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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Welcome to my first trip report (applause not necessary at this point). And yes, I'm calling it mine even if I do have to take the family, because I'm the only one sitting here typing this out. So to them. Make your way to the end of the aisle so there is seating for everyone, there's not a bad seat in the house. And make yourself comfortable because this PTR probably needed it's own PTR.
In order to get the point of the "Thank Goodness for Normal" title I'm going to have to provide some back story if you will. In Sept 2007 my SS (who is really my DSS since he's "mine" in all the ways that matter) was diagnosed with Ewings' Sarcoma cancer. After nine months of chemo and one month of radiation in Boston (we live near Philly) SS (Jeremiah for our purposes) finished treatment. Because of the absolutely bizarre location of his cancer (his was only the second reported case of Ewings originating in the eye) we went through a lot of doctors saying "Well, we weren't sure" when side effects "popped up". And not "popped" up like those cute old Disney story books. This is more like "popped" up in a Freddie Kruger story.
Anywho...Jeremiah finishes treatment. And Make-A-Wish says...Where would you like to go? Jeremiah being properly school in all things Disney by his SM (me ) and his grandmother (my mom ) said "I want to go to Disney". Now...here's one of our first, and probably not our last side stories.
During Jeremiah's treatment, which began in Sept 2007, my mom, who was not only my best friend but one of the all time best grandmothers EVER died suddenly in November 2007. No warning...nothing. She had taken Jeremiah on his first trip to WDW the year prior. He loved her and she thought he was the best. It was just completely devastating to the entire family.
So....Jeremiah has his post Super Bowl "I'm going to Disney World" request and off we are to planning. Now, let me say this right now...MAW is a wonderful organization that does a ton of wonderful work and I think they are amazing people. However, our local branch (which will remain nameless) is not a candidate for Disney Vacation Planning Organization of the Year. It's just not their strong suit. I won't even go there.
So...off to WDW we go And we had a blast!!!!!!!!!!! But, Jeremiah's eye was still problematic and DH (who has emphysema) was not having the most fun in 100+ heat. Jeremiah got to see the first aid stations due to bandage contact replacement and the boys (all of them) learned that they are all rank amateurs compared to mom when it comes to park visits. That's right...I ran them into the ground. And I'm proud of it.
We get on the plane to come home and Jeremiah asks the classic WDW vacation ending question...."When are we going back?"
Music to my ears In fact, DH and DS had asked the same thing within hours. Turns out that once Jeremiah's eye was less of an issue the boys wanted to go back and do it "right." Now that they knew the basics they wanted to have another shot at WDW. What kind of mother would say no to the cries of her children? If this is the sacrifice I need to make...then so be it.
So...DH (OldGoat) and I look at the calendar, figure out when it might be best weather wise and begin to hope the all knowing doctors will have Jeremiah's eye in better shape.
With that I'll give you the basics with more details to follow in future posts:
WHO:
Me - Mojjo, 36...mom, wife, Disney Fanatic
DH - OldGoat, older than me ....dad, hubby, enabler of all things me
SS - Jeremiah, 16....son, brother, cancer surivor, Disney addict in the making, all around good kid
DS - Jasonator, 7...son, brother, adult in a mini body and little brother extraordinairre.
WHEN:
Jan. 29 - Feb 6
WHERE:
CBR ... same resort as MAW trip....although not the original plan
WHY:
Because life's been normal since last July (when they finally got the eye straigtened out) and it feels GOOD!!!!!!
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.
The Original Plans, which pretty much guarantee that they will look nothing like what we finally do, were:
Family Suite at All Star Music
Driving down - 2 days each way
Quick service dining plan
from the 1st to the 5th
Yeah...right. I really think there is a Disney God somewhere who looks at the plans of mere mortals and just laughs his butt off with all the changes he's going to throw at us.
So...Disney had to go and throw the Buy 4 Get 3 deal at me. Which considering we were going to do a suite meant that suddently CBR looked like a good deal. And the staff there was so great with the boys during the MAW that we figured why not. Upgrade time
Then the boys started putting in their two cents (not sure who told them they had two cents to rub together let alone contribute) and it turns out they enjoyed the character meals and would like to try more. What's a mom to do? Upgade time
And (notice how there are lots of ands in the normal PTR) since we were now staying 7 days wouldn't it be quicker and almost the same amount of money to fly. DH checked rates and low and behold it was pretty much a wash. Upgrade time
So...the final plans look something like this:
CBR for
Jan. 29 - Feb 6th
Flying on Southwest (because they love bags and I love cheap)
with the DDP
and now that means....
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.
Great update! Your plans look great! About the character meals....LTT is a character meal during the time we will be there! I had booked an ADR there on our arrival day 1/29, not knowing it would be a character meal (I read that Goofy, Minnie, Chip & Dale were there!!!) so this was an added perk for us (me!). I've never been to a character meal or LTT so I'm looking forward to it! BTW....your countdown sounds better than mine...1 week & 5 days sounds soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
About This Page: 
The "Thank Goodness for Normal" Trip PTR
to them. Make your way to the end of the aisle so there is seating for everyone, there's not a bad seat in the house. And make yourself comfortable because this PTR probably needed it's own PTR. 
for our purposes) finished treatment. Because of the absolutely bizarre location of his cancer (his was only the second reported case of Ewings originating in the eye) we went through a lot of doctors saying "Well, we weren't sure" 
when side effects "popped up". And not "popped" up like those cute old Disney story books. This is more like "popped" up in a Freddie Kruger story.
And Make-A-Wish says...Where would you like to go? Jeremiah being properly school in all things Disney by his SM (me 
) and his grandmother (my mom 
) said "I want to go to Disney". Now...here's one of our first, and probably not our last side stories.
And we had a blast!!!!!!!!!!! But, Jeremiah's eye was still problematic and DH (who has emphysema) was not having the most fun in 100+ heat. Jeremiah got to see the first aid stations due to bandage contact replacement and the boys (all of them) learned that they are all rank amateurs compared to mom when it comes to park visits. 
That's right...I ran them into the ground. And I'm proud of it.
In fact, DH and DS had asked the same thing within hours. Turns out that once Jeremiah's eye was less of an issue the boys wanted to go back and do it "right." Now that they knew the basics they wanted to have another shot at WDW. 
....dad, hubby, enabler of all things me
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
for SS eye!
Susan
PassPorter Guide Author
!
<--- Disney Fantasy 2016!
Deb
What's a mom to do? Upgade time
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