Cheaper by the Dozen – Lukas’ 1st Birthday Extravaganza! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
YAA!! You started your PTR! Great cast of characters! I'll be following along...I just your trip reports!!
Aw! Thanks so much! I appreciate it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
wow, thats quite a large group of people! But it should make for an awesome trip! That's why they have grand gatherings, right??
We do have a grand gathering number, but we're not doing any of the special grand gathering events. They just didn't work with the schedule and with the 2 little ones I didn't want to be too tied down to anything.
I will try to get in an update this weekend, but I'm not making any promises.
I think it's really neat both sets of parents as well as siblings are going. It will have it's times of trials, but will be super fun too! An unforgettable trip. Can't wait to hear your plans Kelly! We are getting closer and closer!
No possibility of anyone getting lonely on this trip, Kelly! I had totally forgotten that Lukas was born on my DDad's birthday. So hard to believe a year has almost gone by.
Glad I caught this in the beginning stages! I haven't been on in such a long time, I've missed a lot.
Sounds like the big group I had with me in December. It sounds like it is going to be a great 1st birthday for Lukas. The more the merrier!
I think it's really neat both sets of parents as well as siblings are going. It will have it's times of trials, but will be super fun too! An unforgettable trip. Can't wait to hear your plans Kelly! We are getting closer and closer!
We're so blessed that everyone wants to come. I think having the only grandkids and nephews is also a big reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
No possibility of anyone getting lonely on this trip, Kelly! I had totally forgotten that Lukas was born on my DDad's birthday. So hard to believe a year has almost gone by.
Funny you should mention the no one getting lonely. I'm contemplating scheduling a massage so I can have some time to myself.
And I didn't know Lukas and your Dad shared a birthday! How ! Lukas was also born on his great grandmother's (Mike's Mom's mom) birthday.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Glad I caught this in the beginning stages! I haven't been on in such a long time, I've missed a lot.
Sounds like the big group I had with me in December. It sounds like it is going to be a great 1st birthday for Lukas. The more the merrier!
Welcome aboard Liz!
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisa1006
WOW! That's some crew you got there! How exciting to plan for so many!
Before having kids Mike & I said we weren’t going to go to the World until they were potty trained. Well you can see how that turned out, but I’ll explain it a bit more. We traveled to WDW in June 2007 while I was pregnant with Dylan and knew that we wouldn’t be able to wait 2-3 years to return. Soon we planted a seed in his & my parents’ heads that a 1st birthday celebration would be a great thing to celebrate with everyone. My brother & Becki and Mike’s sister & husband were invited as well, but couldn’t make it in 2008. The grandparents were easy to rope into this. Then in April 2008, Mike & I made AKL our ‘home’ so many more visits to the World were in our future. We did go to WDW for Dylan’s 1st birthday and was there for his actual birthday. We went from Thursday to Tuesday and went to MNSSHP and tried to cram in a lot of things for our son’s first trip – plus my parents hadn’t been since 1994. I did a TR for that so if you missed it – go back and read it! (Just kidding!)
We traveled again with Dylan in June 2009 and again in December 2009. Mike & I went alone for our 30th birthdays last August, while I was 32 weeks pregnant with Lukas.
June 2009 - with Becki
December 2009 with Mike's parents, Terry & Vicki
August 2010
Needless to say Lukas’ 1st birthday trip was pretty much a given from the time I announced I was pregnant. The grandparents were again an easy target and Becki said she was in – and so was Kevin whether he wanted to or not. J Laura & Ryan were iffy. Ryan is a high school science teacher so getting off would be difficult. During our planning of this trip Laura also had two miscarriages and there have been ups and downs associated with that of course. A few weeks ago when Southwest had their 40th anniversary sale and tickets to MCO from STL were $80 Laura booked them and they will be joining us on Wednesday evening and leaving on Saturday with the rest of us.
I booked our room exactly 11 months out at 9am on the dot and scored a 2 bedroom club level villa!! Whoohoo! Originally Terry & Vicki were going to stay and their beloved Caribbean Beach Resort, but they finally gave in to AKL and I booked them a value studio, which I have now added Laura & Ryan to. So we’re all set and all staying in the same resort.
Up next…dining
Signing on! What a great crew to celebrate with! Your boys are so lucky to have such big crowds of fans!
Looking forward to hearing all about the trip.