The Graduate, the Gadget Girls, and the Groovy Grown-ups - Page 35 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I'll bet Maddie made a perfect Boo! Except for the weird delay with the train, it sounds like a perfect re-entry into real life. Looking forward to your wrap up.
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.
6 people, 10 days, 11 nights . . . you really don’t want me recapping that , so I will just leave you with . . .
A few of our favorite things . . .
Jill:
1) Wilderness Lodge: Something about this place has just wormed its way into my heart. I’ve never really had a true favorite Disney resort since I love different things about so many of them, but I have to say that this is the one that I keep coming back to. Overlooking that majestic lobby while enjoying a glass of wine in the evenings made for some of my favorite moments of the trip.
2) La Hacienda: I love Mexican food and was excited to try this new restaurant . . .still . . . I was surprised at how much I truly enjoyed this experience. It probably didn’t hurt that we had a killer table with a dead-on view of Illuminations , but the food was the true star of the evening. The mixed seafood grill that Thom and I shared was absolutely delicious and the avocado margarita wasn’t bad either!
3) Streetmosphere interaction at DHS: Knowing how much Thom loves these guys, it just tickled me to death that he was selected for a starring role in one of their productions. He just ate it up. Then we were able to watch our girls strut their stuff right afterwards. I’ve never enjoyed being the center of attention , but watching the ones you love shine in the spotlight was a memory that I’ll keep forever.
4) Family time: We do spend a lot of time together as a family at home, but being together at Disney just puts “family time” on a whole new level. My mind isn’t constantly ticking off an imaginary “to do” list and the day-to-day routines have been left behind. There is nothing that we have to do at Disney except enjoy each other. Surprisingly, we ended up with no plans on our last night at Disney. While Karen and Zack headed to DTD, we played it by ear and ended up at The Boardwalk watching a magician and enjoying an impromptu dinner at Kouzzina. As we talked and laughed over dinner, I couldn’t help but notice how truly happy my little family was at just being together.
5) Spending the trip with two of our favorite people: Karen planned our trip to perfection, but she was never a task master. Plain and simple, she is pure fun. I simply adore being in her presence and the fact that she loves my daughters unconditionally and that she puts up with my husband is just icing on the cake. And Zack, although now a high school graduate, still delights in making my daughters giggle. He also loves to roll his eyes at Thom. They made a great trip even better.
Maddie:
1) Spending time with my family on rides
2) Zack’s cake
3) Spending time with my whole family and friends and loving them and caring about them and going on a trip that I love
4) Hiding from the rain in the train station
5) Staying at the old hotel
Mary Devall:
1) Space Mountain, EE, BTMRR, RNRC
2) CoP
3) Staying club level at WL
4) Zack’s cake
5) Hearing Perry the Platypus
Thom:
1) La Hacienda
2) Caramel Shop
3) New Star Tours
4) Boma
5) Zack’s cake
I think it’s important to mention that when I polled my family on their favorite things, they had not heard the other’s responses. I loved how Zack’s cake was the only constant!
In all honesty, we love it all. I can even look back now and realize that some of the more stressful moments . . . Maddie asserting her rights not to ride EE and our family struggling to enjoy an afternoon at MK despite the downpours . . . were some of the most meaningful. In the end, everything turned out for the best and we learned a lot along the way. We are famous for bringing up the educational aspects of Disney when we take the girls out of school for a day or two , but these little life lessons that we learn each trip are the best souvenirs that we bring home.
I think Zack's cake was one of my favorite parts, too! The Disney pastry chefs are pretty incredible. I am soooo SAD that your TR is over! But you had such a wonderful time, and I am so glad. I can't wait to read the next one!
__________________
Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
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.
Sad that is over but can't wait for the next one...When are you going again?
Great favorite thoughts. I was thinking about staying at WL next year but was unsure on the buses/boats. Does the WL share with FW?
5) Spending the trip with two of our favorite people: Karen planned our trip to perfection, but she was never a task master. Plain and simple, she is pure fun. I simply adore being in her presence and the fact that she loves my daughters unconditionally and that she puts up with my husband is just icing on the cake. And Zack, although now a high school graduate, still delights in making my daughters giggle. He also loves to roll his eyes at Thom. They made a great trip even better.
I feel the same way about those two... and your four! And getting to come along -- if even only virtually -- was a balm to my wounded heart for not being there in person.
Thanks so much for sharing it.
If only you'd sent me a smackerel of Zack's cake!!
I love reading your wrap-ups, what a great trip, I loved reading about it all - from Zack's special cake, to the girls special moments...and I love all of your favorites of the trip, what is even more special is what a beautiful family you have, and the wonderful times you all share together. Well Done Jill
Wonderful final thoughts Jill Love how Zack's cake rated in each one Whenever I looked back on my family trips, I too also loved the family time more than anything else. My DH traveled so much of the time that my DD's were growing up, that whenever we took our family Disney trips, I felt like it was such a special time that our family was together and in the most magical place one could ask for. Once again, thank you for taking the time to write such an entertaining trip report for all your loyal readers. Hope there is an impromptu trip coming up over one of the girls break so we can read more about your adorable family!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
, so I will just leave you with . . . 
I’ve never really had a true favorite Disney resort since I love different things about so many of them, but I have to say that this is the one that I keep coming back to. Overlooking that majestic lobby while enjoying a glass of wine 
in the evenings made for some of my favorite moments of the trip.
, but the food was the true star of the evening. The mixed seafood grill that Thom and I shared was absolutely delicious 
and the avocado margarita wasn’t bad either! 
Then we were able to watch our girls strut their stuff right afterwards. I’ve never enjoyed being the center of attention 
, but watching the ones you love shine in the spotlight was a memory that I’ll keep forever. 
The Disney pastry chefs are pretty incredible. 
But you had such a wonderful time, and I am so glad. I can't wait to read the next one! 
Our 3 princesses LOVE the RED SOX!!!!
Thanks so much for taking us along for the ride! 
Linear Mode
