PTR - Our First Christmas in the World! - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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As you can see by the ticker, the days are just flying by. So much life has been going on! I am trying to create a list of things I need to do. I still have to make our shirts. Pick up and few odds and ends. I am probably going to go ahead and start laying out clothes. We have less than two weeks. DH and I will have to help DD bring her stuff from her college dorm room this coming weekend. My mom is going thru chemo. I am trying to help with her all that I can. Plus, make sure my Christmas list is not only done, but gifts are wrapped and under the tree. Thank goodness, all the decorations and tree is up. But, I am going to do my best, and not worry about the small stuff. I will probably be the only one notices if something is not done!
The schedule has been tweaked just a bit! We will be leaving home on Saturday and driving to Daytona. I was able to get reservations at a Holiday Inn Express. We should arrive in Daytona around 5. Check in, have supper and maybe drive over to the coast. Sunday, we will have another hour to drive. Check in at Port Orleans Riverside. I already did the online check in. I am so excited about this. This will be our first stay at POR and everything decorated for Christmas! I have customized our MB’s. DH is getting the gray, DD is pink, and mine is red. For Christmas of course! If room is not ready, will grab lunch at the food court and pick up our mugs. We were fortunate enough to qualify for the free dining.
We plan on heading over to DTD via the boat. Do some shopping, DD and DH may do the balloon ride. We have ADR for the House of Blues @ 7. Depending on when we actually get in our room, either just hang out around DTD or the resort, and explore it just a bit. DTD may be pretty busy. The Goo Goo Dolls will be at the HOB that night. We are not going to see them, but it might increase the amount of people there.
Note: I made our FP+ times before the change in just one experience. I am printing everything out just in case we have problems getting these times/experiences.
Monday – This is our DHS day. We will eat breakfast at the food court before going to DHS. I hope to be there early as possible. Our first FP+ is at 10 for the TOT, one of my DD’s favorite rides. Maybe, try and squeeze in GMR, and then head to TSMM for FP+ @ 11:55. Afterwards check out LOJS, this will be new to all of us. We have an ADR @ 2:15 @ 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Hopefully, do the IJSS after our meal. RNR is next with at FP+ 4:35. Head back toward Streets of America. Check out the Osborne Lights. Do Back Lot Express for our QS. Our must do’s for the day: TSMM, RNR, TOT, GMR, and Osborne Lights. Fill in other things where they will fit. I don’t want to do commando. Head back to resort, chill until time for bed.
Tuesday – heading to MK today! Breakfast at food court, head out as early as possible. Take the RR to Fantasy Land Station. We have FP+ @ 10:05 for JOTLM. Head over and check out Dumbo. BLYSRS is next @ 11:40. We have ADR for Liberty Tree Tavern @ 12:50. We plan on stepping over to the Haunted Mansion to see the ghosts. Then, get our Jingle, Jangle on the Jingle Cruise. Arrgh Matey, time for some adventure on the high seas with POTC. Then, go exploring for some gold at BTMRR. Possible eat at Pecos Bill, or take the RR to Main Street and check out Casey’s. We love it. This is also our night for MVMCP! Take in all the wonderful sights, head back to POR for some much needed rest!
Wednesday – Wild Wednesday – AK. We have ADR @ Tusker House @ 8:45. Will leave there and head to KS. Our only FP+ for the day is EE @ 10:35 – 11:35. After that, we will go to Flame Tree BBQ and head back to our resort. At 6 we have ressies for the carriage ride around POR. I would like to head over to the campfire around 7 for a bit. Then we have ADR’s for Boatwright’s @ 7:55. This is our slow day.
Thursday – Excited for Epcot! I am looking forward to this day most of all I believe! ADR’s @ Akerhaus for the Princess Storybook. Head to Mexico and the Three Caballeros. Head back to Test Track FP+ at 10:35-11:35. Soaring is at 12:15-1:15. Maelstrom is at 2:10-3:10. ADR’s at Via Napoli @ 5:45. Head over to the American Adventure. Candlelight Processional is at 8:15. This is a new event for all of us. Watch Illuminations. Meander around the world and head back to the resort.
Friday is our day back to Magic Kingdom. The only ADR is for the Luau at the Poly at 5:15. I do have FP+ for BLYSRS, meet Rapunzel (my DD favorite princess), and PoTC. May even change and go to DHS or Epcot for the morning and then slide over to MK. I am leaving this one up in the air. After dinner, I am not really sure what we will do. I believe that we should be finished by 8 or 8:30. I had thought about taking the monorail to the Grand Floridian to see the ginger bread houses. I guess this will all depend on our energy level.
Saturday, is our last day at Disney. After breakfast, check out and maybe go back over to DTD. Not sure if we will drive or take WDW transportation. I will probably get everyone’s opinion on anything else they would like to do. Tour some of the other resorts, shopping at DTD, or maybe Mini-Golf. I plan on eating lunch somewhere on property. We will head home afterwards. Sunday, at our church, we will have our Cantata and family meal. I would like to attend that. I love to see our church decorated for Christmas. Back to work on Monday for a few hours, and off for the Holidays.
That’s my “plans” so far. But as they say, nothing is set in stone! Hopefully, we won’t have any bad weather or major issues!
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Does anyone know if American Express Gift Cards are accepted on property? The company that I work for gave each of us one. I am hoping to use it during our vacation for either meals not covered or extras.
Got a good bit of my Christmas shopping done. Just need to pick up a few other things and start wrapping. Making some headway...single digits!
I wanted to put a little extra "special" item with the envelope. I don't want to sound bad, but are all the maids female? I thought about adding candy, lotion or something along those lines.
Thanks so much!
Getting really excited - 1 week, 5 working days away now!
I just found your PTR.
1 day! Your plans all look great.
Hope you mom is doing well.
Have a safe trip down and a very magical Christmas time experience!
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