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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Of course it makes sense to me and probably everyone else here. And did you say there's more to life than Disney? Really? Since when? Only joking, but you know what I mean...
How exciting to have a Christmas trip to look forward to now! Hopefully everything will work out with N, but if not, it's probably for the best. And either way, you're going to DL!
Now, I hope N doesn't end up going! But if she does, we'll make the most of it and have a great time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Of course it makes sense to me and probably everyone else here. And did you say there's more to life than Disney? Really? Since when? Only joking, but you know what I mean...
Your post made me smile. Here is one place I know I'm not alone!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I do understand. Sometimes Disney fever makes us do crazy things.
How many PTRs start with "We weren't going to...but I checked the prices...and next thing you know, we booked!" It happens, doesn't it?
Anyone else obsessively collect refundable hotel reservations?
I'm currently sitting on reservations for Abby's Anaheimer, Anaheim Express Inn, and Motel 6 Disneyland Maingate.
We're leaning toward Maingate because it's closer and $60 cheaper than Express (stupid extra adult charge of $15 per day). Anaheimer looks too yucky not good to take my mom to.
I'm looking frequently, all are refundable till right before the trip.
In other Disney news, I've confirmed with my sister that we will be doing an all-family trip in 2019, so no 2018 trip for us. I'm good with that. Don't need the Galaxy's End drama, KWIM?
***Super update, just saved 120!!! Got a 24 hr deal at the Travelodge Anaheim!!!*** 301 for 4 nights!!!!
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Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 09-12-2017 at 07:59 PM..
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Yes, ladies, it's a super steal! It was a 48 hr sale, rooms have gone back up to 90-100 for the Travelodge. Haven't seen similar prices at a walking-distance hotel since. Yay!
One issue I have...it's a 2 queen bed room, and I reserved it for 3 adults and 1 child (9). The info says "Children stay free when using existing bedding". But when I've tried to replicate the reservation with 4 adults and 1 child, I get a message saying that this exceeds maximum guests allowed for the room...
I'm stuck here. I think there's a good chance we will have 4 adults, as I've asked my mom to invite her best friend to come down from Fresno. Debbie is very interested in coming, as long as her husband's health will allow it.
Do I book another hotel, at a higher price, on the chance that she comes? Do I just show up at the hotel and not mention that we have 5 guests, not 4? (Dishonest, yes, but for 100 bucks a night, I might be willing). Do I show up at the hotel and ask for forgiveness (in lieu of permission)? What would you all do? Cost is a significant factor for me, obviously.
Despite this conundrum, I'm really looking forward to this trip!!!
Can't you contact the hotel and talk your dilemma through with them? That would seem to me to be the most logical thing to do - I would've thought if you can talk to a person, they're likely to be more amenable and would do what they can to help you out?
Cheryl, because I got that reservation for $66 per night (now it's over $90), I don't really want to call attention to myself, for fear I lose the deal somehow. I don't yet KNOW that we'll have 4 adults, KWIM? At the bargain hotels, I don't think customer service is their #1 priority.
I did make a reservation for a room that allows 5 guests, this one at the other DL Travellodge. The cost is 116 per night, nearly double what we're paying for the discounted one. It's refundable, so my plan is to sit on that for a while.
In other news, my waffling friend N just got back from WDW with another friend. She had a good time, but had a lot of tension and hard feelings with her traveling companion. She was over last night. I'm concerned about her tend toward holding on to the negative...this is something I hadn't noticed before. I'm not sure if it is persistent, or just part of her mood cycling. In any case...again I'm in the position or wondering whether we will travel well together or not.
Budget update: Just knocked $21 off the hotel bill. Obsessively checking prices has it's benefits! Brought the 5 person room down to $112 per night from $116, that's $21 total with tax figured in. Whoot whoot!!!
Silly, isn't it? But it feels like a huge win to get those few bucks off! Those are a few dollars I can spend somewhere else, right? Plus I'm saving my friend $, making it more likely that she will come with me.
N and I talked yesterday afternoon about our plans, brainstorming ways to keep August patient in lines (9 yo, only child, and homeschooled. Usually doesn't have to wait for anything!) We came up with a few ideas.
1. The great Disneyland Awards (Name subject to change). We want to make up cute prizes to give away to other guests. Most elegant prince, princess, best villain couple, etc etc.
2. counting things. Nancy has these "clickers" for counting stitches in knitting, and she has had a lot of fun using them in the parks to count how many people comment on her heart-shaped glasses, how many birthday buttons she sees etc. We'll give August a clicker at critical line times and give him an assignment.
3. Nancy is also into singing happy birthday to birthday guests. My mom might get overwhelmed by her energy, but I think I can get into it, and so can August.
An issue of food:
I like to enjoy the occasional restaurant meal. My mom even more so, and she and her friend D (coming down from Fresno if possible) are comfortably retired, so they can afford it. But N is living on disability (mental health) and has really no extra cash for this trip. It's not even sure she'll be able to come, but I think more and more that it will happen.
How do we balance this all out? I'm thinking of having a schedule in which there are planned times for DMom and D to break off from us, right around meal time. As time goes on, I might even make them a few ADRs.
I'd like to have one planned table service meal SOMEWHERE. I haven't decided where yet... But making ADRs is part of the fun, even at DL, where it is less critical.
QUESTION: Could someone talk to me about the experience and cost of the Carthay Circle Lounge? Cheryl and/or Ginger? Cam, I can't remember if you and Luke did this on your trip out West or not....?
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Themed environment junkie
Last edited by KimmyAnn1147; 09-29-2017 at 10:16 AM..
We've done the Carthay Circle Lounge a few times now - the last time was in 2015. Honestly, I can't remember how much it cost now. I've just found the menu on All Ears Net.
Everything is looking good but a lot to think about an balancing out everything and making it work.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Really? Since when? 
Only joking, but you know what I mean...
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She was over last night. I'm concerned about her tend toward holding on to the negative...this is something I hadn't noticed before. I'm not sure if it is persistent, or just part of her mood cycling. In any case...again I'm in the position or wondering whether we will travel well together or not.
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