The Good, The Bad and The Buggy - Nov 2011 TR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi all! Finally got our photos downloaded (haven’t got the photo pass yet, but that can come later) and decided to start on our TR while it is still fresh in my mind. (I did take ok notes) I also want to get this thing started! Ready? Here we go
11/2/11 - Wednesday
We got up really early (for me, but I think I managed to get up before the alarm at 4:30) We were up kind of late the night before getting things packed and ready so we didn’t leave quite as early as we thought we would. We hit Starbucks and we were on the road by 6 am. The drive went uneventfully. Straight down I-75. Duffy did some navigating.
I was expecting a lot more construction (like there was last year). We stopped at Waffle House in Ohio for breakfast and a Hardees in TN for lunch. Duffy had to have a soda with a straw.
We stopped in GA for Chik-Fil-A for dinner and boy was it yummy! We don’t have any of these restaurants near us so we have to take advantage while we are on a road trip! Each time we stopped, we also took advantage of the facilities and also topped off the gas tank and switched drivers. Made it to Hilton Garden Inn in Tifton around 10 pm. It was a long day but our trip was under way!
11/3/11 - Thursday
We left Tifton at 9 am-ish after getting a good night’s sleep. We knew we had only a “short” drive today (about 5 hours). We got going and stopped for lunch at Zaxby’s! Yummmmmm! (sorry I didn’t take any food pics while on the road - I’m new at this) I just LOVE Zaxby’s. It’s gotta be their sauce. Anyhow, we got to the Contemporary at about 1:30 pm. (You check in at the Contemporary for BLT)We checked in and got our room 7840.
You’d think that was on the 7th floor right? Wrong - 8th floor. ???? So we got into our room, no “Mickey head” towel on the bed. We unpacked and then decided to go to MK to pick up our AP’s because they couldn’t do that at the Concierge desk. Although they said that they now offer that service but it wouldn’t work for us for some reason.
So we walked to MK, got our passes and Chuck suggested we go ride the train. We walked through the gate and up to the train station and looked down Main Street and I started crying. Will I ever be able to see my castle first thing and not cry? So we took pics and then rode the train all the way around and got off back at Main Street. We were little hungry and I think Chuck’s blood sugar was dropping and we didn’t have reservations until 6:30 so we stopped at the Confectionary for a snack of a cookie and a Sprite. Chuck paid OOP and I didn’t think anything about it until we walked out. Duh! We have the DxDP! We have SNACKS! We had our snacks while walking Main Street and taking it all in. We stopped at the hub for castle pics and statue pics. Then we were done with MK for now because we had ressies at BOMA!!! We hopped a bus to AKL. Stopped in the Zawadi gift shop to do some shopping. We ended up getting some antennae toppers, a duffy keyring, Mickey cookie cutter and a duffle bag.
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first--man, you made good time on the road! i'm SUPER impressed!!!
second--i can't wait for the rest of this TR! it sounds like we may be in for some serious food pics (oh please tell me you took food pics!) oh and speaking of pics--i don't think i've ever seen a room in BLT (or CR at all) so thanks for those!!!
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Wow, I admire all of you who can do that much driving! As a Californian, it tickles me to no end when I read about road trips where you breakfast in one state, drive through a few states, lunch, then drive through a few states, then eat dinner. I think it would take me about 4 hours to get to the closest edge of California! When I lived in Philadelphia, I thought it was the greatest thing that I could drive through 3 states in half an hour!
Great start! I am also looking forward to the dining reviews (and hopefully pics!) because the deluxe dining plan sounds so fabulous!!!
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Great start Coop! It sounds like the drive was painless! Most of my household is from South Carolina and they have a Zaxby's addiction--I think it's actually a good thing that we don't have them here!
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.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Great start! Glad the drive down went well. If I ever take a road trip, I think picking out places to eat will be my favorite part! I'd never heard of Zaxby's before, but now if I take that road trip, I'll have to seek one out!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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???? So we got into our room, no “Mickey head” towel on the bed. 
We unpacked and then decided to go to MK to pick up our AP’s because they couldn’t do that at the Concierge desk. Although they said that they now offer that service but it wouldn’t work for us for some reason. 
We have the DxDP! We have SNACKS! We had our snacks while walking Main Street and taking it all in. We stopped at the hub for castle pics and statue pics. Then we were done with MK for now because we had ressies at BOMA!!! We hopped a bus to AKL. Stopped in the Zawadi gift shop to do some shopping. We ended up getting some antennae toppers, a duffy keyring, Mickey cookie cutter and a duffle bag. 
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Pixie Dust
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
Liz 
I'm not sure I'll ever get passed crying when I see the castle! But we're in good company here. Can't wait to hear about Boma! 
I'd never heard of Zaxby's before, but now if I take that road trip, I'll have to seek one out!
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