The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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just read you pre TR and you are doing great with planning so far. Too bad about not getting to take hubby with you this trip, but next year will be that much better. Prayers and well wishes from me to you and your family, thank your hubby for being a soldier who is protecting our freedom, we salute you!
looking forward to reading more about your trip when you return.
just read you pre TR and you are doing great with planning so far. Too bad about not getting to take hubby with you this trip, but next year will be that much better. Prayers and well wishes from me to you and your family, thank your hubby for being a soldier who is protecting our freedom, we salute you!
Thanks! I miss my DH more than anything in the world, but I'll be looking forward to the trip in 2010. My hope is this trip breaks up this cursed deployment and makes it a little bit sweeter for us (and makes the time go by just a little bit faster).
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.
Sounds like the online aspect of this is really great - glad you've got your plans set now and that they will work better with your plans.
Christie, I know you are a huge planner. If you haven't used the ADRs online, I think you'll really like it. I feel like I have a little more control and can look over lots of different times and dates without feeling like I'm bugging the CM to death.
wow your trip sounds so exciting...I miss my mother/daughter trips to Disney. All the best to your DH ... I think I speak for everyone when I say he'll be in our thoughts and prayers
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Christie, I know you are a huge planner. If you haven't used the ADRs online, I think you'll really like it. I feel like I have a little more control and can look over lots of different times and dates without feeling like I'm bugging the CM to death.
The more I hear about it, the more I KNOW I will like it! I've got a quick trip with my sister-in-law in December, I don't think we'll have too many ADRs to make, but that could change with so much time left. We'll definitely have to try for Le Cellier, at least, since that's her favorite.
Bugging a CM? Ha! When I called to make ADRs for our trip last summer, I called late, about 20 minutes before they closed, and the longer I stayed online with the CM the more people I could hear telling him goodbye as they left for the evening - and he was stuck talking to crazy me!
Glad you were able to make changes that work better in your schedule. Sounds like you have a great trip planned and some ADR's. I think this trip is definitely a great idea for you and DD, it must be so hard when your DH is deployed, and when you come back you can start some early planning for your 2010 trip
I changed this to my PRE-Tr. I wasn't even thinking when I wrote this, and I didn't want to confuse everyone. I'll change it back to my post-tr when we return.
Your plans sound great. Our trips will overlap. We arrive on the 19th. I tried to get LeCellier with no availability. Glad you got one, it is delish. How fun to have a mother/daughter trip. I know you miss your DH and I hope he gets home safe. My DBIL was in Iraq for a year, so my family understands what you are going through. It's tough and I just want to say, your DH is a brave man and I want to say Thank you for yours and his sacrifices.
Hope you guys have a wonderful trip.
Sounds like you've got everything planned and ready to go - and a very relaxing trip planned, too.
I'd love to be able to take a mother/daughter trip with my oldest DD. AND, I'm looking forward to my son coming home from his deployment; I'd love to get him and his wife to WDW for a bit (although I have a feeling they're more into US/IA!)
We'll be there the same time you will - PEMing you...
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I've got a quick trip with my sister-in-law in December, I don't think we'll have too many ADRs to make, but that could change with so much time left. We'll definitely have to try for Le Cellier, at least, since that's her favorite.
ADR's. I think this trip is definitely a great idea for you and DD, it must be so hard when your DH is deployed, and when you come back you can start some early planning for your 2010 trip 
Liz 
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