"Can I Play on Your iPhone?" A WDW Trip in a Digital Age (May 28 - June 7) - Page 26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yeah, Ms. Cool and Casual -- we're not letting you off the hook for just getting this in under the soon-to-expire statute of limitations on unfinished TRs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
My little vinyl Disney Heroes backpack was bulging at the seams. ... <snip> ... I know Eileen will be sure to bring this up numerous times in the future. (Believe me, I. KNOW.) But, just pretend you don’t remember what the heck she’s talking about. It’ll be hilarious! ... <snip> ... Zip it, Eileen.
I don't know what you're kvetching about, Kdubs. I never take someone else's utter foolishness and rub it in. Never.
Nope. Not even tempted.
Lips.Sealed.
.
.
.
YOU IDIOT!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
I left Zack to finish up breakfast and dashed down to grab my wallet out of storage. And if you’re asking yourself why I didn’t just drop off some of my extra stuff while I was getting my wallet, I don’t know. I’m just thinking of that now.
Oy!
See, this is why you need me with you on vacation. I may not be the most effective "cost/minute utilizer" (as noted by my favorite WDW tour - "the lounge on a bench" challenge) but I'm excellent at logistics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
And to go get a frozen coke before the show. He came back with a pleased smile and silently showed me this hidden Mickey.
I love that about him too. As gannoying as he can be (just like a younger version of a black-sock wearing pseudo-adult we all know and love), Zacks appreciation for the subtle moments of Disney Magic are what make me fall in love with him over and over.
Then he starts needling me about something and.... pffft... that feeling passes.
And lest anyone forget, Karen is a lizard, and heat only makes her move faster. The rest of us do this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
I turned to Thom (to laugh, I admit it) only to see him, head tilted back, eyes closed, catching flies. The only ones awake were me and Jill (and the three kids playing on various iPhones.) People. Seriously. If you get that tired by lunch, on vacation, I think you’re doing it wrong.
I can only shake my curly head at that statement. Shake.My.Head.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
Not able to stand it any longer, I finally turned around and in my sternest Mom voice said, “Knock it off, Thom,”
Okay, you're forgiven. I love anything to do with giving Thom a hard time. One, because he deserves it, and two, because he loves being teased as much as I do. (and I love seeing him absorb the fact that we all adore him.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
And if that’s not an advertisement for a $15 cab ride, I don’t know what is.
She CAN be taught!
Quote:
Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
And that’s when it happened. I was no longer soon-to-be-40 mom to an 18-year-old. It was 1988 and I was 16-years-old, popping gum, listening to Aerosmith on my Walkman, waiting for hot Josh to pick me up in his hot Camaro. Seriously, even as I write this, I’ve got “Love in an Elevator” playing in my head. Josh didn’t hurt matters by being a smokin’ 22-year-old with shades, rolling up with windows down and the stereo blasting.
I would pay good money to have been there to see this. (In fact, I *shoulda* paid good money to see this. I'm still kicking myself for not going on this --or any!!-- trip that includes members of the CLQ.)
I have to say seeing this random update put a smile on my face, which was pretty hard to do as it is gray outside, pouring cats and dogs and the subway stalled at least 5 times on my trip in....but a Karen update, suddenly in my own little world the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the train went express from my house to Times Square....ok I don't even think that would happen even in my dreams but you get the picture. Loved seeing the update...
I have been enjoying all your Hawaii updates on FB, sounds like an amazing trip, definitely deserved by you and your sisters after all that your family has been going through, with the loss of your dad. A hug to you for just being you
I'm sorry to hear about your dad, but glad that you've been inspired to continue this TR! Your musings always crack me up, this update included!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
So sorry about your dad. I lost my dad to cancer 4 years ago now, and it is still hard.
But on a positive note, SO glad you're back to this TR!! But I do need to seriously remember it is NOT safe to read a Karen TR at work (unless I want to be busted!). I am crying from the effort of not laughing out loud!! Karen + Josh, TRAPPER KEEPER!?!?! OMG....you are TOO funny!
Looking forward to hearing about Harry Potter! And then, maybe you'd do a TR for Hawaii!?
I'm so glad to see an update here, though! Your flashback to the 80's had me chuckling quite a bit, I remember it all...except my dream crush drove a 65 Mustang!
Thanks for continuing to share this trip through your eyes...I'm lovin' it! Looking forward to hearing about Harry Potter and Royal Pacific. The room looks quite nice!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
It's SO NICE to have you back posting again! Very sorry to hear about your dad's passing. We can add your return to this TR to the continuing ripple of influence Stefanie has on this world.
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Welcome back Karen!
So sorry about your dad.
From FB it sounds like you & your sisters had a fabulous time in Hawaii.
Can't wait to hear what's next as this update was fabulous!
SO EXCITED to see this update.......when it popped up in 'my home' list after so many months, I ignored it figuring someone new just found it. SO GLAD to have investigated further I read your TR for fun back when it was being posted live, but I was diligently studying it when I thought we had an unexpected SWW trip coming up this year (love SW hate FL in summer--is a hard decision).
I sympathize with you greatly over your loss this year. My husband has lost both grandfathers over the last 3 months and actually it was the latest loss that cancelled our SWW trip. I am glad that Zack had such a wonderful trip filled with so many great friends
Oh, Karen, I'm so, so sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad and the difficult few months you've had. On the other hand, I'm so happy to see that you've decided to finish this TR! You will have the memories documented, so you can treasure them all the more, and we get to share in your adventures!
Yes, Stefanie's passing hit us all very hard. Somehow, although most of us have never met, we've formed this wonderful "family" and feel connected. Stefanie touched more hearts than Cam or Luke could ever imagine.
Now, back to your TR... sounds like a great day at AK, despite the crowds! Love the hot 20-something, Camaro story!!!
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... <snip> ... I know Eileen will be sure to bring this up numerous times in the future. (Believe me, I. KNOW.) But, just pretend you don’t remember what the heck she’s talking about. It’ll be hilarious! 
... <snip> ... Zip it, Eileen.
The only ones awake were me and Jill (and the three kids playing on various iPhones.) People. Seriously. If you get that tired by lunch, on vacation, I think you’re doing it wrong.
Shake.My.Head.
(and I love seeing him absorb the fact that we all adore him.)
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Aimee
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