Pre Trip Report -The World and First Cruise Ever - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry to hear about Maddie & your FiL. for them both!
The kid's clubs do have open houses where the whole family can tour so you could try that out to see how she likes it.
Thanks for that reminder I do remember reading that, I will look out for it when we get on board. I know it's only for like 2 hours but it still makes me feel eeeeeeeky
Hi guys, hope you are all well! Seen as I have now finished work for the summer and considering I have been back on English ground for almost 2 months I thought it was about time I got to telling you about our amazing trip, especially as I have next years trip on the wonder booked already.
I'll ease into it slowly as I still have to figure out how to get piccies uploaded on here.
We set off on a not so drab Monday morning to manchester which only took about an hour and a half and managed to get checked in at the virgin desk by about 7am.
We milled about the duty free for a little while then headed to the v-room which is virgins private lounge. If any fellow passporters have the opportunity to use this facility I would urge you to take it. It was great. We all had a gorgeous breakfast which is made from local produce and then could relax while Maddison played in the dedicated kids area without having to be eyes on her all the time.
Staff were attentive and spoke to us on a first name basis and got the holiday onto a first class start.
Then the big Bertha (aka 747) arrived at the gate from orlando doing the inbound trip and she was huge. It was mads and Sean's first time on such a massive plane and we took lots of piccies, noted her name as Ladybird and then drew some piccies too.
We were a little delayed in boarding but not too much later it was our turn to get on Ladybird which would be our mode of transport for the next 9 hours.
I had reserved seats in the bubble just for the novelty of sitting upstairs and it was actually a really good call.
Not only do you get a great view from the windows but you get an extra little storage bin at the side near the window which meant Mads could really spread out with her numerous books, crayons and playmobil. Fab.
The flight was a great uneventful 1 and despite having a bag full of tricks with her, Mads was more than entertained with her own little TV, which had disney channel, FROZEN and games all built in.
Landed ahead of schedule into Orlando despite being late going which was a bonus as the only negative thing I have to say about the trip is customs on the way in.
We must have been within the first group of thirty off the plane and made our way into the empty arrivals hall. We waited almost an hour for 1 of the 4 desk attendants to get us checked through. Out of so many desks I did wonder why only 4 were staffed. They seemed to have installed self serve machines too into Orlando international which were not operating the whole time we stood and waited. An hour after a 9 hour trip is bad enough but we were at the front of the queue, shortly after our flight of 300 plus landed so did another virgin 747 and a Thomson Dreamliner. I felt so sorry for those guys, I bet they were waiting hours!!
Anyway, after being let into the wonderful USA we collected our luggage made our way onto the monorail and met our driver who took us to the hotel.
My sister flew out a few days before and met us at the lobby looking tanned and 'disneyed ' already.
I had prerequested a room close to the hotels facilities which was met efficiently by the lovely check in desk lady, her name escapes me, and after only a short wait we were off to get settled and time for a refreshing dip in the pool.
We were staying at the Rosen Inn at pointe orlando and it's location is fantastic if you are staying off site. We were only a bus ride away from Disney and seaworld and universal which was literally on our doorstep.
After a long day of travelling it was time to freshen up and grab some tea which was a quick Pizza Hut located next door to the hotel. It may have been my vacation senses kicking in but it was the best pepperoni pizza I had had in ages, accompanied by of course a bud light. When in Rome.........
Anyway, that was the start of the journey and the start of my post trip report. Next I will fill you in on a relaxing day at seaworld, reacquainting ourselves with JAke and Elwood and the most magical 13 hours I have ever had!!
Wow, that's an insane wait after being one of the first off the plane - usually if you're in the first 30 or so, you're through pretty quickly. Glad you finally made it and could start enjoying your vacation!
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Pixies for your DD and your DH and his Dad! 
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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