The $16,000 "Free" Disney Trip **Updated 12/11** COMPLETE - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I tried posting this yesterday, and then the internet decided to crash Thank goodness I've learnt to save documents as I go!
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Your super fantastic upcoming trip sounds just like a portion of a trip I've got in the pipelines, Sharon! (Though goodness knows when I'll be able to make it become a reality, especially as two of my four brothers have given me their Christmas wish lists !)
I absolutely San Francisco - I went there in 2006 to meet up with an Aussie friend whose husband used to work there, and we had an absolutely brilliant time . I'm happy to hear you'll be going to see the Golden Gate and Alcatraz . We rode over the Golden Gate on bicycles from Blazing Saddles - it took us 5 hours!! When we got into Sausalito and visited our favourite candy store there, a fellow customer joked that we must've been riding against the wind (It doesn't really take that long to ride over the bridge though - we kept on stopping and starting to look at things, and twice I had to shout out at her to wait for me, as two of the hills were murder. Before that day, I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was in Primary School!)
With Alcatraz, I organised our excursion there for as late in the evening as possible. Being there at night time really added to the atmosphere. I didn't feel I had enough time there, and are really looking forward to going back.
It's fantastic how you've booked your Halloween Tour at Disneyland! I'm really looking forward to hearing all about that tour, as even though I'd to go on it, I'm not 100% sure from the description, if it's my brothers' cup of tea (I hope to be bringing two with me next time.) We're all definitely up for the Halloween party though!
I'm so looking forward to hearing more about your upcoming trip! These pre-trip reports, in a way, seem more exciting than the actual TRs - I think it must be all the excited anticipation seeping through. Don't get me wrong though - I still absolutely reading TRs too! This is what happens when I waffle on too long!
PS - I laughed out loud when I read you have your supply of rocks ready for Halloween!
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your plans! Great fun with friends and meeting up with passporters!
I am so looking forward to this trip report!
Will you be doing anything "live"???
Have a safe and wonderful time Sharon!
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I tried posting this yesterday, and then the internet decided to crash Thank goodness I've learnt to save documents as I go!
******
Your super fantastic upcoming trip sounds just like a portion of a trip I've got in the pipelines, Sharon! (Though goodness knows when I'll be able to make it become a reality, especially as two of my four brothers have given me their Christmas wish lists !)
I absolutely San Francisco - I went there in 2006 to meet up with an Aussie friend whose husband used to work there, and we had an absolutely brilliant time . I'm happy to hear you'll be going to see the Golden Gate and Alcatraz . We rode over the Golden Gate on bicycles from Blazing Saddles - it took us 5 hours!! When we got into Sausalito and visited our favourite candy store there, a fellow customer joked that we must've been riding against the wind (It doesn't really take that long to ride over the bridge though - we kept on stopping and starting to look at things, and twice I had to shout out at her to wait for me, as two of the hills were murder. Before that day, I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was in Primary School!)
With Alcatraz, I organised our excursion there for as late in the evening as possible. Being there at night time really added to the atmosphere. I didn't feel I had enough time there, and are really looking forward to going back.
It's fantastic how you've booked your Halloween Tour at Disneyland! I'm really looking forward to hearing all about that tour, as even though I'd to go on it, I'm not 100% sure from the description, if it's my brothers' cup of tea (I hope to be bringing two with me next time.) We're all definitely up for the Halloween party though!
I'm so looking forward to hearing more about your upcoming trip! These pre-trip reports, in a way, seem more exciting than the actual TRs - I think it must be all the excited anticipation seeping through. Don't get me wrong though - I still absolutely reading TRs too! This is what happens when I waffle on too long!
PS - I laughed out loud when I read you have your supply of rocks ready for Halloween!
Thanks for your great advice. I was actually considering a bike ride across the Golden Gate bridge, but now I'm thinking maybe not!
I'll be sure to include photos and details in my TR for you and others who have plans in the works. I hope it won't be too long before your next trip to the States. I'm really eager to visit Australia. Some day!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Sounds like an absolutely wonderful trip. Will you be taking your laptop and giving us live updates? Boy, you sure picked the right time to go to California with it being so darsh garn ( and I'm being nice here!) cold here lately. When I left work this morning it was 33 degrees!!!! Not a good sign for the winter to come.
Hope you have a great time, Sharon!! We DL when we went in 2004. . . . . I would love to get back soon . . . . . The DTD there is very nice because you don't have to travel, it's right there!! Can't wait to hear all about it!!
Sounds like an absolutely wonderful trip. Will you be taking your laptop and giving us live updates? Boy, you sure picked the right time to go to California with it being so darsh garn ( and I'm being nice here!) cold here lately. When I left work this morning it was 33 degrees!!!! Not a good sign for the winter to come.
You're not kidding! I think it was 31 when I got in my car this morning. I'm glad to be heading to sunny SoCal, believe me!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Thank goodness I've learnt to save documents as I go! 
!)
San Francisco - I went there in 2006 to meet up with an Aussie friend whose husband used to work there, and we had an absolutely brilliant time 
. We rode over the Golden Gate on bicycles from Blazing Saddles - it took us 5 hours!! 
When we got into Sausalito and visited our favourite candy store there, a fellow customer joked that we must've been riding against the wind 
(It doesn't really take that long to ride over the bridge though - we kept on stopping and starting to look at things, and twice I had to shout out at her to wait for me, as two of the hills were murder. Before that day, I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was in Primary School!)
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
I'm glad to be heading to sunny SoCal, believe me!
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