Meri's Dream Come True - A Birthday Celebration! - PTR updated 02/04/2014 - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Love the shirts. Although my vote would've been for the pink, but you know that.
Good Luck with the FE gifts for teenage boys. I'm thinking gum or candy would appeal to anyone.
Congrats to Meri! So exciting!
Love the shirts. Although my vote would've been for the pink, but you know that.
Good Luck with the FE gifts for teenage boys. I'm thinking gum or candy would appeal to anyone.
Congrats to Meri! So exciting!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomhazel
Basically we managed to establish teenage boys eat and smell. Have to say other than sleep those are my 15 year olds favorites.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
I have a teenage boy, and I have to agree that anything they can eat would probably be best.
Ok so I'm thinking a big package of those prepackaged Rice Krispie Treats will be good for all of the kids... plus some extra snacks for the boys... because you can never go wrong with food...
I can't wait to go out on Saturday morning while Meri is at rehearsal, and then put all of the stuff together on Saturday night. I'll make sure to post a pic of what I end up with!! BTW I got the magnets, and mom agrees they're a really cute souvenir to share. I'm glad they came out alright. I had her re-spell-check me, and recheck the dates.
I am SO excited!!! Two weeks from right now, we will be driving to Port Canaveral, having just had breakfast with Laurie!
BTW, we still haven't found the stupid camera. Mom said that if we can't find it before we go, she'll buy a new one (you can get a Canon ELPH for about $100, so it could be worse). We just can NOT go on vacation with no camera. My iPhone takes some of the WORST photos, and there's no way I want to rely on just that... sigh.
Where on earth is that camera?? It's got to have ended up someplace completely weird-- clothes hamper, or something. Good decision with the rice krispie treats and candy. Glad the magnets came out so well. YES, two weeks from today we have breakfast together!!
Where on earth is that camera?? It's got to have ended up someplace completely weird-- clothes hamper, or something. Good decision with the rice krispie treats and candy. Glad the magnets came out so well. YES, two weeks from today we have breakfast together!!
Still no camera... I'm at a complete loss for where this stupid thing could be. I am moving my bed / chair tonight, maybe it fell somewhere behind one or the other?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
That camera needs to show up before you go...
No joke!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
I think extra snacks for the boys sounds like a good idea. I hope you find that camera!!
Me too! Where IS IT?!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Can't believe the camera is still MIA! Maybe you should get a waterproof one? I love my little Lumix. Great pictures in or out of water.
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.
Well... the FE bags are DONE! I spent over an hour at Target this morning, waffling over this, that and the other. Here's what I finally came up with:
For little girls (basically those under 12):
* Princess or Minnie bath gel
* Rice Krispie Treat
* Pin (except for kids under 3)
* Bouncy ball
* Hershey's Kisses
* Minnie tattoo
* Pirate tattoos
* Pirate bubbles
For young ladies (over 12):
* Disney Princess lip gloss
* Rice Krispie Treat
* Pin
* Hershey's Kisses
* Minnie tattoo
* Pirate tattoos
* Pirate bubbles
For little boys (under 12):
* Cars bath gel
* Rice Krispie Treat
* Pin (except for kids under 3)
* Bouncy ball
* Hershey's Kisses
* Mickey tattoo
* Pirate tattoos
* Pirate bubbles
And for young men (over 12):
* Pringles
* Rice Krispie Treat
* Pin (except for kids under 3, they got a bouncy ball instead)
* Hershey's Kisses
* Mickey tattoo
* Pirate tattoos
* Pirate bubbles
Then everyone gets a magnet on their stateroom door
I tried to just choose things that weren't cheap looking, and things that will get used. The bubbles are just teeny tiny bubble sets with pirate designs on them (I was thinking of those who have to fly home, and I was thinking of little kids knocking them over). I figure they can get used on board, and then tossed. The snacks are pretty simple and I figure they'll get eaten pretty quickly, lol, and the rest... well they can trade the pins if they want and the tattoos, well, if they get used, cool. If not... *shrug* They were two bucks for the entire package so I'm not going to be upset.
So, yeah. That's done. I still have to do the two bags for the two adults-only cabins, but they'll likely get a pin or two, a magnet and some treats. Maybe a tattoo, ha!
Anyway, I also re-did Meri's suitcase, to put all of her outfits (including socks and underwear) in gallon ziploc bags. So now, whenever she needs to change, she can just grab a baggie and it's got everything she needs. We did that when we went to Disney for her 2nd birthday and it was so easy! I figured, why not go ahead and simplify things again? So that's done.
I also bought Meri's birthday presents at Target. I got her a Pokemon card set and a trading card tin (she wants one to keep her cards in), and I got her a Merida bow / arrow set (the arrows have suction cups at the end, lol) because she's been BUGGING me to have a bow and arrow for her Merida dress.
Then Mickey will buy her something on board (ha) and leave that, and I think mom has a few things, too.
So, that's all done. I'm beat!! I've been up since 7am (my car is getting the oil changed as I type this, so it will be all set for the big road trip). I need to find a cardboard box to put the FE gifts and Meri's birthday gifts in, so I can seal it up and have it "checked" at the port and delivered to the cabin. Speaking of the cabin... still no room assignment! Meh! I'm waiting and waiting and waiting! Other people on my cruise have gotten theirs, so I'm really hoping mine is assigned on Monday! The waiting is killing me! It's not even that it matters (I mean with an inside cabin, you're pretty well assured of what you're going to get, no matter the location) but it's a missing piece, and I MUST KNOW! LOL!
Hard to believe that we're 10 sleeps away from departure day! 11 away from WDW and 12 away from the cruise! Crazy!!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I think people of all ages will be thrilled with your FE gifts! It's a lot of thought and time that goes into putting that together.
It really is almost here! I leave Friday morning and you leave a week from Tuesday. See you bright and early a week from Thursday! Hope you get your stateroom number Monday.
About This Page: 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Melanie
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
