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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It’s been almost 5 years since Jeff and I visited Disney on our own. Now, don’t get me wrong… We love being able to take our kids and grandkids, but we also love to enjoy Disney together, Just the two of us!
I don’t do a play by play PTR because I don’t keep track of my planning in that way. One thing leads to another, changes are made, and I totally forget what the original plans were! So what you'll be reading here is pretty much what we ended up with.
Flights - This trip came about because we each had $60 credit for southwest after our October flights dropped in price. We were thinking about where we’d go to use our credits and it didn’t take long before thoughts turned to Disney. We thought late January would work with our schedules and figured 4 nights was just about right. I decided to check out flights to MCO and amazingly, flights were an incredible $79 each way. We didn’t have to think too long before booking. And the total, out of pocket, was under $200 for two round trip tickets!
So, our dates are January 22 to January 26. A 4-night stay is not as long as we’re used to but any amount of time at Disney is better than none, so we’ll just take what we can get and make it magical!
I'm just like you in the planning. I don't keep track of everything so I kind of take things by categories. Awesome deal on your flights.
I do enjoy planning, but never seem to keep track of all the changes when they happen. Then I'm looking up emails trying to figure out dates of when I did this or that.
Thanks for joining in!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
You said it It has been a while since the cast was just you and Jeff on a trip. Now just have to hope no one spills the bean to Tom or Cora.
Well, I know. It's tough when you have to leave the other Disney loving members of the family behind. Tom lives just across the street from us, so he'll probably figure it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, that was an amazing deal! I can't believe how long it's been since it was just the two of us at Disney....
2013 was the last time we were there alone, so it's really been 4 years. Guess I just subtracted years...this trip will be in 2018.
2014 we didn't have a trip to Disney.
2015 was with Tom.
2016 with Tom and Kayla,
2017 with Liz and Cora.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcmary
What a great deal on your flights. I am looking forward to hear where you decided to stay.
It's a new place for us, so we're looking forward to that!
Accommodations - We looked at availability and points needed for a 4 night stay for DVC resorts and decided on Old Key West. We didn’t want to use too many points as we want to leave enough for our fall trip, and OKW is a good value for number of points used, so that was an easy choice. And since we’ve never stayed there, that made it even better! We’ve visited OKW several times to eat dinner at Olivia’s and always loved the relaxed feel of the resort. And the boat ride to DS is a big plus. The only down side, since we rely on Disney transportation, is that we’ll have to take a bus to all the parks. But we can deal with that.
Since we were within our 7 month window, I called and booked our four night stay soon after we got our flights.
This was the first time EVER that we had two Disney vacations booked at once!
It was very cool to sign into MDE and see both sets of accommodations and ADRs! And it was also nice to know, as we toured with Cora and Liz in the fall, that we’d be back soon. We were taking it very easy and shortening our park days, but we knew that in a few short months we’d be back and we would be able to carry on with our usual touring routine.
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Great deal on the flights and makes sense as it's the low season in January just prior to the peak season begins in mid February! Looks like a good deal on OKW and glad you didn't have to use too many points for your stay. The boat from OKW to DS will be convenient getting there as it is when I stay at the PO Resorts.
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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!
Great start Donna! What a great price for roundtrip flights!!!! And I think you will enjoy OKW. It does have a relaxing feel. Olivia's is yummy!!! The resort is kind of spread out so hopefully you get close to the main place. And it does have a few bus stops on the loop to take to get out to a park but overall it's a pretty good resort!!! Can't wait for more!
How neat to have two Disney trips booked - I don't think we've ever been able to say that. Other trips but Disney
It was very cool!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
We have stayed at OKW several times and enjoyed our stays there every time. Hope you all enjoy it, too.
Good to hear! I'm excited for our first stay there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tdhc
Excited to see your PTR. Love when you can see 2 trips at once. We enjoyed Old Key West. Look forward to reading more.
Thanks for joining in! Glad to hear you enjoyed OKW !
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Congrats on OKW!
Thanks! We are looking forward to it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Great deal on the flights and makes sense as it's the low season in January just prior to the peak season begins in mid February! Looks like a good deal on OKW and glad you didn't have to use too many points for your stay. The boat from OKW to DS will be convenient getting there as it is when I stay at the PO Resorts.
We were thrilled with the good deal on our flights!
Yes, we loved the boat when we stayed at PO as well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemo125
Great start Donna! What a great price for roundtrip flights!!!! And I think you will enjoy OKW. It does have a relaxing feel. Olivia's is yummy!!! The resort is kind of spread out so hopefully you get close to the main place. And it does have a few bus stops on the loop to take to get out to a park but overall it's a pretty good resort!!! Can't wait for more!
Yeah, that's one thing I'd heard about OKW, it being so spread out. But I think we'll be ok. We usually adjust pretty well to wherever they put us!
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We didn’t have to think too long before booking. And the total, out of pocket, was under $200 for two round trip tickets! 
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Pixie Dust
Awesome deal on your flights. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Tom lives just across the street from us, so he'll probably figure it out. 
but Disney 
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