It's going to be an "Incredible Summer" - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We finished off 2017, now we're onto the new years happenings.
January 2018
Unhappy with his progress at Physical Therapy, Lenny decided to go somewhere new
Disney announced the Summer Meal Deal offer which I added to our reservation
I made the first car rental reservations. We would be picking up the car at the airport instead of the Car Care Center as it was about $300 cheaper to do it this way
I booked the scooter for Lenny from Walker Mobility
January 24 - Lenny was once again rushed to the hospital. He'd had a heart attack. He also had another Cardiac Catheter where he received a fourth stent.
Disney announced that Mobile ordering could be used with Disney Dining plans. Unfortunately, MDE needed a newer operating system than my iPad could run so I invested in an inexpensive Android tablet now called "The Disney Device" so we could make additional FP and make use of the mobile ordering on our trip
February 2018
February 6th, 7th, and 8th - I used my new "Disney Device" to make our ADR's. We got everything we wanted at the days and times we wanted.
Monday - 8:15 am at Crystal Palace
Tuesday - 8:05 am at Hollywood & Vine
Wednesday - 8:20 am at Akershus
Thursday - 8:10 am at Tusker House
Thursday - 4:00 pm at Tusker House (yes, we'll eat both breakfast and dinner here)
Friday - 11:00 am at Be Our Guest
Sunday - 7:30 am at Ohana
Monday - 8:00 am at Garden Grill
Tuesday - 7:30 am at Cape May Cafe
Wednesday - 8:00 am at Be Our Guest
Thursday - 11:30 am at Garden Grill
Friday - 4:30 pm at Trails End Buffet
February 8, 2018 - this was the date SWA was suppose to open up airfare again. Unbeknownst to me ahead of time, they changed the date to
February 15th so I was up early for no reason
February 15, 2018 - I once again woke up early to book our airfare. For the past few years that we've flown, we've been able to get early afternoon non stop flights home and I didn't expect this year to be any different. What I expected and what I was able to get were not the same. There were only three non stop flights offered - at 8:45 am, 4:05 pm and 7:25 pm. The early one was too early and the late one was too late. I'd love to say the 4 pm flight was just right but not really. Earlier would have been better but considering my choices - too early, too late, or too many stops - 4:05 would have to do. Changing days to get a "better" or less expensive flight time wasn't an option as I didn't want to have less time at Disney. Our last trip worked out really well at the length it was so I wanted to keep it.
February 15, 2018 - I rebooked the car again. This time I booked 2 one week rentals from the CCC instead of 1 two week rental from the airport as it actually was cheaper by about $25.
February 15, 2018 - Since both my return airfare and the car rental rates were less than what I budgeted for, I booked Quicksilver to pick us up at the CCC and to take us back to the airport. We prefer to do this than take DME.
Mid to Late February 2018 - Lenny, finally got to the point he started walking some, not all the time, without his crutches!!! Sometimes he used the crutches, sometimes he used his canes, other times he used nothing at all - but basically he was walking almost the way he had before he even fell.
End of February - I told Abby she needed to lose weight as she was heavier than both Lenny and I but it would be a family effort and we would all be trying to lose weight. Watching what she ate, keeping track of it and getting out of the house to walk just added to my already busy schedule. If you want more on how we did this, read this thread http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...d.php?t=301124
March 9, 2018 - Lenny had his follow up at the orthopedic surgeon and he felt he was ready to go back to work and the doctor signed off on it We were all happy about him returning to work. The only downside to it was the fact that Lenny would once again be working nights. He was going to miss being home nights with everyone but it really was for the best as it would leave the mornings for his doctor and PT appointments.
March 18, 2018 - I once again looked into our rental car and I was finally able to get what we wanted - a two week rental from the CCC. What was originally $1079 for two weeks was now down to $665 as an Alamo Insider. What a difference!! I quickly booked that as it was $50 cheaper than the two one week rentals and then canceled the other ones.
March 24, 2018 - Lenny returned to work. I was both excited and nervous for him. Excited because it was the first time in almost seven months he'd be out of the house and working. Nervous because it was the first time in almost 7 months that he'd be out of the house and working - and not have the security of the crutches he couldn't quite give up. For long distance walking and such I had no problem with him using them as he really had reduced how much he was using them but to go back to work for an 8 hour shift and not have them? Yeah, it made me nervous for him.
March 24, 2018 - We learned that Lenny had 80 hours of vacation for this year. I was in disbelief. I kept thinking Lenny wouldn't have any vacation time to use even though I was told repeatedly he was still considered an active employee and everything would accrue just as if he were still working in the store. I had allotted two weeks lost wages plus the cost of health insurance for those same two weeks into our Disney budget but I no longer needed to take those into consideration for our total cost. That brought my estimate down by quite a bit.
March 24, 2018 - Disney finally opened up dates for the Fireworks dessert Party in the MK until September but none of the dates could actually be booked. I tried both online and calling
March 30, 2018 - After I got home from my second job about 10 pm Lenny started asking me if I had booked the dessert party yet. I hadn't so I finally said "I was told they answer the phones until 11. Do you want me to call now and see if I can finally book it?" I don't remember Lenny's answer but I called anyway and the whole time I was on the phone trying to book it, he was sitting there asking me questions about MNNSHP party. Along with opening up the fireworks party dates, Disney also announced the dates of MNNSHP - the first of which falls on Lenny's birthday. None of us are into Halloween but Lenny wanted to go just because we could and it would be something different to do.
March 31 - The more I thought about MNSSHP, the more I felt if I could make it work, we should go to it. Lenny asked to go since it's his birthday and it wasn't an unreasonable request as we'll already be in Disney. He also pointed out this may be our only opportunity to go. Did we want to let it pass us by? I did what I seem to do well - I rearranged on paper, thought things through and realized that adding MNSSHP was totally doable. The biggest obstacle? Getting Abby to agree as she didn't think we could do it but she finally did by saying "I'll do it for dad."
March 31 - In anticipation of adding MNSSHP, I made changes to our rental car - yet again - but it was simple. We just changed the time we would be returning the car to the CCC. I also changed our pick up time with Quicksilver
April 3, 2018 - I called and booked our tickets for MNSSHP on Lenny's birthday. I also made the few changes to our itinerary that I needed to. I moved our Trails End Buffet ADR to our full down day and I changed the pick up time on our scooter.
The rest of April 2018 - I didn't do much in the way of Disney planning as I was busy trying to get Abby's Guardianship paperwork finalized. Many of you already know this and those reading this PTR who didn't know us before would have learned in my introductions that Abby is Autistic. She turned 18 this year and even though she's high functioning, at this point in her life, she is not independent and is 18 in age only. It was highly recommended to me years ago to go through the legal process of being appointed her legal guardian upon reaching 18. There was some confusion with the school as to who should and could fill out the paperwork that took a couple of weeks to get straightened out but we finally did
2018 has definitely been busy for you all. Luke does the booking of our flights with SWA, so I don't deal with the confusing changing dates with them. We got guardianship for Stefanie, too, when she turned 18. The one aspect of that process that unnerved me a bit was that we had to appear in court and Luke decided I would be the one to take the stand. As a teacher I was used to getting up in front of folks (aka kids), and I was a wee bit concerned I'd say something stupid because I was in a courtroom.
2018 has definitely been busy for you all. Luke does the booking of our flights with SWA, so I don't deal with the confusing changing dates with them. We got guardianship for Stefanie, too, when she turned 18. The one aspect of that process that unnerved me a bit was that we had to appear in court and Luke decided I would be the one to take the stand. As a teacher I was used to getting up in front of folks (aka kids), and I was a wee bit concerned I'd say something stupid because I was in a courtroom.
Oh wonderful - I didn't realize I actually have to take the stand and talk in front of people. I thought it was all the paperwork and then the court decided. I probably will say something stupid knowing me. Our court date is next Monday so I have another week before I have to worry about it though.
I can’t believe the difference in the pricing of the car, good thing you keep checking back for the best deal.
I couldn't either. At the time I got that really low price, Disney had just announced the parking fees at the hotels so I don't know if lots of people canceled reservations prompting Alamo to lower prices in hopes people would still book or if I was just in the right place at the right time. whatever I am much happier with the lower price and getting the car from the CCC.
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Seems the plans are coming into place and you had great luck getting all your ADRs. The transportation planning worked overall for you for the most part.
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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!
Oh wonderful - I didn't realize I actually have to take the stand and talk in front of people. I thought it was all the paperwork and then the court decided. I probably will say something stupid knowing me. Our court date is next Monday so I have another week before I have to worry about it though.
The whole court thing is blurry in my memory now. But I didn't have to say much, just basically answer some questions, which were similar to ones asked on the forms. I was so nervous up there that I had to ask Luke if I did okay. He said I was fine, so I'm sure you will be, too.
The whole court thing is blurry in my memory now. But I didn't have to say much, just basically answer some questions, which were similar to ones asked on the forms. I was so nervous up there that I had to ask Luke if I did okay. He said I was fine, so I'm sure you will be, too.
Thanks Cam for the vote of confidence. Unless Lenny decides to go with me - which he may not since I don't know how long I might be there - it'll just be me myself and I so if I do say something stupid, no one other than my lawyer will probably ever see me again anyway.
You truly deserve this vacation! I am impressed with all of your planning and following up on the best deals. I can't wait to read more of your plans in paragraph format since I always learn something from you.
Congratulations to Abby on her weight loss. It's a struggle every day for me. Also, kudos to her for helping with your holiday traditions. I love when we see that our children have really been paying attention!
Good luck tomorrow at the guardianship hearing. I am sure you will do just fine.
You guys def have a lot to celebrate on this trip! I’ll be at the world with my 10 year old son and aunt Aug. 11th to the 18th. We’ll be at the MNSSHP as well. Who knows maybe we’all cross paths. We’ve done it before and it’s so much fun. Alex isn’t into Halloween either but loves the seven dwarfs and it is a must do character meet for him. Can’t wait read more.
Seems the plans are coming into place and you had great luck getting all your ADRs. The transportation planning worked overall for you for the most part.
Thank you. Yes, the plans really were falling into place and I was happy with the ease of getting the dining. It's always a relief when I can get what we want. The car too finally worked out as well but those are always harder anyway because they fluctuate so much. Out of curiosity I looked this morning and the price is back up to about $850. Makes me glad I kept looking and got the price I did
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcmary
You truly deserve this vacation! I am impressed with all of your planning and following up on the best deals. I can't wait to read more of your plans in paragraph format since I always learn something from you.
Congratulations to Abby on her weight loss. It's a struggle every day for me. Also, kudos to her for helping with your holiday traditions. I love when we see that our children have really been paying attention!
Good luck tomorrow at the guardianship hearing. I am sure you will do just fine.
Thanks. We feel we deserve it too after the things we have been through. I plan well and have lists and notes so it's "easy" for me to keep checking on things. I'm glad when all the effort pays off. Stay tuned for the return to paragraph form - it's coming.
Thank you again - losing weight is a struggle but it is worth it in the end. Feeling better, smaller clothes and just general better health. Abby is still sticking with it and does retain what I tell her even though it's not always obvious. It does make me proud to see and hear what she does.
I'm hoping I'll be fine at the court too. I only have two more days before I have to so so fingers crossed it goes well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounds like everything is moving along and falling into place!
It was Marnie - and now we're at 21 days to go
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yelloweaver
hi Darlene! My daughter and I will be in WDW from August 12-16. Maybe we'll get to run into you and family and say hi!
Hi to you as well. If you see us, definitely say something to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by alexsmommy0412
You guys def have a lot to celebrate on this trip! I’ll be at the world with my 10 year old son and aunt Aug. 11th to the 18th. We’ll be at the MNSSHP as well. Who knows maybe we’all cross paths. We’ve done it before and it’s so much fun. Alex isn’t into Halloween either but loves the seven dwarfs and it is a must do character meet for him. Can’t wait read more.
We do - and more than what I typed about. Congrats on your upcoming trip. Crossing paths is a good possibility - especially since I have our picture posted. We're recognizable (I don't always know if that's a good thing ) If you see us, definitely say Hi.
May 3, 2018 - I had a very productive day. I had my last meeting with the lawyer over the Guardianship paperwork and then it was just a waiting game for her to get back to me with the court date. I printed out all of the new iron ons for the shirts for this year and I made all of the new music discs we wanted to take to Disney with us. I also did a whole bunch of other stuff but not Disney related.
May 4, 2018. Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With you) and Abby's 18th Birthday
May 6, 2018 I took the Disney device and my spreadsheets with me to the gas station and I worked on our itinerary and I felt like I made good progress with it. A few things were missing - like times for the Guardians of the Galaxy "concert series" but that was due to Disney not releasing them which was frustrating for me.
The end of May 2018 - It was busy with all sorts of senior activities for Abby and I was busy trying to get ready for our trip to Storyland. I don't know how people can plan multiple trips at one time. Storyland was only going to be one night at the hotel and one day at the park. The park is small and the trip so short that the whole thing required minimal planning but I still couldn't seem to focus on both trips at one time.
June 2, 2018 - I did something I swore I wasn't going to do this trip - I made a change to our dining plans. Thanks to a certain someone who shall remain nameless (you know who you are and what you did repeatedly) I added a meal to our vacation that I never thought I would. Teppan Edo in WS. We're not adventurous eaters - well Abby and I aren't but this particular person had recently gone on vacation and sent me pictures of her meals. For whatever reason, her dinner at Teppan Edo just looked really good. After talking to her about it - and getting sent the pictures again - I felt it was something we should add to our plans. I asked Lenny about it and he agreed. I showed the pictures to Abby and she said it looked delicious and she wanted to try it as well. After much rearranging, I ended up with a 2:10 lunch ADR that would fit into our plans
June 6, 2018 - My FP day for Disney . How did it get here so fast? It seemed like I should have more time than that and I didn't feel ready for it. We as a family had barely gone over any of my plans and I wasn't sure if there were any tweaks they wanted to add. I did have my list of what I came up with for plans so I was going to go with those and hope it was truly what we wanted and when. Only time would tell though.
June 6, 2018 - I woke up early to get our FP and I attempted to book the "most popular" ones first - Toy Story land and FoP but it didn't prove to be easy. The first FP for the Slinky Coaster wasn't the time I wanted but I thought it was doable so I booked it. Then I went to book for FOP but what followed was 15 minutes of frustration. I would either get the spinning circle followed by "there's something wrong with the page" or I would get the main FP screen telling me all the FP's had already been distributed for the day at ALL the parks. In all, once the site seemed to start working, it took me about 45 minutes to get all my FP selections. With the exception of FoP and Slinky Dog I got all of the FP I wanted either at the time I wanted or very close to it so the times fit well with the plans I had made. For FoP, the first FP offered to me was at 2:20 pm. I wanted 11 am. After thinking about it at work and then talking it over with Lenny and Abby, I decided to rearrange our AK day to make the later FP work. It took about 45 minutes with Abby's help but I was able to move things and then it was time to actually make the FP. Abby voiced what I was thinking "I hope that time is still there." It wasn't - but 2:25 was so I took it. It was only 5 minutes but it meant we now had that FP for FoP that I wanted.
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. How did it get here so fast? It seemed like I should have more time than that and I didn't feel ready for it. We as a family had barely gone over any of my plans and I wasn't sure if there were any tweaks they wanted to add. I did have my list of what I came up with for plans so I was going to go with those and hope it was truly what we wanted and when. Only time would tell though.
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