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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
My 4 year old daughter and I are taking a "Just Girls" trip to WDW October 23-28 this year! I just couldn't pass up the great room rate back at Tax Return Time, much to my husband's dismay. Hubby and my 2.5 year old son are staying home to "bond" and fish, watch sports, etc. Whatever it is you do alone with a 2.5 year old when your wife is away. Anyway, I digress.
We are staying at the All Star Movies Resort. I figure this is a good choice for a first trip. Once we stay at a better resort, it won't be easy to go back. I got everything all planned and booked our ADR coincidentally on my daughter's birthday, 180 days out. I also collected a bunch of great info on dining with Food Allergies.
For her birthday waaaay back in April, we bought her Minnie Ears, Autograph Book and Pen and Princess Luggage to ANNOUNCE the trip. I am afraid to say that I think she was hoping to just leave then and was a little upset that we hadanother 6 months of waiting.
No worries, I am trying again when she arrives to find that Tinkerbell has left her a gift basket full of goodies, including a Pal Mickey, and hopefully, a Happy First Trip cake.
So, here we are... I've been collecting things to do on the plane, buying travel sized everything, and reading the boards.
We are loosely planning on the following for our Tour of the World:
10/23: Just a travel day, we arrive at MCO at 5pm. If my resident Diva is doing okay, we'll try for Downtown Disney, or we'll stay by the pool.
10/24: We're planning to start at Animal Kingdom this morning. She really wants to see Festival of the Lion King so that'll probably be first, then the safari. Hopefully, I can manage Fastpass.
After an early afternoon nap, we are going to head over to Disney MGM. We have reservations for the Hollywood and Vine Fantasmic Dinner.
10/25: Heading over to EPCOT today for our ADR at Akershus with the Princesses. I am hoping for lots of magic here. We are firmly living in the land of Disney Princesses at our house, so I think that meeting the Ladies will be amazing.
Again, planning on the afternoon nap (all those other trip reports and guide books do come in handy.) then we are off for our reservation at the BBB at Magic Kingdom. Tonight we have tickets for MNSSHP. I can't wait to see her all dolled up! She is looking forward to this as well. We'll probably catch the early fireworks and head back to our room.
10/26: Depending on how late we are out, and how awake we are, I would like to get to the MK for Little Ones Travel time. I have read so many magical things about it, and am hoping to catch a lot of characters there. We have reservations for Lunch with Cinderella then off for another nap.
Later, we'll return to EPCOT to visit the World Showcase. I don't have high expectations, but Maddie is into history and culture, so I could be pleasantly surprised.
10/27: This morning we have reservations at Chef Mickey's then it's up to Maddie where we go. I figure this will give her a chance to take the lead on the park we go to. If she can't choose, this will probably become a "best of" day.
Tonight we have Crystal Palace Reservations, then we'll stay at MK for Wishes.
10/28: Today we sadly depart for home early in the morning. I'm sure we'll be pretty tired, but we'll have great stories, and pictures to share.
I am really trying to keep away from scheduling because anything can happen with a Preschooler, mine is no exception. Not scheduling is really hard for me so this has been a challenge.
I've ben in contact with the AMAZING Brenda Bennett at Food Services about our Food Allergies and have talked to two chefs already. I'll start checking in again in the next couple of weeks on all of those plans.
I am still awaiting our DME info, but expect it soon.
If anyone has any suggestions on things not to be missed, planning, confirming reservations, etc. PLEASE feel free. I know this trip won't be "perfect" but I certainly want it to be as magical as possible!
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.
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 hope that you and your dd have a magical time at the world
__________________
Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
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.
Okay... 31 days folks! We received our DME vouchers at the end of last week and thought that was exciting. Today, I came home to the rest of ourvouchers and luggage tags in the mail! YEH! We're almot there. Not sure what I'll do when I get to the Single Digits!
We have made one minor change to our plans... I canceled the ADR for the Fantasmic Dinner at Hollywood and Vine in Favor of a ADR at Donald's Breakfastosaurus. I think Maddie will like the character interaction better, not to mention, her first day in the parks, she may not make it much past 7:30 even with a nap.
I really can't wait to get there now. Just thinking about what to bring. Here in New England it still feels a lot like Summer instead of the beginning of Fall, so the shorts can't be gently placed near the Princess Suitcase quite yet.