The washers and dryers require a swipe of your key card, which is awasome. No change to worry about. One other warning - they are HOT. I broke out in a full body sweat trying to fold a few things in there. Still, it was nice that Disney offers laundry rooms, especially for those of us with messy kids!
*****POOLS*****
As many of you are probably aware, the pools on the Disney ships are rather small and crowded. I hope they improve on that on the new ships. Ethan and his cousin Zack swam a bit in the Goofy pool, but there just wasn't a lot of room. Nick and his cousins Josh and Tyler, on the other hand, spent a lot of time in the Mickey pool.
Nick and Josh chatting up some ladies in the hot tub:
Nick heading up the Mickey slide:
And getting off:
Ethan watching his brother and cousins in the Mickey pool:
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, I am going to do one - kind of. My idea is to hit the "highlights", or bullet points, of the trip, rather than doing a typical linear report. I'll try to cover everything from restaurants, to CMs, even doing laundry! I will try to do each one in a separate post to make it easier to read/search. Hopefully I can be of some use to someone looking for information. I'll let you know when I have hit everything I can think of, and if there is anything I missed, please let me know. Then I will jump over to the Universal Orlando section and cover that part of the trip there.
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