How much magic can one vacation include? - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a scary start to your trip.
We also drive from Ohio and always hope DS will fall sleep, but he usually falls asleep about 30 minutes from the hotel we plan to stay at overnight.
Sounds like a nice trip so far. Cant want to hear more of it. Which hotel in Valdosta did you stay at. I am leaving from NC next week and its just me and the 3 kids. I can make the trip in one day but I am thinking of stopping over night in Valdosta that way the kids can get a break.
Connie
I have finally got a chance to sit down at the computer - I don't know if you have left yet, but we stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites - Conference Center (there are two Hampton Inn's in Valdosta - this one had better reviews). We had an awesome room - two queen beds, plus a sofa bed, and they gave us a pack N' play for the baby, free of charge (most hotels charge 15 - 20 dollars for this.) They had a free breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, fresh waffles, fresh fruit and oatmeal/grits. It was wonderful - and very crowded
Day #2 started at 5:00 AM - guess the baby had TOO much sleep in the car the day before I took the little guy down to the lobby so his older brothers and my husband could get a little more sleep - Brian called me at 6 to say the older two were up and hungry, so I went and got them and brought them down for breakfast. Brian cleaned up, repacked our bags and then joined us. We were fed, dressed and ready to go, but check out took FOREVER because it seemed like everyone was exiting at the same time. I was really glad we'd eaten early because at this point, the breakfast line was about 50 people deep. Finally, we were in the car and getting onto the highway at 9 a.m. We had very little traffic on day #1, but day #2 was a totally different story - it was hard to even get up to the speed limit of 70 mph on I-75 in Florida.
We had to stop to let the boys run around and have a quick lunch - the early breakfast backfired. We'd hoped to get to the hotel without having to stop, but empty tummies made for crabby kids! My parents called to find out where we were - that's when they let me in on the surprise - they'd just checked in at the Contemporary - because they were celebrating their 40th anniversary, they were given a free upgrade to a 7th floor MK view room, and did I want them to turn it down so they would have the adjoining rooms we originally requested? I told them they'd be crazy to turn the upgrade down - that we'd be fine in the Garden Wing, and we were about an hour away.
We packed up the car, and finished the drive (they boys still had no clue that Lala and Papa were going to be there). I sent my mom a text as we stopped at the gatehouse at the Contemporary, and mom and Dad were waiting - I wish I'd thought to take a picture of the boys' faces as my parents opened the van door!
My mom sat with the boys in the cartoon area, while Brian unloaded the van, and I checked in. I was told "Happy Birthday, You've been upgraded to the 11th floor" I was absolutely stunned My Dad then told me that they initially refused the upgrade offered to them, because they didn't want to be so far from our room, so their CM found two rooms on the 11th floor and upgraded everyone.
It was now 2 p.m. and we were about 2 hours behind schedule - we had planned on going to Hollywood Studios and had late lunch/early dinner reservations at Sci-Fi Dine in. We didn't know that my parents were going to be there the first night, so we hadn't included them in our reservation. My parents decided to wait until Monday to go to a park, and headed off to Downtown Disney, while we packed up the backpack, loaded up our double stroller and headed off to Hollywood Studios via bus.
The wait: we must have either JUST missed a bus to DHS, or arrived just as the shifts were changing because we waited a full 40 minutes for a bus. In the meantime, there was three busses that arrived for DTD (a sign maybe?). We finally got on the bus, and it was PACKED. Brian had the double stroller and had to stand, holding it and barely fit behind the yellow line, Nolan, our five year old was standing, trying to hold onto a grab "pillar" and his father. I was standing, carrying the baby and the two year old. After stopping at the Polynesian, an elderly gentleman offered me his seat, but I didn't want him to have to stand so we compromised and he agreed to hold the baby for me . He and his wife were visiting from England and he spent the rest of the trip to DHS telling my older two about the various character's they'd had the chance to meet - he even told them that Peter Pan stopped at our hotel lobby on his way to the boat dock to greet people getting off the Pirates Fireworks boat.
It was 3:30 by the time we arrived at DHS, and after clearing security - getting the kids strapped into the stroller - we had to go straight to our check in for dinner.
Up next - our first experience with how Disney handles food allergies! Walking on Star Tours and meeting the boys heroes!
Three boys aged 5 and under! You have my most sincere admiration, Ma'am. You sound so organized and calm. I'm really enjoying your report. Thanks for taking the time to write and post it; I can't wait to continue the story......
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My Dad then told me that they initially refused the upgrade offered to them, because they didn't want to be so far from our room, so their CM found two rooms on the 11th floor and upgraded everyone.
that everyone got the upgrade! 
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