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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi Coop, I just found your PTR and am all caught up with what's going on! You've both been through so much this year and you certainly deserve a nice vacation together. Sounds like Chuck is back on track and hopefully with the surgery, meds and diet/exercise he will be on the mend to better health. Glad to hear also that you lost some weight and are trying to exercise more. You both live such busy lives that you need some down time at WDW! I'm glad that you were able to use your DVC points and it will be especially nice staying at Saratoga Springs since they have the walkway right into Disney Springs! You spend so much time there that it will be so convenient! Your trip will be here before you know it.
Not much on the planning front. While we were able to make FP+ choices, we have decided not to. We like to "wing it". We will play "park bus roulette" and maybe get FP's on the fly. We don't want to be tied down to more than our dining reservations. We had originally planned on a park per day and FP accordingly. We then realized that we didn't want to be that tied down. So I cancelled all of our FP and decided to just "wing it".
I'm better with this idea as I think the vacation means more to us than the actual rides. I'm just so ready to go!
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Great plan! If we were going without the littles, I think we'd do pretty much the same thing. I find it incredibly stressful to preplan so much ahead of time.
I must admit we haven't booked that many Fastpasses for this trip - just the priority ones that are likely to have long lines, like Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Toy Story Mania, Frozen Ever After and Soarin', plus a couple of others we enjoy, but generally we haven't reached our maximum on most days, so I hear you on that.
I don't care for planning all the fast passes that far ahead but I do it anyway because I know I won't want to wait on long lines once I'm there. I know you're both looking forward to having a relaxing vacation which you so deserve.
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I told understand not wanting to be tied down by too many ressies of any kind. If my sister's family weren't going with us, I might not being doing so many this trip either. But I want to get in as much as I can for them.
I don't mind a lot of ressies with dining and mostly dinners with just a couple of lunches. The FP+ ones I sometimes change or can't make them due to arriving on first day and other things like golf and so on. No golf on my upcoming trip so these should be less of a problem. Just want to explore parks more on this one and do the F&W Fest.
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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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Great plan! If we were going without the littles, I think we'd do pretty much the same thing. I find it incredibly stressful to preplan so much ahead of time.
We just don't want to HAVE to be somewhere at a specific time just to ride a ride. KWIM?
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Originally Posted by jandsdennis
I think we'd do the same if we didn't have a first timer traveling with us this time.
My first trip - I went with my BFF and she was an uber planner! She had spread sheets and everything!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great idea!!
Thanks, Marnie! I get em - once in a while! ;-)
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Originally Posted by chezp
I must admit we haven't booked that many Fastpasses for this trip - just the priority ones that are likely to have long lines, like Seven Dwarves Mine Train, Toy Story Mania, Frozen Ever After and Soarin', plus a couple of others we enjoy, but generally we haven't reached our maximum on most days, so I hear you on that.
We thought about doing the "priority" ones. I asked Chuck what he absolutely couldn't do without riding and most everything we either want to do the queue (because it's interesting) or it shouldn't be a tremendous wait. I figured we can just figure out where we are going and maybe snag some on the day of if need be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I don't care for planning all the fast passes that far ahead but I do it anyway because I know I won't want to wait on long lines once I'm there. I know you're both looking forward to having a relaxing vacation which you so deserve.
That's my main goal - relax and enjoy!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
I like your "wing it" idea! Sometimes it is just great to go where the wind takes you!
We never were very commando tourists - but I just want to go for as relaxing a vacation as possible!
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Originally Posted by SharonK0527
Your "wing it" idea sounds great!
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
I told understand not wanting to be tied down by too many ressies of any kind. If my sister's family weren't going with us, I might not being doing so many this trip either. But I want to get in as much as I can for them.
I get that. They want to get in the "top priority" rides/meets. You know we have never been very commando - so I just want to relax!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
I don't mind a lot of ressies with dining and mostly dinners with just a couple of lunches. The FP+ ones I sometimes change or can't make them due to arriving on first day and other things like golf and so on. No golf on my upcoming trip so these should be less of a problem. Just want to explore parks more on this one and do the F&W Fest.
For a week - we only have 3 dinners and 2 lunches planned. We had to plan one (Victoria and Albert's). We will also be there for F&WF - so there is that too! We would love to have more time to do things like golf.
No big planning going on. I must start making some lists though! Packing, to buy, to do, etc.
We saw Chuck's Cardiologist and they tweaked his meds again. He also starts Cardiac Rehab on Monday (again) - but this is good. It will give us a jumping off point on the exercise. And we are going to meet with a nutritionist. That will help with weight control and cholesterol etc.
I need to jump in on the "get fit" bandwagon. My back went out last week and I've been in pain. Walking helps some - but I can't go fast. I missed 3 days last weekend (12 hours each) so now my CTO (combined time off) balance is at 3 hours! I need at least 36 hours for our trip! I had one nurse offer me some of hers (she's so sweet!) I should be able to accrue that much before we leave or I'm just going to have to take time unpaid. Fingers crossed that nothing ELSE happens! I have thought (more than once) that I may have to cancel. But that's not going to happen!
We also have a cruise coming up in June of next year - Vacation time and fitness must be under control by then. I have until March to cancel that one if need be. I really don't want to because it's a big birthday celebration. But that's a PTR for a different time.
Our wait list came through! So instead of 7 nights in a 1 bedroom at Saratoga Springs, we will spend 7 nights in a 1 bedroom at our favorite - OKW!!!!! Olivia's. The Gurguling Suitcase. The pool and sauna! And it's still a 1 bedroom - which we've ever stayed in. Really exciting!
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Sounds like Chuck is back on track and hopefully with the surgery, meds and diet/exercise he will be on the mend to better health. Glad to hear also that you lost some weight and are trying to exercise more. You both live such busy lives that you need some down time at WDW! I'm glad that you were able to use your DVC points and it will be especially nice staying at Saratoga Springs since they have the walkway right into Disney Springs! You spend so much time there that it will be so convenient! Your trip will be here before you know it.
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Pixie Dust
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
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PassPorter Guide Author
I need at least 36 hours for our trip! I had one nurse offer me some of hers (she's so sweet!) I should be able to accrue that much before we leave or I'm just going to have to take time unpaid. Fingers crossed that nothing ELSE happens! I have thought (more than once) that I may have to cancel. But that's not going to happen! 
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