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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yay! Yes, after months of obsessing on the hotel choice, I think I got the very best amenity-to-cost value available. I'm really happy about it, though I do have to fight the urge to see if I could have saved more...
Alaska will not allow me to switch the ticket to DH's name without a huge additional cost, and that's fair. I knew I was buying non-refundable, non-transferable. So, N will either come or not. The ticket is hers.
QUESTION: What would you do?
N has said that she might use her ticket to come down to Anaheim, since she can't get the money back anyways. She would use her time wandering DtD, taking tours of the resort hotels, and likely knitting and watching movies in the hotel.
My concern: Am I emotionally healthy enough to enjoy my park time, knowing she is stuck outside the gates?
Would you help her pay for her ticket in? (DH is against me doing this, I'm waffling.) Would you just tell her to forget paying me back for the ticket, and have her not go?
I'm pretty much resigned to accepting whatever she wants to do. I'm more and more disappointed that I booked this trip and won't get to carouse in the parks with her. It has become another family trip, and not one I would have booked on my own, with a slightly awkward cast of characters and time frame. Sigh... Fools Rush In!
I absolutely would not in any way, shape or form offer to pay for her ticket. If she decides to come, to me, she's doing it knowing she won't have a park ticket and she'll have to make the best of the time she has there. If she wants to come and pay for a park ticket, that's down to her. I honestly don't feel this is your responsibility and you shouldn't feel it is either. Sorry, getting down off my soap box now!
I agree with Cheryl and hold your ground and stick to it!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Cheryl and Dave... To clarify, my very dear but mentally unstable friend would never dream of asking me to pay for her airline ticket or park ticket, not ever.
I realize I was unclear in my question. And there are 2 tickets at stake here. The plane ticket, for which she owes 134 and will pay back eventually, and a park ticket, which she does not intend to purchase.
So, my question is, would I have more fun if I gifted her a park ticket, so I can do Disney with her? Or is that not a good idea? Dh is against it, so it's kind of a moot point. We don't spend that kind of money without buy in from eachother.
I appreciate you both for writing in and telling me what you think. Such a bummer! But at the same time, something weird was bound to happen!
This has caused me to reflect on my relationship with dear mom. Thinking back to the times we have really enjoyed eachother 1:1, it usually involves shopping, dining, or hot tubs. Ds isn't into shopping...leaving us with dining and hot tubbing as the solid go-to activities we can enjoy. Feel like an imagineer, having to totally reimagine this trip!
No, I'm still of the same opinion, especially if your DH isn't bought into it. If she decides to come, it remains her decision. She knows that if she comes, she won't have a park ticket, so she knows what she's getting into. Disney is one of those wonderful places that you can have a blast whoever you're with, even if you're on your own.
Yes, Cheryl. That's exactly what I will do. Without DH being on board, there is no way I would buy her a ticket, anyways.
Update: DMom's friend D will not be able to join us. This isn't a shock, her husband has not been well. If she came, we wouldn't need a rental car, but with her giving a definitive "no", I've reserved an economy car.
Just hope it all works out for you and doesn't cause any aggravation either!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I had didn't with my parents last night. My mom is now excited to have a trip just the 3 of us. She's thinking of booking a character meal, so I'll need to get her that info.
DS is clear that he wants to spend a morning at the Knotts "Merry" Farm Christmas market. They have this manikin in jail that talks to you through a speaker. There is a guy elsewhere that can see what you are doing and does the voice of the jailbird. It's cute, and August LOVES it. So that will be our Monday morning activity.
Plans, in brief:
Th, Nov 30:
11am - leave Eugene
1pm - arrive Portland Airport
3pm - departure
6pm - arrival, rental car
8pm - arrive at hotel (get fast food dinner on the way. In-n-Out, anyone???)
8:30 - August and Dmom hot tub, I walk to the esplanade to exchange voucher for tix, catch the vibe a bit.
10:00 - in bed!
Friday, Dec 1:
Up at 7, breakfast at hotel, hit sidewalk by 8
8:30 - in line to enter DL. Once in the gate, I'll grab a locker for the day on Main Street.
At rope drop, head to Peter Pan, other fantasy land attractions. I will run for Fantasmic FP, HM FP.
iasw holiday, then Toon Town
11: NO Square for Pirates, then train or walk to Tomorrowland
Have snack lunch and ride attractions at Tomorrowland.
At 2:30, find a spot for the 3:30 Christmas parade.
I run to Gibson Girl to get the famed peppermint candy dipped waffle cone with peppermint ice cream. Share on sidewalk.
After Parade, head back to hotel for hot tub and rest time.
Dinner will be Subway unless we change our minds.
Return to parks when we are ready. Do what we feel like.
We'll have the option of seeing a showing of Fantasmic, as well as the fireworks.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I have a new obsession. I really want a Plaza Inn Breakfast ADR for Sunday, and at this point there is NOTHING available the entire weekend. I'm totally fine with this, it just gives me the chance to have something else to check and obsess on in the mornings.
Wish me luck! I might make an ADR for Surf's Up at PPH instead, just to have something to sit on.
I'm actually really psyched for this new incarnation of the trip. My mom is likely to spoil us over the weekend, and we'll have fun fun fun!
Sorry to hear about the Plaza ADR problems and hope you can get this eventually! Keep trying!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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It has become another family trip, and not one I would have booked on my own, with a slightly awkward cast of characters and time frame. Sigh... Fools Rush In! 
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