Finally...got my parents to take a vacation...POR 9/20-9/29 - UPDATED 10/6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Finally...got my parents to take a vacation...POR 9/20-9/29 - UPDATED 10/6
So, my parents haven't been to WDW since 1994. I finally talked them into taking a vacation to Disney with us. We all went to DisneyLand in 2005 and did NOT like it...hmmm...Could it have been that it was GOOD FRIDAY?? It was soooo crowded that we stayed for 4 hours and left-we didn't do anything!!!
So here is the cast...
Diana-31, me(D-Ana--Puerto Rican father wanted to make my life difficult by having everyone call me DI-Ana). I run a daycare from home. Went to DL in 2005 and have gone to WDW at least 7 times!
Corey-33, DH is a police officer. DL in 2005 and was sooo nervous when we went to WDW in 2006(his first trip) that he would regret it. Now, he hates to sit here and wait for our vacation!!
Kaelan-5, DD has just started kindergarten! She has been to DL and WDW once.
Brenna-3, DD went to DL in my tummy and has been to WDW once. She can't wait to go again. She thinks she will be riding the BIG rollercoasters with her sister and I.
Marsha-52, DM has been to DL once and WDW at least 5 times. She bailed on us last time so I am SHOCKED she is still coming!!
Ernie-58, DStepF has been to DL once and WDW 2 times. He can't wait to see Epcot again!!
Here are some pictures of us...
DH and I at Fenway...I am a BIG...HUGE Red Sox Fan!!
Brenna & Kaelan on her first day of school!
My DM-Marsha hates to get her picture taken. Hopefully we will get some nice ones.
Brenna & Ernie with Corey and his mom at Kaelan's dance recital.
So, that is everyone.
There is a lot to celebrate this trip. The trip is mainly a Birthday present to the girls. We are also celebrating my mom's Birthday-she turns 53 the day after we come back. It is also her and Ernie's 19th Wedding Anniversary. Corey and I are also celebrating our 6th Wedding Anniversary.
OMG!! I the Red Sox!! You might like to check out this thread Red Sox Nation 2008. There are a bunch of us here!! Great start on your TR! Can't wait to hear more
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World Its 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
__________________
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
So, I haven't been able to find time to write a PTR but Thursday night our pump in the well died. So, I thought what a perfect time to start. It was an expensive fix and to top it off my DH's truck has been acting a little funny and we took it in to get looked at and wouldn't you know it needs a new fuel pump...geesh...$3100 spent in one day and we haven't even been to Disney yet! Of course the guy had said that I could sell him my Disney tickets, but I told him NO THANKS!!! He then said well it is gonna cost you $5400 then. I guess he knows how valuable Disney is!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World Its 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.
We leave on Saturday September 20th from Manchester, NH flying SW. We are staying at my DM's house because they are on the way to the airport and we won't have to get up super early!! We leave at 7:50am and we will arrive in Orlando at 10:55am. Where we will take the DME to our home at POR!
We love this resort, we stayed here in 2006 and fell in love. We were going to try POP to save a little money but since we have free dining and we didn't know how we would like POP, we decided to stay at POR. We are going to try to make it over and see the resort. I also want to try and do a tour of the DVC's...keep trying to talk DH in to it.
When we arrive we will check in...hopefully they will have our room ready like last time. Then we will be off to MK for a little while, we have a BBB ressie before dinner at 1900 Park Fare. We have never eaten here and from all the reviews I know we will enjoy it! We will be celebrating the girls' Birthday here!
On Sunday(AK) we have an ADR at Tusker House(another first) for breakfast. We will spend the day at Animal Kingdom. This is also our(DH & I's anniversary).
On Monday(Epcot) we have ADR's at Akershus for Breakfast this meal! we are also going to WCC for dinner...I am bummed that they do not do the ketchup thing at dinner. This is a first also and my DStepF love ketchup on everything so, I was looking forward to him asking for it I am sure we will have a blast. I think we are going to celebrate all of our(DM&DSF,DH&mine) anniversaries here.
On Tuesday(MK) we have a dinner ADR at Chef Mickey's. We have never eaten dinner here but have done breakfast a few times.
On Wednesday(MK) we have breakfast ADR at CRT, a must for our DD's. I know some people don't like to spend the money but I always wanted to eat here and we could never get in. In a way it is for me as much as for them. we also have dinner ressies at Boma's...this is a first and I am hoping to be at AKL for the nighttime animal feeding. We will see.
On Thursday(DHS) we have a dinner ressie at Sci-Fi...this is for my step father, he Sci-Fi stuff and I think the girls will really enjoy the car. I am going to have a Shake I heard so much about. It is also a first for us.
On Friday(Epcot) we have a breakfast ressie at Ohana's. This is another first for us. The girls want to eat with Stitch. We are going to try to stay for EMH tonight at Epcot.
On Saturday we have a ressie for breakfast at Chef Mickeys. We have done a couple of times. This was our original day to leave but flights were so expensive we decided to extend our trip 2 days!DH dad and wife are coming to visit us, so we are probably not heading in to any parks today. They are spending the night and will leave sometime tomorrow. We will spend the day by the pool and shopping in DtD. I also scored dinner for 8 at Raglan Road I am shocked and I just called yesterday to make the ressies. I figured I would give 4 different restaurants a try and I got it on the first one for the time I wanted!For a PARTY of *8*!!
On Sunday we will spending the day around the pool or shopping. Same as Saturday until my In-Laws leave then we will venture into the parks.
On Monday we leaveand we have a super early flight. I know we will have to get DME at about 4:30am or sooner our flight leaves at 7:20am. I hate coming home early but the flight was only $84 and I couldn't pass that up!
We normally do not do a whole lot of EMH's because we usually see everything that we want to see. With 2 small children we see everything we want to see and a few extras or go on rides a million times, like Goofy's barnstormer last time. We will take it by ear like always and with everyone saying the crowds are high we may have to do a few EMH's.
Oh my gosh! to hear about your well pump and DH's vehicle! Your mechanic sounds like a real hoot! Your plans and ADRs look YUMMO! We POR too and found it really hard to pull ourselves away from there to experience other resorts. There is something special about that resort. Can't wait to hear more