Home is Where the Mouse Is TR (June 1 - 11, 2017) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So at about the time I was preparing to leave for the airport, I started getting emails that the flight was delayed. I went over to my BIL's house and we were deciding what to do. They were also ready to go. We were kind of nervous about the delay because a week before my other SIL's flight was cancelled and they had to fly out the next day.
We waited at their house for a little while. Finally, the flight time settled down and we were able to head over to the airport, which is half hour from home. I was able to put the Magical Express yellow tags on the luggage, since we'd be arriving after 5:00 am.
When we got to the airport, the line for check-in was super long. Thankfully, I had checked us in, so we went in the more shorter line to drop off our luggage. The baggage employee didn't even weigh our bags, he just lifted them up and determined they were under weight. We dropped those off and then went to get something to eat, as everyone was starving.
BIL and family arrived just as we were finishing up our meal. We waited for them to be done and then headed all together to security check. AJ and Abniel had TSA pre-check , so they went their separate way. The rest of us went through the regular line. Since our airport is so small, the process was quick and painless.
The gate was super full, though. There weren't any seats available. We found a spot and parked ourselves on the floor. We had an electric outlet there, so we all took turns charging our phones.
Finally, they were calling us to board. I took the window seat, Adriel was in the middle and Arben in the aisle seat. Across the aisle, were AJ and Abniel. There was no one with them so Abniel was able to stretch out a bit.
Here we are, all settled in.
We took off right at 3:00 am. Arben immediately went to sleep. AJ, Abniel, and Adriel also napped for a bit. I watched Beauty and the Beast. Arben and Adriel even slept through the snacks.
Flight was perfect with no turbulence or issues. We landed in Orlando at 5:45 am. We got off the plane and went directly to find some bathrooms. After that, we put on our Magic Bands and headed for our first ride, the airport monorail.
Magical Express was a ghost town. We boarded the bus immediately and we were on our way.
Here we go!
Bus all to ourselves.
Before we knew it, we were on Disney property. And we were passing under that magical gate.
Well, we passed by it.
I was surprised at all the construction going on. Wasn't really expecting that.
We arrived at Port Orleans Riverside and I went to check us in. Of course, our room wasn't ready but the CM told me they would notify me when it was. I checked our MBs and they were all working.
At this point, everyone was starving. The guys each got a Bounty Platter and I got some biscuits & gravy. Arben and I also got some coffee. Sorry, no photos.
It was still a bit early to head to the park, so we just relaxed in some chairs. I took the time to take some photos around the resort.
Who are those kids?
When the gift shop opened, we browsed a little. At 8:15 am we headed to the bus stop, as we were all getting a little bit restless. There was a bus already there, we boarded and were on our way.
I was hoping that you'd get luggage pickup if your flight was delayed, but it did seem worrisome for a while wondering about the flight. So cool to enter the bubble when everything was still a bit quite.
The first thing I have to say is, "Oh my goodness, your boys have grown!" I think that every time you post pictures of them, lol!
I'm so glad the delay actually helped a bit in that you were able to let DME take care of your bags! Hooray! I don't know how you did that red eye flight...I can't do those anymore. I can't sleep at all on planes, and I'm a wreck when I arrive at my destination!
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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!
When I first read that your flight was delayed, being able to use the yellow luggage tags was the first thing I thought of! Glad it worked out for you (at least I hope it did!)
I love POR early in the morning, your pictures really took me back there. I love the quiet and calmness of it. So peaceful!
Glad all went well from flight to DME to arrival at POR! A resort in which I've stayed at a total of 22 days, so I know it well! With the quite early flight, it's amazing how quiet things are around WDW! Hope all of you adapted well to the day being such an early arrival and start to the day!
It's amazing how grown up your boys look as it's been 2-3 years(I'm guessing) since your last TR! Big kids and unfortunately mot little boys anymore!
Looking forward to more!
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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!
I am so jealous that you get to WDW so early, it's usually about 9pm before we check in (travelling from Scotland) and have to wait until the next day to get to the parks lol
Your youngest son is so like you, you have a lovely family
Suzanne x
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Disneyland Paris approx 2004, Caribbean Beach April 2013, Polynesian May 2014, Old Key West October 2015, Wilderness Lodge Oct 2017, Disneyland Paris October 2018 and looking forward to AKL Sept/Oct 2019 trip!
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I'm glad things are smoothing out already!!! Your delay sure saved you a lot of luggage dragging and how wonderful that no one is up yet!!. I love WDW at dawn!!
I was hoping that you'd get luggage pickup if your flight was delayed, but it did seem worrisome for a while wondering about the flight. So cool to enter the bubble when everything was still a bit quite.
The delay actually worked in our favor. Not having to go get our own luggage was great. And as I write this I realized I'm spoiled by Disney.
The first thing I have to say is, "Oh my goodness, your boys have grown!" I think that every time you post pictures of them, lol!
I know!!! Even I'm surprised each time I look at them, Time is just flying by.
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I'm so glad the delay actually helped a bit in that you were able to let DME take care of your bags! Hooray! I don't know how you did that red eye flight...I can't do those anymore. I can't sleep at all on planes, and I'm a wreck when I arrive at my destination!
This is the 3rd red eye flight I've ever made (2nd to WDW) and this one was the easiest one. I think going to the park immediately after arriving helped. I didn't feel tired at all.
When I first read that your flight was delayed, being able to use the yellow luggage tags was the first thing I thought of! Glad it worked out for you (at least I hope it did!)
I love POR early in the morning, your pictures really took me back there. I love the quiet and calmness of it. So peaceful!
The delay helped us a ton. I literally stuck on those yellow tags as I was stepping out the door. But I was so happy not having to go get my luggage.
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I went over to my BIL's house and we were deciding what to do. They were also ready to go. We were kind of nervous about the delay because a week before my other SIL's flight was cancelled and they had to fly out the next day. 
, so they went their separate way. The rest of us went through the regular line. Since our airport is so small, the process was quick and painless. 
We found a spot and parked ourselves on the floor. We had an electric outlet there, so we all took turns charging our phones. 
AJ, Abniel, and Adriel also napped for a bit. I watched Beauty and the Beast. Arben and Adriel even slept through the snacks. 
After that, we put on our Magic Bands and headed for our first ride, the airport monorail. 
With the quite early flight, it's amazing how quiet things are around WDW! 
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