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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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’ve read a lot of trip reports on here, and I’m feeling pretty excited about our trip, so I thought I’d try a report of my own. I noticed a majority of the TR’s were from “veterans” so I thought others might find a TR from a group of first-timer’s as a different perspective. My ds said, after watching the disney planning dvd, that there are a "million" things he wants to do, plus it is the year of a million dreams, so I decided on that for the title.
The Cast:
Me - Amy - the 30-something year old mother of two and Disney first timer.
My dh - Paul - not coming but deserves a mention. He was “conveniently” asked to go with his father to Hawaii for two weeks. He is not a big crowd or hurry-up-and-wait kind of person, though he would have enjoyed watching how happy his children will be there.
Jill - my little sister - turning 25 on the day we leave and the best aunt in the world!
Logan - my ds - 7 ½ years old and excited about going on his first coaster
Jena - my dd - 6 years old and the perfect age to be a disney princess
We leave March 23 (yikes!) and return March 30th. It is mine (I am a teacher) and my children’s Spring Break. My sister is a full-time college student, it’s not technically her Spring Break, but she is coming anyway! (Sorry professors!) This trip is coming after several months of Disney World vs. Disneyland and San Diego. Finally, we decided that the children are only this age once and they are what I think is a great age to go. My dd especially is such a mini-princess and my ds is getting adventurous for the rides. The planning has been overwhelming, and if anything, I feel like I have under-planned (notice the amount of ?’s).
Our tentative itinerary:
Mar 23 - Sunday - Flying down and arriving around 1:00pm and will be using DME. We will be staying at the All-Star Movies. My son has always been such a Toy Story fan, I knew the kids would enjoy that atmosphere.
We plan to chill out at the pool for the afternoon, if I can convince my children of this. They want to hit the parks right away.
Dinner this night at Chef Mickey’s @ 6. Try for Epcot Illuminations at 9???
Saturday - MGM and maybe Epcot. Dinner at Polynesian for the Luau at 8pm
Sunday - Downtown Disney - dd and I at BBB at noon, ds and d-aunt at Disney Quest.
Grand Floridian for dinner at 1900 Park Faire 8pm
Monday - Magic Kingdom day
Tuesday - Animal Kingdom - ADR for Donald’s Breakfast at 9am; finish the day with the parade at 4
Wednesday - Back to Magic Kingdom and park hop with Epcot?
Thursday - Last full day!! Try to hit whatever we have missed so far.
Friday - Checkout day and early afternoon flight.
As you can see, I’m not too much of a planner. We did not make special dinner plans for each night, because I just cannot pin down where I think we will be or what the children will be up for, so we’ll take each day as it comes. I don’t know how much to plan in a day and how much everyone will be able to handle. I’m already nervous about this, but there is always future trips to catch what we miss this trip.
So, there you go, our trip itinerary which I’m sure will change daily. Especially after I continue to read more posts on this board. (Which, by the way, I have to thank everyone because your tips are so helpful to first-timers!) Today is Sunday, we are leaving Friday, and already suitcases and items to pack are littering the dining room and my children are bouncing off the walls. The shopping is done, all that is left is to pack. At this point, I’m glad to be flying and not driving. We live 30 minutes from the airport and tickets were pretty cheap. I cannot imagine how the kids will be in the airport - completely hyper with anxiety. And I am thinking positive thoughts that our flights will be on schedule and smooth. Every time my children see an airplane this weekend (which is very often), they have said, “We’ll be on you soon!” Thanks to my sister, who gave them that idea. After seeing them so excited about the idea of going, I cannot wait to see their faces there! The weather looks good so far with only one day of rain as of yet. But, after reading a few reports, especially mattnkatsmum’s, it seems like rain may not be the worst thing if it means the park is less crowded!
Now its time to finalize plans and finish things up before we leave. I still have four days of work, the kids have four days of school and homework to get through (yes we are all missing school Friday to get a jump start on the week!), and my poor sister has a ton of school assignments to finish before we leave. It’s almost time to go - my new mantra for the week.
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Congrats on your first trip! I think your TR looks great. I really like that you've got a rough schedule, but nothing set in stone. It always frustrates me when I see people with these complex park schedules that I think we all know are never going to work out. Every time DBF and I go, we just kind of hang-loose with everything we're doing, and it always works out in the end. Plus you never really know how you're going to feel about a ride, or a park even, until you get there. Good luck with everything!
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.
I hope that you and your family have a magical time at the world.
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Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
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My DS will be performig in Tomorrowland at the Galaxy Palace theater at 11:20 a.m.
It is our local Youth Orchestra, and the concert is only going to be 30 mins. long!
Lol so if you are in the area stop in and take a listen!
My DS will be the only musician there with a blue violin
I will get to help tune the sring instruments, as well as play some percussion. We are so excited because we will be considered cast members and see beind the scenes!!!!
My mom and DH will be in the audience
So, if you are not busy...(hehe yah right!)
you are invited to attend
Amy...Looks like a fun time! Can't wait to see your trip report! Being another first timer who is vacationing to the World in April, it will be nice to see a TR from another newbie! I know what you mean, the planning can get overwhelming...don't know how many times I've posted quick questions here, and our plans have changed quite a bit from the starting point! for a wonderful trip!
Hi Amy! I love the name of your TR! I think you are going at a great age for your children! They will absolutely be in heaven! (by the way, I know exactly how they feel about bouncing off of the walls before it is time to go ) Have a magical time...can't wait to read your TR when you get back!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
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Have a Fantastic trip!!
Your plans look great, and I hope you guys have a great time at the World 
at the Galaxy Palace theater at 11:20 a.m.
for a wonderful trip! 
) Have a magical time...can't wait to read your TR when you get back! 
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