PTR: The Dunning Family's Triumphant Return to the World - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Looks like a good trip and one you really need, considering how much you've been through with David and your losses!
The flights through Disney tend to be a bit overpriced, so it may be better to book them through the airline itself or one of the travel sites!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I've been so busy, I haven't been able to work on my PTR near as much as I like to. I've found that now that I have two kids, I don't have time to do anything near as much as I'd like to. I wouldn't trade it for the world, though, so don't mind my griping. I love those kids so much it hurts.
I have indeed changed our dates, for a few different reasons.
AJ works retail, and his boss was grumbling and hemming and hawing about not liking the dates he was asking for vacation, because I guess their zone managers are all swapping departments around that time, doing a change up, and since AJ is a department supervisor, they wanted him there for that.
A little math showed that we would save just a couple hundred bucks if we changed our dates anyway...so we were discussing all of these things, when I saw that Tracy (Coop) and Chuck (I can't remember his user name on here...) had booked a trip that started just a week after we went home...
So that was sort of the final push that I needed to pick up the phone and call. We met Tracy and Chuck while I was pregnant with Briana, so I thought it would be really cool to be able to have them meet both of our daughters. I messaged Tracy and said "I hope you don't think we're nutso stalkers, but we changed our dates..."
She answered "Oh boy! I do think you're nutso stalkers but hey I'm nutso too!"
So, we are stalking Tracy and Chuck (not really ) and will now be arriving in Disney World on September 24th (our 8 year wedding anniversary, in fact, haha), and leaving on October 2nd!
This is the first time we've been there even one day into October, so I am kind of dorky excited to be able to say I've been at the World in October.
The lady I spoke to on the phone to change our reservations was so incredibly sweet. Most people at Disney are, but she went above and beyond and just made my whole day better talking to her.
She placed me on hold a couple of times to talk to other people to confirm that everything was switching over properly because her system was being glitchy, chatted with me about my kids and our hotel, made sure to note all of our celebrations in the reservation, and was just...sweet. I've missed that Disney service level the last couple of years!
So, just to go over the details:
September 24th-October 2nd 2016
Art of Animation Resort - Finding Nemo Family Suites
7 Day Magic Your Way Tickets with Park Hopper
Disney Dining Plan
And we have two first time visits (AJ and Chelsea), our 8 year wedding anniversary/14 years together, and we are going to celebrate Briana's 4th birthday while we are there. I can't believe she will be just two months shy of 4 when we go...really more like a month and a couple weeks. I don't want to think about it...
David's W2 should be available tomorrow and/or in the mail. (We aren't clear on how his company sends it, and it's the first year we've gotten one from them, so we just have to wait it out.) Once we get that, I can file our taxes, and once we get our return, we're going to book our flights and pay off as much of the trip as possible (if we're lucky it'll be PIF since AJ is using his return to pay off his portion as well).
After that we just have to wait until March so that we can book our dining reservations (OMG I AM SO EXCITED) and then 60 days out do FP+ reservations. Wish me luck with those. I am going to do my best to snag one so that Bri can meet Elsa and Anna. (If any of you have any tips for this, please do share!)
I guess that's all I really have to share right at the moment. At least that's Disney related! I could tell you all that Chelsea is crawling now, and that Briana is a little sponge, picking up new words and phrases every single day, and learning new concepts faster than I can keep up.
David has been working overtime at work and really seems to be doing well. He's been very stable, though he tells me sometimes he doesn't feel as stable as he seems, he is still pushing through it and trying hard every day. He hasn't missed work due to a Bipolar episode since October, which is huge for him. I believe it's the longest amount of time since his diagnosis that he hasn't missed work. I'm incredibly proud of him. I should call Disney and add a different celebration, too. Celebrating health. Why not? Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.
You guys, every time I think about the fact that we're going back, I feel like jumping up and down like a little girl. I feel like screaming "WE DID IT! WE MADE IT! WE SURVIVED! AND NOW, WE ARE ON OUR WAY UP!" We are going back to our happy place, and I don't think I have ever been more excited for a Disney Trip than I am right now for this one. (Cue me crying like an idiot...)
Life gets just a little bit better every single day. I'm crediting those pixies you all sent us.
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The change of dates sounds like it is working out perfectly for you all. I love how your enthusiasm and excitement for this trip is oozing out in this update. So glad you are happy!
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Chuck goes by the handle CHUCKKERB.
Congrats on going back and being able to see the Big Guy and Coop.
Never forget God doesn't give us more than we can handle and he never says we hav to go it alone. So happy things are on the upswing
I just read this report and will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. I was married in to a family with a strong stream of bipolar disorder. I urge you to get yourself some professional help. I wish I had many, many years before my marriage broke up (I was married 37 years from just out of college). Living with a partner with bipolar is extremely difficult and it wasn't until we were divorced that I realized the damage that was done. Had I professional advice, I may have done things very differently. I read your post and saw so much of what I did for almost 40 years. Friends and fgmily will support you but they may not always be able to tell you the best approach.
And your husband needs strong support during the good times and bad, Friends are wonderful but cannot replaced an experienced therapist.
Always, many thoughts and prayers for good mental health and a wonderful trip to Disney.
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I wouldn't trade it for the world, though, so don't mind my griping. I love those kids so much it hurts. 
) and will now be arriving in Disney World on September 24th (our 8 year wedding anniversary, in fact, haha), and leaving on October 2nd!
I can't believe she will be just two months shy of 4 when we go...really more like a month and a couple weeks. I don't want to think about it...
Hybrid Mode
