Yours, Mine and Ours: A Blended Family 1st Disney Trip - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yours, Mine and Ours: A Blended Family 1st Disney Trip
August 19-26, 2011
Pre-Trip Report 1 (Countdown to Disney 4 days)
Our Party:
Me – Mom, 30, lost count on my number trip to Disney World.
Dh – Dad, 41, last trip to Disney was 8 years ago
Grandma – 53, annual pass to Disney for their wedding anniversary this year, honeymooned at Disney.
Grandpa – 54, annual pass to Disney, numerous trips for works and fun
Yours A – DBD (Darling Bonus Daughter) 11, last trip was 3 years ago, last trip with Dad when she was 3 years old
Yours B – DBS (Darling Bonus Son) 9, last trip was 3 years ago, last trip with Dad when he was a year old
Ours C – DD 7 months, last trip was 6 months ago, loves little Einstein’s
Grandma and Grandpa have vacationed at Disney every 5 years since their marriage and this is their second time purchasing annual passes. Mom and Dad have been married for 3 years and this is our first trip as a blended family to Disney. We have framed this for everyone as our FIRST Disney Vacation as we have never experienced Disney together as our family unit before.
Our Journey:
We are flying from Maryland to Orlando on Southwest. We did purchase the upgraded reservation ticket for the 6 of us with tickets. The trip back from Disney is such a zoo we wanted to make sure that we sit together.
Our Tickets:
Mom and Dad are only able to make this trip happen because we were eligible for the Military 4 day park hopper passes. Without that amazing deal this trip would not be possible. Grandma and Grandpa have annual passes as their anniversary present to each other.
Our Lodging:
We stay off site at Diamond Grand Beach! It is a timeshare that grandma and grandpa own. We love it! We are on a lake and have a three bedroom unit. Large Kitchen/Dining Room, 2 Master Bedrooms with Baths, A kids room with twin bed and their own bathroom, Living Room and HUGE Screened in porch. We have requested an upper floor facing the water and Disney. We can watch the fireworks from MK and Epcot from our own balcony. We are just off Disney Property from World Drive and it is a very easy commute to and from Disney. The resort is located on Little Lake Bryan with a sand beach front and hammocks for a relaxing time and fishing! Plus two pools for the kiddos!
Our Special Plans:
We have four day park hopper passes and have purchased a separate admission for a water park. We are going in the heat of summer with 3 kiddos so we are planning on returning to our resort each afternoon for a break and to cook and eat dinner.
Friday – Arrival Day, we are landing at 4:00pm so this will be a setting in evening
Saturday – Epcot (Must Do Kim Possible) DBD and DBS have not been to Epcot before other than mission space and test track Grandma, Grandpa and
I are very excited to show them our favorite world!
Sunday – Magic Kingdom
Monday – No Park Day, Lunch reservation at Whispering Canyon Café for all you can eat!, Mini golf at Fantasia Fairway’s
Tuesday – Typhoon Lagoon - Grandma and Grandpa as a special treat on their last trip in May reserved a beach combershack for us at Typhoon Lagooon for today. We are going to bring our pack n play with us for DD to be able to nap and be contained in our shack.
Wednesday – Animal Kingdom
Thursday – Hollywood Studios (Must Do Fantasmic)
The Goodies!
In January when I was last in Disney I purchased our tickets for our trip. I also wanted to avoid as much of the gimmie's as possible and we are traveling with a bag of surprises! Grandma and Grandpa this year with their annual passes have been adding to the stash! The kids each have a 2011 Autograph Book (I really did splurge on getting the one with the year because it is our first family trip). At the Disney outlet store I found color your own pin lanyard medallions and pins, and picked up lanyards for each kid. They also have their own disney baseball hats a gift in May from their Aunt and Uncle's trip to Diseny. Grandma and Grandpa brought them back color your own Disney shirts and the epcot passport books. For each of their birthday's they received a $25 gift card that is their spending money for their own souveniers. We are not buying them more stuff as they have already made out like bandits!
Last edited by sparkygirl; 08-15-2011 at 10:16 PM..
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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.
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.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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