4 Adults, 3 kids, 1 week. An OCD planners dream! 8/30 - 9/6 PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your plans look great. If there is one thing I have learned it is that you have to take at least one vacation a year, even if its a staycation....... Keep us updated...BTW I love how you used your daughter to give the letter. We dont have kids yet but I have our niece and nephew break the ice with my DH
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.
UPDATED APRIL 15TH APRIL 14TH- I've been fretting for weeks. Ben's boat hasn't been sold, Disney has yet to come out with a promotion for September, when for the past 6 years it's normally been announced by now. Our trip is 4 months away. Our flights are booked, and my husband and mother aren't budging on booking. Around 4 p.m. I get a phone call from Ben while I'm waiting for a doctor to finish up with a patient. He tells me that he sold the boat!!!!!! Our trip is paid for!! Not booked, but already paid in full! It's a wonderful feeling. That evening we began discussing how much extra money we will need and I begin stressing over the lack of a promotion… Again! I'm just about to throw in the towel and I receive an excellent email from Build a Better Mouse Trip.
"If you spend much time on any of the Disney forums, you're going to read rumors that Disney is not going to release a Free Dining Promotion for 2010. I don't think these rumors are based on any factual information. Instead, I suspect that they're based on the fact that Disney has not release any fall promotions as early as they did in years past. Disney has typically announced Free Dining in April but they were really early last year, releasing the promotion in late March. So everyone started looking for a promotion in late March this year and it hasn't happened so far. This is causing a lot of wild speculation now that we’ve reached mid-April with no Free Dining Promotion.
Here's the thing - no one expected to see two more summer promotions released right now (a room discount and the "Kids Stay Free" promotion). Some are theorizing that the June 18th opening of "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" over at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park might mean less bookings for Disney - thus, all the last-minute summer promotions at Disney. I'm actually a bit skeptical about that - in the end, anything that draws people to Orlando ultimately benefits Disney. Since Universal's press release about the Harry Potter opening was in late March, I suspect that Disney may just be pulling out a couple more summer promotions to keep Disney in the public's mind in the midst of all the Universal advertising. ("Hey, let’s go see that new Harry Potter thing and then go spend a couple of days at Disney World") The "Kid's Stay & Play Free" promotion seems strategic in that regard - if they get people to stay at a Disney hotel and give the kids Disney theme park tickets, most of the vacation dollars will be spent at Disney even if people go over to Universal for a day or two.
As to the rumors that we won't see late summer / early fall promotions: It seems completely illogical to me is that Disney would offer four promotions for summer - which is one of their peak occupancy times - and then offer nothing for September, which is one of their lowest occupancy times. I just don't believe that will happen. We may see the late summer / early fall discounts come a little later as Disney works to get their summer bookings (the "Kids Stay Free" promotion must be booked by May 8th) but there will be fall promotions of some kind. It is possible that Disney will not offer free dining but that seems like it would create bad feelings in light of the fact that free dining has been offered to U.K. residents. Given the Harry Potter opening, it seems more likely to me that we'll see a greater ticket requirement associated with any Free Dining promotions this year. In years past, you just to stay a certain number of nights and buy at least 1 day tickets. Requiring 3 - 5 day tickets with the promotion (something we saw with the earlier summer promotions this year) would "encourage" people to spend their time at the Disney parks, spending their vacation dollars on Disney property rather than at Universal. I do think it is possible that we'll see the Quick Service plan offered to value resort guests, with the option to upgrade to the standard plan by paying the difference in cost.
Just like all the rumors you've read, this is strictly guess work on my part. I have absolutely no advance knowledge of Disney's intentions and I could be completely wrong. But I've looked at the historical information about summer promotions for 2006 - 2009 and not a single one of those years had as many summer promotions as we're seeing for 2010. I feel very strongly that we'll see fall promotions even though it is later than usual to see those released.
I still recommend that you book your dining reservations now, before any promotions are released, to get best chance at your first choices in restaurants and dining times. We can help with all your vacation planning, including free touring plans when you book your vacation through Build A Better Mouse Trip."
This makes me feel slightly better. Not receiving free dining or another kind of promotion wouldn't cancel our trip. But it would sure lighten the load and free up some extra money. Hopefully my next post is the one that says we are booked and paid in full!
__________________
Suzanne
Last edited by suzq62982; 04-15-2010 at 10:40 AM..
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.
a tip from one OCD planner to another. lined Post-its. I write down my plans on them then stick it to the page that I will write down the final plans, but with all the changes I make it saves a ton of white out or erasers. I have my confirmation codes written in my book, in my phones scheduler, index card (for DH wallet), e-mails, and when I get there I will have the front desk print me out a copy.
I'm planning for 5 adults, 1 teen, 3 kid, and 2 toddlers. Good thing I like to plan.
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April 19th- I asked my parents, who were up watching our kids for a few days, and my husband if we could just book our vacation, pay for it, then adjust it if any promos come out this fall. They finally agreed! I called up Disney and spent what seemed like FOREVER on the phone booking our trip. At one point my Mom thought it would just be easier to hang up and book it the next day online at work. But I wasn't giving up that easily! So with 4 months, 1 week, and 4 days until our vacation we are all booked and paid in full! It's a relief! I'm still hoping for free dining or some kind of promo.
After we got the vacation all squared away, we went to Wal-Mart. We let the Avery and Abby pick out a princess dress for the Akershus Princess breakfast. Avery picked Snow White and Abby picked Cinderella. They are very cute and super sparkly and only $20 each! We then went over to the Dollar Tree and picked up some glow necklaces, bracelets and wands. Ahhh, 4 months to shop and save for our trip.
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If there is one thing I have learned it is that you have to take at least one vacation a year, even if its a staycation....... Keep us updated...BTW I love how you used your daughter to give the letter. We dont have kids yet but I have our niece and nephew break the ice with my DH
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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