Go your own way - Decade of Dreams - UPDATED 6/24 - COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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There certainly is some Disney magic happening here! Congrats on all your plans, ADRs, upgrades, etc. We who can not be there in person will be there with you all in spirit!
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Glad to see another DoD Pre-TR. So sorry Mark won't be able to come, but I can't wait to see you again! And I'm really looking forward to meeting you, Wendy! You've got some great plans! Congrats on the upgrade, enjoy it!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Oh My you gals are going to have such a blast! if only I would have been able to make the trip down to met everyone! Enjoy yourselfs! I like the piglet comment and sending Marc a picture sounds like fun!
Wow! What a great time you two (and about 100 of your closest friends) have planned! Sounds like a blast, but I must confess, I was shocked when I first started reading and saw that Mark wasn't traveling! I had to read it again. What a great guy to still suggest you go.
Have a wonderful time!
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All of the changes sound like great! Congrats on the wonderful upgrade!
It is so close now - I can't wait to meet you in person Cheryl!
And of course - I can't wait to see Wendy again!
Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Pre-trip report – part three: our final plans… and no more changes!
There were still a fair few things that I hadn’t sorted out as we approached departure date. Finally, I got around to booking an airport hotel for the night before I was flying out, to save Mark having to drive both ways around the car park known as the M25 in the morning. I managed to get a good deal at the Sofitel London Gatwick, which is attached to the north terminal. I’d be flying out from the south terminal, just a quick monorail ride away, so it was perfect and meant that we’d have the choice of restaurants at the airport. It seemed like a nice way to both say goodbye and start my vacation.
Finally, I bit the bullet and bought my Annual Pass a couple of days before the trip. I’d held off and held off in the hope that the appalling exchange rate we were suffering with would improve, but it was not to be. I just bought the one, in the hope that by the time we got round to getting Mark’s for our December trip, the exchange rate would finally be better. Fingers crossed…
With all the meets we had already arranged and the ones that were added to the schedule as time went on, we ended up with a pretty packed schedule – although hopefully not too packed! So here’s what we ended up with:
Thursday 30 April
We both fly in and stay the night at the BoardWalk.
Head into Epcot for the evening.
Have dinner at the Rose and Crown with Amy.
See IllumiNations if I’m still awake
Friday 1 May
Take a taxi over to the Contemporary and check in there
Breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table, then spend the morning in the Magic Kingdom
Soothing Legs treatment at the Grand Floridian Spa at 1pm
Dinner at Sanaa, the new restaurant at the Kidani Village section of Animal Kingdom Lodge with Sabine and DH Manuel
Explore Kidani Village and hopefully persuade the Cast Members to show me a room, if there’s one available!
Saturday 2 May
Day at the Magic Kingdom
Breakfast at the Main Street Bakery with Sue and Angie
Lunch at Crystal Palace with Dawn, Tina, Sue and Angie – well, that’s who’s on our table, there are another 20 odd PassPorters due to be dining there at around the same time!
Spend the afternoon on the PassPorter quest around the Magic Kingdom
Then dinner at Cosmic Ray’s with other PassPorters
SpectroMagic meet at 8pm with around 30 other PassPorters!
Then head back to the Contemporary to watch Wishes from our balcony
Sunday 3 May
Day at Epcot
Today’s the day of the 10th birthday party at the Living Seas salon
PassPorter quest in the afternoon
Fantasmic! dessert party – I can’t wait and hopefully this will improve my love for Fantasmic!, as this has never been a favourite of mine. :
Monday 4 May
Day at the Hollywood Studios
PassPorter quest in the morning
Lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby with Amy, Angie and Sue
Dinner at Grand Floridian Cafe with Sue, Angie and Sara
Head back to Epcot to see IllumiNations
Tuesday 5 May
Day at Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Tusker House with Sue and Angie
PassPorter quest in the afternoon
Yak Attack meet
Dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe with a whole heap of PassPorters
Wednesday 6 May
No real plans today, as it’s our last day and most people will be leaving early today I guess.
Head to Downtown Disney
See if we can enjoy Characters in Flight
Early lunch at Raglan Road
We both fly home.
So now I’m just about to leave and I’m so excited! Honestly, having the essays to do really did temper my excitement, but once they were out of the way, I really could concentrate on my upcoming vacation and enjoy the build-up. One of the best things has been seeing details of everyone who’s going, way more than I ever expected and seeing people come up with plans for meets, almost right up until the last minute. It’s been like being part of a huge family and that’s a lovely feeling.
Perhaps best of all has been seeing the photos from the Decade of Dreams cruise that Jennifer’s been posting. It’s so lovely to see so many happy, smiley faces and to know that, in a short space of time, I’ll be amongst a lot of those people.
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ANGIE
You've got some great plans! Congrats on the upgrade, enjoy it!
Sammi
ºOº ~*~ 
PassPorter Guide Author
: 
Honestly, having the essays to do really did temper my excitement, but once they were out of the way, I really could concentrate on my upcoming vacation and enjoy the build-up. One of the best things has been seeing details of everyone who’s going, way more than I ever expected and seeing people come up with plans for meets, almost right up until the last minute. It’s been like being part of a huge family and that’s a lovely feeling. 
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