Budget SE Asia trip, Summer 2016 Updated real-time - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Thanks for joining, TDK, and thanks for the pixies for smooth sailing. Should be a wild and fun adventure.
Cheryl, the visas aren't a lot of work, and as long as you haven't campaigned against their govt or have other crimes in your past, they are a given...pretty much. But I hated mailing the passports! I'm much more comfortable walking up to a window with passport in hand.
We'll be handing our passports over for 24 hrs in Hong Kong. I talked to DH about getting in to the hotel. He changed his story and said no, we will wait till after we check in at the hotel before we go to the embassy.
Cheryl, the visas aren't a lot of work, and as long as you haven't campaigned against their govt or have other crimes in your past, they are a given...pretty much. But I hated mailing the passports! I'm much more comfortable walking up to a window with passport in hand.
Oh my goodness, me too! I freak out any time we have to send our passports away - usually it's only when we need to renew them.
I had mixed reports on the Silver AP for DLHK. One said that Ds's birthday weekend was an AP weekend, the other said NO. I went over to MiceChat and got clarification, and the answer is NO, no weekends with the current Silver AP that is available now. DH doesn't want to spend much money, DS doesn't want to spend all day on his BD (sunday) in the parks...and I want an AP, dang it! It's my one chance to buy an AP!!!
Here's the breakdown. I am considering all options that are under $350:
Family 1 day = $190 - No way!!!! I want more than 1 day, dang it!
Family 2 day = $260 - 2 days might be enough for me, but DH doesn't want to do 2 full days in the parks.
DH 2 days, DS and I AP = $334 Yay for APs, but too much for DH
DH 1 day, DS and I 2 days = $234 The best combo of time in the park and cheapness, but only having 2 days is gonna bug me. Does allow DS to visit the park on his birthday, but it will be crowded due to it being Sunday. Also, DS now says he doesn't want to spend the WHOLE day in the parks, so it would be a waste of a ticket.
DH 1 day, DS and I APs = $308 My favorite option. Yes, it means we have black-out days on Saturday and Sunday, but it also means we have the freedom to do partial day touring both in June and August.
DH 0 days, DS and I 2 days = $164 Nah, not that into this option. If DH isn't going at all, I would feel silly spending 2 full days in the parks.
DH 0 days, DS and I APs = $238 I like this option because it allows us to visit for parts of days both on arrival and when leaving in August.
After examining all the options, I'm fairly certain I want APs for DS and I. DH doesn't mind missing out on that. He's very happy to do his own thing most of the time and he definitely doesn't want to spend $ on an AP for himself.
So, we are looking at $164 vs $308 vs $334. In other words, DH would spend $44 to go for one day or $70 to go for 2 days in one week. Or $88 to go for one day in June and one day in August.
I'll leave it up to him. I think I'm decided on APs for DS and I. Bummer about his birthday. DS does get in with his AP on his birthday, but I don't.
Maybe I'll ask DLHK if they allow parents in on kid's birthdays with APs. Doubt it, though.
deciding on the Hong Kong Disneyland ticket options. I'd definitely want at least two days in the park, knowing how much they've added since our 2008 visit, when one day was just about enough....
Hope all goes well with the park ticket options. Might want to look into the discount ticket options available online! Not sure if they're available for the parks outside of the USA. I used one for my Fall trip and got a great deal. In general the deals are just ok, but I lucked out and just happened to be what I wanted and the deal was for the ticket type I wanted and was best deal overall! Matter of luck and doing your homework!
__________________
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!
Check my ticker, y'all!!! We leave a week from tomorrow for SF. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!
I'm getting more excited about ASIA now, and less excited about DLHK. Which is good. I've decided that I'm going to decide about tickets when I get there. (Add that to the list of things that are NOT being planned in advance!)
Now that it's so close, and work is drawing to a close, and things are falling into place at home...well, YAY!!! I'm going to Asia! For 9 weeks! Yay!
Not much else to report, since this trip is totally unplanned. I don't have my wardrobe figured out, I don't know if we're going to the
OK, DS's birthday, we do have a couple of things planned. It's on Sunday, and we like going to church in other countries, so we're doing that, followed by a trip to the aviary at Hong Kong Park.
Coming up fast now and I'm sure it will be such a great adventure!
__________________
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!
Should be an unbelievable trip! That is quite odd with what you have to do with your clothing! Is their any kind of noticeable stench with this process?
__________________
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!
Should be an unbelievable trip! That is quite odd with what you have to do with your clothing! Is their any kind of noticeable stench with this process?
Why yes, as a matter of fact. The stuff stinks to high heaven! DH takes it out to an open field since we live in a dense area. Once it's dry it's not too bad, though. As DH says when any of us complain, "the mosquitos don't like it either".
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.