Faith, Trust and a Little Pixie Dust - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How many of you start thinking about your next trip to WDW while you’re still there? I know I do.
My last trip (may/june 2011) was a good trip but it was also a stressful one. Travelling to Disney is fun, travelling with extended family not so much. So when I got back home from that trip I immediately started thinking about my next trip. But my husband said that we weren’t going to travel in 2012.
With that in mind I started planning a 2013 trip. First I considered a land and sea trip. I think I mentioned this in my TR. It would be the first time I’d be going on a Disney cruise and first time staying on-site. Then I started thinking that maybe this was too much. I was trying to tackle too much at the same time. I needed to experience these two separately in order to fully enjoy the experience. I left that in the back burner for a while as 2013 was pretty much far away. I still had time to decide.
Fast forward to November and the crazy thing I call my life. As I mentioned before, I was having a pretty hard time with Arben. I was so mad, and stressed out and frustrated with him and everything. And it was taking a toll on me. I had no one to confide in so I kept everything bottled in. That’s when I decided I needed some kind of a break.
So I made the decision, then and there, that I would be going back to Disney in 2012. I told Arben that I would be taking the kids to the world in June. Of course he said yes, that whatever made me happy.
Slowly things started to get a little better at home. One day, out of the blue, Arben said he wanted to go on the trip with us. Oh well, I guess I had to accept given the fact that he’d be paying for it.
We started considering our options. On-site vs off-site. Because of budget issues, we decided that staying off-site would be a better option for us. I was kind of bummed because I really wanted to stay in a Disney resort. But hey, a trip to Disney is better than no trip at all. Right?
In January we went to our trusty travel agent and quoted our vacation. We almost went ahead and booked it, but after much consideration and number crunching we decided against it. There was no way we could make it happen. We didn’t rule it out completely but it seemed like a very far away dream.
I got very sad, but Arben kept reassuring me to have faith. That somehow we would make it happen. In the meantime, I started quoting some packages at the Disney site, just for the fun of it. One can always dream…
And as faith would turn up to be on our side, we got hold of some extra money that we weren’t counting on. So after convincing Arben that staying at a Disney resort was the way to go, on February 17, I booked our package. 10 wonderful days at Port Orleans Riverside with 7 day tickets and the dining plan. I thought that if we were going to do this, we’d do it the right way. Either go big or go home.
Now I’m just crossing my fingers and asking for some pixies, that a good deal will come out for my dates and I can save a little cash. If not, well, I don’t care. I’m still going.
Since this trip is top secret, I can’t do a countdown at home. But that doesn’t mean I won’t do one here. I didn’t want to repeat the number fact countdown from last year. After throwing around a couple of ideas I finally settled on one I liked.
This year my countdown will consist of quotes. Some are sweet, some are inspirational and some are kind of funny. But they all have something in common they all have to do with Disney. So without further ado, let the countdown begin.
120 days to go
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality” ~ Walt Disney
How many of you start thinking about your next trip to WDW while you’re still there? I know I do.
I do! Last trip, during our 18 hour drive home I was on my smartphone quoting out trips for next year
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
And as faith would turn up to be on our side, we got hold of some extra money that we weren’t counting on. So after convincing Arben that staying at a Disney resort was the way to go, on February 17, I booked our package. 10 wonderful days at Port Orleans Riverside with 7 day tickets and the dining plan. I thought that if we were going to do this, we’d do it the right way. Either go big or go home.
Sounds like Deja Vu to me! I mentioned at the end of my last TR that sadly we wouldn't be heading back to WDW in 2012, our budget and projects around our house being to blame. Then, it was like the stars aligned! We found a great deal through a travel agent and also got hold of some unexpected money. Score! And, we're staying at POR too, for our first "on property" trip, so I'm really looking forward to hearing how you liked it in your TR! I hope that some deals come out for your dates!
I do! Last trip, during our 18 hour drive home I was on my smartphone quoting out trips for next year
Sounds like Deja Vu to me! I mentioned at the end of my last TR that sadly we wouldn't be heading back to WDW in 2012, our budget and projects around our house being to blame. Then, it was like the stars aligned! We found a great deal through a travel agent and also got hold of some unexpected money. Score! And, we're staying at POR too, for our first "on property" trip, so I'm really looking forward to hearing how you liked it in your TR! I hope that some deals come out for your dates!
I'll be sure to give you a detailed review of POR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you were able to squeeze in a trip this year!
Yeah, me too. Sometimes I can't even believe it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
So glad this trip has worked out for you all! Great countdown, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexiemom
Sounds like it was meant to be! You are going to be so spoiled staying on property.
I told my husband that if we stayed on property this time that I'd never bother him with it again. But I know once he's there he'll be hooked. Yes, I'm sneaky like that.
Sunday June 24 – Arrival Day
We still haven’t booked our airfare but I’m hoping we’ll get to the resort at around 3:30 - 4:00 pm. Today we’ll just settle into our room, explore the resort and maybe swing by DTD.
Monday June 25 – Magic Kingdom
Today is Abniel’s birthday. We’ll start the day of with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s at 7:50am. Then we’ll head on over to the park. We might take an afternoon break (if the kids want to). Basically we’ll do whatever the birthday boy wants to do.
Tuesday June 26 – Epcot
Yes, my favorite park. I could spend my entire vacation here. No specific plans, just do what we can. We have a 4:40pm adr at Teppan Edo. I know my kids are going to enjoy the little show they do while preparing the food. I hope we watch Illuminations that night. Today the park has evening EMH, so maybe after dinner we’ll take a break and come back to enjoy the park till’ the wee hours of the night.
Wednesday June 27 – DHS
I’m going to try to make it to rope drop (it depends if I stay late the night before). I’ll probably send Arben towards Sunset Blvd. to ride TOT or RnRC with AJ and Adriel. I’ll head over to TSMM with Abniel to snag some FPs for later. This may change if Abniel decides he wants to conquer his fears. We have a 5:40pm adr at 50’s PTC. I’m dying to try the pot roast. Yummy!!
Thursday June 28 – Free day
Maybe we’ll swing by DTD for a while. I, for sure, want to explore some of the resorts. We have an 8:00 pm adr at Ohana’s. I’ll try and see if they can seat us a little earlier. Then maybe, afterwards we’ll head down to the beach and watch the Electric Water Pageant.
Friday June 29 – Magic Kingdom
The park has evening EMH, maybe we’ll try and do that. We have a 5:55pm adr at The Crystal Palace.
Saturday June 30 – Animal Kingdom
I must see FotLK, that is my goal for today. We have a 5:15 pm adr at Yak & Yeti.
Sunday July 1 – Epcot
Do whatever we didn’t do the other day. We have a 7:00 pm adr at Via Napoli.
Monday July 2 – DHS
Nothing planned. There’s evening EMH. We have a 6:40pm adr at Sci-Fi Dine In. I know my boys will love the idea of sitting in a car to eat.
Tuesday July 3 – Departure day
If everything goes as planned, our flight will leave at 11ish pm. So we practically have an entire day at Disney. We have a 1:00pm adr at T Rex. I don’t have park tickets for today and I don’t know if I should add a day. What do you guys think?
Next up… My sneaky secret
119 days to go
“For every to, there is a from, for every stop, there is a go and that’s what makes the world go round.” ~ The Sword and the Stone
All your park days sound great! I don't know if I would add a park day or not to your last day. Having a whole day is awesome but I would probably use it to go to DTD again and do some more resort exploring. Just my opinion.
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Great countdown, too! 
We’ll start the day of with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s at 7:50am. Then we’ll head on over to the park. We might take an afternoon break (if the kids want to). Basically we’ll do whatever the birthday boy wants to do.
I could spend my entire vacation here. No specific plans, just do what we can. We have a 4:40pm adr at Teppan Edo. I know my kids are going to enjoy the little show they do while preparing the food. I hope we watch Illuminations that night. Today the park has evening EMH, so maybe after dinner we’ll take a break and come back to enjoy the park till’ the wee hours of the night.
What do you guys think?
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