A Spring Adventure: Wilderness, Flowers, and the Force (with Cam and Luke) PTR Updated 5/22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
A Spring Adventure: Wilderness, Flowers, and the Force (with Cam and Luke) PTR Updated 5/22
My countdown calendar say 67 days until our next WDW adventure, and since my excitement is building, let’s get this pre-trip report started.
Time:As many of you know, annually the Matthews trek home the first couple of weeks in June. We’ve been doing this since June of 2003, but now that both Luke and I are retired, every month of the year is a possibility. As so many PassPorters, this winter has been harsh here in northwestern Kentucky. The school system I used to formerly work for has missed as of this week 16 days of school and will be going through the first full week of June, even though they started the first week of August. That is one very long school year, and if I were not retired, it would have infringed on our usual time for the annual trek home.
Shortly after we got back from our October trip, Luke felt it was time to begin planning for the spring/summer trip. We discussed going at our usual time, but then realized if we could go a little earlier then we’d miss a bit of the heat and humidity as well as the crowds. Initially, we backed up to the last week of May, but we weren’t too pleased with the crowd levels for that time on touringplans.com. While I checked crowd levels, Luke looked for resort availability on the DVC website. We knew since we were going earlier we wanted to be there for the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival. A first for us and one of our WDW bucket list items. With that in mind, we moved to the first of the month, and almost thought we had our dates.
But then we wondered if we would be disappointed if we weren’t there for Star Wars Weekends. Since our summer trip has coincided with SWW since 2003 (11 experiences total), there was a good chance we’d be bummed at not being there. So now we needed to check crowd levels and resort availability for a time that would include both F&GF and SWW. When all the information on SWW started coming out, we were pleased that we’d kept it as part of our adventure. Even though we weren’t ready to book flights yet, Luke wanted to check out when the best times to flight might be.
With all the criteria established (F&GF, SWW, May, lower crowd levels, and best airfare rates) plus our optimal stay set at 8 nights/9 days, we finally set our dates. Any guesses???
> > > > > >
Monday, May 12 through Tuesday, May 20
F&GF will be in its final week and bonus is that festival merchandise is usually 50% of that whole week. I’ll later share some of the items I hope to purchase.
The first SWW weekend will be at the end of our adventure.
Predicted Crowd Levels of 3 or 4 for the first three days and last two days with levels of 5 or 6 in the middle.
Our best airfare options came to flight on a Monday or Tuesday, which works for us both going and coming.
Yea...another Cam and Luke trip report!!!
I especially like the 50% off merchandise part! Never thought of that.
Also being there for F&GF and SWW...pretty AWESOME!!
Looking forward to reading more...
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I'm so glad you've started your PTR--a sure sign that the snow will be melting soon! It's great to have more flexibility with choosing dates, isn't it? Mid May is one of my favorite times of year at WDW. I know you'll love seeing Epcot in all its glory at the festival.
Yea...another Cam and Luke trip report!!!
I especially like the 50% off merchandise part! Never thought of that.
Also being there for F&GF and SWW...pretty AWESOME!!
Looking forward to reading more...
for joining in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
Okay checking in and your not 6 to 7 pages in Must be a mistake on my part. Love that you hitting SWW that is on my wish list for one day
You got in on the TR from the very beginning! WooHoo! This will be our 12th SWW and we're still discovering new things about it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by purplegal
Looking forward to following your report, we miss you by a few days.
I'm so glad you've started your PTR--a sure sign that the snow will be melting soon! It's great to have more flexibility with choosing dates, isn't it? Mid May is one of my favorite times of year at WDW. I know you'll love seeing Epcot in all its glory at the festival.
This winter has been harsh, and every time I thought I'd start this PTR, my mood took a down turn with the weather. But watching the weather this morning, the forecaster predicted highs for the next two days of 55 and 60. I got so excited for spring I had to start. We got tickled at ourselves when we realized that we planning our usual trip when we could go anytime. the flexibility.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KHarrod
Checking in to follow along! My bucket list also includes a trip during the F&GF. I'm very excited for you!
I have loved seeing others' photos of F&GF, and wanted to go every time I read those TRs. But as a teacher, we just couldn't make it. I'm so happy that we finally can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
I've only been once during the F&GF, but I would surely love to go again during that time!! Sounds like great dates to go!
We'll definitely be evaluating this time of year in case we'd like to return to the F&GF and SWW at the same time in the future.
Yay!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for the PTR to start!!! I can't wait to read all your details - they are so fun and informative! I'm glad you get to do SWW and the F&G Festival. It will be my 1st festival too - I'm just hoping they have the Peter Pan pin still available when I am there - which is when you and Luke are there too! I can't wait to see you both - a DW trip just isn't the same if we don't see you. Can't wait for your next update!!!
Yay!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for the PTR to start!!! I can't wait to read all your details - they are so fun and informative! I'm glad you get to do SWW and the F&G Festival. It will be my 1st festival too - I'm just hoping they have the Peter Pan pin still available when I am there - which is when you and Luke are there too! I can't wait to see you both - a DW trip just isn't the same if we don't see you. Can't wait for your next update!!!
I'm so glad that you two will be there when we are! I thought of you immediately when I saw the Peter Pan pin.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrDolphin
Yeah!! A new Cam and Luke report. I hope you really enjoy F&GF. I've never done SWW. Might have to look at doing that someday.
We are Star Wars fans, but I think anyone can enjoy the little extras, like Mickey as a Jedi knight and Minnie as Princess Leia. One year they had a robotic R2D2 who is one of my favorites. I was such a kid when the controller had him walk over near me.
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Kristin
for joining in. 
This will be our 12th SWW and we're still discovering new things about it. 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Linear Mode
