Christmas Is Comin' Early Dec 11- 19th 09 PTR~~Updated 12/06 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Changes look good. Another vote for Tuesday night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
I agree with Marnie, I'd go on Tuesday also!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great plans! I'd go with Tuesday night.....it should be quieter!
Okay ladies. first of all, thank you for reading my little PTR All of you are really making the planning go that much smoother. Please never discount the difference a little encouragement and thoughfulness can make!
I am convinced to go on Tuesday and after looking a little more at my plans I realized that would have meant going Sat and Sun to MK. Probably not the best of ideas during the holiday season!
So - Sunday will be a DHS day and Tuesday will be our 2nd full MK day. We'll be right at the Poly so that's a good plan. We'll lose Tony's but I did manage to get The Plaza at MK. That seems to get a lot of good reviews here.
Thanks again for your help and suggestions!! You're awesome!! I feel sooo much better now!
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Well, we did manage to keep one secret... barely! Ken was just saying, "Look guys..." when he opened the envelope containing our MVMCP tickets when I said STOP! Some things are best to wait for! The kiddos know about the trip and they know who is going..but they don't need to know about the ADRs (we usually make "invites" from the characters..I'll show ya when we get them done!) and they don't need to know about the party! Is there anything better than Disney mail?
I'm glad I'm not alone on this board when it comes to excessive planning. I have thought about this trip, posted about it, rethought it, retooled, etc. The (what I think may be the last ADR change?!) is I have booked Jiko in place of WCC - which, as one wise PPer pointed out, will give us more time on our one and only scheduled day at AK. The kids love the safari and they have stumbled on just some really neat things in the park on prior trips, like playing drums and last year Abby played a neat marble game with a CM. They also like to stroll along the paths and look at the animals, watch the dancers by TH and check out the cool trees, etc, like the real live sausage tree! I am so excited to try Jiko. I figure, most of the ADRs I plan with the kids in mind so you gotta plan at least one for yourself! I have not been able to check out the kids' menu so that should be interesting.. or probably the standard Disney kids' fare. I did a poll on another thread of which ADRs I should boot and H &V was overwhelmingly voted off the plans. Thanks for the feedback PPers! I did decide to keep The Plaza as an OOP lunch for an MK day. Perhaps I'm done tweaking .. .or else???
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Everything sounds wonderful. Your final plans look great.
I know how you feel about letting the planning be done by someone else. It is hard to do.
Secrets are hard to keep, especially Disney ones. We went two years ago for my youngest DD's birthday and were planning on surprising her, but her birthday party the week before ended up being a bust. We decided to tell her on the way home. We did leave one secret, that grandma and gradnpa were going too. She was so surprised at the airport when they met us.
I think the MVMCP and the character meals will be great surprises for them.
Not too much longer.
You will love the Christmas decorations too. They are beautiful everywhere you go.
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I'd go with Tuesday night.....it should be quieter! 
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Thank
Pixie Dust
All of you are really making the planning go that much smoother. Please never discount the difference a little encouragement and thoughfulness can make! 
Deb
PassPorter Guide Author
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
I have not been able to check out the kids' menu so that should be interesting.. or probably the standard Disney kids' fare. I did a poll on another thread of which ADRs I should boot and H &V was overwhelmingly voted off the plans. Thanks for the feedback PPers! I did decide to keep The Plaza as an OOP lunch for an MK day. Perhaps I'm done tweaking .. .or else??? 
Liz 
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