Trip--October, 2010-the big 4-0!! - Updated 4/5 - Baby Boy is Born! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
To really do MNSSHP right you'd really need to be there at the beginning. We even got there two and half hours before the party began and still left with so much not done.
Location: w/future ex husbands tommy lee, robert downey jr, adam lambert in NJ planet poptart
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 10,563
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 0
Likes (Received): 0
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 0
Pixie Dust (Given): 0
Pixie Dust (Received): 0
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimandMark
70. 3 comes from 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.
No MNSSHP anyother night, that's why I'm considering it. I forgot to even ask what my costume should be!!
I'm thinking we'll have only carry on bags (my bike/race gear is staying behind with my team, the sponsor moves it for us) and a rental, so we can be out fairly quickly...but the hour is probably realistic.
More opinions please!! (and did I see Cruefest on your countdown??? I'm embarrassed to admit how much time I've spent figuring out what I would say if I ever actually met Vince!!)
wow that sounds exhausting!
see no matter how you look at it, its at least an hour out of the airport, even when we get rentals. there could be lines, etc..
slow people ugh
yes I have met Vince many times and am friends with his oldest son Neil
heres 2 pics
me, Vince and my bff Peggy he came up to US at the borgata! yes we died lol
and here is Neil, vinces son
Mr. J and I had many conversation this week about Universal and the Rockit Coaster and Harry Potter and how un-freakin'-believable the ticket prices are for one day at US/IOA. Some how this morphed into staying one more night. And then it morphed into staying one more renting DVC points. And maybe trying to get BLT...or AKL. Or whatever. Hey, and that means another restaurant...
I can spend money like its my job.
Also, my first race of the season and ground work for nationals is in 8 days. Freak outs have begun.
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.
Where was I? Oh yes, going insane with anticipation for this weekend’s race. You think Disney anticipation will make you sick, try pouring hours and hours every week for months into something and knowing that while your heart and lungs and legs might be totally prepared Mother Nature can be a total bi-atch. She’s doing it now. I’ve seen forecasts for heavy thunderstorms that switch to high 80s and humid. Both are bad racing conditions. I keep trying to remember what I can control and that’ s my own technique and level of effort—if I remain within my ability and remember to focus on my form and my nutrition it will all be okay. This is not nationals, this is just the first step on the way, a test of my foundation. If the foundation is strong, I can start building the house. And I after the run I had yesterday I’m pretty convinced I can beat the ass off the running part of this course. Bring it, Texas, bring it.
Okay, now that I’ve taunted Texas lets talk some Disney. After last week’s post about MNSSHP I started to think about adding another day, to perhaps accommodate the party. And of course, the part where a three night vacation isn’t really a vacation at all. Mr. J and I bounced some ideas around and thought that we should try to get a studio at BLT, and then change our V&A reservation to the last night so we could monorail to dinner (rather than drive or take a cab…). I sent some PMs to the rental board threads on another site and an email to one of my regular points rental people and after a couple of days finally heard back. Mr. D was more than willing to throw me 13 points for BLT but BLT wasn’t available. Okay, what about AKL—we could move for the last night and change our Jiko ressie…Nope. Nada for a studio. But wonder of wonders, BWV has one. That works out great, since we are already in BWV at a studio. I’m thinking we just got lucky, the elusive studios at BWV during FWF go fast and I can’t believe there was one left for the night we wanted. So it turns out we won’t even have to move!
So now this changes some dinner plans for us, mostly that I’m not going to kill myself that first night trying to get somewhere since now I have another night to eat a signature restaurant. I’ve currently got V&A for my birthday, Cali Grill for what appears to be a fireworks night at MK, and Jiko (although I need to call and change the dates for Jiko now…and maybe CG…maybe I want to go to the park that night instead…I do love me some Wishes…).
Time for your input: The first night, as you know, we arrive from separate destinations at MCO at 8:30PM, with a rental car, carry on bags and a studio at BWV. What would you do for dinner that night? Bear in mind I’ll be starving to death as the long course nationals race is that morning (remember, 70.3 miles, hurry to shower and go to the airport, probably eat airport food and hobble to the plan). I’m thinking Flying Fish (of hat wearing/gi fame—I should wear my trisuit and see if they let me in, its got screen printing on it, but its all company logos for bike shops and nutrition supplements, seems that fits the dress code, I mean, if a gi fits the dress code, anything does). But we’ve never been to Kouzina and while I’m not impressed with the reviews, I’m more than willing to try something new. Of course there will be drinks, so beverage quality can be a factor in your decision. An alternative would be to stop at grocery store and pick up something to eat and just sit in our room. The next day is probably a water park day and V&A, so we’ll be able to sleep in a bit.
What say you?
And I thought I’d give you a little background on renting points, in case anyone is interested in trying this angle. I’ve never had bad luck with this and have done it many many times. I’ve got three or four people I typically work with, finding all of them on another board. The basics are pretty much the same for each of them, but I will say I like one of my rental providers better than the rest, Mr. D is super nice and helpful! Usually DVCers will rent some points to you for $9-$11 per point, with 50% due at booking and 50% due 30 days out. I’ve paid that way, I’ve paid it all at once. You get a reservation sheet from them first, with a number and use paypal or a check and boom, its done. The down side is that you are pretty much tied to that reservation then. Changing or canceling isn’t going to go smoothly or make anyone happy. So know what you want and know that you can go and know that you will probably lose your money if some tragedy befalls your family and you have to cancel your trip at the last minute. Those are the down sides, oh, and you don’t get the free dining kind of deals either, but I considering you have to buy a package to get the free dining, I still think I make out okay.
The up side is that you get a fancy pants room for a great price! A studio at BWV Sunday-Thursday nights will end up running you about $100-$130 a night and you’ll have a kitchenette (I love that I can bring my leftovers from restaurants home and eat them for lunch the next day—heating them in the microwave, having actual silverware and glassware to use). I’ve stayed in a one bedroom as well, and it is a fair amount more, but you get a full kitchen and washer/dryer. I have very seriously considered joining DVC and almost did last year until I got an unexpected tax bill that ate my deposit. We are still considering it, but the points rental prices haven’t really changed and Mr. J and I take vacations to other destinations too, so I’m not sure I want to commit yet. I have thought about the idea that my family can benefit (imagine giving a room at Disney as a Christmas gift!!) but I can’t pull the trigger. Its not really a money saver, its a way to get a big girl room on a regular basis for a reasonable price. I’m pretty sure we would end up spending way more money on Disney if we bought, simply because we would have an excuse-the room is paid for, lets just go for a long weekend…
Until next week—I’ll report on the race and what tickets I plan to buy (there’s a whole convoluted logic I’ve got working involving Amex cards, rewards, future trips, palm readers, stars aligning, and magic beans).
I almost forgot, if you're interested (and why wouldn't you be, I'm clearly fascinating!!) you can track the race results on sunday at www.ironmanlonestar.com, I'm race number 1444, starting at 8:15 central time.
I'd be tempted to go for Kouzzina. We enjoyed the food there and at least you can wear what you like without feeling out of place. There's nothing worse than walking in somewhere and everyone's dressed up and we have noticed that people do seem to dress up for the Flying Fish more than some of the other signature restaurants. It would also be cheaper...
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I have more Vince Pics I would need to dig them up!
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Linear Mode
