Auntie and Me take on an all new Disney PTR 7/26 - 8/1 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Great plans! I love the shot of the hot air balloons!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
Great start! Sounds like a great trip.
Thanks!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
All your plans are looking great!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Great start and great plans.
Hope you have a great time!!!
I am not too far from you. I live in the Oklahoma City area.
We have friends who live in Frisco and try to visit them often. My family lives in Durant, so we do a lot of shopping in Allen and Frisco, at least when I can get away and get down there!
Thanks! Yeah, you aren't that far away at all. Frisco and Allen definitely have a lot of fun places to shop
It all began a few weeks before Christmas. Mom was talking about the annual trip and asked if I thought I could go. I had enough vacation, so I asked my supervisor about it and was given approval for time off in July I immediately went to look for flights. Nothing was available yet, so the watching and waiting began.
For Christmas, I decided to give Kenzie a Lego Friends set and a note saying I'd take her to Legoland this summer. We both love Lego and I thought this would be a fun thing to do in Florida. I even found a BOGO coupon a week later and was thrilled! The tickets would work out to be a little less than $50 each.
In January, I had some surprise guests come to visit - my sister and her two kids - Kenzie and Lucas! Kenzie looked through some of my old Disney scrapbooks and was shocked that I had been to THE Eiffel Tower. She stated that we "had" to do that on our visit. I tried to explain that it's not the one she is thinking of, but she was having none of that. I hope she is not disappointed when we get to Epcot.
On January 28th I see that Southwest has finally opened flights for our trip dates. I found a great flight at perfect times with a total of $228. Not bad, but there are those darn required layovers out of DAL, so I checked to see what the other airlines were priced at. American had the lowest direct with $367 rt + $50 baggage. Too much for my pocketbook, so I went back to SW and snagged the original flight.
One day in April I was at work listening to the Passporter Moms podcast and found out that FP+ is going to be released for Off Site visitors! I was trying not to dance in my chair, but it was quite difficult. I was so excited! Of course, I paid very close attention to all of the info coming out about the process. I wanted to make sure I knew what to do when the time came for us to get our FP+
****
Up next: Legoland mini drama and Chef Mickey's
Great plans!!! I know ya'll will have a wonderful time!
I live in Southeast Texas. I've been to Frisco / McKinney / Allen area several times. My son even applied for a Police Office position in McKinney.
Can't wait to read more about your plans!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Great plans!!! I know ya'll will have a wonderful time!
I live in Southeast Texas. I've been to Frisco / McKinney / Allen area several times. My son even applied for a Police Office position in McKinney.
Can't wait to read more about your plans!
Too cool! More coming soon ...
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start to the plans!
Thank you!
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Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Good deal on the flight.....except the layover, but it's worth the price!
Plans are looking good!
Luckily Southwest gets everyone situated quickly so it shouldn't be too bad
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Originally Posted by chezp
I hope "the" Eiffel Tower isn't too much of a disappointment...
Glad you got the flights sorted, even if there is a layover in there.
I'm hoping she will be ok just getting a photo with it, cause that's about all we can do at this one!
In April, I took a trip to St. Louis, and due to an illness, I had a lot of anxiety about flying and being certain places. I've traveled a lot in the past, and this is the first time I've ever really experienced this before. I also realized that the thought of going to Legoland was causing me some bad anxiety. I think it was because the park and getting there were new to me, but I'm still not certain. I love Lego and have been dying to go the park for years.
Late in May, I sent a text to Mom and my sister and asked what they thought Kenzie's reaction would be to not going. They said she'd be sad, but really wouldn't care what we were doing as long as we are having fun. Ok, so problem somewhat solved. No Legoland. But what to do instead?
Later that day, I was reading about the My Disney Experience App and decided I'd better sign up and test it out. I started playing around to see what it was like to make an ADR. I picked Chef Mickey's breakfast for Tuesday on our trip and it gave me two available times - 7:15 am (hahah yeah right, we are all night owls) and 10:45am. Hmm... The more I thought about this, the more I wanted to do it. I've never done a character meal before and this seemed perfect. I texted mom and after some research she said she and Jim would love to come with us.
I found the App fairly easy to use and was able to get the ADR right away. For some reason, it doesn't show my allergy info. I know I clicked "other" but I don't see it on the reservation. I think that I may have done it the first time I tested, then not the 2nd time when I actually confirmed it. Not a huge issue for me. I did think it was really helpful, though, that you could add in this information via the App.
So, I talked to Kenzie about a week ago and the first thing out of her mouth was “I can't WAIT to go to Legoland with you.” I told her that I had a sad story to tell her, but that it had a happy ending. I said we couldn't go to Lego and instead we were going to spend TWO days at Epcot and she squealed. I was so relieved. I also told her that we were going to stay late and see the fireworks and she squealed even more. She didn't seem the least bit phased by any of it.
So Chef Mickey's and an evening at Epcot replaces Legoland - now the anxiety is gone!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.