Sarilas' O-fficial Pre-Trip Report -1/2009 (a.k.a. Vacation, Take TWO!) - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Finally, someplace to organize my Disney thoughts!
My newly purchased bulletin board (hung over the computer, but of course):
And my brand spanking new trip folder for my loose papers - pink on the outside, aqua on the inside!
I promise you, I am NOT an organized person. It's like invasion of the body snatchers where this trip planning is concerned!
And already (since these pictures were taken about two days ago) I've filled the binder with a loose hodge-podge of PassPorter print outs and the bulletin board has been rhinestoned (somewhat!) and holds my copy of the kids' coloring calendar!
This time it is financially motivated - we decided to get two rooms (adjoining) at ASMusic rather than the family suite, because it will be nearly $200 less over the length of our stay, and that's BEFORE the AAA rates come out in August. We have the potential to save a hefty amount of moolah, and the only thing we're really losing is a fridge. (But we have a cooler that plugs into an outlet, and since we're driving it can come with!)
Another thing - the reservationist I talked to had me SO confused about my ADR's - she told me about the 180+10 day that those of us staying on property get, but what she told me was that I could CALL DINING 10 days earlier than everyone else! She had me so confused, I just decided to call Dining myself and get the skinny. I got a GREAT reservationist there who cleared it all up for me and explained that the 180+10 refers to the fact that resort guests call at the 180 day mark like everyone else, but that those staying off site have to call back for each day of their stay (if they're staying 8 days they have to call for the ADR's every day for 8 days) as opposed to our being able to make up to 10 days worth of ADR's from day 180 on. That made sense!
But here's a hot tip for you (that I for one hadn't heard!): She said that sometimes reservationists WILL make your ADR's for you BEFORE the 180 mark! According to her, if someone calls her say, 3 or 4 days before day 180, she'll try and put their ADR in for them because she realizes how quickly they fly and she doesn't want anyone to be disappointed if they call back three days later and everything's booked. She did say that not everyone will do it and that the computer doesn't always LET them do it, but it's definitely worth the try! My 180th day is July 15 and she actually told me to try calling the Friday or Saturday before (the 11th or 12th) and say, "I know that people can call on the 180th day and the reservations are already gone, and I know I'm still a couple of days out but if you could please try and book my reservations for me, I was told that sometimes the computer will allow it..."
I may have to try calling a couple of times, but I'm going to give it a go!
Great tip on the ADRs! Sounds like you made the right choice by changing from a suite to 2 separate rooms, especially if it is going to save you a great deal of money!! I just want to make sure you understand that adjoining rooms is 2 rooms next to each other. If you would like 2 rooms that connect with an internal door, you need to ask for connecting rooms. I just want to make sure you realized the difference, as that can be confusing, and I wasn't sure what you were looking for! (I know I was confused the first time I was making the request)
Dyan, I did not know that! In my mind adjoining meant connecting - I'll call them back today and clarify. What a stinker that would have been when we arrived!
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Sounds like an awesome one! Can't wait to hear more
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Pixie Dust
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
The body snatcher picked out a great binder too!! 
Margaret
Disney - 9.2012
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