Have a Happy Birthday - Part Two - COMPLETE w/Final Thoughts **Updated 11/25** - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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So awesome that you can just pop on down there for a quick weekend.
I think it's going to be a close race as to who gets more trips in this year--Jill or Sharon.
So awesome that you can just pop on down there for a quick weekend.
I think it's going to be a close race as to who gets more trips in this year--Jill or Sharon.
Oh lordy-loo don't put it that way or Thom will be begging to come along on the girls' trip in December. Ya know, if it's a competition and all. Even though I'd win. No matter what the competition was, or even if I was one of the competitors, I'd still beat him.
__________________
Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Oh lordy-loo don't put it that way or Thom will be begging to come along on the girls' trip in December. Ya know, if it's a competition and all. Even though I'd win. No matter what the competition was, or even if I was one of the competitors, I'd still beat him.
And the thing is that Karen doesn't even know half the things that Thom wants me to text her about . . . I have to filter a good bit of his competitive nature.
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Welcome back Jill...cant' wait for the rest of the TR....it's so great to see how much Maddie came around with the characters fromt he 1st bday trip.....plus we all wanna hear about the impromtoo trip too!
Once we all survived HISTA, we then moved on to The Land since it was almost time for lunch and Maddie’s big birthday celebration! I checked us in and then Thom called Misti to find out their whereabouts while I took the girls to the bathroom. Misti had forgotten about lunch (I did a better job after this of reminding them when we had an upcoming meal ) but thankfully they were just getting out of Turtle Talk. Just about the time our pager went off, Misti and her family walked up.
We were lead to a large table on the upper level. All of the children sat on the outside of the table so that they could greet characters easier. The entire experience was just a flurry of food and characters. Each character came by our table at least twice and spent a great deal of time with the children each visit. In between character visits, everyone enjoyed the platters upon platters of food that filled our table. It was such a nice variety that there was something for everyone.
Maddie had an absolute blast with her new love of characters. Every time a character would approach and the older children would get out of their chairs, Maddie would bust a gut to get out of her chair and yell “Hey guys! Wait for me!” She then would examine each character from head to toe. I can’t tell you how many times I saw her stooped over a foot (or paw) petting it.
After a dessert of breading pudding and ice cream, there had been no mention of Maddie’s birthday cake (I was told when I checked in that they had it and it was on the reservation). I should have said something to our server as soon as we were seated, but I thought she had been passed the info. When I told her about it, I thought she was going to freak out because she said that the info had not been passed along to her. She immediately took off and came back with the news that she had it and would serve it.
It ended up being okay because she was soon back out with it. It was a gorgeous cake and they were able to decorate it with Maddie’s favorite character, Snow White.
When it was put on the table in front of Maddie, Mary Devall leaned over in her best big sister voice and asked “Who is on your cake, Maddie?”
Maddie turned to her and said “You know who that is, Mar Vall!”
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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Ya know, if it's a competition and all. Even though I'd win. No matter what the competition was, or even if I was one of the competitors, I'd still beat him. 
. . . I have to filter a good bit of his competitive nature. 
PassPorter Guide Author
I love the way you can pop down there for a weekend - actually I'm jealous! 
I checked us in and then Thom called Misti to find out their whereabouts while I took the girls to the bathroom. Misti had forgotten about lunch (I did a better job after this of reminding them when we had an upcoming meal 
She immediately took off and came back with the news that she had it and would serve it. 
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