Two's company, Three's a crowd...let's make it four! 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Two's company, Three's a crowd...let's make it four! TR
Two’s company, Three’s a crowd…let’s make it four!
Here’s a link to my PTR if you’d like a little more background on the planning aspect of our trip: Let's make it four! PTR
otherwise…here we go!
First, a recap on our cast of characters…
Me (Donna) age 57, a long-time Disney lover. I can still recall my mom taking me to my first drive-in move to see Pinocchio. My first trip to WDW was in 1976 and I was hooked! Jeff and I were lucky enough to be able to go when our family was young and then as a couple when the kids were grown. In 2012 we bought into Disney Vacation Club, so we are assured of having many more Disney vacations in our future!
DH (Jeff) age 58, has become a Disney lover by osmosis! It’s hard to be around a Disney lover and not become one yourself!!
DS (Tom) age 28, enjoyed several trips to Disney World when he was little, and then again as a young adult in 2008. Last year we invited him to join us again and we all had a great time. Since we had such fun together, we asked him to come again this year and invited his GF as well. Which brings me to…
DGF (Kayla) age 27. A real sweetheart. When we found out she was a Disney lover, we asked if she’d like to come along with us and of course she said yes! She and Tom paid their own way, which was made clear up front… except for the accommodations which we paid for with DVC points.
So, let’s see how we like doing Disney with a party of four!
September 7 – part 1
Jeff and I were up about 5:15. We showered and dressed and packed a few last minute items. My suitcase felt awfully heavy, so I weighed it before we brought it downstairs. I was surprised that it weighed 48 pounds! In addition to clothes it had two toiletry bags stuffed with shampoo, lotion, sun screen, etc. and a few food items. Oh, and 5 pairs of shoes.
We had a bit of breakfast and checked on the house one last time…timer on, water off, etc… My Dad arrived to take us to the airport at 6:25. We loaded our bags in his van and then pulled across the street to Tom’s house to load his and Kayla’s bags. We pulled out at 6:35 and arrived at Buffalo airport about 20 minutes later. We said our good-byes and headed into the airport to check our bags. There was no one in the SW baggage line! No one! We walked right up and handed the attendant our boarding passes and IDs. He asked for the heaviest bag first. Hmmm, I guess that would be mine. I hauled it up on the scale and saw that it weighed 46 pounds. So, off by two pounds from what I weighed at home. But better that it was less on the airport scale rather than more! The other bags were weighed and sent on their way.
Then we headed off to security. Jeff, Tom and I all had TSA pre check on our boarding passes, but Kayla did not. There was virtually no one in either line, so we chose to stay together and all go through the regular line. In a few minutes we were on our way to the gate. There were lots of people waiting there already. It’s fun to be on a flight to Disney and see all the families dressed in their Disney t-shirts. Everyone is so excited!
We were in boarding group B with 40, 41, 42 and 43. I didn’t do the Early Bird check in, so we were prepared to be separated, but hoping that we’d find two sets of two seats together. We ended up pretty far back but we had three of us on one side and Jeff sitting in the aisle seat on the other side. Not bad.
We were in the air by 8:10. Tom had the window seat and also had his earbuds in listening to music. Kayla and I chatted for a while and then we each did our own thing. Jeff and I shared the morning paper and I did the crossword puzzles. Kayla had made some chocolate chip cookies and I made zucchini bread, so we really had some yummy treats to share…in addition to the “plane” cookies and package of peanuts they give you on the plane. Before we knew it the plane was "beginning its descent into Orlando!" Love to hear the pilot say those words!
Nice start to your trip and glad all went well without any problems to the airport and your flight! Should be a fun adventure for all of you!
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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!
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September 7 – part 2
We landed around 10:15, and made our way to the main terminal, then downstairs to the lower level. After a bathroom break we headed for the DME check-in. We waited in line for a while and it was then that I got two texts. One from Garden Grocer saying our order had been delivered; the second from Boardwalk saying our room was ready!! We would be in room 4083. I did a quick check on the touring plans room finder while we still had airport wifi and found out where our room was located. It was not one of the corner rooms I'd requested, but I was ok with that. Mainly I was just happy that it was ready. I've heard horror stories of folks whose room was not ready until early evening hours and that would be such a pain!
Soon we were led outside to our “motor coach.” Then we sat on the bus for about 15 minutes, eating some snacks we'd packed, watching cartoons and playing Disney trivia.
Ready for our Disney adventure!
We left MCO about 11:17. Once on Disney property, the bus made one stop at Caribbean Beach Resort and then Boardwalk!
What a great feeling to walk into the resort! We stopped at bell services and asked them to send our Garden Grocer order to our room and then we headed upstairs. We were obviously on the 4th floor, a short distance from the elevator.
We checked out the room, taking lots of pictures, of course. Our room was the mirror image of the one we had last year, so was a little weird at first.
Soon bell services arrived with our groceries and we checked everything against the print out I had. Wow! We had a LOT of food!
On the surface, the room looked great! But as we were putting things away, Jeff noticed some things about the room that were in need of attention. The hinge on the door under the kitchen sink was really loose. It was essentially pulling out of the flakeboard cabinet. The doors on that same cabinet were swollen and deformed, like they had water damage. And the hot water tap was not working right. It was hard to turn and made a lot of noise. We also noticed that paint on the wall behind the chair in the living room was badly chipped from the chair being rammed against the wall. Obviously nothing that would ruin our vacation, (we were in Disney World after all!) but certainly the room was not up to Disney standards.
Sorry, no clever teasers for the next update! I'm just not feeling that creative! I'm just gonna stop where it seems appropriate and start up again on the next update!
Your room looks very nice and nice view from your veranda! I stayed at the BWI back in 2005 for 8 nights and really enjoyed the resort being in walking distance to Epcot and Studios, which is also manageable with a 15-20 minute walk. Sorry, to hear about the minor room problems!
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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!
So nice to have your room ready right as you got there, but bummer that it needed some repairs. We've had a few disappointments like that, and then I wonder where my maintenance fees are going.
It almost seems like there is more of the maintenance type issues in the DVC resorts than others as the housekeeping isn't always regular and perhaps this isn't always checked upon? I'm not a DVC member, but those of you who are will certainly know more about this than I do.
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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!
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I hauled it up on the scale and saw that it weighed 46 pounds. So, off by two pounds from what I weighed at home. But better that it was less on the airport scale rather than more! The other bags were weighed and sent on their way. 
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Should be a fun adventure for all of you!
We would be in room 4083. I did a quick check on the touring plans room finder while we still had airport wifi and found out where our room was located. It was not one of the corner rooms I'd requested, but I was ok with that. Mainly I was just happy that it was ready. I've heard horror stories of folks whose room was not ready until early evening hours and that would be such a pain! 
I'm sorry about your room. Not devastating but certainly a disappointment.
. I would let them know about that.
I'm not a DVC member, but those of you who are will certainly know more about this than I do.
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