A MAGICal first time cruise for all - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your pretrip report has been fun to Looking forward to more! The turtle farm sounds super cool! Looking forward to more!
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Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
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Sue
I promise that I haven't forgotten about this PTR!! I have been ridiculously busy the last 2 weeks! Between Girls Scouts (DD is a Brownie and I am a new troop leader), Karate for DS, Working long hours (I am an event planner so it goes with the job) and everything associated with 2 school age kids it is crazy here! Things should be slowing down after this week for me....tonight is Science Fair for both kids (our school starts as early as Kindergarten with fun projects) followed by DH and I running in our first ever half-marathon this weekend in San Antonio....wish me luck cause life has gotten in the way of my training the last month
Hoping to be back Monday with a PTR update because as of today we have 22 days until we are cruising with Mickey and Friends....WOOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!
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PREVIOUS TRIPS: 1997- Off-site, 2002-Contemporary, 2009- POFQ, 2011- Beach Club, 2012- Disney Magic, 2013 Disney Fantasy
So here we aer, 16 days out from the cruise and getting more and more excited every day My office at home has now become packing central. All items that need to be packed and can be gathered now are starting to arrive in my office for organization. Thankfully (or not so) the weather has become very chilly here in Texas, so I can start to gather their shorts and t-shirts and not worry about them being needed for school. High on my list of priorities today is to get DH a pirate costume for Pirate Night....I actually got him to agree to wear one Has anyone else gotten their DH in costume for pirate night or is DH going to be one of the few?
Still have a few items that I need to buy for the cruise, namely a dress for me to wear for formal night. Hoping to find a cute cocktail dress now the Christmas outfits are in the stores.
In addition to prepping for the cruise, I am trying to knock out as much Christmas shopping as possible. Unfortunately DH leaves the day after the cruise for a 10 day overseas business trip, which leaves us little to no time to Christmas shop after the cruise/his trip.
I still haven't booked a shore excursion for us yet, although I am pretty sure we are going to go with Mayan Ruins in Costa Maya and the Turtle Farm.
In other Disney news, for those of you that didn't see my other post yesterday, my DF Gennie (cruising with us and her family) and I have registered for the Princess Half Marathon in February!!! That means we get our Disney Fix twice in a 3-month time frame...WOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!
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PREVIOUS TRIPS: 1997- Off-site, 2002-Contemporary, 2009- POFQ, 2011- Beach Club, 2012- Disney Magic, 2013 Disney Fantasy
Sounds like you're organized and have things under control. It is hard to get all the holiday prep done when you have a pre-Christmas vacation. I'll be at WDW while you're on the cruise and am in denial that Christmas stuff MUST be done right now!!
Well I survived Thanksgiving We started the day with a family 5K for the HEB Turkey Challenge where all proceeds go to purchase turkeys for needy families. Then it was time to relax until we went to a friends house for dinner....coincidently the same friends we are cruising with next week We spent Black Friday at the Christmas Tree farm cutting down our tree....which I should mention is just 1 of 4 trees in my house...I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! The rest of the weekend was spent decorating the house and christmas shopping (90% done now) so that the whole focus this week can be on final preparations and packing.
We had a minor (ok large at the time) crisis this morning when the kids passports were no where to be found. Thankfully they had just fallen behind the drawer and were found after a few hours of panicked searching.
I managed to book our shore excursions last night. I was a rather disappointed that Dolphin Experience/Turtle Farm at Grand Cayman was full, but then again I did wait until less than a week out to book. The plan is to visit the Chacchoben ruin at Costa Maya and then do the Nautilus Submarine/Reef Snorkeling at Grand Cayman. Cozumel will be saved as a beach day/shopping day/ relaxing day.
On the packing front, I have almost all of DD's clothes gathered in our game room, and about half of DS's as well. Hoping to finish laundry tonight and gather myself and DH's stuff as well. I would love to be able to pack everything tomorrow so that I can spend Wednesday night cleaning the house. I don't know about you all, but I absolutely hate to come home to a messy house after vacation, so there is always a house cleaning day scheduled right before vacation.
I went to the Disney store yesterday and got some neat little items for our Elf on a Shelf named Bo to leave the kids during the cruise (of course he is coming along to cause mischief just like he does at home). They also had a deal where if you spent a certain amount ($50???) you got the Mickey and Minnie Christmas Stuffed Characters for $10 a piece, so DD and DS will get them when we get on the boat.
Trying to tie up loose ends at work today and tomorrow as well, which means its a busy day!!!!
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PREVIOUS TRIPS: 1997- Off-site, 2002-Contemporary, 2009- POFQ, 2011- Beach Club, 2012- Disney Magic, 2013 Disney Fantasy
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Pixie Dust
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Your DD's dress sounds beautiful.
Looking forward to more! The turtle farm sounds super cool! Looking forward to more!
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