The quiet litte Trip that snowballed into two PTR - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
And yesterday another spanner in the works. Work is most likely going to send me to Brisbane from the 11th to the 15th of February. I will land back at GDC at 6am on the Friday morning and leave for Gatwick at lunchtime on the Saturday. So my jet lag will be a full 16 hours of time difference. Never mind it gives me an excuse to start packing today which I am itching to do anyway.
Your day at DLP sounds like a good way to get a Disney fix. Too bad about the work schedule. But sometimes the trips with a few snags before you leave turn out to be the best visits.
It is not too bad when done through work as i fly buisness Class Singapore Airlines and it is like flying first class. The seat on the A380 is over 1m wide and it transforms to a fully flat bed with a proper pillow and proper quilt. I usually get a great sleep on the plane which helps a lot.
Has anyone any advice for February. I am thinking of packing shorts and tee shirts for during the day with fleeces and jeans for evenings. Or should I just forget about shorts and go with only jeans? Also is it worth taking summer sandals or will we be better with just closed shoes?
Wow, that's a lot of flying packed into such a short period. February in Florida is so tough to predict. It could be warm enough for shorts during the day, but could also be very cold. I've been in February and seen icicles hanging off the palm trees. That was very rare, though. So you should be fine with what you've listed. You can always layer the fleeces over the tees if you hit a cool spell.
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 agree the February weather is really tough to predict! For several years I went the same time each year in February, and some years we were swimming, wearing shirts and tanks and sweating! Another year it was exceptionally cold, we were wearing jeans, sweatshirts and coats if we had them! I would say typical is somewhere in between... I usually take a mix of shorts, capris and jeans (knowing I could wear the jeans several times over if I really needed to!) and usually short sleeves for the day with long sleeves, a fleece, or a light jacket for the evening. So I guess my answer is to take a little bit of everything!
I am half packed. I have packed myself apart from the things I really can't pack until the last minute and Rory. Leaving DH and DS14 to fend for themselves while I am in Australia. What makes it easier is that I certainly don't need any of my summer stuff here just now and for Brisbane I'll only need work stuff so none of my Florida stuff is needed before then
That worked out well that you won't need the Florida things until you're there. It's always hard when you're waiting to pack until you've worn things for the last time.
Huge phew from my corner at the moment, my boss announced today that it is about time he got a jolly to Australia so he wants to go to the technical workshops in my place. On you go gladly says I massively relieved. In fact the interesting technical workshop is only 1 day so it seems mad to go all the way from Paris to Brisbane for 1 day.
On the planning front I have hopefully finalised ADR's. We gave up V&A's as it meant leaving Peter to babysit Rory and while he is old enough and willing I felt we should maybe just have a fun family evening instead and leave V&As until August when Gemma will be there as well as she will be an adult by then and more than capable of sorting both her brothers out if necessary. So instead we have booked Narcosses during wished for the four of us. I have also added Tony's for our final evening.
I have now booked the Hilton at Gatwick Airport and the departure lounge in the terminal. That just leaves the tunnel to cross the channel to book but I am going to wait until next credit card cycle for that as between PAP and annual dues mine is feeling a little battered at the moment.
Hubby has been suffering more and more from claustrophobia since we moved to Paris. He is a small town boy and I think the big city is getting to him (even though we actually live outside in the countryish). He is a little concerned about the flight, although he is the type to suffer in silence and isn't saying much I can tell by how quiet he is. I have now prebooked our seats on the Virgin Atlantic flight. for the first time ever we have decided the boys are big enough to sit side by side in two window seats instead of all four of us sitting in the middle four seats. I am hoping sitting in a row of two window seats with access to the aisle will help him.
So now all i have to do is wait patiently (who am i trying to kid!) for 33 days.
For the August trip our 7 month window opens on Sunday so I am going to practise with the new site in the morning (8am eastern time is 2pm here) so I know how to use the new site. Also I just realised our ADR 180 day is the day we fly out in February so technology allowing the first thing I will be doing when i get to Kidani is my ADRs.
__________________
Scottish Hogmanay (with a stolen Picture)
Last edited by Thomhazel; 01-15-2013 at 10:01 AM..