Well That's not what I expected.....TR May 2011 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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The what & Where.....
A 9 day surprise trip to Mickey's house
The when & why...
May 3-11, Because It's Disney and mommy doesn't have to cook...
background.......We surprised the kids with a trip to Disney, They were mislead to think we were going to Hershey PA. This back fired a bit for us. More about that later. This is our 3rd annual trip to Disney and I see many more to come.
Making a mini appearance Is my Sister and her crew.
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The night before we got to fly to the best place on earth, I gave the little two baths Got Crysta in the shower right after. While Crysta was in the shower I braided Becky's hair, Her hair is the type the tangles if a tiny breeze moves it. After I put them in what they were going to wear on the plane. Then told Crysta what to put on and to pull her hair back.
I set my alarm for 3am and went to bed at 11 after loading the kids carry-ons in the car. (DH put the suitcases in earlier) I fell asleep pretty quickly which was strange because normally I go through all the what ifs and check lists but not to night.
After 4 hours of blissful sleep I got up and jumped in the shower to wake up and get the legs shorts and skirt ready. 3:30 got the Hubby up so he could get the phone chargers, run next door to grab his brother to drive us to the airport and what ever else he did while I slapped on some eyeliner and mascara (to try to look awake) then loaded the lips with chapstick in prep for a dry flight. At 3:50 we got the kids up sent them to the powder room. Grabbed the adult carry-ons, poptarts and was out the door by 4am.
A very uneventful 35 min ride to the airport and a box of poptarts eatten, we had arrived and were on our way. Now the text for everyone were starting to come in as we strolled to check the bags. Everyone wanted to remind me to bring my ID. Thanks everyone......HAHA....
Bags checked and off to the invisible door... AKA TSA. There was maybe 4 people infront of us so the kids pulled off their shoes and sweatshirts while I handed our boarding passes. we then walk to the buckets and loaded them up. We were at our gate by 4:53am. Now to sit for our 5:35 flight. The kids watched Yogi bear on the laptop and jumped in the corner. I went to get coffee for me and a Dt. coke for Hubby and a chocolate milk for the kids. I gave them the first clue and told them I couldn't find Hershey's milk.
We boarded our flight 10 min early and had a great flight. Hubby took Devyn and Crysta and sat in the row in front of Becky and I. Family boarding was fine there was tons of seats left then even with every seat being filled by the end. I had a nice grandmother going to see her 2y/o grandson sit with us. We chatted and she asked how I potty trained the kids and how I got them to be so well behaved for the whole flight. She was also amazed by the fact the kids didn't use electronics. The made sticker monsters (like paper dolls) play-doh, and colored. We had no turbulence on the way down and gum worked for take off and landing. Little man had a lollypop can you tell he liked it?
Once we had landed we were 15 min early but.................... there was a plane in our spot and they were missing a passenger so we waited and waited and waited our 15 min became 5 by the time they moved.. It was 9:30am > I gave them The 2nd clue and they guessed Hershey kisses. Crysta noticed the letters so I gave her the 3rd clue. We videoed them sticking the letter on the paper to read the clue (well Devyn ate the chocolate) Words spelt out Crysta Smiled and said I knew it, I knew it when they were announcing the flights, When she finally read it out loud Becky said..... " But how am I gong to see the chocolate princess?" Devyn said....." how me get me chalk-o-lite?" It took a bit of convincing Micky had Chocolate too. After all that planning and secret not the reaction I was expecting.
Off the plane and on the "fake" monorail to DME. See all happy....
We checked in and a bus was waiting, (9:45) as per usually it stopped at Caribbean beach first then to Pop. Our home for the next 9 days. (10:25am)
Hubby took the kids to the playroom while I did check-in. They had use in the 50' (the very building) not with my sister or where I requested but I nicely asked to move and a quick phone call and they moved us to building 5 (60's) Our room wasn't ready but no big deal, we dropped off the carry-on with luggage assistance and headed to lunch. AHHHHH real food. (food in next post) We were having lunch at Wolfgang Puck Cafe. 11:15am. As usually it was delish and service was great.
We walked around the stores and just wandered. We stopped at Goofy's sadly the make your own snacks was not credit approved so we had to settle for other treats. (in next post)
We decided it was time to check if your room was ready so I called the number and it was (no text, why ask for our number if your not going to do it, I didn't ask you to text me?) We were in room 5425. Top floor building looking out on the lake. we could see the new buildings. we were facing away from the pool thank goodness. was a little sad to see the icon in the center was being repainted so it wasn't pretty.
I unpacked so we could put the dirty back in the suitcases and we settled in. Hubby took Crysta to get our mugs and fill them up. Then we washed up to go to Chef Mickey's. 7:40pm Via bus to monorail. (full review in next post) but it was good.
After dinner we went back the Pop and got our swim on.
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