Goin' Down the Bayou, a PTR ~ November 1-10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
I'm a driver since I don't care to fly but I am always considering flying due to the way more extra time in our Happy Place!
Can't wait to hear your thoughts on POR.
I love Disney in November. Weather is usually nicer and the crowds are so much lower.
Thanks, Shelley!
As much as I like driving, I think after flying it is going to be hard to go back! The girls keep asking how long it will take us to get to Disney on the plane, and each time I answer "under 3 hours" they are amazed
I'll be sure to give a thorough report on POR for you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linnynad
OMG.....Josie and I sang that song everyday when we were just there........too cute!!!
Great start to the TR!! I'm so happy you guys are staying at POR. The girls will just love it. Can't wait to hear more of your plans!
Thanks, Linny! We love the Princess and the Frog! We are super excited about POR, especially after reading your report on it Hopefully I'll get some more plans posted for you guys soon!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaisynDonald
We will be there the 6th -15th. I hope the crowds are low, last year we went Dec. 13th - 20th & it was insanely busy!!!!
I know, I think the cat is out of the bag on those weeks that have always been lower in crowd levels. Seems like more and more people are taking advantage of them I hope that crowds are not too bad for you this time!
If you see us around in the parks, be sure to say hi
Sorry to leave you all hanging with our plans, everyone! I've been trying to get an update posted, but this week has just been crazy. We are leaving after school to head to the Great Wolf Lodge in PA for the the night, so I am busy this morning getting our things packed up and ready to go. If I finish early I will try to get back on here, but if not I'll definitely have something ready when we get back. Maybe I'll even do a mini TR about the GWL too
If I don't get a chance to get back here on Passporter, I hope that you all have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!!
We are leaving after school to head to the Great Wolf Lodge in PA for the the night, so I am busy this morning getting our things packed up and ready to go. If I finish early I will try to get back on here, but if not I'll definitely have something ready when we get back. Maybe I'll even do a mini TR about the GWL too
If I don't get a chance to get back here on Passporter, I hope that you all have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!!
We have a GWL in TX but have never been so I would be interested in hearing what you think about the one in PA.
Hope y'all have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend too!
Have a great trip to GWL, I can't wait to hear about it!! I almost booked a trip there in April, but we went to Lancaster instead. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!! I work ALL weekend
Hi everyone We are back, and had a great Memorial Day weekend! I hope you all did too!! We left after school on Thursday to head out to the Poconos for our night at the Great Wolf Lodge and made our way home, totally pooped, late Friday night. Saturday morning was spent watching the girls play soccer, and that afternoon we lounged in our yard and broke out the slip & slide and inflatable pool for the girls. On Sunday we headed up to Jersey City to visit my sister and her husband in their new condo, we barbecued and walked along the waterfront taking in the great view of NYC across the river. We ended the weekend yesterday by going to watch the local parade, doing some yardwork and then over to my Aunt's house for another barbecue. We sure packed a lot into the last few days, but it sure was fun!
For those of you that were interested, the GWL was awesome! We had a ball, and they really offer a lot of things to do. There's the waterpark, of course, but they also have 2 interactive games that you can play (MagiQuest for the older kids and Storybook Adventure for the little ones), Build A Wolf, duck pin bowling, the Cub Club (which has arts and crafts projects and coloring), an arcade, and there's also a kids spa as well as one for adults. Definitely a lot of things to do! Two nights here would have been perfect, I think. Being that we were only there for one night, and we arrived later than planned because of traffic, it felt a little rushed trying to fit everything in that we wanted to do. But, we did have a great time and would definitely plan to head back there again someday.
I'll be honest, the thought of this trip came about before we had even left Disney last November As our trip was coming to a close, the Disney depression was setting in, and well the only cure is planning another trip! We weren't even a few hours in on our drive home and I was on my phone pricing out another trip for Jersey Week 2012. I wanted to try and stay on property, but hontestly it didn't look like it would work out budget wise so I sort of put things on the back burner after we got home.
It wasn't until January that I started looking into things again, I was getting quotes on disney.com for all of the different resort levels, as well as having my Aunt check on getaway prices at the Marriott Harbor Lake. As it stood, it looked like a stay in a Value could possibly work, but still I held off. A few days later I saw a post on FB from a Disney blog that I regularly read, which is written by a Disney TA. Her agency was offering a terrific promotion available for Jersey Week (ETA: We had also just gotten our taxes done and found out that we were getting back a good chunk of change, more than what was expected! Sure, we should have saved that extra cash, but why not use it to go to Disney?!?!). There were four resorts available for the offer: POP, POR, the Poly and I think BW. With the discount offered we could stay at POR for about the same price I was quoted for POP through Disney, and after looking at pics online of POR I was in love! It didn't take us long to decide and soon we were booked for 8 nights at POR with a request for a room in the Magnolia Bend section of the resort. I had shared the deal with a friend of mine because I knew she was considering a trip and luckily it worked for them! They are also booked for the same week at POR, and I couldn't be more excited about that
Next up, we needed to decide on how we were going to get there. While we normally drive and enjoy doing it, this last trip the long drive took it's toll on us and we were rather exhausted from it. At some point on the way home Chris mentioned trying the Auto Train next time, so I decided to look into that. Prices were reasonable, but still it would be a long trip and I wasn't completely sold, so I started looking into airfare after getting the ok from Kaeli's doctor. Well, I guess the word is out on high travel through Newark airport during Jersey Week, so prices out of that airport were ridiculous and I began looking at flights out of JFK and they were a lot better. It actually worked out to be cheaper to fly out on Thursday 11/1 instead of Friday, even with booking an extra night at POR. After a quick call to my TA, we booked the extra night and right away I booked our RT flights on Jet Blue, direct flights from JFK to MCO, now staying 9 nights at POR!
156 days to go!!
You got to dig a little deeper
Find out who you are
When you find out who you are
You’ll find out what you need ~ Mama Odie, The Princess and the Frog
It's amazing how the Disney planning is always going on even before we leave the Disney Bubble. Awesome for scoring such a great deal at POR, we have never stayed there either, I am so hooked on the Poly, but have also read great things about it. And what way to make it even more magical than staying on property is having your friend their too. I am also having the same dilemma with airfare, the prices on Friday 11/9 are insane and I have also checked the option of leaving the 8th, it is also a lot cheaper for us, even with the extra night.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
the Princess and the Frog! We are super excited about POR, especially after reading your report on it 
I hope that crowds are not too bad for you this time!
Holly: 
As our trip was coming to a close, the Disney depression was setting in, and well the only cure is planning another trip! We weren't even a few hours in on our drive home and I was on my phone pricing out another trip for Jersey Week 2012. I wanted to try and stay on property, but hontestly it didn't look like it would work out budget wise so I sort of put things on the back burner after we got home. 
Linear Mode
