We Definitely Need a Vacation - PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DH’s Personal Editing Note: I was informed by my DH that in my description of our booking process that I failed to mention that he was on the phone for 45 minutes making the arrangements and that the Cast Member he spoke with was the rudest, most unhelpful, least magical Cast Member he’s ever encountered L I apologize for leaving out this very important detail and hope none of you have had this same unfortunate experience!!! (Honey—I hope this makes it up to you for my oversight last time J)
How Are We Going to Get There & Get Around?: We have flown every time we’ve gone to WDW; 20+ hours of driving is just too much each way for DH and I!!! Southwest is our airline of choice, so DH has been stalking the SW website for awhile. We quickly found a flight home from Orlando for a GREAT price (Under $100/person) and booked it before it was gone. The flight TO Orlando was a different story. After checking, the prices on flights into Orlando just weren’t in the price range we were hoping they would be, so we decided to get creative in our flight searches since our plans were a little bit flexible. We checked both the day before and after our initial arrival plan to no avail. Then one of DH’s co-workers suggested we check another airport, such as Tampa. So we check Tampa, thinking there’s no way it could be a cheaper alternative…and to my utter amazement, the flight was $80 cheaper…PER PERSON…and the rental car was $40 cheaper, even with the extra charge involved in picking it up in one city and dropping it off in another (Not really sure how that happened)! So now our plans were set! Except, DH still stalked the SW website and ended up finding a flight into Orlando directly the night before our original intended arrival for the same price as our flight into Tampa (also under $100/person). In the mean time, the drastic difference between the rental car prices also decreased, so it no longer made sense for us to go through Tampa. I have never been so glad that SW doesn’t charge a flight change fee!!! So now we’re flying into Orlando and still getting a GREAT deal!
The rental car is the other big part of the equation. We typically use Alamo because we’ve been lucky to find some pretty great deals. We’re part of their Insiders discount program, which really helps, and we have a corporate discount code that we’re able to use also that knocks off a few of the normal fees. All of that combined with DH’s diligence to price checking means we have again found an awesome rate. For a midsize car for 10 days with taxes and fees taken into consideration, we’re paying under $150!!! It started out over $250, but little by little the price has dropped over the last month…all I can say is that persistence pays off people!
***To Be Continued***
More of my Countdown from DH:
14 – 14 feet below ground are the 9 acres of tunnels servicing the MagicKingdom
13 – 13 inches long is the length of the Christmas bulbs in the Toy Story Mania queue
12 – 12 films are depicted in the Great Movie Ride
__________________
*Shena & Ryan*
Check out our PTR for our upcoming Christmas trip to see Mickey!
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Oh I totally did not realize they were doing a D23 thing at WDW! I never pay attention (silly me) to the events they do because they were always in CA when I looked. Now I am mad - grrr.
I cannot wait to read all about them.
And I love the facts!
Glad that you were able to find some great flights (and I have to agree that SW's no fee for changes definitely is a great deal). What a wonderful package you found with the Disney gift cards...
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First off, I just want to say thanks for all the great comments!!! Being able to share with everyone makes the anticipation for our upcoming trip that much better! Here's the next installment:
The Fun Part—Daily Plans!: Now we’re into the meat and potatoes of our PTR J This is probably the most action-packed WDW trip we’ve ever planned. We’ll be spending a couple of days off property, which is VERY unusual for us, and we’ve got the great D23 events while we’re there also, so there is something going on every minute. Here are the details:
5/6 - Day 1: This is basically just our travel day. DH is working this day and our flight doesn’t leave until after 6:30 at night, so we don’t land in Orlando until something like 10:15 pm. We’ll pick up our rental car (which is now $130!!!) and head to Pop Century to check in—probably stopping somewhere along the way to get a snack since we’re traveling during dinner time. We already checked in online, so hopefully the check-in process shouldn’t take too long. Depending on how much energy we have left at this point (I’m thinking none), we may try to do a little resort exploring after we drop our stuff off at the room, but we’ll likely just get settled in and get some rest.
5/7 – Day 2: One of our days that we’re spending off-property. We are going to drive down to Tampa and go to the Florida Aquarium. I’m pretty excited to see the penguins! We’re not sure what else we’re going to do in Tampa, but we’re hoping to find some local restaurant to eat at and do a little exploring (Any suggestions would be welcomed ). If we get back early enough to Orlando and feel like heading to a park, we may go see Fantasmic at Studios. If not, we’ll probably just hang around the resort and explore. I’m looking forward to seeing all the memorabilia at Pop Century!
5/8 – Day 3: Our first real day in the parks! We’ll be heading to Studios so DH can ride on Toy Story (not that I don’t love it too, but he’s a fanatic). We’ll probably spend most of the day there and then head back to the resort to freshen up before we head to dinner. We have reservations at Kona Café; we’ve had breakfast here before but never dinner, so hopefully it’ll be good. Then we’ll probably head back to Studios to finish off the evening.
***To Be Continued***
More recent Countdown Links:
11 – 11 minutes is the total ride time at the HauntedMansion 10 – 10 million guests visited WDW in less than 10 years 9 – 9 pavilions were present at EPCOT on opening day 8 – 8 years of planning and creating were needed to develop Animal Kingdom
__________________
*Shena & Ryan*
Check out our PTR for our upcoming Christmas trip to see Mickey!
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). If we get back early enough to Orlando and feel like heading to a park, we may go see Fantasmic at Studios. If not, we’ll probably just hang around the resort and explore. I’m looking forward to seeing all the memorabilia at Pop Century!
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