In Search Of... (A Trip Report 8/31 thru 9/8/2013) Updated 10/08/14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I loved reading about your family mosty because I"m a nosey counselor LOL That is so sweet and I'm so glad these girls have you! You guys are just going to have a blast!
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.
Thank you for sharing your backstory, Kenny. There are lots of ways to grow a family if you keep your heart open as you have done! Those girls are going to have the time of their lives!
Laurie, I have always said that, more than anything else, I wanted to be a Grandfather. I think God made my dream come true because, while my kids may "technically" be "step" children, my grandchildren are my full blooded Grandkids.
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Originally Posted by amandal
Aw yay! I love hearing more about your family!!
More coming in the next update... I get to talk about YOU!!!
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Originally Posted by chezp
I loved learning all about your family Kenny. I am so thrilled that you'll get to see your granddaughter's first Disney trip through their eyes - what a magical experience that's going to be.
Cheryl, I've said it before, there is nothing more satisfying than to see Disney Magic through a kid's eyes, no matter how old the kid is. That is shown even more in Cam's (Cam22) TR with her Dad.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Kenny! Thanks for sharing your story with us!
It was necessary to show you where all these Grandchildren of mine came from.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Very sweet and touching back story, Kenny! for sharing it with us!
It's good for me, too. It helps to remember fun times and those we shared them with.
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Originally Posted by num1DVCfan
I love hearing about your family, Kenny. I think it's sweet that you're making memories with your grandkids.
Jenny, that's what Grandkids are all about!
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Originally Posted by scdisneyfan
I loved reading about your family mosty because I"m a nosey counselor LOL That is so sweet and I'm so glad these girls have you! You guys are just going to have a blast!
I don't think you are nosey... but, we are going to have fun! That's the first thing I'm going to tell those kids, "Get in the car, sit down, shut up, and have fun! No crying or fighting or getting homesick!... We are only having fun from now till we get back!!!"
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Originally Posted by Dlandmom2
Great start and introduction! I'm really looking forward to following along!
Well, sit back and relax and pour yourself a bit of your favorite adult beverage, I am a little slow with the updates sometimes, but I hope I can keep it interesting.
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Originally Posted by Russi01
signing in to join along! Thanks for sharing your story. Can't wait to follow along.
I'm glad you're here! I hope to have an update ready in a day or two.
A bit of my Passporter history. As I have said, in 2005 my DW showed me how we could afford to take our Granddaughters, Janelle and Jhaela to WDW. Well, that was in March of 2005 and we got on the phone and made all the arrangements and reservations with Disney for Labor Day week in September. I started looking in bookstores for anything I could find on WDW. Sometime in July or August I was going through a bookstore in Boston's Logan Airport, I think it was, when I found a copy of Passporter. I snatched it right up! I joined PP online community on August 10th.
Jhaela and Janelle, World Showcase, Epcot 2005
Janelle and Jhaela with Cinderella 2005
Brenda, Janelle, and me 2005
Jhaela, Brenda, and me 2005
I think I made 2 posts that year before our trip, and then was off the boards till 2007, when we started planning our Disney cruise.
Somewhere in 2007 we decided we could do a Disney cruise in October of the next year, 2008. I ordered the newest Passporter Disney Cruise Guide and got back on the boards to do as much research as I could about cruising and cruising Disney.
Brenda at the Sailaway Party, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Kenny at the Sailaway Party, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Kenny and Brenda at Key West, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Brenda and Kenny in the Atrium, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
With our table mates, Keith & Marilyn, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Brenda and I both celebrated our birthdays on this cruise, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Kenny & Brenda all dressed up for Formal Night, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Kenny & Brenda at Palo for dinner, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Brenda swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Kenny swimming with the dolphins in Cozumel, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Cruising can be sooo relaxing..., Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
A Passporter stowaway, Disney Magic, Western Caribbean, Oct 2008
Marnie (Colexis Mom) was writing a TR at the time and I joined in. Amanda (Amandal) was also reading along on Marnie's TR. On almost every TR I read after that, Amanda was a participant and we became “on-line”, Passporter friends. I even followed her TR of her pregnancy with her Daughter, Hailey. I know it's silly but, I almost feel like Hailey's long lost uncle. This “on-line” stuff really gets in your blood and you get to feeling like these “friends” that you make are almost like Family... you know what I mean. I've read about the PP meets and they all seem to go off like family reunions. That probably has a lot to do with the Disney influence, I don't know, but I have now personally met 3 Passporters and I consider each of them to be some of my closest friends. I have not personally met Amanda, but we have talked on the phone and she definitely is one of my closest friends.
...but, I digress...
Fast forward to about a year and a half ago. Amanda studied for, and became a Travel Planner with “It's All About The Mouse” travel agency, which deals exclusively with Disney vacation planning. With her personal experiences and training, I am sure she can make any Disney vacation as Magical as it can be. (Notice how I snuck that commercial in there without even trying? I'm sooo talented! lol) Although we weren't planning any trips she could help us with, I tried to give her as much moral support as I could.
Then, last Fall we received the “Pin Code” for up to 35% off on a WDW vacation which, among other times, included dates through the month of September. We were able to spend a couple of days last year during the F&W Festival and really enjoyed it. So we started to consider another Disney vacation for the Fall of this year(2013). We wanted to go back to AKL, we so enjoyed it there, and it was one of the resorts included in the special offer! We also were considering PO Riverside, where we stayed in 2005, and the new AOA resort. It looked like we could get a family suite at AOA for about the same price as a regular room at AKL. Decisions, decisions!!! Brenda was also thinking of inviting Melanie's daughters to go with us, if Mick and Mel were OK with them missing a week of school. Well they said the girls are good students and were excited that the girls might get to go on this possible “once in a lifetime” trip with Grandma and Grandpa! So, we weren't sure just what to plan for, but we were really wanting to use that pin code! As you know, we ended up deciding to take the girls with us. We also decided to look into Labor Day week again so the girls won't miss school. (We ended up deciding not to leave Florida till Sunday, so the girls will end up missing 1 or 2 days of school so they can re-adjust back into “real life”!)
Jordan and Megan
I have learned a lesson over the years since our first trek to the Mouse House in 2005. I was new to Passporter, then. Brenda and I made all the arrangements directly to Disney, on-line or on the phone. Since then we have always done the same when planning a Disney trip. In 2005, while exploring the PP boards, I kept reading about “Free Dining”. It looked like we could have had free dining, but that didn't seem possible. Well, I found out that it was possible and it was offered during the time we were there. Woulda, coulda, shoulda!
This time, I suggested we try a Disney exclusive TA so we would be sure to get the best deal available. So, we got in touch with Amanda. Finally, it looked like we could help her in her new business venture, and make Magical Memories for us, to!
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.
I think a lot of us have similar histories with PassPorter. We came for information and stayed for the friendships and a daily dose of Disney. I remember very well Marnie's cruise report at that time, and I remember yours as well! I love the photo of Jhaela and Janelle at World Showcase, and can't wait to see the ones of Jordan and Megan from this trip.
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