Our Family Needed a Break from Reality PTR - September 20-26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
Our Family Needed a Break from Reality PTR - September 20-26
After becoming addicted to other peoples PTRs and TRs, I thought I would take a stab at it myself. So here it goes.....
The cast....
Me - Tanya - 35(but will be 36 before the trip) - ER nurse - this will be my 6th visit to the world and the 3rd since 2005.
DH - Ron - 36 (celebrates 37th BDay at Disney) - Draftsman - His first visit to the happiest place on earth was as a baby and his Dad got a kiss from Snow White. And he's secretly wishing for the same.
DS - Trey - 10 - A very smart kid and just a little shy - This will be his 3rd visit.
DD - Madelyn - 3 - Our little princess - We call her Monkeybutt because she is a little monkey - always teasing everybody and trying to get a laugh - and she is in love with all things girly and prin
Next up : How this trip came about-
In the meantime, I've got to figure out how to make these pictures smaller....
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 forgot to add in the previous post that this will be DD's first trip to WDW.
Now on to how this trip came to be. I guess I'll start at the beginning. After our last visit in 2008, we had talked about going back to Disney this year. We had not taken Madelyn on our last visit and thought 3 would be a good age for her first visit. Well, we started a major home renovation/addition project last December. Because of that added expense (and going a little overbudget), we decided the trip could wait for another year. I was sad and disappointed, but I didn't want to put too much of a financial strain on our family.
Then tragedy struck our family. On May 1st, my mom was killed in a car accident. A man driving a large construction company truck, ran thru a stop sign. It appears that she never saw it coming and was killed instantly. This was devastating for our family. I am an only child and was very close to both of my parents but especially my mom. We lived approximately 2 miles apart and had a super close relationship. She was truly the best mother, grandmother, wife, and friend I've ever known. She was my best friend, and our lives were turned upside down. Our lives were so inter-mingled that I felt like a lost a partner of sorts.
A few weeks after the accident, it hit me. We have to go to Disney. Our family needs to get away from it all. We need to escape reality and go to the "happiest place on earth". So I waited to see if Free Dining was going to be offered. And wouldn't you know it, I got my wish. We were going to Disney with Free Dining.
Since DS is now in 5th grade, I didn't want him to miss too many days of school. I looked at his calender and saw a long weekend in Sept. So we booked for Sept 22-26. He would only miss 1 and 1/2 days of school. Not too bad. We would only have 5days/4nights at WDW, but we would make it work. Crowds have been low in the past when we have gone in late September....which allows for much more touring in much less time.
So that's how it all started....
Next up - Our plans start to take shape, but will I get any of my ADRs this late in the game.
So planning began, and it had to be quick so we could get some ADRs. We reserved POFQ with park hopper tickets. Our plan "was" to drive down after my husband got off work on 9/21 and stay offsite for our first night. It's approximately a 7 hour drive for us. We plan to get to Orlando around midnight or later. So, I looked at touringplans.com, got the projected crowd levels for the parks, and made our plans. Here they are....
9/22 - Princess Day Leave our offsite hotel early and check in at POFQ Head to the MK - Akershus Princess Dinner @ 5:20 Catch Illuminations
9/23 - AK Day Kona Cafe @ 5pm Fantasmic @ 8pm - the only night of our trip
9/24 - DHS Day The Wave @ 5 pm MSEP or Spectromagic and Wishes @ 8pm ????? - EMH @ Epcot - could allow for more MK time later
9/25 - Epcot Day Teppan Edo @ 8 pm
9/26 - Departure Day 2 Parks and a few rides of choice before we hit the road
I didn't get Le Cellier or O'hana dinner, but I'm happy with our plans. My husband is a huge beef eater, so I let him help me approve the menus. We had to make sure there were good steaks on each menu.
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'm so sorry to hear about your mom That's the main reason behind our trip this year too, we need to get away from all the bad stuff and recuperate in the happiest place.
We'll be there the same time you will.
Hope you guys have a wonderful trip! Can't wait to read more plans.
We made a trip to Disney after the sudden passing of my mother one year and it helped my children (& us) cope with her loss. I too felt like I had lost one of my partners. I totally understand how you feel.
Your plans look great. I hope you have a magical time.
In early August, my DH and I decided that using a little creativity with his remaining vacation time and a clinical achievement bonus I would be receiving, we could afford to leave one day earlier. And what was one more day out of school going to hurt my DS10. (It's so early in the year. He can make anything up at this point.) When I called WDW to add an extra day, there were no free dining days left for any of the moderate resorts on the day we needed. I thought I could get a room only and use an extra day from my MYW package. The CM I spoke with said we could only use our package on the day we checked in to our main resort. Well, I let it go, but it didn't make any sense to me. So I called back the next day to make sure. I was told the same thing again. It still didn't seem right to me. If I was paying for 6 days of park tickets, why would it matter if I used them before or after my official check in date. So, I posted here for advise and was told it was possible to get our tickets one day earlier, but it could end up being quite the hassle. I didn't want to take the chance, so we decided to go back to the drawing board.
We had our hearts set on the extra day, so I started looking into going to Sea World or Universal.
Sea World currently has two specials they are promoting. One is the $5 kid's ticket. The other is "Buy-one-Get-One-Free" adult tickets. We ended up using the BOGO offer because it ended up being $10 cheaper.
I am so excited about SW. My DS has never been to SW. He is really into science and animals. I think he will love both the sea life exhibits/shows and the thrill rides. We'll have to see if we can get him on the Manta after he actually sees it, but as of today, he can't wait to ride it.
With tickets in place and plans made, we needed a hotel for our first 2 nights. I started searching the web for an offsite hotel. Does anyone realize just how many hotels there are outside of Disney? There's LBV area, I-drive Sea World, I-drive Universal, Kissimmee, Disney Maingate,etc. There were just absolutely too many hotels to choose from, so I decided to let Priceline choose for me. I would just have to live with what I got. I only bid in the LBV area and didn't go less than 3 stars. We got Holiday Inn Sunspree LBV for $36/night. I'll let you know all about it when we get back.
So our plans were made, and everything was PIF. All that was left was.......
Congrats on a the extra time! We've never been to Sea World, but Stefanie went with my DSis and her family when my DBiL and DNiece worked there and she truly loved it.
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.
Tanya, I am so sorry for your loss and think that you have done your Mom proud by being such a caring wife and mother. Your plans sound fantastic and I can't wait to read more.
Sharon
I'm so sorry to hear about your mom That's the main reason behind our trip this year too, we need to get away from all the bad stuff and recuperate in the happiest place.
We'll be there the same time you will.
Hope you guys have a wonderful trip! Can't wait to read more plans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I am so sorry about your mom. and Your plans and dining look great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney4us
We made a trip to Disney after the sudden passing of my mother one year and it helped my children (& us) cope with her loss. I too felt like I had lost one of my partners. I totally understand how you feel.
Your plans look great. I hope you have a magical time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkwrm
Tanya, I am so sorry for your loss and think that you have done your Mom proud by being such a caring wife and mother. Your plans sound fantastic and I can't wait to read more.
Sharon
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinkyt177
wow what a tragic story, Let the magic heal you, I can't wait to read more!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all your kind words.
Planning this trip has been such a great distraction for me. These boards have been a great distraction also. Or maybe this could be considered an addiction. The actual trip has given me something to look forward to. I can't wait for the 6 days away from reality. I feel like we all need it.
Last edited by auntlatoya; 09-06-2010 at 07:12 PM..
Thanks to everyone for all the pixies and kind words. I appreciate all of your thoughts.
As the title of this post suggests, we kept the trip a secret for quite awhile. To help you understand the whole story, I will start with a little background information. Our last trip was in 2008 when Trey was 8. I planned the entire trip and kept it underwraps until the night before we were to leave. We went over to my parent's house for Sunday dinner. After dinner, I gave him a letter from Mickey Mouse. It told him we were going to Disney World, and he didn't have to take his little sister. He was in shock and didn't say anything for awhile. After it sank in, he said "You'll never be able to do that to me again."
Well, me being just a little bit determined made me want to "do that" to him again.
Fast Forward 2 years to the present. We have been telling the kids for about 6 months that we could go to WDW when Madelyn decided she would use the potty ALL the time. We mentioned it at least once a week...."Madelyn you can see the princess castle when you start using the potty." I would hear Trey saying, "Madelyn pleeeeaaaaasssseeeee start using the potty. I'm ready to go to Disney." It would work for maybe a day, but she refused to use the potty ALL the time. Trey noticed me looking at my PP and searching the internet for WDW stuff, but had no idea I had already made our reservations.
About 2 weeks ago, I put on the WDW planning video and got the family together in the family room. We were watching it, and Trey was begging Madelyn to use the potty. After a few minutes, I said "Guess where we will be this time next month?" Trey asked, "Where?" with a very suspicious look on his face. I just smiled and he said, "NO....REALLY????? IN DISNEY WORLD?" I said yes. He got sooooo excited and so did Madelyn. We decided to give them some time to plan there adventure and get excited about it. So I didn't really pull another complete surprise off, but I'm sure I could've if I had tried.
Madelyn still is not potty trained. She pottys when she wants to. I have stopped pushing it until after the trip. I think a 7 hour road trip and a Disney vacation will be a lot easier in pullups. Does this make me a bad Mommy? But I am open to any potty training tips for after the trip.....
Last edited by auntlatoya; 09-07-2010 at 09:57 PM..
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
That's the main reason behind our trip this year too, we need to get away from all the bad stuff and recuperate in the happiest place.
Your plans and dining look great! 
disney4us
We've never been to Sea World, but Stefanie went with my DSis and her family when my DBiL and DNiece worked there and she truly loved it.
Cassie
Great plans! 
Linear Mode
