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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 everyone it is that time again. My favorite month of the year is almost here. I love October. Football season is in full swing, it's starting to get a little cooler in New Orleans, Halloween is my favorite holiday. There are just so many things to love about October. The best part of this October, however, is our now annual trip to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival!
Originially I had booked this trip for the last week of September. Last year the Food and Wine Festival had started that week. SO . . . I had called DVC and booked the Animal Kingdom Lodge Concierge level for the last week of September Monday through Friday.
Then the dates for next year's festival came out . . . they didn't include the week I had booked. I was crushed--because at this point I knew it was IMPOSSIBLE to book the same room I had for the month of October. It was passed the 11 month mark and those concierge rooms go really fast. I was right.
However, I had new things to be excited for. Our new dates were planned around seeing some of my very favorite people!
This trip should be much more relaxed than our July trip. Just Brandon and I are traveling. If you are new around here or just don't know what we look like:
Me . . . in a silly hat
Brandon in a piratey hat!
Lunch at HBD last year!
There are going to be TONS of special guests in this report . . . I'm not sure if I have photos of all of them.
Sadly, we'll be missing my favorite Princess--she's checking out the day we fly in and out flight gets into Orlando REALLY late.
Sorry Sha! I expect to hear all about your fun adventures without us!
We will be running into some other fun folks:
And there are others many others--I just don't happen to have silly photos of them to share as well!
I just realized that all of those photos show me with the wrong color hair--so one more:
Anyone have an opinion on the color? I'm thinking about changing it again . . . it's a little bit longer right now too.
Can't wait . . . three weeks to go!
Up next . . . Club level is out . . . but is there room at the Inn?
Oh wow, what fun you're going to have - I am SO jealous that you're meeting up with all those guys. The only thing that will stop me being jealous is if any of them make it in April...
I can't wait! We arrive on the 18th too, but earlier in the day - so we plan to meet Sha for lunch around WS. Looking forward to meeting Brandon. For a picture of one of the other people you'll be seeing check out my sig pic!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Great start Heather....looks like you have some great people to visit with, and the F&WF should be a great treat (now if I could only get myself a trip at that time ). Can't wait to hear all about your room.
Well rooms for this trip have been in flux since it was planned. Origianlly this trip was scheduled for September and we would be in WDW right NOW--staying concierge at the Animal Kingdom Villas. It would have been great except for the fact that the Food and Wine Festival hasn't started yet, and we'd be missing out on seeing our friends. So things actually worked out better for us.
When I decided to change our dates I contacted some of the people in the previous post to check on their dates and decided I would "make it work." So I booked a regular room at AKV and waited patiently for the 7 month mark to arrive.
On the day the 7 month mark arrived I sat in front of my computer and called Member Services. Guess what? No studios at the Boardwalk or the Beach Club--so I looked at my available points and made a decision. I know that its a very popular time for DVC members. Is there a 1 bedroom available? Yes indeed!
I booked a pool/garden view room for Monday-Friday.
Then we had flight issues. We waited to long to buy our airfare and it was through the roof. So I agreed that we would bid on Priceline for our tickets as long as we could add on Friday night. I checked the Marriott website to make sure there was some availability in Orlando if we couldn't get a DVC room for Friday night. Then I booked our airfare. We ended up with a flight that lands really late on Monday night and leaves pretty early Saturday morning. I figured that was what was going to happen.
So with a month left before our trip I held my breath and called Member Services again. The Fairfield in at the airport was my backup. I didn't really want to leave the Disney bubble, but I had already checked for a AP rate at a value and came up empty handed. Well Member Services came through again. There are NO studios available ANYWHERE on property. Not even at OKW or SSR. That's okay. They found me a one bedroom at the Boardwalk! So we don't even have to move hotels--we do have to change rooms for our last night, but that is far better than having to figure out transportation issues with a non-Disney hotel!
Now this did have a slight effect on our other trips! We're staying AKVC in April, which eats up a lot of points and I did have to borrow points from next year for our Friday night stay. So I did change our June reservation from a Regular Studio at Kidani with a waitlist for concierge to a Value Studio waitlist (which has already come through) to save points. I wanted to make sure we wouldn't have to borrow too many points for October next year! I'm left with 59 points for next October, which is enough for 4 nights in a studio just about anywhere!
Up next! Dining and Decisions--we still have one to make with only 3 weeks to go!
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