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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your plans sound great. We will be at the MSEP on Saturday the 5th as well, I felt the same way about the MK on a Saturday but the parade did not fit in for us etiher the rest of the time we were there. Love your ADR's....
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I can't wait to hear your opinion of the Aqua Duck! I really want to try that if we ever get to sail on the Dream! I'm a notorious overpacker, so wishing you lots of and for packing!
Well, packing is going at a snail's pace. I can't find my Disney clothes in the attic, leading me to believe that they were inadvertantly given to a clothing drive. Although, this makes me a little sad, I truly hope that whoever they went to is enjoying them!
Anyway! I don't have alot of planning to talk about today, so I thought I would tell you guys just how much this trip means to me!!
I grew up with next to nothing. My parents were wonderful people and they loved us alot but we just didn't have much money. My very first trip to Disney World was in 1978. I was a junior in high school and I went with the Police Athletic League playing the flugal horn in a marching band. We stood out on corners raising money for the trip.
I was bound and determined to go to WDW with my friends that year and I raised the whole 200 bucks necessary for the trip. We went down on a bus and it took 17 hours. We stayed in a hotel that was right across the street from Wet and Wild and went there for a day as well as to the Magic Kingdom for a day. We had to march in a parade and then the rest of the day was ours.
This may sound very, very corny but the minute I stepped foot into the MK for the first time I fell completely in love. This was the only park there at the time. From that day on, I plotted ways to go back.
Well, I didn't get to go again until 1981 and Epcot still wasn't complete at the time. I do remember seeing construction for it though! Again, a bunch of us drove down in a station wagon and spent one day at the park. We also went to see the Phillies in Clearwater.
The next year, I met my husband and we went back in 1983. It was my very first visit to Epcot and at the time it was called Epcot Center! It was uber cool. I can remember making dining reservations on a computer and thinking this was amazing! We still couldn't afford to stay in the park then. Only the Polynesian and the Contemporary were there and they were very expensive! But we had a ball!!
After that, we went once a year until my kids were in high school. I have four of them. Three wonderful boys and a princess. We went lots over Easter week, which never bothered us because the park was always open late and we always took breaks. At first, we stayed at various places outside of the parks, but eventually, when my daughter was four (she's 21 now), we found our way to the Wilderness Lodge and have not stayed outside the parks since then! :We've stayed at just about every deluxe resort on property. The only place we haven't stayed yet is the BWI.
Then the kids got older and either couldn't or didn't want to go any more. Being the true Disneyphile that I am, I asked my husband if it would be alright to take my Dad down instead. Muffin was kind of disneyed out at that point and said that would be fine but he would pass. Well! I went with my Dad a couple of times. I went with my sister. I went by myself. I took my kids one at a time. Then I started going with many of the wonderful people on these boards.
From 2002 through 2006, I went to WDW around 10 times! Toward the end of 2006, I had some family issues of no small proportion. WDW got put on the back burner and when things got easier at home, we found cruising and have been doing that ever since. We have also taken a couple of trips overseas. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these trips, but my heart will always be with Mickey!
Also, other than my love of all things Disney, AKL is just simply heaven on earth to me. I have stayed there numerous times and each time I walk into that lobby, I am overcome with emotion. I have been to many places and have stayed at lots of beautiful resorts, too. There is just something about AKL that gets to me. Every single time!
Then there is the Disney Dream. This ship looks incredible and fun! I am a huge Royal Caribbean fan, but have wanted to do a Disney cruise since the inception of the Magic. Muffin had no desire to go on a Disney Cruise-ever!!! He has this crazy fear of being trapped on a boat with Mickey Mouse for a week and having to walk the plank or something. So I just figured this was not in the cards for us. As much as I have been to WDW without Muffin, I could never imagine taking a cruise without him anywhere.
So this vacation, which was Muffin's brainchild , means the world to me. It has been too long since coming home to AKL and I am dying to try the Dream! Especially after watching the christening of it, during which, I bawled my eyes out like a baby the entire time!! I seriously do not care what the weather is like or what plans we have. I will be thrilled just spending time at my favorite place with my favorite person and trying a brand new adventure together!!
Great update sappy girl! I can't believe your DD is 21 now! How time flies! Sorry about your Disney clothes. I guess you'll have to restock when you're down there!
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Wonderful and touching back story, sappy girl! I agree with others sounds like it's time to restock those Disney clothes. AKL has some of the cutest AKL apparel, one of the few (if not the only) that as resort specific clothes.
Wonderful and touching back story, sappy girl! I agree with others sounds like it's time to restock those Disney clothes. AKL has some of the cutest AKL apparel, one of the few (if not the only) that as resort specific clothes.
Definitely the best resort shop (at Jambo House) and on my recent trip I found that the shops on the left side of the street at DHS had a better selection of clothing than at WoD at DD.
Awesome PTR!! We'll be in MK Sat 2/05 & Sun 2/06.....maybe our paths will cross. Good luck with the packing....I hope your Disney stuff turns up! It's getting sooooo close now!
Awww...I got goosebumps reading your post. I totally get why this trip is so important to you and though you would be good doing nothing, I hope all the magic you deserve visits you on this trip.
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This was the only park there at the time. From that day on, I plotted ways to go back.
:We've stayed at just about every deluxe resort on property. The only place we haven't stayed yet is the BWI. 
Being the true Disneyphile that I am, I asked my husband if it would be alright to take my Dad down instead. Muffin was kind of disneyed out at that point and said that would be fine but he would pass. Well! I went with my Dad a couple of times. I went with my sister. I went by myself. I took my kids one at a time. Then I started going with many of the wonderful people on these boards.
Toward the end of 2006, I had some family issues of no small proportion. WDW got put on the back burner and when things got easier at home, we found cruising and have been doing that ever since. We have also taken a couple of trips overseas. I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these trips, but my heart will always be with Mickey!
Definitely the best resort shop (at Jambo House) and on my recent trip I found that the shops on the left side of the street at DHS had a better selection of clothing than at WoD at DD.
It's getting sooooo close now!
Susan
PassPorter Guide Author
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