Where Would You Choose? Updated 1/1 in Reply, with an Unexpected Twist and - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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.
If you're looking for city/historic I'd suggest Boston or Newport, RI or somewhere in New England. Vermont has some beautiful B&B's and some great antiquing in the summer, too.
But if you're looking for beachy, may I recommend Naples, FL? I know it sounds expensive, but at that time of year, it's off-season there, so you should be able to get some good deals on accomodations. You also should be able to get a direct flight from NC to Ft. Myers (the nearest airport). Sanibel Island, as others have mentioned, is close by, and the white sandy beaches and sunsets are amazing there. Also, there are 3 outlet malls within a 40 minute drive, as well as numerous other shopping opportunities, including Tin City, an old cannery that they've converted into shops, and the quaint downtown shops of Olde Naples. Plus, the dining choices there are numerous and varied, with nearly every nationality represented. It's a very casueal atmosphere there, kind of like being in the Islands w/o leaving the States. Tons of golf courses there, too, if anyone plays.
Have fun on your vacation!
__________________
-Lisa
The World is a book. Those who do not travel read only a page." - Augustine
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.
One of the Disney 4-night cruises would give you your 5 days, 4 nights. And they are stopping at Castaway Cay twice in 2008, so two full days on the beaches.
If you don't mind traveling far, San Francisco is really great - Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, etc.
__________________
Sharon - Kitty and me
2013 Scrapbook pages count: 631 / 350
2014 Scrapbook pages count: 60 / 250
If Charleston is an option, I'd go just off the coast and stay on the Isle of Palms and drive into Charleston to hit the sites if you want to leave the beach. The Isle of Palms has the clearest water and most incredible beaches! I could easily spend 4 days there if I could eat at Coconut Joe's every day and party at the rooftop bar every night. It's the only beach I've been to where I'd actually WANT to swim in the water. It's so clear and warm.
I love the Jersey Shore, but not for the ocean. Some of the beaches and boardwalks are great (especially in Wildwood), the shopping is fantastic in Cape May, there's Atlantic City for a couple of exciting nights on the beach, and Cape May Court House has a great zoo. Those beach towns are close enough together to take advantage of all of them in 4 or 5 days.
Hershey was my pick for a girls trip this winter to veg in the Chocolate Spa at the Hotel Hershey, but my gal pal and partner in crime went and got pregnant. No spa for her. She's all morning sick and mopey right now. Hormones. During the summer, it would make an even better girls trip for a few more days with Hershey Park open and the Hershey Gardens are really gorgeous in the summertime.
Good luck deciding!
OH! There's one other place I thought of that I'd love to go to with my family or my friends - Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX. Never been there, but I'd love to go even if just for a weekend.
Thank y’all for all your responses! I really got some great ideas, and a couple of nights ago, brought my completed list to dinner out with my girl friends. Here’s what the list looked like:
San Diego
San Francisco
Basically any of the places Amy listed with coconut/rum drinks
Nashville
The Keys
WDW (couldn't help it!)
Hilton Head Island
Boston
A short cruise to pretty much anywhere
So, I didn’t pick Chicago as I already have a trip planned there in ’08 ( Lesly!). I had Sanibel Island on my list, but then one of my friends reminded me that her grandparents live there, so she goes there a lot.
I also tried to shy away from anywhere along the North or South Carolina coast except Hilton Head – this is because my family has a house in Holden Beach (Molly – too weird – I didn’t think anyone else knew where Holden Beach was!), one of my fellow vacationers has a condo at Myrtle Beach and I visit Charleston pretty often. While I’ve been to four of the places on my list up there (and our all-girls trip to the Bahamas was a cruise), it’s been years since I’ve been to any of them except HHI, and I don’t feel so familiar with it that I’d be all been-there, done-that.
Anywho, so I was all prepared with my list at dinner, and before I could break out my suggestions, one of my friends broke out with something else – SHE’S PREGNANT! Let me insert a couple more . I don’t know why I’m so - she’s 25, and been married 2.5 years (and she dated her husband before that since she was 16!). But, Rynn’s been one of my BFF’s since pre-kindergarten and she’s the first one of my group to take that big, important step towards babies and families…for some reason, I just was not expecting it at all! Anyway, she's two months along, and our dinner out turned into a big, emotional, teary love fest , with all us non-pregnant girls getting completely sloshed (Rynn doesn’t drink, so she was completely okay with all of us using alcohol to get us through her big announcement).
So! I basically had to take my list and tear it into little pieces, as this very much changes our trip. When we finally did get around to discussing our trip, we asked Rynn is there was any way she’d still be able to go somewhere with us, as she’s due in August. She said that she and Luke (her DH) had talked about and it decided that if the trip didn’t include flying or cruising, and if we traveled by the first of June, she would still go. Of course, she insisted that we go with whatever plans the majority of the group wanted and not to consider her delicate condition when picking a location. As if! Besides the fact that Rynn missed last year’s Vegas Vacation (her and her hubby went to Hawaii, the jerks), we desperately want Rynn to come on this trip so we can make it an extra-special time for her and completely spoil our mama-to-be silly.
Therefore, I now need a new list, and maybe all you ladies who have already experienced pregnancy can help me! We need to go somewhere within reasonable driving distance, and with good restaurants and a nice spa close by. Nashville is out, as we don’t want Rynn to have to do too much walking, right? I’m thinking relaxing. We had thought maybe Hilton Head, Charleston or renting a house on the Outer Banks. No, it’s nothing new, but it’s not about meeeeeee, it’s about our Baby Mama To Be!
Feel free to throw in any more ideas, on locations and things that an expecting mama would like to do.
__________________
Scarlett
Last edited by Disney_Scarlett; 01-01-2008 at 02:16 PM..
I'm sticking with my Isle of Palms suggestion under those circumstances. It's WAY laid back. It's NOT Charleston, but all the things you're looking for are close by in Charleston. Great for shell-hounds, too, if you get there the right time of year. BIG honkin shells.
And congrats to Rynn!!! She's had 2.5 years to practice. Why are you so surprised?
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 2
Likes (Received): 7
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 1
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
I think Charleston is a wonderful idea - and Chrissi's idea of Isle of Palms is a great one - you can drive into Charleston for dinner and shopping and relax on the beach at IoP.... Congrats to Rynn - sounds like that baby will have lots of God-mamas!!!
OH! There's one other place I thought of that I'd love to go to with my family or my friends - Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX. Never been there, but I'd love to go even if just for a weekend.
So, I didn’t pick Chicago as I already have a trip planned there in ’08 ( Lesly!).
So when's the date? I'd love to plan a meet for a meal or a date - send me a PM!
I can't help you with your new area. It's one part of the USA I haven't had the pleasure of visiting yet - but I'll be reading the answers. I want to do a driving trip down there one of these years.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
No spa for her. 
She's all morning sick and mopey right now. 
During the summer, it would make an even better girls trip for a few more days with Hershey Park open and the Hershey Gardens are really gorgeous in the summertime.
Lesly!). I had Sanibel Island on my list, but then one of my friends reminded me that her grandparents live there, so she goes there a lot. 
Let me insert a couple more 
, with all us non-pregnant girls getting completely sloshed (Rynn doesn’t drink, so she was completely okay with all of us using alcohol to get us through her big announcement). 
Linear Mode
