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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Donna I think you may have misunderstood me, a QUAD 50 is not an RV. It is a vital piece of equipment for fathers of teenage girls. It consists of a surplus military 2 and a half ton aka a deuce and a half truck with a mounted free swivel weapons system consisting o f 4 synchronized 50 cal Machine guns. A highly effective message delivery system to young men that come a courting.
Donna I think you may have misunderstood me, a QUAD 50 is not an RV. It is a vital piece of equipment for fathers of teenage girls. It consists of a surplus military 2 and a half ton aka a deuce and a half truck with a mounted free swivel weapons system consisting o f 4 synchronized 50 cal Machine guns. A highly effective message delivery system to young men that come a courting.
Thanks for the explanation Mike! Silly me! I just assumed, and you know what happens with that!
Glad it all went smoothly at the airport even with the Magical Express bus being late! How great that Cora slept most of the flight home. Sounds like a magical trip for you all.
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Final Thoughts:
Our ups and downs – this was a two-fold title. On one hand, Cora loved to go up, up, up and down, down, down in the elevator, and up and down on Dumbo as well. On the other hand, her temperament had its ups and downs as well!
Traveling with a toddler – I thought we planned very well. We brought lots of little surprises and things to keep her busy; we chose kid-friendly FP+ and were prepared to be flexible; we planned for LOTS of down time and many meals in the room. So, all in all, things were mostly as expected. I had hoped we could avoid tantrums, but alas, she’s is only two, so she did have a few.
Character meets – What can I say? They were just magical! Cora was so excited to meet all her Disney friends! And the PP photographers caught her expressions so wonderfully! I was so pleased with all the great photos we got!
Character Meals – I had chiseled down my original 4 character meals to 3 and then we ended up doing just 2. Cora is not a good eater and doesn’t like to sit still for a meal, so these did not go as well as we’d planned. But, the food was great and Jeff, Liz and I had our fill. And if Cora wasn’t interested in meeting the characters then we got pictures with just us.
Bay Lake Tower – This is such a perfect location! We loved being within walking distance of the Magic Kingdom. And just a monorail ride away from Epcot. Speaking of the monorail, I didn’t mention this in my TR, but Cora just loved the monorail. Every time one would pass by she’d say “There goes the monorail!” And tell us what color the stripe was. Our 1 bedroom villa was the prefect size for the 4 of us, and we loved having the full kitchen for meals in the room. The dining table was good for meals but also great for Cora to color and play with her figures. And of course the splash pad and the pool!
Community Hall – Even though part of BLT, the community hall deserves its own category. Borrowing movies for free was a great perk for us and the community hall was a wonderful place to hang out when we needed a little more space, or some fun toys for Cora to play with. The CMs here are so friendly and helpful! And they put on that wonderful Halloween party that was FREE for anyone staying at CR or BLT.
Fort Wilderness – What a gold mine of fun! Thank you MikeL for the recommendation! We enjoyed dinner at Trails End, seeing the horses, the wagon ride around the campgrounds and of course the playground! Not to mention the boat ride to get there! What’s not to love?!
Orlando Stroller – This worked out great! I ordered and pre-paid for the City Mini stroller, and it was waiting for us when we arrived. It was a great stroller too. It was very easy to fold up and carry aboard the buses. And very roomy and comfy for Cora. We requested a rain cover be included – this was free but you had to request it. Thanks goodness we didn’t need to use it, but we had it if necessary. It also came with a complimentary soft cooler. This was about the size of a 6 pack. It came in handy on our last day when we packed our lunch. I would definitely use this company again!
Amazon Prime Now – We recently became Amazon Prime members so we decided to order groceries through Amazon Prime Now instead of Garden Grocer. It worked out very well. The big plus is no delivery charge, which is $14 at GG. And there is only a $20 minimum. I was happy with everything except the mini watermelon and a bag of apples which were not included in the order.
I guess that’s about it! Thanks everyone for following along!
Now I suppose I need to get busy on my PTR for our January trip!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful TR! I truly enjoyed seeing Cora's expressions when meeting the characters! She did so well with character meets for a two year old!
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Thanks for sharing your wonderful TR! I truly enjoyed seeing Cora's expressions when meeting the characters! She did so well with character meets for a two year old!
Thanks for following along! So glad you enjoyed it.
What a great wrap-up and I still think that photo of Cora is my favourite of the whole trip report. The photographer just captured such a priceless expression.
I think you guys certainly made the best of your trip and planned it really well, but I love the way you were able to discover so much to do at Fort Wilderness - a great tip, I'm sure, for others going with young kids.
Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us and looking forward to the next, when we get to spend time with you guys again.
What a great wrap-up and I still think that photo of Cora is my favourite of the whole trip report. The photographer just captured such a priceless expression.
Oh, I know! It's one of my favorites as well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I think you guys certainly made the best of your trip and planned it really well, but I love the way you were able to discover so much to do at Fort Wilderness - a great tip, I'm sure, for others going with young kids.
We had never been to Fort Wilderness before, but what a great find!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us and looking forward to the next, when we get to spend time with you guys again.
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Overall, I think you did rather well by having Cora on her first WDW trip and not too many meltdowns. It should only get better on future trips with her if you go on another one with her. I'm sure it was a bit stressful for you and Jeff at times. Good going by using Community Hall and FW to your advantage with Cora to keep her occupied.
Great TR and enjoyed it so much! Can't believe it's over so soon!
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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!
I was so fun to see all the photos of Cora reacting to the characters in the meets. for sharing your trip with a toddler with us. Can't wait for the coming PTR.
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I just assumed, and you know what happens with that!
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Good going by using Community Hall and FW to your advantage with Cora to keep her occupied.
for sharing your trip with a toddler with us. Can't wait for the coming PTR. 
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