A PTR - Even Miracles take a little time - UPDATED 7/2 in post 61 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok the second question is much more important and interesting so we will save it for last. DSis and her family decided to drive. They have about a 18 hour drive (I think that’s right), but the cost of plane tickets for a family of 5 is outrageous, plus they enjoy driving, so that decision is made. For us, we only have to buy 2 tickets so no brainer for us, I do not want to drive for 24 hours. I stalked each airline for the cheapest, but that seemed pretty much hopeless. When the flights got down to $423 a piece I just booked them. prices! We used to be able to fly for that price total. I think those days are long gone. Good thing I bought when I did because they have only gone up. At least I can take comfort in that.
The times were not what I hoped for, we like to get to the “bubble” as early as possible so we have more Disney time, but those flights were much more. We had to book a departure time for 4:30 pm and we don’t get there until after 11:40 pm. This might work to our advantage though as maybe our sweet pea will sleep a little more on the flight, and hopefully that will make it easier on her. I am already a little anxious about how she will do with the flight too.
Since we weren’t getting there til late we decided we better go fly in the night before so we can rest up for the rest of the family to get there. So yippee, let’s come in a day early. So I booked us one night in a AKL studio for the night of the 15th (hello and thank you that a value room was open so cheap points wahoo!) before we move to our 2 bedroom with everyone else.
The food:
So as soon as we started talking about going together everyone started planning where they wanted to eat, a common pattern with my family, we love our Disney food!!! We have some special things to celebrate so we wanted to plan accordingly, Father’s Day for two great dads (and my DH first Father’s Day!), DN#2 5th birthday, and the little ones first trip.
We are doing the basic Dining Plan. This was a tough decision too as we don't feel that it saves as much money and we may be able to come out more ahead if we got Tables in Wonderland, but convenience won out in the end.
So here is what we came up with:
Fri. June 15th - Arrive late Dinner in the airport somewhere
Sat. June 16- We will check into Kidani for us and then MK til DSis family arrives CS for lunch (probably Columbia Harbor but those waffle sandwiches at Sleepy Hollow sound goooood!) Dinner with everyone at O’Hana (a family fav)
Sun. June 17-Father’s Day – Epcot Lunch – Le Cellier (chosen by the dads)
Mon June 18 – AK CS for B & L Dinner – Jiko (tough choice between Citricos or Jiko but since we are staying at AKLV we stuck with Jiko)
Tue. June 19 – DHS Breakfast at Boma’s for the three of us (we love their breakfast it is a must do for us if we are staying at AKL) Lunch – Mama Melrose Fantasmic package for the three of us DSis family is doing picnic in the park for dinner. We will explore the park together and do Fantasmic together
Wed. June 20 – MK morning Breakfast – Chef Mickey’s for the 3 of us (had to take DD to a character meal for her 1st trip!) then meet up with family at MK Dinner – Tutto Italia Evening at Epcot or maybe back to MK. We will probably also do DTD today either in the afternoon or evening depending on how tired everyone is. The boys (all of them especially the adults) have a date to build their own remote control cars at Ridemakerz. They are very excited! (the kids are excited too ) DSis and I have always wanted to do tea together but they had no ADR’s available so we will probably just tag along with our boys with maybe a side trip to Lil Mismatched on our way
Thurs June 21 – Epcot Dinner – Coral Reef
Fri. June 22 – MK for our last day and for DN#2 birthday Celebration Dinner at Whispering Canyon for a lot of hoopin and hollerin Birthday fun
Sat. June 23 – leave for early morning flight
There maybe a few twists and turns and maybe some surprises along the way as we have a lot of celebratin’ to do. There has been talk of pirate makeovers and such so we will see what happens!
__________________
Last edited by mickeycrazy; 04-25-2012 at 11:13 AM..
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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.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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prices! We used to be able to fly for that price total. I think those days are long gone. Good thing I bought when I did because they have only gone up. At least I can take comfort in that. 
So I booked us one night in a AKL studio for the night of the 15th (hello and thank you that a value room was open so cheap points wahoo!) before we move to our 2 bedroom with everyone else. 
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