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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 now that I have started I feel the need to " just keep swimming" and let everyone know everything. I think I should start with why we would like to surprise the kids. After the crazy year we have we just wanted to do something really special and memorable. After thinking it over we just decided not to tell them because the look on their faces would be something that we would want to remember forever. How hard it would be to keep the secret I could never imagine
In talking late at night with Dan and looking for a place to stay we had originally thought that Art of Animation would be great. It is new and bright and overall looked great. So in early Feburary I took the plunge and booked. A room in the Nemo section was reserved and we were set to go for Thanksgiving week. I was anxiously looking over menus and previous reviews to see where we need to eat. Having gone to Disney several times before we have gone to every park and eaten but always with large groups. This time around it would just be the 5 of us and the possibilities seemed endless. Then came the announcement of free dining and things were about to change.
With the savings that free dining could offer we had some different options we could explore. The only thing that Dan was not sold on with AofA was how far away it was from everything. The idea of going on a bus for everything was not exactly high on his list of must do's. We had stayed at POR before and while the resort itself was wonderful, the buses were not always. If I had to be honest I would love to stay at a monorail resort or a resort close enough to walk to the parks. Free dining was not offered at Thanksgiving ( and really why would it be!!) but it was offered in August just before school started. All three of the kids would now be in school and my time with them at home would be coming to an end. In many ways this made me very sad. My babies were going to be in school all day and for the first time in almost 9 years I would be at home alone. Taking all of these things into account I was back to looking at resorts during an entirely different time of the year. The Polynesian was always one of the places I would love to stay at right along with the Contemporary...now I had to decide which one. My husband was very little help as his typical response in planning this vacation was/is whatever you decide. The warm feeling I got from visiting the Polynesian in the past was keeping me from thinking of anywhere else. Ohana's is one of our favorite places to eat and after all Ohana does mean "family". So it was decided.....the Polynesian it was, now when exactly in August. My oldest son Colin had signed up for youth football again this year and the first few weeks of August were filled with practices. We did not want him to miss too much of this or even miss a game,but we would rather miss this than a week of school right off the bat. So I booked on faith the there would not be a game the weekend of Labor Day. Now I would have to really hustle and book my ADR's. After moving up the date I had missed the window of 180 days.
I knew I wanted to dine at several places with the kids,but would I ever be able to get them. Online I went to try. I wanted to experience Ohana's again, Coral Reef,Chef Mickys,something at Animal Kingdom Lodge, and after that I would fill in whatever else I could. And wouldn't you know it the only thing I was able to book was Boma's.. But I was determined and looked every day several times a day to find what I wanted and here is where I stand now.
Sunday---Chef Mickeys 7:50pm
Monday---Yak & Yeti 2:00pm
Tuesday---Raglan Road 7:15pm
Wednesday---The Garden Grill 6:35pm
Thursday---Ohana's 7:35am
Friday---Boma 7:20pm
Saturday---The Coral Reef 6:00pm
I was finally able to add Chef Mickeys just two days ago!! I had given up hope, but just when I figured it was not going to happen there it was. Arrival day and everything! I can not think of a better way to start off this vacation.
So now we are set with our ADR's and now all I have left to do is pack,but before that I have to talk about how we are going to arrive at out destination. And as usually I was back online and looking at PassPorter for hints and ideas.
Up next....will I find airfare that fits my budget? Will I be able to get the times I wanted?
so glad your mother is doing better. Have fun planning
Thanks. I have to say the best part of anything I do is planning. I will miss that once this vacation is over. Who knows I might get a bounce back offer that I can't refuse....I can only dream.
I am so happy your mom is in remission. What a great reason to celebrate. So glad you were able to get all the ADRs you wanted even when you changed your dates. Think the Poly sounds like the perfect place for this celebration.
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So happy to hear that your mother is okay. Your husband and children sound wonderful. Can't wait to read more!
Thanks so much for following along. My husband is amazing. I can not wait for the kids to figure out what is going on.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
I am so happy your mom is in remission. What a great reason to celebrate. So glad you were able to get all the ADRs you wanted even when you changed your dates. Think the Poly sounds like the perfect place for this celebration.
Thank you I am really excited to cross some items off of our dinning bucket list.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start and plans Christina! Glad to hear your Mom is doing so well!
Thank you for reading along. I have read several of your TR's and have really enjoyed everyone of them. Your kids are beautiful.
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[SIGPIC]Ricky, Sharon R, Richard
. I think I should start with why we would like to surprise the kids. After the crazy year we have we just wanted to do something really special and memorable. After thinking it over we just decided not to tell them because the look on their faces would be something that we would want to remember forever. How hard it would be to keep the secret I could never imagine
My babies were going to be in school all day and for the first time in almost 9 years I would be at home alone. Taking all of these things into account I was back to looking at resorts during an entirely different time of the year. The Polynesian was always one of the places I would love to stay at right along with the Contemporary...now I had to decide which one. My husband was very little help as his typical response in planning this vacation was/is whatever you decide. The warm feeling I got from visiting the Polynesian in the past was keeping me from thinking of anywhere else. Ohana's is one of our favorite places to eat and after all Ohana does mean "family". So it was decided.....the Polynesian it was, now when exactly in August. My oldest son Colin had signed up for youth football again this year and the first few weeks of August were filled with practices. We did not want him to miss too much of this or even miss a game,but we would rather miss this than a week of school right off the bat. So I booked on faith the there would not be a game the weekend of Labor Day. Now I would have to really hustle and book my ADR's. After moving up the date I had missed the window of 180 days
.
Glad to hear your Mom is doing so well! 
Love all of your ADRs! 
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