A dream come true part deux -Pre-trip report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You must be so excited that it's so close now! I check the weather obsessively before I go...it's just part of the build-up for me.
I think you'll be happy you got the Photopass. And if for some reason you don't like the pictures or don't get enough of them, you can always get a refund. (We did that once, when 95% of the pictures were just terrible.)
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You can definitely add other cards on (as long as no one loads them on separately). I tried to explain this to my DSis, but they uploaded their card to the Photopass site and so I couldn't add it to mine.
Sounds like it is all coming together!
Thanks Cam.. good to know! I've instructed the boys to get pics at every opportunity they can.. We should get some wild shots from their cards... teenage boys left alone in the world.
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Quote:I've instructed the boys to get pics at every opportunity they can.. We should get some wild shots from their cards... teenage boys left alone in the world.
So true! The funniest ones we have of our boys, are the ones where they made faces like they were scared (really overacting and laying it on thick) going down the hill on Splash Mountain and Expedition Everest. Too funny!
It's getting so much closer now.. I booked Super Shuttle for our ride to the airport (from home) we only have one van at the present time (don't get me started on that) so we're leaving my van home for Jamie to use while we're away. Got a great coupon code for Super Shuttle & the cost came out to be only $20 more than parking at the airport so that was worth it to me.. no parkway traffic ( a nightmare at all hours of the day) , no gas $$$ . I'll let you know how I liked them when we get home. I liked how they gave you 3 pick up times to choose from.
Got my pet care all squared away.. my SIL is going to take care of my parrot for me.. that is such a load off my mind. My Aunt was always the pet sitter so it was a relief for my SIL to agree to take care of the bird for me.
I also sat down & did a estimated budget..If everything goes as planned We should spend less than $300 in expenses for this trip. We have deluxe dinning so that's paid for already..
So now I guess I should let you know what all of us look like..
first me...
Ann
Here's me in 1980, my VERY first trip to WDW.. it was a graduation present from my mom... We went with my grandmother, my Uncle & his family.
Me & my Grandmother..
and...my first Mickey Ears
My cousins & myself.
& me (& Shelby) during my latest Disney trip, 2008
Next we have DH, Jim...
Wearing Brendans band beret.. Check out Brendan creeping!
Then we've got Shelby...
Then we've got the REASON we are going to Disney World.. to watch Jamie & Brendan march in on Main Street
In this photo Jamie is the "A" & Brendan is the "N" (spelling out Titans) In WDW Jamie will be the "T" ( he is section leader) & Brendan the "A"
Here's all of us a few years ago. I LOVE main gate... to go under that sign gives me goosebumps.. I'm really in Disney world!!
so now you've got us.. there will be other people added.. we've got a couple meal scheduled ( unplanned) at the same time as our good friends Donna & Darrel & we also are going to meet up with them for drinks in Epcot one night.. Plus there will be quite a few band parents there to watch their kids so we're sure to run into them for a lot of the trip...
I can't believe that in 3 more sleeps I will be in WDW. There has been a change since I last updated.
We will now have another person at the world with us for a small part of the time. My MIL, Linda ... I looked on my computer & the only photo of her I found online was when Jamie was born (17 years ago)
With Jim & my FIL.. right after Jim told them the news that their first grandchild was born.
and & more recent one when she was part of the band alumni performance last fall
MIL finally made up her mind & she IS going to come see the boys march.. She is a tax preparer & of course, this is her busy season so she will come in on Saturday & leave Monday.. She's booked at POFQ & also took the dining plan.
I haven't called Disney dining to add her to our ADR's.. I figure since there only were 3 of originally it would be okay ( easy?) to simply walk up & add her to our table.. does that sound logical? I think I might make another post about that here on PP.
This is MIL's 4th trip to WDW.. the first was when Jim was very young (2YO), she also joined us for Brendans 2nd birthday trip to WDW.. she was a daredevil who rode any ride in the park at that time. She & her husband also joined us for Jamies 10th birthday at WDW.. http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...10-2002-a.html
We had an awesome time with them & it was a GREAT trip. MIL is a 'go along' type of person so I know we'll have a good time with her this trip ( plus it's only for 2 days)
With that said this week is going to be so hectic.. Yesterday we helped my cousin clear some of my Aunts apartment out. .How incredibly sad to look at her memories & try to decide what to keep, what to donate & what to throw away. My cousins wife was super gracious & told me to take anything I wanted as a rememberance. i'm not a 'material' type person.. I have my memories & that's good enough for me. With that said I did take her up on her offer of a couple of my Aunts appliances.. her washer, dryer, stove & fridge to be exact. my cousin was going to just leave them for the new tenant but I told him I could use them.
We are going to go over on Wednesday night to pick them up. I know a day before our trip but it will just be easier that way..
Today I put our mail on hold & am going to make all of the confirmation calls ...
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I suggest calling Disney Dining and try to make the ressie's for all four of you; if they are unable to accomodate- then you should be able to walk up no problems (keeping the ressies as is). In November when my dad joined us last minute we walked up as a party of 7, even though we were reserved as a party of 6- they had no problems accomodating us
Sounds like things are coming together for the trip and how nice of family to let you have your Aunt's appliances....
While trying to find a pic of my MIL I came across some cool WDW ones..
Our last stay at PO.. We stayed Riverside that trip
This was when they had the Captains plan for the boats, bikes etc & we took advantage of it by doing something every day of the trip..
Now this photo has a small 'story' behind it.. In this photo is Shelby, behind her is Brendan.. with Brendan is Megan.. (that's the story.. read on) & last is Jamie & his then GF Lindsey
Meg & Brendan were the only 'singles' in this photo.. all of the other kids had boy/girl friends.. they hung out together
Now we have know Megan for several years,, Shelby played on the same basketball & softball team as Megans sister & thgey always hung out together during the games.. In addition, Megan is also in the band ( she's in 11th grade with Jamie so she marched in 2008 as well)
Last fall, Brendan & Megan were great friends & she was his confidant when he was having girl troubles.. Finally they realized they got along so well they would try dating.. Their 6 month anniversary ( according to Brendan ) is today so the 2 'friends' in this photo are now boyfriend/girlfriend.. I'm sure you'll hear a lot about Megan this trip as Bren will be hanging out with her..
Me again! I just got off Port Orleans web site & after looking at the pics I got that excited feeling.. you know the one when your trip is so close at hand you can smell the dole whip?? Well that feeling just hit me... I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD..
this is one of my favorite Super Bowl Commercials ( not onluy because my Steelers were in that Super Bowl & WON!!) & that saying has been running through my head all day.. & Yes, I'm saying "I'm going to Disney World" to everyone I know... I take sick pleasure in also adding 'before you..." to Jamie & Brendan.. they just roll their eyes at me..