Trip Report "Dreams Really Can Come True" 6/1/09-6/8/09 - COMPLETED 7/19 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, everytime I think "final countown", I get that song in my head from the '80s. (I had to look it up - it's by Europe. I'm listening to it now on You Tube. Doo doo doo doooo, doo doo dit doo doooo...)
I wanted to do this at 10 days out and post pics of our countdown calender, but our big mama computer has decided to not allow the monitor to come on right now. That's okay - she'll get a work out when I bring home 1000 pics for her to upload!
So here I am in the final week before our trip: I am already a day behind in packing and cleaning. I work every Friday and Saturday night so that I get the week off. I thought when I got off work Sunday morning, that I would get things going. Instead we went out shopping for last minute things and I ended up not doing anything for the trip that day. Monday, Memorial Day, we went to the outlets in Annapolis so that DH could hit the Nike store. DH is a walking billboard for Nike/Jordan. He really should be getting a stipend from Nike from all the clothes he wears from them. I found a great sunhat from the Wilson's Leather store and hit some other outlets. I always try to gradually buy stuff for vacations, but it always ends up being this mad dash to get clothes and things before I can start packing.
Things done:
-Countdown calendar started. (Rookie mistake by me: I numbered the days in order instead of BACKWARDS like a real "countdown" )
-shopping almost done - still need a few little things
-touring plans printed out and tucked away in PassPorter
-tip envelopes and ppwork needed also tucked away in PassPorter
-luggage out of storage and cleaned
-Disney movie marathon started (watched Return to Neverland and Hercules.)
-laundry almost done (it's never ALL the way done! )
-final packing list printed out
-trading pins attached to hats
-souvenir list made, addresses and stamps in PassPorter
I have to have the house cleaned and packing done and checked twice in the next 3 days b/c I work again on Fri/Sat. When I get off of work on Sun, I'm probably going to try to sleep for a minute, then finish up packing toiletries and carryons. I'll be tired so it'll be easy to sleep that night (yeah right) so I won't be a wreck on our first day.
I'll update again before we go - if we aren't getting slammed Saturday night. I know in my heart that every pregnant woman in Prince George's County Maryland will find her way to our tiny little hospital to have her baby on the night before I have to be finally prepared for Disney, but it's all good!
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I just read your last few updates and it occurred to me that with all the electronics you're taking you'll also be taking quite a few chargers along. Make sure to take along a power strip too, so you have a place to plug in all of those chargers! We started taking one a few trips ago, and it is a life saver! Enjoy!!