I am not sure that you want to read this Pre-Trip Report - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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 am not sure that you want to read this Pre-Trip Report
Hi Everyone!
I am very new to writing trip reports. So, forgive me if I stumble.
"We" are planning a trip to WDW for December of 2011. I say "we", because even getting to the planning part has been complicated.
First, the cast of characters:
Myself: Angela, 43 yo (yikes!) stay at home mom to a darling little girl. This is my first trip to the world since I was 8. I remember that trip clearly, even remembering Peter Pan, Space Mountain (it was new then), and It's a Small World (my favorite). Since then, I have been to Europe, Canada, the Southwest and Hawaii. I am looking forward to re-discovering the Disney magic.
Isabella: My daughter who will be 4 for the trip. What can I say about my daughter? She is adorable, active and loves new experiences. She also has autism. That darn diagnosis has ruled my life and about everyone else who will embark on this trip. We have all been thrown into a life of running to appointments for speech therapists, occupational therapists, music therapist, behavioral interventions and biomedical specialists. Isabella has been wonderful through all this. In one year of intensive therapies, her expressive language has gone from that of an 8 month old to that of a 2 year 2 month old. She has had blood drawn from her numerous times and she has not even flinched. She just underwent corrective eye surgery. We are keeping our fingers crossed that it worked.
Nick: My husband who is in his late 50's. He has never officially been to Disneyworld. He had visited his aunt once in Winter Park, and strolled down Main Street when it you could pay per ride. He is a little worried that Isabella might not be ready for this trip. He would not go to Disneyworld unless he had had this little girl. I told him that it will be wonderful to watch the magic in Isabella's eyes at such a tender age. Also, with Isabella's ASD, it is a good idea to get her used to flying at a young age. As for her being ready, she is 40 inches tall now (she will be able to go on Soarin-Yeah!), and she has gotten much better about following directions.
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
Gabriella--My Mother 65. She missed her calling and should have become an occupational therapist. She is absolutely wonderful with my daughter. Isabella is her only grandchild, and she pour all of her love into her. She lives two hours away from me, but you would never know that. She comes every other weekend to spend time with Isabella, take her to therapy appointments and give me a break. She is also concerned about my well-being since I have battled fibromyalgia for quite some time.
When she told me that it was her dream to see little Isabella at Disneyworld, my heart melted. I knew that this would be my chance to pay her back for all of the wonderful help and support that she had given me.
Frank--My Dad 71. He definitely does not want to go. He has a tear and missing tissue in his knee (meniscus). Walking and standing cause him a lot of pain. He also seems more tired with age. My mother convinced him to go as it might be the last very big family trip that he would take. We are going to rent him an ECV. I haven't even begun planning for that. I am hoping that he will enjoy himself.
Howard--My Uncle 72. He is closer to Isabella than my Dad. He is quite reluctant to go to Disney because he still thinks of it as an amusement park. His last trip there was in the 70's to Magic Kingdom. I am hoping that he will experience some Disney magic for himself.
Lodging Plans: So with this many people, we are going to need at least 2 rooms. We could cut costs by staying off-property. But, when I was 3, my parents took me for a week at the world and stayed at the Contemporary. And, they certainly did not have as much money back then as my husband and I do now.
So then I heard about DVC. I heard that it could be more economical to rent points from a DVC owner than by booking a room directly through Disney. So, off to disboards I go to troll for DVC who posted that they were renting points. I wanted to stay at Bay Lake Tower (the timeshare at the Contemporary) before Christmas. Also, I wanted to be as close to Magic Kingdom as possible. We are doing this trip for Isabella, and MK would seem to have the most appeal for her.
With a bit of guidebook reading, I figured that we would need a week to cover the four parks and maybe Seaworld. So, I figured that I would need to rent about 300 points for a two bedroom at Bay Lake Tower. I responded to posts where DVC owners had at least 300 points that they were willing to rent. I made sure to check before the seven month mark (BLT owners could book 11 months out, other owners could book BLT 7 months out). A DVC owner responded to my private message, and he conference called DVC to check for availability. At first, BLT was not available for November December. Several conference calls later, a BLT 2 bedroom lake view was available the week before Christmas. I jumped at the chance to book this. This reservation cost about $2,800, but that includes tax. (I know. I know. There is no tax when you rent points from a DVC owner.) I knew that this was a good deal, but it still hurt to write the check out for the full amount.
Also, when you book through point rental at the DVC, if you want the dining plan, you have to book and pay for it at the time of the reservation. I did Deluxe Dining Plan for Myself, Isabella, Nick, and Gabriella.
Howard and Dad did not "decide" (I would really say coaxed) to go until after I initially booked BLT. And, they wanted the Dining Plan, too. And, they would be there for only the first three nights of the reservation. So, I split the reservation and added them to the Dining Plan.
Now, for anyone who decides to split their reservation--a word of caution. Do not do it until after you have made your ADR's. I could only make ADR's for the first half of the split. The second half of the split I had to make ADR's at the 180 day mark for each successive day. I hope that that is the only mess with a split reservation that we will encounter.
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Great start! And welcome to the boards! I know there are many people on PP with kids who have an ASD, or other special need. So you should be able to get lots of answers to specific questions.
Happy planning! We are scheduled to arrive Dec. 21 this year.
Great start! Looks like you have quite a cast of characters and some great plans so far. I'm looking forward to hearing more about everything. And yes, there are quite a few parents here that have kids with all kinds of special needs - so you are in good company.
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