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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Please allow me to apologize for baiting you all and then disappearing....! It was not intentional. Shortly after getting home from our trip, we became sidetracked with helping our eldest deal with some legal issues; these were lingering effects of some poor choices he made a few years ago. He's about in the clear at this point and for that we are grateful. Then, just before Christmas, I lost my mom after a long illness. And in between all of that and the holidays, my husband was being pursued for a job position in an area he has great interest in. January was spent in interviews and phone calls and, ultimately, a plane trip across county for both of us and the offer and acceptance of the position. So, in just two weeks time, we will be heading out with our pickup and a UHaul and driving from New Hampshire to California! (more detail in a future post)
And here I sit, writing my TR, while I should be packing. Actually, I'm ahead of the game and I consider this a mental health break. Yeah, that. This TR will by default be interspersed with little moving tangents, but it will be written, as quickly as I can get it done!
At this point I feel I should recap a bit, since there has been such a long hiatus from the PTR and oh-so-brief intro to the TR. The re-introductions, if you will:
For anyone who just joined us and hasn't read the PTR, or simply a refresher for those who did but it may be getting fuzzy!
Where: Coronado Springs Resort - new for all of us. I got an amazing deal on the room rate and upgraded to here from Pop for very little extra $! (turned out to be worth every penny)
When: Oct. 27-31, 2016
Why: well, other than simply "Do we need a reason to return to Disney?!!", we wanted to take one last family trip (albeit sans our eldest) before the guys grow up and we're all doing our own thing. There is more detail on this in the PTR, for anyone who'd like it.
Cast of Characters: Myself: Age 50, wife to a loveable goofball and mom to three great boys. Also, staff to four of the weirdest cats ever produced. I don't know how we get 'em all, I must be a magnet or something.... I work as a housekeeper at a conference center and LOVE my job.
DH: (Buzz) Age 49, husband to an amazing wife! --- Dad to the boys, and Second in Command Staff to the cats. Works in manufacturing at a company that produces something to do with carbon nanotubes. That's about all I can tell you because a) it's way over my head scientifically, and b) I'm pretty sure if I gave out any secrets, I might suddenly disappear and find myself waking up in Mongolia under an assumed name.
DS17: (Alien) The middle of our three boys; very quiet. Loves music (he's a guitar prodigy, I kid you not, he's A-MA-ZING) and video games and BMX biking.
DS14: (Slinky) Our youngest, although he's an "old soul" and we joke he's 14 going on 28. Pretty outgoing, loves snowboarding and old, classic cars, and actually owns a 1940 Plymouth something-or-other (a Deluxe??....not sure) that he and his dad are restoring.
Ok, with all that out of the way, let the Trip Report begin!!......
I woke up on departure day at my usual 6:00-something a.m.. My internal clock is pretty hard-wired for that. I was "happy" because I knew the trip had finally come, but I can't say I was over-the-moon excited yet. Which felt very weird. I brewed coffee, checked emails one last time before setting the computer to sleep mode, and spent some time with my cats (who knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was up, since there were 4 large suitcases strewn about the house in various states of being filled. That means the Staff are going somewhere, and we're not sure about our World right now...). And it's hard to leave them. I mean, look at that face.....
(that's Sneeze and he's 20 lbs of feline lubs.... )
Everyone was ready on schedule and with that we were off for the airport. We checked our bags curbside while Buzz parked the car, had a quick and easy trip through security, and proceeded to our gate to wait..... Quick video of Buzz and Slinky; Slinky was using Snapchat and messing with his face.
Buzz and I getting silly as we wait for departure, and a photobomb by a random guy... https://youtu.be/EYNFfrJwn5Y
As far as I recall our flight was on time and uneventful. The boys didn't sit with us, I like to be near the wing and they prefer the back. But they're old enough, so...
And before we knew it, we were landing in Orlando!!
At this point the whole thing was still almost surreal to me. I knew where we were and were about to embark on, but I was just having a hard time actually wrapping my brain around it. In the past I have been SO excited in the days leading up to the trip, and travel day is over-the-top giddy, but so far I hadn't had any of that. I think it was due to a lot of "life" that was going on at this point in the year. When you have to deal with lots of "stuff," it can crowd out the simple pleasures.
Anyway were WERE finally here and everyone did have big ol' smiles on their faces! Here's Buzz with that first, coveted cup of coffee from the airport Starbucks (y'know, priorities and all):
And as soon as we had coffee in hand, we made our way to the elevator...
....which we took to Level 1, where we had our bands scanned and were directed to:
and our seats on the bus!!! This one was parked next to us and I really liked the wrap on it:
We were on the bus maybe 15 minutes before it was loaded and ready to go. Another uneventful trip (it was getting dark so I mostly watched the video) and in no time we were finally being greeting by that magical arch that every Disney traveler longs to see....
Welcome Home.
******
Buzz: Terrain seems a bit unstable. No readout yet if the air is breathable. And there seems to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere... Woody: [sneaks up on Buzz] Hello-o-o!
Awesome start! So exciting to finally be there!
As for all the "stuff" that gets in the way of life, and kids making poor choices...yup, I hear ya on that! It can sure come back to bite them down the road. If only they understood that BEFORE making the choices!
Very nice start to the TR and glad all went well getting to Orlando. Love the funny videos! Your flight approaching MCO just looks familiar as I know that approach so well and just want to get on a plane now!
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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!
Awesome start! So exciting to finally be there!
As for all the "stuff" that gets in the way of life, and kids making poor choices...yup, I hear ya on that! It can sure come back to bite them down the road. If only they understood that BEFORE making the choices!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start! Glad you've made it!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start! Eagerly waiting for more!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Very nice start to the TR and glad all went well getting to Orlando. Love the funny videos! Your flight approaching MCO just looks familiar as I know that approach so well and just want to get on a plane now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyson61616
Love trip reports. I can't wait to hear all the details.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Glad you made it to Orlando safely! Love the videos!
Oh my goodness thank you ALL for still being here!! I'm honored.
It's funny to sit now, nearly 4 months later, and realize how much I still remember. Just looking at my photos and videos and suddenly so much comes back to me. I had intended to record the highlights of each day in my PassPorter, but at the end of the day, I just wanted to relax and not have to think so much, so in the end whatever I've got is what's stored in my noggin.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Coronado Springs was the first stop for our DME bus so the trip didn't take too long. We grabbed the two bags that had ridden underneath, tipped our driver, and headed for check in. Despite doing all the on-line check in options, I never did receive any sort of text or email regarding our room assignment (we assumed it was ready since it was now after 6pm). So Buzz and I headed for the on-line check in station while the guys went outside to take a look around. After a few minute's wait it was our turn, and very shortly I was being told we had a Preferred room in Casitas.....
WHA-??!!!
Now, initially during my research, Casitas was the least appealing to me and I had in fact requested something in the Ranchos section. I will state here and now I eat every word I ever said against Casitas! The upgrade to Preferred was a gift; I booked and paid for a standard room. But we ended up in Casitas 3, overlooking this courtyard and fountain.
It was an amazing location for us!!! At the bottom of our stairs we were at the quiet pool for that area and right across from the laundry and fitness room (score one for my weight-lifting hubby). A turn to the left took us straight to the back parking lot and Bus Stop #1, and to the right we were on the main walkway to El Centro. Loved, loved,loved our room!! Of course I didn't take any pictures of it, but it was nice. We were on the 3rd floor but never heard anyone above or next to us. It was clean, spacious, and well-appointed. Slinky ended up putting his "bed" in the closet area behind the sliding privacy doors. He had a very cozy set up!
After settling in briefly, we agreed we all needed food so we headed for El Centro and the Pepper Market. Again, no complaints whatsoever. The food was fresh (cooked to order for all of us, even at different stations) and it wasn't terribly busy so there was no wait. I took the obligatory snapshot of my first Disney meal: (chicken enchiladas, FYI....)
Ceiling tile mosaic detail in the main foyer:
After we ate we took a leisurely stroll back to our room, and the guys decided to take a swim in the quiet pool to unwind after a long travel day. I unpacked bags (our DME bags arrived shortly after got back from dinner so in reality it only took a couple hours from landing at MCO to getting them in our room), put on the Disney info channel (which we've all seen 100 times but somehow it makes it seem more real to be there!) and got ready for bed. I think we were all in bed with lights out by 11pm, which was going to give me just enough sleep to be ready to tackle the very early morning coming up for our first full day.
*****
Next time ~ Day 1 and Pure Disney Magic
Alien: Nirvana is coming, the mystic portal awaits.
Glad you got the upgrade! and in a much better location! The walk to El Centro from Ranchos is a good ten minutes!
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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!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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Actually, I'm ahead of the game and I consider this a mental health break. Yeah, that. This TR will by default be interspersed with little moving tangents, but it will be written, as quickly as I can get it done!
--- Dad to the boys, and Second in Command Staff to the cats. Works in manufacturing at a company that produces something to do with carbon nanotubes. That's about all I can tell you because a) it's way over my head scientifically, and b) I'm pretty sure if I gave out any secrets, I might suddenly disappear and find myself waking up in Mongolia under an assumed name.
)
Dinner looked very yummy! 
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