First Ever Disneyland Trip Updated 10/13 - Page 43 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 so hear you Cam. I was in the midst of responding to people on the pre-trip report for our New England trip when I found out. I was distraught at the news and I just couldn't bring myself to happily post. I just posted details of what had happened last night to explain and had to step off the boards, as I couldn't bear to be in my happy place with such awful news.
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I'm glad you are feeling better. Sounds like you had a very nice weekend. I was shocked and saddened to hear the news about Bill. Like you, I never had the privilege to meet him in person, but he helped me with tech issues while posting my first TR. I'll never forget his kindness. He will be missed.
Oh no! I am so sad to hear about Bill! While I did not know him personally, he was always a welcoming presence here on the boards and I always enjoyed his photos and posts. He will definitely be missed
I was so saddened and shocked to hear about Bill. Like many others, he answered a number of technical questions for me and he seemed like a genuinely nice person. [emoji22]
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I so hear you Cam. I was in the midst of responding to people on the pre-trip report for our New England trip when I found out. I was distraught at the news and I just couldn't bring myself to happily post. I just posted details of what had happened last night to explain and had to step off the boards, as I couldn't bear to be in my happy place with such awful news.
I put off my PTR until toward the end of the evening, but my heart and brain never in the right place.
I'm glad you are feeling better. Sounds like you had a very nice weekend. I was shocked and saddened to hear the news about Bill. Like you, I never had the privilege to meet him in person, but he helped me with tech issues while posting my first TR. I'll never forget his kindness. He will be missed.
I have a feeling that there are a lot of us who got tech help from Bill.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonK0527
Oh no! I am so sad to hear about Bill! While I did not know him personally, he was always a welcoming presence here on the boards and I always enjoyed his photos and posts. He will definitely be missed
A lot of us will remember his kindness and his photos.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
I was so saddened and shocked to hear about Bill. Like many others, he answered a number of technical questions for me and he seemed like a genuinely nice person. [emoji22]
Genuinely nice is a perfect description for Bill.
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Our days lately have been quite full, partly because we have begun working on getting a new key/fob for Luke’s Volvo. Some of you probably remember we lost it his key about two months ago, and unfortunately, though we have looked every logical and illogical, it has never shown up. About three weeks ago we went to Evansville to order a new one. On Monday, the key part arrived, which was supposed to allow Luke to shift to neutral and close the sun roof. It actually only allowed him to shift it to neutral. The sun roof would remain open. He contacted a tow company first and then set up an appointment in Evansville. The towing company needed to take the car yesterday and the plan was for them to pick it up in the afternoon. Early yesterday morning, Luke and I headed to the greenbelt for our walk. About 2.5 miles into the 4 miles, Luke’s phone rang. The tow company was ready. Luke told them we’d need another 30 minutes to get back to the car and then home. I’m thinking more like 45 minutes. In the end it took us about 35 minutes as we kicked it in to high speed.
Once the car was loaded up and headed out. We spent about 45 minutes sweeping out the garage, vacuuming the Edge, and cleaning the windshield and back window on the Edge. Not on my list of things to do today, but sometimes that’s just how it happens. Finally, I was off to work on my actual to do list. I cleaned the bathrooms while Luke vacuumed our back screened porch. I have add a few more fall decorations and even got photos, but these are not ready yet as I just didn’t feel like working on them last night. Several loads of laundry were done and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were baked.
Today we got up early and headed to Evansville. We arrived around 10:00, and were told it would be a while. So we went to the waiting area where we sat for the next hour and a half. Eventually, the service secretary let us know that after much confusion, it was discovered that though the right fob had been ordered, the wrong one had arrived. They placed an emergency order, and it is being overnighted. They will call tomorrow when the car and key/fob are truly ready. We needed to get back home now as I still had my volunteer job at Care Net at 1:00. We didn’t get around to our walk until I got back home, and at 86 degrees, it was a bit hot. Thank goodness the humidity was low.
As far as Disney, I forgot to mention that when we got home Sunday evening, I took all our travel toiletries to the scrapbook room rather than put them back in the closet. Since then we have both been through our bags to see if we needed anything. Luke needs another tube of toothpaste, but I have loads of travel size that both our dentists give us each time we visit. I needed a travel size Clear Care for cleaning my contacts, so I picked up one up at Target on Monday. I’ve really got to start work on my packing list and then on the actual packing.
Glad to ear the UTI has cleared up. The owner of the girls Dance Studio gets kidney stones often & her doctor told her to drink a ton of water to help ward them (& UTIs off).
Sounds like Dad had a nice birthday!
I am having an emotional week myself. Yesterday was Brianna's 11th (& Joe's 40th) which was happy, but I am already getting into a funk because Robert's birthday is coming. I too need to be VERY distracted that day. Even 7 years later my heart aches. I can barely type about his upcoming 8th birthday without the tears welling up.
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i know the key fob situation must be frustrating!! I have lost mine as well and I'm reluctant to get a new one because it's so expensive!!! I've been using my spare regular key until I decide to break down and get a new one
My goodness, what a hassle with the key fob! Are you and Luke sharing your car in the mean time? Imagine what a pain that would be if you were both still working!
I'm glad your UTI is clearing up - that's got to make you feel better.
Your post on Bill is very moving. As with every other PP here, I am also stunned. It was such a tragedy. Senseless and sad. I never met him but enjoyed reading his posts. Your tribute is very sweet.
We had a key fob issue once. We lost it while at Disney! But then found it again - exactly 1 year later, while we were at Disney! It apparently was in my backpack the whole time!
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We needed to get back home now as I still had my volunteer job at Care Net at 1:00. We didn’t get around to our walk until I got back home, and at 86 degrees, it was a bit hot. Thank goodness the humidity was low. 
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