Our Pink Christmas Trip Updated 4/23 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Congrats on the savings! I'm sure you'll find ways of spending that "extra" money. And you can always run over and see the fountain - maybe take a picture of her with each trip?
That's a good idea. We'll have to see if we can make it over there.
Don't worry too much about staying at Sports--it's my favorite of all the values--the rooms are in much better condition than the rooms at Movies. It sounds like your first day is going to be great!
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Yesterday Shane told me he was finally getting excited for our trip. He doesn’t really get excited for things until the day or two before they happen, so when I’m babbling on about Disney months and months before our trip, he just gives me a look. I don’t know why you just don’t want to be excited for months like me. Needless to say, that kicked up my excitement to a whole new level.
Two weeks from today . . . will be our first day in the parks. And it’s a must for me to start out our trips at the Magic Kingdom. So that’s where we’ll be. They have EMH that morning and we’re going to try to be there for that. I don’t think it should be too hard considering the early night we’ll have before and we’ll be running on the pure excitement of our first day.
We’ll head to Fantasyland first and knock all of those rides out with hopefully low waits. DS, William, doesn’t really get the concept of waiting in a line. It could make things . . . interesting. And, I’m sure we’ll stop for some character encounters along the way.
Next we’ll do Frontierland. BTMRR for sure and depending on the weather, then Splash too. Then maybe back to HM, if there’s time.
I’m going to make a conscious effort not to get so wrapped up in checking rides off a list. I have the type of personality where I very much like to do and see everything. I feel so accomplished when that happens. I’m not so much a stop and smell the roses kind of girl. However, with kids, you don’t always get to do everything on the list, and some of the best times are when you stop and smell the roses. So I’m not going to get stressed out if we only get one ride done some morning. As long as we’re all having fun then that’s what counts. Now I just have to repeat this over and over again to myself and maybe it’ll happen.
For lunch, we’re going to eat at Columbia Harbour House and I’m going to get that yummy tuna sandwich. I’m not sure what this says about me, but I have figured out what I’m going to eat at practically every meal while we’re at WDW. Even counter service. I know it says something, but I’m not sure what.
After lunch, we’ll head back to All Star Sports for naps. We did this last time when Bethany was two and it worked really well. William will need a nap for sure. Bethany may not every day, but I figured it would be a good time for one of us to take her swimming.
After naps, we’ll be going to Epcot. The only thing we must do tonight is the Candlelight Processional. We didn’t buy the package, so as soon we get there, we’re scope out the line situation. If it looks like it’s started, then we’ll put Dad in line to wait for us, while we go exploring World Showcase. I want to go to the 5:00 show that night so it doesn’t get too late for the kids’ sake.
For dinner it will be various counter service around World Showcase. Some Mexican nachos will probably be calling my name.
We’ll head back to the resort after that and tuck the kiddos in for bedtime.
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Heck, we still take a mid-day break and the kids are 8 & 10. They can go commando for a day - maybe two - then it's melt-down city. I'd rather take it easy and have the whole thing run smoothly.
Good news then . . . because Columbia Harbor House also has the Heather Seal of Approval! It's my second favorite CS at MK. I'm sorry--I love the healthy options at CHH especially the hummus and broccoli slaw sandwich, but nothing beats a pulled pork or Chicago style hot dog from Casey's--nothing. It sounds like you've got a great plan for your first day!
However, I do have to warn you that folks start lining up for the CP when World Showcase opens. The dining package means that there are limited seats for Standby guests. You might want to plan to watch standing in the American Adventure area. You can hear everything, but the choir and the narrator will be teeny tiny, if you can see them at all. I would seriously think about seeing if you can still book at CP package if you want to sit in the theatre. I've found that package slots are usually available at Biergarten even when everything else is sold out. (BTW I love Biergarten--so this is great news.) I managed to book a CP package less than a month out the week before Christmas last year. It was completely worth not having to fight for a seat. (And then I'm pretty sure I cried all the way through the show--it's amazing.)
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Just an FYI, if you have some evening time check out the Bob Jackson show at POR. It's family oriented and he gets everybody, kids included, involved in the show! I think he's there Wed-Sat but just ask and I'm sure you'll get his schedule!
We will just miss you all. We leave tomorrow (!) and go home 11/29. Have a great time and I look forward to hearing your TR.
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Needless to say, that kicked up my excitement to a whole new level.
I feel better knowing All Star Sports has the Heather seal of approval. I value your opinion a lot. You definitely know you're Disney stuff. 
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