Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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09-15-2011, 02:50 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: The Kids Are In Charge - Letting the Kids Plan Our Disney Vacation
The Kids Are In Charge - Letting the Kids Plan Our Disney Vacation
by Andee Zomerman
Our dream vacation was getting closer.
The plan was to take Emma and Annika, our 11 and 9-year-old daughters, on the best Disney trip of their young lives. During December, we would leave the rainy Pacific Northwest for seven nights on the Disney Magic and another seven nights at Walt Disney World. I had been dutiful in making my reservations for Cinderella’s Royal Table and getting tickets for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The hours spent on the computer daydreaming researching would all pay off in the end when everything would go off without a hitch. Then a call came in September that would change our lives. My husband accepted a job that would move us from the Seattle area to Portland, Oregon during Thanksgiving weekend. six days before our flight to Orlando. Forget trying to plan character breakfasts! My hours were now spent packing boxes. How would we enjoy this long planned getaway when we were so stressed out? It was time to give the kids some Disney planning responsibility.
I knew the cruise portion of the trip would be fairly easy. There was little preparation necessary to eat fine meals and lounge in the sun. I was concerned about our Walt Disney World Resort week. When I’m in charge of the planning, it involves a spreadsheet listing times and places to be in precise locations, notated by color. Could I really give this task to two children? And if I did, could I keep my “hyper-planning, I’m-always-right,” opinions to myself? It turns out I could, if I remembered these 5 steps:</p>
1. Kids Can Plan I handed the girls my PassPorter guidebook, showed them websites, and said, “Go to it.” Their excitement grew as they decided which attractions they were ready for and less importantly, the food they wanted to eat. Unlike my own planning, they weren’t pondering over the delectable menus from California Grill or Jiko. Apparently, Quick Service would suit them just fine. 2. Kids Don’t Like to Rush A Disney theme park on a child’s timeframe is much different than my own. The girls scheduled our resort vacation to begin at Animal Kingdom. There was no running to the back of the park to grab a Kilimanjaro Safari FASTPASS. We stood and watched the rope drop ceremony, then took a slow stroll past the Tree of Life to the Wildlife Express Train.
One happy surprise that resulted from kid planning was Rafiki’s Planet Watch. This attraction had never made it on my time-sensitive spreadsheet plan. Once inside the Conservation Station, the girls took their time peering through each glass window. We saw tiny creatures being treated in the veterinarian’s office, learning that each animal, big and small, gets a yearly physical. We meandered over to the nutritionist’s cubicle studying the food each animal eats. And for that Disney touch, low crowds allowed us to spend quality time with Rafiki, Pocahontas, and Jiminy Cricket. Because we were on the kids’ schedule, my girls, who are terrified of reptiles, were able to warm up to the idea of petting a snake. I would have never chosen to spend an hour-and-a-half in this area of the park, but now it will be a “must do” on our Animal Kingdom agenda.
3. Kids Are Flexible Day #2 on the kid list was supposed to be spent at Epcot. We arrived and went straight to Test Track and Mission Space before realizing Orlando’s record cold temperatures would make the day really, really chilly. My Type-A personality was ready to power through the cold. After all, this was the agreed upon schedule! Emma and Annika wanted none of that and they were happy to come up with a “Plan B.” We spent the day riding the monorail and viewing all of the Christmas decorations at the resort hotels. Nothing makes a kid happier on a cold day than buying cookies and hot cocoa from the Grand Floridian’s enormous gingerbread house.
4. Kids Need Rest Knowing we’d be up late the night of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, the girls decided to take it easy during the day (at Mom’s gentle suggestion). We made a leisurely exploration our resort hotel, did some light shopping, and had some quiet time. Upon arriving at the nighttime event, they continued to plan the action. While my schedule would have for sure included Disney’s entertaining shows, their agenda was focused on riding Space Mountain over and over again. They graciously granted my request to watch the parade as long as they could have a cup of hot chocolate in their hands. The morning after the party we carried out another plan dictated by the children; we slept in.
5. Kids Know How to Relax Toward the middle of our Walt Disney World Resort vacation stay, it became astonishingly easy for me to “let go.” There was no rushing, the girls had the maps, and they could just play while my husband and I followed along. There are benefits to being a repeat Walt Disney World vacation family. Emma and Annika are at home there. They know that if they don’t see something this time, there will most likely be a next time. If they’ve done something before, they don’t necessarily have to do it again.
Shockingly, I was happy to have the kids in charge of our vacation schedule. I didn’t worry about an organized agenda being threatened by unforeseen circumstances. The girls were at ease because they didn’t have a mom trying to rush them off to the next event. I can’t lie; there were things I missed. I didn’t get my Tonga Toast for breakfast at the Kona Cafe. I didn’t get to wander through The Magic of Disney Animation. Heck, I didn’t even get to see IllumiNations! However, my girls taught me lessons that I won’t soon forget. Our vacation is about being together. Our vacation is taking time to explore our surroundings. Our vacation will never again depend on a color-coded Excel spreadsheet.
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 09-13-2011 10:09 AM
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
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09-16-2011, 11:36 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Passenger 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 49
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Andee, what a fantastic article! I would have a hard time completely letting go of the planning (my favorite part of the WDW vacations), but I do love when my son (5) gets all excited picking out rides and resturants on the maps. He is my co-planner for every trip 
__________________
Katie - DVC / D23 / WDW Fanatic
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