The "Should we really be going again" pre-trip report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
When I started this report, I didn't include any pictures of us. That was because I started writing in the midst of a disaster! When I tell you DS 1 1/2 is a menace, I'm not kidding!!!
After I had turned the computer one day and walked away, he knocked down the laptop. When I picked it up and cleaned the mess, it froze. I forced a shut down, and when it started back up again, I had a message that it was attempting to repair the startup process. This ran for 18 hours!!!
Needless to say, the hard drive was shot. We checked into recovery and found out that it is possible to recover the things we lost. Unfortunately most of what we lost was DS 1 1/2's baby pictures that we hadn't uploaded or printed yet . But this recovery could cost $1000's
A few weeks ago, DH was chatting in the lunch room with someone in the IT department. When his coworker heard of what happened, he sent DH home with a cable. We were able to use this cable and hook the broken hard drive up and use it as an external hard drive. From there we were able to find and copy our lost documents and pictures Whew....we don't have to replan everything and my meticulous intinerary was saved!
So now that our pictures are recovered, let me re-introuce you to the cast:
Mr. Trouble maker himself:
And one of the whole family. Trouble maker is still an infant here and not too much trouble! YET!
Once I get some recent ones of my niece and nephew, I'll post them. They are all saved in the phone and I can't find the cord to upload those. I feel like this house is a black hole at times
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Thank goodness you were able to recover your pictures & docs. There is nothing more devastating than having your computer crash and losing any unbacked up photos or docs. I learned my lesson the hard way from my first computer. I lost thousands of unbacked up photos of my family and daughter. Now, I always and immediately burn my uploaded pics to a CD and have them stored at a photo hosting website.
Thank goodness you were able to recover your pictures & docs. There is nothing more devastating than having your computer crash and losing any unbacked up photos or docs. I learned my lesson the hard way from my first computer. I lost thousands of unbacked up photos of my family and daughter. Now, I always and immediately burn my uploaded pics to a CD and have them stored at a photo hosting website.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Oh my goodness, I would have been in a panic if I thought my pictures and documents were lost. Glad you all were able to retrieve them.
It was pretty scary. I felt terrible about it for weeks. When we hooked up that cable and found the pictures, it was quite a happy dance around here! We are currently working on a backup system for all of them now.
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
It’s coming up quicker than we think! I’ve been finalizing our itinerary and getting our to do and packing lists ready. We took some advantage of sales during Father’s day weekend and cashed in on some gift cards for clothes for the kids. Since we are traveling at the end of the summer, I’m not going to hold off completely on the kids wearing the clothes, bathing suits and sandals that we got but I’m holding them aside for good occasions. Plus, my little guy (DS 1 ½) is tiny and still fitting into smaller clothes and the things I bought for our trip are a little bit bigger. I was also able to match up some sets for them nicely so they will be coordinated with colors. I can’t wait to see how it looks in pictures! Now, if I can just DH to agree to wear some coordinated clothes.
As far as goodies for me and DH, there aren’t as many but one really good thing to report. Those shorts that I’ve been working on getting into for the trip finally fit!! It’s been about 7 years since I’ve worn them. They don’t fit well or comfortably but it is a huge step! I can’t breathe in them right now but by the end of the summer, I hope to button them up and have them fit loosely.
And lastly, we’ve made an ADR change. On our arrival day my brother and his family will be separated from us. We’ve decided to make it a non-park day and let the kids wind down from the long drive. Originally, we planned on hanging out at the resort and then heading over to Kona Café at the Poly and watching fireworks on the beach. After reading some dining reviews and talking to a cousin who recently ate there, we realized the food isn’t really what we like. Also, DS 1 ½ is a REALLY finicky eater. I don’t want to order something for him and have him turn his nose up to it. I don’t mind him eating off from mine or DH’s plate either but again, he might turn away from it. We put some thought to it and have decided that one of the buffets would work a little better since there is more to choose from.
I tried to get an ADR for Chef Mickey’s but after several attempts I just couldn’t get a time that allowed us to have a pool day, nap and then dinner as well as fireworks. So, instead we’ve decided on Boma. We thought it was something new (DH and I are determined to do some new things on this trip) and the kids would enjoy seeing the animals. I know the menu is MUCH different but after we looked it up, there are quite a few things that DH and I would enjoy trying. And if it is something we don’t like, we can always try something else on the buffet.
It sounds like some good changes. Congrats on fitting in the shorts! I know how hard that is, and I'm on that journey myself! It's nice fitting in clothes I haven't worn in awhile. I also completely understand your "little menace". My youngest was nicknamed "Mr. Destructo" for a reason. Your trip will be here soon!
Your plans look fantastic! I love the pictures of your kids too. They're so cute!
I know it's way late but I found that TouringPlans.com has really helped me plan my itinerary since it estimates crowd levels up to a year in advance. It also lists show times and stuff too. It costs money, but I think I got it for a discount from having the Unofficial Guide to WDW. Even so, it was only 15 dollars for a year or something like that.
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. But this recovery could cost $1000's 
Whew....we don't have to replan everything and my meticulous intinerary was saved!
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