It All Started With A Postcard **Updated 4/26** - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Dates: 14 – 21 Feb 2009
Disney Magic - 7 days Eastern Caribbean Cruise
Celebration: 20 years of Wedded Bliss
SouthernBelle - The Disney Nut, I will be the one crying before I even board , I cried every time I got mail from DCL, okay any mail from Disney makes me cry, even if it is the flyer to renew our AP’s
Grumpy – The Other Disney Nut, but he will be the calm one handing me tissues
All the planning for this MAGICal 20th Anniversary cruise started back in Oct ’07, when my cohort in planning all things Disney sent us a beautiful post card from her MAGICal ’07 fall cruise, NanaTink, you. The post card was of her beautiful, sleek, elegant, ocean going MAGICal yacht, mailed from the post office on her favorite deserted island, Castaway Cay. Where I have heard that the post office is run by a couple of chipmunks.
Not long after we received her beautiful post card, Grumpy and I were soon thinking of a MAGICal cruise for our 20th Anniversary. 20 years of wedded bliss. After all 20 years only rolls around once….
I had the foresight to hang the post card on the fridge door, so that every time he opened the fridge for a frosty adult beverage, he would see the MAGICal yacht waiting for us….. postcard.jpg
One clarification, we were married in May ’89, but Grumpy being the weatherman that he is, did not want to cruise in May, since he knows that is when the Caribbean starts warming up for ever wonderful Hurricane season. So he selected the dates of 14-21 Feb, what other dates would be more romantic for your 20th Anniversary cruise than the week of Valentines Day. I personally think he didn’t want to be cruising that time of year and have all the PP’ers on the cruise come up and blame him if we had to outrun a Hurricane or if we had bad weather and rough seas
we have cruised before, the Seine; the Canals of Amsterdam; Lake Zurich; Lake Lucerne; Cheimsee, Bavaria; Gulf of Mexico; Chesapeake Bay; Ohio River; Mississippi River; Susquehanna River. This will be our first ever Caribbean cruise, and first ever cruise on ship bigger than our own 25 ft yacht.
boat.jpg
First thing I ordered was my Passporter for DCL, then I ordered the DCL video and brochure and put out some inquiries for prices and really didn’t find anything lower than what DCL was quoting me, even my friend who is a TA, couldn’t get me a lower price and tried to sell me on a Carnival or a Princess cruise the same week… not going to book those. So I went ahead and booked 14-21 Feb ’09 7 Day Eastern Caribbean on the Magic WAHOOO Deluxe Stateroom with verandah, 6076.
Well we booked before we even had passports!!!! I downloaded the forms, filled them out and it was off to our local post office, where it was one stop shopping. They took the photos, processed the paperwork and mailed them off to the State Department Office in New Orleans. The Postal Clerk said we should have our Passports back in 4 weeks. We got them back 29 Feb, just 3 weeks to the day that we applied for them. WAHOOO
Then I just had to sit back and await the arrival of my DCL Passporter, so I can start planning my shore excursions. Wait for my 75 day window, midnight 1 Dec 2008, to book my shore excursions and book our Romance at Sea Package.
Then we received our DCL DVD and Brochure. Grumpy and I watched it one night with our evening glass of wine and dreamed of sailing away on the Magic….. I think I cried all the way thru the video…..oh geez if I am crying now just watching the DVD, look out DCL, load up on the tissues Ms. Waterworks will be boarding.
Please have the tissues ready when I arrive at Port Canaveral…… I will be crying before I even board….So if any PP’ers are cruising at the same time, just look for the redhead that is crying in the terminal…..that will be me
So then I just had to sit back, wait, make my monthly payments, search for Pirate Costumes for Grumpy and myself, plan our door decorations, start planning, packing list, learn to snorkel (I am snorkeling handicapped) read all the Cruise TR’s. View the webcams and watch the Magic sail out to sea without us.
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Sounds MAGICal Melissa. We are planning a cruise next year for our 20th Anniversary. The funny this is our dates for next year are exactly the same as your dates for this year! Hurry back with more...
Yes, I KNEW if I sent you that postcard!!!! Grumpy was toast from the moment I picked it up in Treasure Ketch! He never had a chance! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
I can't wait for you to go because I KNOW you are going to it! Hurry back with more!
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Sounds wonderful!
I will look forward to reading all about your romantic anniversary cruise! (since we are going on one in November!!)
Why didn't I know about the DCL DVD????? I am off to check that out!
Congratulations - I can't wait for you to go on your special trip so I can read all about it.
Good luck with the snorkeling - I too am snorkeling handicapped. I've only been once - off the coast of St. John. I am seriously nearsighted - so unfortunately, when I put on my mask - I had to take off my glasses so I couldn't see anything. I didn't wear flippers - and since I couldn't see - I stepped on a sea urchin - YUCK!! I still have little black spots on my toe where the spine disintegrated as I pulled them out. Those things hurt!!!!!
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before I even board , I cried every time I got mail from DCL, okay any mail from Disney makes me cry, even if it is the flyer to renew our AP’s 
you. The post card was of her beautiful, sleek, elegant, ocean going MAGICal yacht, mailed from the post office on her favorite deserted island, Castaway Cay. Where I have heard that the post office is run by a couple of chipmunks. 
20 years of wedded bliss. After all 20 years only rolls around once…. 
I personally think he didn’t want to be cruising that time of year and have all the PP’ers on the cruise come up and blame him if we had to outrun a Hurricane or if we had bad weather and rough seas 
not going to book those. So I went ahead and booked 14-21 Feb ’09 7 Day Eastern Caribbean on the Magic WAHOOO 
Please have the tissues ready when I arrive at Port Canaveral……
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