Tonichelle's 11 hour whirlwind adventure - *updated 3/14* - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I will post a report here in a few... just starting off with the photos... which are better than any report I can offer at the moment... major writer's block lol
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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.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
ah yes. My best friend and I have known each other 8 years when she moved to Kenai our freshman year of high school. We were best friends all through that time and then beyond. When we graduated she was accepted to teh Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR. I stayed back in the great state of AK and it's been tough on us because we can't just jump in the car and head out on some adventure.
so each year one of us travels to see the other. if we can afford it. I was able to swing a 10 day trip with her in August. We decided our road trip would take us to GrassValley, CA where my grampy and most of my mom's side of the family lives. Well when Erin -my best friend- heard CA she immediately thought DisneyLand.
My aunt -who I live with- said that it was impossible and that it takes something like 12+ hours to get there. It deflated us for a moment but then I was talking with my cousin who told me that it was an easy 9 hours if you go the speed limit (my best friend does not know what a speed limit is) and we figured what the heck.
Because this was a trip for us to visit, really, my CA family we couldn't just drive there and hang out for a few days, but we did want to spend a full day in the park. We had planned to drive down teh night before stay at a hotel (she works for the Marriott chain and so she gets cheap-o rates) get up early the next morning, spend 12 hours in the park and then as soon as possible drive back to GrassValley (which would have us back there, we figured, by 2 or 3am)
my dad found out about that plan WHILE WE WERE IN CA and freaked and called some random cousin of his that lived in LA and behind our back got us a room for free at their house lol so we called the hotel back and cancelled the room.
ok fast forward past the travel down there and get to the morning of our DL day... it would have been fine, but the directions we got from DisneyLand did not work, apparently the map system they use did not recognise some street name changes, so it was impossible for us to find it (we're navigationally challenged anyway). We stopped at an Anaheim Marriot, and asked the front desk and the girl said that Disney was at least an hour away. I knew that was bogus, but my best friend took the directions as gospel and we ended up in Santa Ana before I convinced her we were going the wrong way.
we turned around and finally found the way thanks to a nice man at a gas station.
We got that photo on Erin's camera, and she won't let me have a copy on my computer cuz she's mean lol and because she's afraid I'd crop her out (I'll admit that's what I planned to do for my myspace page *whistles innocently*)
We went on Splash Mountain -twice- the second time we were up front (it's a good thing we have a sense of humor because the guy in charge was all 'you want the heavy people up front for a bigger splash' and then he put my best friend and I up front. We're not stupid, we are heavyset, but it was still at little rude, but we had the last laugh later lol) but we did get majorly soaked. To the point where I hated walking because my clothes were riding up my booty. But it didn't matter cuz we went onto the Matterhorn (I LOVE that ride). It was Erin's first time on that (when she was little her brother told her some horror story of a guy's head getting ripped off by the Yeti and she refused to go on lol) and she loved it. We have it all on tape -even the part where I dropped the camera into the bottom of the sled on a rather hard bump lol.
We experienced the Tiki Room -my first time at DL- which I have to say is more fun than the one at WDW. And we even waved to Walt when we left after the fireworks. I admit I cried when it was over... it was just so much fun... I hate leaving. If they'd let me live there I would!
so yeah that's my really random report. I'm awful at reports, so hopefully you understood some of that garbled post.
I had a CM embarrass me at Mulholland Madness once because of weight, and I was not so good-natured about it. Great TR! It sounds like you and your BF had a blast! We would love to see some more pics, if you feel like posting them (hint, hint).
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.