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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, it might not be an official PTR yet, but we are planning a trip and I do have some fun things to tell...so yeah, I guess it is a PTR.
I'll start off by saying the PTR, as well as the eventual TR, is going to be pretty informal. I'm not sure I'm going to bother taking notes on the trip. I might just jot down the attractions we rode and use my pictures and Photo Pass pics to tell the story.
The reason is we (myself- Donna and DH -Jeff) are taking our granddaughter Cora with us this time! We've been planning this in our heads since she was born over 2 years ago and are so excited to finally be in the planning stages.
Our daughter Liz is going as well. We invited her husband too, but he decided he'd rather not. So, that's ok, it will be the four of us.
When? Jeff and I visited once in early December and loved it! The Christmas decorations were so beautiful and we really enjoyed all the Christmas music and costumes...everything! We decided someday we'd like to go again at Christmas.
And when we looked at dates for our 2017 trip, and decided this was the year of Cora, it was clear early December would be a perfect time. Cora will be almost 3, so we won't have to pay for park admission or meals for her. And it is less crowded and much cooler than when we normally go in September...both pluses for an almost 3 year old's first trip to Disney.
Where? We are DVC owners at BLT but have only stayed there once. Again, we decided this would be a perfect place for our trip with Cora since we will be focused on MK and it's an easy walk from BLT.
So, in early January I made our reservations for a 1 bedroom lake view villa at BLT. We decided 5 nights/6 days was a good trip length for a toddler, so we booked from Sunday, December 3 to Friday, December 8.
Tentative plans include the Fort Wilderness sleigh ride, something i've read about but never done.
We plan on taking it easy because i've seen too many little ones, exhausted to the point of tears at the end of a long day in the park. Plans are to eat breakfast in the room, go to MK most mornings, then back to the room for lunch and a rest. Then spend the afternoon in one of the other parks, dinner at a TS and back to BLT. Maybe watch fireworks from the balcony, but for the most part, make it an early night.
Sure hope introducing Cora to WDW is as magical as you dream.
Me too Dot! She is a good girl most times, but I babysit enough to have seen the temper tantrums she can throw. I hope we can avoid those...at least in public. We will have some diversionary tactics ready for any meltdowns though.
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How exciting! So fun to see it through your grandchild's eyes...a totally different experience! Your plan for mornings at MK then back for a rest...perfect!
As I had mentioned earlier, we will be eating in the room quite a bit...mostly breakfasts and lunches, with a few exceptions.
I was thinking about 1 TS meal each day, and character buffets were a good choice for a few reasons...lots of kid friendly choices, no waiting for food to arrive, and of course characters!
Cora has loved Winnie the Pooh and his friends since she was a baby. Her favorite video is "The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and she just loves all the characters! So of course we will have to eat at Crystal Palace. At this point I'm thinking breakfast.
Cora also loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse. So, I put Chef Mickey's on the list as well. I know this gets good and bad reviews, with lots of folks saying the food is just okay, but I think we'll give it a go anyway. First of all it's close. Secondly, I'd like to try the new(ish) brunch. And third, it's got Mickey!
Some others on the list are Garden Grill and Hollywood and Vine for Minnie's holiday dinner.
And lastly, since I want to see Rivers of Light, I think we'll do a dining package at Tusker House.
We've done character meals in the past, but never 5 in one trip! Hoping it won't be character overload!
I've already started a few little things to get Cora used to the idea of the characters. I made a little photo album for her with pics of grandma and grandpa with all the characters so she can see that they are as tall as we are. I also have a page from one of our old Disney calendars with Jeff, me and Tigger that I hung on the fridge. She likes to see us with her pal Tigger.
I think we'll get Tables in Wonderland again. It may not pay for itself in this trip, but with our meals for our 2018 trip added in it will be worth it.
Sounds like a great trip and I'm sure you'll give Cora a great introduction to all the Magic in WDW!
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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!
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I hope we can avoid those...at least in public. We will have some diversionary tactics ready for any meltdowns though. 
PassPorter Guide Author
we are so happy to share our love of Disney World with Cora.
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