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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Glad you were able to use the points for the flight out of Austin...definitely worth giving up a few hours (as hard as that is when giving them up at WDW) but worth it in the end. Sounds like a great resort choice.
Dining Plans: We have decided to go with the Disney Dining Plan this trip since a lot of our meals are buffets and Grayson is still free for one more year. We did evaluate if it would be better to use our Tables in Wonderland card vs the DDP. We feel it will be a better deal for us with the DDP since we are going over 4th of July and you can't use your TIW card that day. We will use our TIW card for adult beverages and any meals we might get for Grayson.
As of now here our plans:
Leave Saturday June 30th by mid morning and drive to Austin. Probably go straight to SIL till after dinner then go check in at the hotel.
Sunday July 1st Travel Day
Fly out of Austin at 9:40(CST) and land at MCO 1:20(EST)
DME to Kidani
Figuring our room will not be ready so will drop stuff off at Bell Hop and make our way to AK to renew Don and Dillon's AP until 6ish.
AK open until 7pm.
ADR: Saana at 7:40pm (new for the boys)
Monday July 2nd: Epcot Day
Epcot Hours: 9-9
Pirate Cruise 9:30am for Dillon from Grand Floridian. He did this last year but they called us 30 minutes into the cruise because the boat would only go in reverse. We picked him up at the Kids Club and were refunded our money. They offered to reschedule we just didn't know when to fit it in.
ADR: Le Cellier 1pm (haven't been there since 2006)
Tuesday July 3rd: Magic Kingdom(All Day)
MK Hours: 9am-1am
We have 9am haircuts scheduled for the boys. This has become a tradition for us.
ADR: Plaza 6:15pm (New for us)
America Celebrate Fireworks at 9pm
ME Parade at 10pm
Wednesday July 4th: DHS(All Day)
DHS Hours: 9am-10pm
ADR: Hollywood and Vine at 1:10(we've done breakfast never lunch)
Fantasmic: 9pm
4th Fireworks Show: 9:45
Thursday July 5th
Probably MK Day
MK Hours 8-10pm
ADR: Ohana 5:20pm(last dinner visit 2007)
Return to Kidani for pool time
Friday July 6th : AK Day
AK Hours 9-7pm
ADR: Raglan Road 7:30pm(I was just here in February but otherwise not since 2007)
After dinner probably DTD time maybe MK they are open till 1am
Saturday July 7th:
Kidani until after nap then Epcot for the evening
Epcot Hours: 9-9pm
ADR: Biergartnen 6pm(Don loves this place, last 2010)
Illuminations 9pm
Sunday July 8th (Last Full Day)
Epcot after ADR then hotel then back out to MK for EMH
MK Hours: 9-1am
Epcot Hous 9-9
ADR: Chef Mickey 8:05am(we've done dinner but not breakfast)
Figure we will take a cab over to Contemporary since it is such an early ADR
Monday July 9th Departure Day
Best Park: EP/Worst Park: DHS
Flight to Austin Departs MCO at 3:10
DME Proably 12pm
With this being a R&R trip I plan on us taking full advantage of the pool, kid activities and the Community Hall at Kidani. The only two days I know for sure that we will be at the park from sun up to sun rise is July 3rd and 4th to make sure we are don't miss out on the festives offered. I read an article that Fort Wilderness has a neat parade early morning on the 4th. I thought about it but I don't think we will do it since we are relying on Disney Transportation.
I'm sure we will stick to all our ADR's since they are charging $10/per person if you cancel less than 24 hours in advance. I know a lot of people aren't fans of Hollywood and Vine but my kids love that place. We have gone twice before and it has been one of our best character experiences both times. With it being a lunch this time I am hoping that doesn't change.
I still need to get my order finalized with Garden Grocers. I've already set up the stroller rental through Magic Stroller and have our Owner's Locker set up for delivery. I went and bought the boys more shorts today and a few other miscellaneous items for the trip. We bought them new tennis shoes over the Memorial Day Weekend sales. I have my husbands step mom who works at a bank collecting 2012 pennies for me for our pressed pennies.
I bought Dillon a Guide to the Magic book. It is a very nice book with lots of different activities and guides to the attractions. It does have 14 pages in the back of the book for autographs. Dillon says that isn't big enough so we went to Hobby Lobby today and got a few items to make one for each of them and to make the bookmarks that we pass out to the CM's you have blessed us with some Magic. Dillon didn't want a countdown calendar this year so that was one less item to do. So why do I feel like I am forgetting something?
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Thanks for joining in. I see that we both come from the Lone Star State!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world
Me too!!!
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Originally Posted by cdnmousegirls
Great start!! Can't wait to hear the rest. We arrive there on the 14th of July, a little nervous about the crowds too, we will have soccer games in the mornings so they will nit be an option for us!
Thanks for reading along.
It definitely is going to be a different scenario then we are used to. I am going in with the worst possible scenario with crowds and will be extremely happy if it doesn't end up that way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Glad you were able to use the points for the flight out of Austin...definitely worth giving up a few hours (as hard as that is when giving them up at WDW) but worth it in the end. Sounds like a great resort choice.
Totally agree with you. Can't wait to hear the words Welcome Home.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Love the plans...we have found that we have added much more R&R into our schedules especially after last year at AKL...I had to almost drag the girls to the parks, they were entranced and were truly happy just staying at the pool, wandering around taking pictures, I had to remind them we actually had park tickets
We are trying Chef Mickeys for breakfast for the first time on our trip as well, we have done lunch and dinner so I will be excited to hear how you enjoyed it as we travel at the end of July (see a little encouragement to make sure you do a TR )
Love the plans...we have found that we have added much more R&R into our schedules especially after last year at AKL...I had to almost drag the girls to the parks, they were entranced and were truly happy just staying at the pool, wandering around taking pictures, I had to remind them we actually had park tickets
We are trying Chef Mickeys for breakfast for the first time on our trip as well, we have done lunch and dinner so I will be excited to hear how you enjoyed it as we travel at the end of July (see a little encouragement to make sure you do a TR )
See that is the type of encouragement I am going to need. If I don't get that far into my TR before you leave I will send you a message. We had such a great character experience our last trip and it was our first TS meal of the trip that we are having high hopes for another repeat. I am hoping the Characters will be morning people with us having an 8:05 ADR.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Great daily plans and ADRs, my son did the Pirate Cruise last year and a blast, sorry it got canceled last time, I am sure your son will love it. I prefer breakfast at CM over dinner, although they are both great, I would definitely take a cab instead of relying on Disney transportation so early. R&R is very important especially on a Disney vacation and I am learning that as my boys get older and with every new trip, that it is OK if you don't get to see and do everything, just relax.
I love your plans! They sound awesome and I look forward to hearing your experiences with the parks on the 3rd and 4th.
I also agree with the post above - I prefer breakfast to dinner at CM. Be SURE to try the cheesy hashbrowns. TO. DIE. FOR! I loved the food there and it's on my list for our next trip!
We said we were going to try some new ones this trip....yeah about that...we are only trying one new one this trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start!
Thanks for joining in...I am hoping to keep up
Quote:
Originally Posted by valegirl5292
Great daily plans and ADRs, my son did the Pirate Cruise last year and a blast, sorry it got canceled last time, I am sure your son will love it. I prefer breakfast at CM over dinner, although they are both great, I would definitely take a cab instead of relying on Disney transportation so early. R&R is very important especially on a Disney vacation and I am learning that as my boys get older and with every new trip, that it is OK if you don't get to see and do everything, just relax.
Dillon's major request was to do the Pirate Cruise. I think he likes the idea of ditching us for a few hours.
We are more breakfast type family so this probably will be more to our liking than dinner meals we have had here.. I even love breakfast for dinner which I do at least once every two weeks or so.
Relax in the moment is my motto for this trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
I love your plans! They sound awesome and I look forward to hearing your experiences with the parks on the 3rd and 4th.
I also agree with the post above - I prefer breakfast to dinner at CM. Be SURE to try the cheesy hashbrowns. TO. DIE. FOR! I loved the food there and it's on my list for our next trip!
Can't wait to read more - you are so close!
Okay, cheesy hashbrowns on the list to try. I know you would never steer me wrong in the direction of food. Or would you? You wouldn't try and sneak a Beverly drink on me would you?
I personally can't wait to celebrate 4th of July in the bubble. I usually am call on this day so it will be a nice change of scenery.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Great plans!
Thanks. We were going over them tonight as a family and my son has the first 3 days memorized.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Great meals and park plans!
So looking forward to it being a reality and not just on paper.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
Remember that I said I was disappointed in Disney for not being able to renew Dillon's pass before the price hike because the web site was having issues and that I had spoken to a manager and she told me in no uncertain terms could the retroactive the price for me.
Well low and behold I get a call today(Sunday) from a Mitchell in Ticket Services who tells me he is sorry that I was unable to purchase the ticket at the time I had been attempting. He said that he felt like this issue could be taken care of for the original price and gave me a number to take to Guest Relations on arrival and that should resolve my issue. He did say that they in Ticket Services couldn't dictate to Guest Relations but he didn't feel I was going to have a problem being able to buy at the original price. So Excited!!! Thank you Mitchell from Ticket Services.
I was very glad to get the call...although I did think it was weird he was calling me on a Sunday. Expected that call more on a Mon-Friday time frame but I am not complaining in the least what day it came through.
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They caught us all smiling and looking at the camera!!!
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