What do you mean we’re not going in March????? PTR - UPDATED 12/9 - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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So what have we gotten done in the last few days???? Started a list…well at least that is a start…..and got a few more things organized and packed. DW also got several Christmas presents wrapped and we got all the Christmas decorations down from the attic. Trying to get a head start to make it a bit less stressful as we get close to the trip.
Our plans for Day 4 & 5 are full of Disney fun!!! Day 4 is all about DH’s and DW’s favorite park….Epcot. We hope to hit the park early and ride Soarin’ and get a fastpass for later and really take advantage of all that Future World has to offer. A must do is Sum of All Thrills…more on that later Hopefully a lunch in the World Showcase will give us lots of energy to take in as many of the Holiday Storytellers as possible before taking a possible break.
If the mood hits us and the weather cooperates, we may take a mid-afternoon break to do a little swimming and to relax. We then have a 7:00 PM ADR at Garden Grill. This will be a new experience for all of us and a pick from DH. He’s most excited about eating food from the Land ride!!!
Day 5 is our packing day and we have a full day at HS Studios with two ADRs that are both new experiences for us….Sci Fi for lunch and Kouzzina for a late dinner. We’re still debating if we should cancel Kouzzina wondering if this would be too much for the day before we leave but for right now, we’re keeping it! DH has read many great reviews and is excited also about trying this. What can we say…he’s turning into a Disney Foodie!
Now a quick detour from the PTR to share why Sum of all Thrills helped to motivate and help change my DH’s life. A quick story from the 2011 trip…DH and DD decided to ride Sum of all Thrills in Innoventions. It was the first time for both. They were excited, especially DD who loves rollercoasters. They designed a thrilling ride and got to the actual virtual ride. For those of you not familiar, here’s a link at allears.net..http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2009/10/sum_of_all_thrills.html They got into the seat and the front would not close on DH’s because he was too big , so he could not ride. This bothered him but he did not want to let on to DD so she would still enjoy the ride. This “stuck in his crawl” (as we say in the south) for a while and approximately 7 months later, DH decided to try something to change. Another allears.net article got him thinking…. http://land.allears.net/blogs/teamallears/2012/04/ready_you_can_do_it.html In May 2012 he began working out regularly and began a diet using weight watchers for men online. As of this week…he has now lost 74 pounds and is hoping to reach his initial goal of 80 pounds by the time we leave for the trip. The family is proud of him and now he is training for a future RunDisney event!!!! DH can’t wait to ride Sum of All Thrills with DD this year!!!
Coming up next....departure day and updates on preparations for our trip.
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More great plans! We ate at Kouzzina's this past June and even though I had the stomach virus, I have to agree it was one of our two best meals. We are planning on going again next June, so I can actually finish the meal. Congrats to DH on the weight loss!
A nice story about Sum of All Thrills being the inspiration for your DH - congrats to him! It does sound like you have a wonderful trip planned - not too far away, now.
Great plans! Congrats to your DH on his weight loss!
Thank you! He's continuing to work on his weight loss.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
More great plans! We ate at Kouzzina's this past June and even though I had the stomach virus, I have to agree it was one of our two best meals. We are planning on going again next June, so I can actually finish the meal. Congrats to DH on the weight loss!
Thank you. We are looking forward to eating there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Congrats on the progress you're making with everything and congrats to DH on that weight loss - that's amazing!
Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
A nice story about Sum of All Thrills being the inspiration for your DH - congrats to him! It does sound like you have a wonderful trip planned - not too far away, now.
Thank you! He still looks at the card they give you for motivation.
Well, it has been a while since our last update. Unfortunately, we have some sad news that has kept us from updating. DW’s father passed away the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. It was unexpected. We celebrate his 81 plus years of active life and are blessed to have had him in our lives.
We are now down to just 7 days. Even with our unexpected loss, we have gotten a lot done. We have almost finished packing. Gathered items for our kids’ surprise on the way down (remember they think we’re going to the beach) .
Also…just like the Easter Bunny…Mickey always comes to visit the kids when they are not looking. This usually happens on our first night. We have finalized the items for that surprise.
We also cleaned the van and got it ready for traveling. We plan our normal service next week to ensure all is ready to go. We bought our items for travel and a few grocery items for the room and have that already in the van. Can you tell we are ready to go?
….DW was able to take a full day off on the 17th and DH only has to work a half day (for him that is no later than 10 AM), so we plan to be able to take off by 10:30 at the latest. So….we decided to drive all the way down on the 17th instead of stopping in Jacksonville. We booked a one night stay at ASMovies for about the same amount we would have spent in Jacksonville. So we will be at Disney one night early!!! This will be a new experience as we will check out the next morning to check in at BWVillas. We’ll see how that goes…
Another quick update is that DH met his first weight loss goal. As of last week, he has lost over 81 pounds. Yeah DH!!
This may be a long week as we count down the final days!!! Wish us luck. Not long till we’re in the bubble! We really need it!
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Hopefully a lunch in the World Showcase will give us lots of energy to take in as many of the Holiday Storytellers 
as possible before taking a possible break.
and we have a full day at HS Studios with two ADRs that are both new experiences for us….Sci Fi for lunch and Kouzzina for a late dinner. We’re still debating if we should cancel Kouzzina wondering if this would be too much for the day before we leave but for right now, we’re keeping it! DH has read many great reviews and is excited also about trying this. What can we say…he’s turning into a Disney Foodie! 
, so he could not ride. This bothered him 
but he did not want to let on to DD so she would still enjoy the ride. This “stuck in his crawl” (as we say in the south) for a while and approximately 7 months later, DH decided to try something to change. Another allears.net article got him thinking…. 
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Congrats to your DH on his weight loss! 
PassPorter Guide Author
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….DW was able to take a full day off on the 17th and DH only has to work a half day (for him that is no later than 10 AM), so we plan to be able to take off by 10:30 at the latest. So….we decided to drive all the way down on the 17th instead of stopping in Jacksonville. We booked a one night stay at ASMovies for about the same amount we would have spent in Jacksonville. So we will be at Disney one night early!!! This will be a new experience as we will check out the next morning to check in at BWVillas. We’ll see how that goes…
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