I Feel Like My Disney Vacation Begins When... - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The first time DH and I went to Disney together, we weren't married yet and had been dating only about a year. It was our first vacation together. We drove from Houston, 17.5 hours straight through, and arrived late at night at our hotel, off property in Kissimmee.
The next morning, we got in the car and drove to Disney World. As soon as I saw the purple street signs on the highway, I started crying! Poor DH was wondering what could be wrong. I had to explain that they were tears of happiness -- I saw the purple signs and knew that we had finally arrived at the Happiest Place on Earth, which, of course, made me cry. LOL.
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My excitement and feeling of being there builds through the day lol. The night before i'm like that old Disney commercial with the little boy...I'm too excited to sleep ...then it builds from there and by the time we pull out of our driveway for the 14 hr drive i'm more excited than our 4 yr old! But once we go through the arch i know i've arrived and this year since we're staying on property it's even more exciting
Usually, it's when we go underneath the archway at the entrance, but this time, it felt like it began when we got to immigration at Orlando International and the IllumiNations music was playing - that was so cool!
I have to say that for me it is also when we pick the resort and book the vacation. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the planning and figuring out ADRs and park days. When we get there it is when all the luggage is in the room, the "work" is over and the fun can begin. I REALLY wish we were going next year! I don't know if I can wait until 2013
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I agree with the booking of the vacation...the planning...finally the flight!...closer with the tram in the airport & that Disney store...but when I sit on the DME I "feel" the Disney *Does that make sense?? & when I hear & watch that video as we drive AAHHH!!! I melt into vacation mode...sigh...38 more days for me
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5/02 AKL*8/09 POR*10/10 ASMu*8/11 Pop*2/12 ASMu*8/12 POFQ*2/13 ASM*8/13 CB *4/14 AoA*8/14 AKL*8/15 CS*2/16 Disney Magic*8/16 Split stay! POR/BC*2/17 Disney Fantasy & OKW*8/17 Poly/AKL*1/18 ASMu*8/18 SS/?? split stay!
It happens for me when I ride my first monorail ride - which happens at the Orlando Airport. Then we head down and jump on the DME bus to watch the movie and see the gates. I get the AAHHH I'm in Disney feeling long before I hit my resort
We drive and the minute we see Downtown Disney the kids go crazy. Then they go crazy again under the arch, then again when we see the welcome sign to the hotel we are staying at. For me it's the calm as they watch cartoons in the lobby and I check in. The CM being so helpful and handing me all the check in materials makes me feel like a giddy kid. Then I know I'm on vacation too!
Gosh, I the smell of the POP, or WDW period. For me smell is the strongest memory producer.
I was a psychology major in college, and we learned that of the 5 senses, smell is the one with the strongest connections to your memory. My professor did an experiment on me in class where he blindfolded me and held several things under my nose to see if I could identify them by smell. I think I got them all. Then he handed me some stuff to identify just by feeling it and I fared much worse.
That's also the reason why I thought it was interesting that one of the guys on the podcast identified the smell of Rome burning as his thing that tells him he's at Disney. When he said that, I knew exactly what he meant -- I can remember the smell and see the scene in my mind!
What a great question! For me it begins when I purchase my passporter book and start filling it with reservation numbers!
For my son its when he puts his ears before we get into the car to the airport.
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...then it builds from there and by the time we pull out of our driveway for the 14 hr drive i'm more excited than our 4 yr old! But once we go through the arch i know i've arrived and this year since we're staying on property it's even more exciting 
PassPorter Guide Author
the smell of the POP, or WDW period. For me smell is the strongest memory producer.
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
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