A Dream Is A Wish... First ever 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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.
for time to fly until you can all be together again!
You have such a special son to give you and his brother this wonderful time. Your plans sound wonderful. Hope you get all settled in and catch us up soon.
__________________
Betty Sue
Affiliated with CruisingCo.Com/MouseEarVacations.com
Disney Destination Specialist/ BettySueS@cruisingco.com August '09 Trip
Thank you so much for all the kind thoughts and pixies! We are missing daddy very much (thank god for skype!), but we know that he is trying hard to get us back asap. Unfortunately, we have heard that we may have a problem getting a visa for my son. Apparently, even though my ex has not been seen or heard from in over 4 years, he still is considered responsible for my son in the eyes of the UK....I don't know what we'll do if we can't get back....Anyway, that's a whole other story!! Now, on with the PTR....
Ok, well we made it to Texas and the flight was wonderful. The only problem was at the switch in Atlanta. We had one hour to reclaim our bags, recheck them, go through security yet AGAIN and then run to the transport to the terminal at the complete other side of the airport!!! Needless to say by the time we got there I was hot and tired and felt like collapsing lol. However, I always fly Delta because of the incredible service we always get and in true form they stepped up yet again. They were only boarding business at the time but after explaining our run to the attendant, she told me to go on ahead so I could sit down and cool off! The rest of the flight was peaceful and quick. The family was really excited to see us and we got settled in a Motel for the night.
Almost a week later we are still in the motel *sigh* waiting on our apartment to come through. But seeing as we only have 37 days left before our trip, I decided to keep trying to make every moment with my son a way to look forward to DW. I ordered him tons of trading pins on ebay which had arrived before we got here. He was so excited to sit down and go through them and decide which he wanted to keep and which to trade. I also ordered him a custom made gift card from Disney Store that came in the mail yesterday. He nearly went through the roof and had to show it to everyone!! lol I told him that was HIS personal use card for whatever he wanted while we were at Disney. Hopefully, we will get into our apartment within the next few days and then we can really get into Disney mode!
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
Glad to hear you made it back to the US safe and sound. Hopefully the apartment comes through for you. And the Disney trip will be here before you know it!!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Keep checking with reservations. As you get closer, people cancel and a pirate room might open up
I definitely will keep on trying!! But if it doesn't work out, at least the resort has pirate themes all over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I'm so sorry you guys are having to go through this. What a complete nightmare. It seems to be one thing after another. I'm glad you're doing your best to keep your spirits up and get your son enthused about Disney!
It has definitely been a bit of a nightmare. But we just keep thinking that when we get through this we will all be together again. I try really hard to look for the positives in life, I hope that my son will keep the same attitude.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad to hear you made it back to the US safe and sound. Hopefully the apartment comes through for you. And the Disney trip will be here before you know it!!
So far still no luck on the apt, am really hoping to get in before Halloween. I saw today that we only have 33 more days!! We are so excited about this trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I am so sorry that life has so many twist for you all right now. that the apartment is available quickly and you get those VISAs!
Great ways to build up the excitement for WDW!
Thank you so much! Still waiting on the apartment, and DH is going to a lawyer next week to see what we can do for the visa's. I keep trying to think of what else can we do lol.
Well, the days are going by so fast! I keep looking at my plans and wondering if I've done ok or if they need adjusting. I am driving myself crazy wondering what I might miss that needs doing lol.
There is one plan that I said I might change, and I am definitely going to!! The morning of DS birthday we were going to go to AK opening and hit a safari, but we are now going to MK for opening for sure and staying there till at least 3pm. The reason for this is......
I FINALLY got the ADR for Crystal Palace!!!! Haven't told DS yet, thought I'd surprise him the day of since he thinks I wasn't able to get it. He was so disappointed that he wouldn't be able to go, but now he will get to!! I am so thankful to everyone who said not to quit trying!!
We are still in the motel for now, but planning my mom's halloween party for all of her Avon reps and their families has kept me busy. DS is working hard on his school lessons, and we talk to DH every day on Skype. I am watching for our Disney mail to arrive daily lol. I also splurged and bought some shirts for us online at the Disney store, so we're waiting for those as well.
I saw on another post about some Mickey head ornaments, so we went out and bought the stuff to make some for when we get into the apartment.
Is there anything I'm missing? Something I haven't thought of? Any advice or tips would be appreciated!! TIA!!
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
TinkBrat
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
