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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My friend Julie and I just registered for the 2013 WDW Half Marathon! I’m giddy with excitement! We’re in the very early stages of planning the trip, so what better time to begin a PTR?
Who:Julie – She’s a runner, a wife, the mom of 2 incredible girls, a college professor, and so much more! She ran her first half marathon a few weeks ago, and liked it so much that wants to do more. Me - I’m Michele. Not to overuse the word love, but I love to run, I love Disney, and I love planning trips to WDW! I have a 12 year old son and a husband who really don’t care if they never go back to Disney World. (Blasphemy!) They don’t dislike it, they just don’t love it. I was a casual runner (only in good weather, a few miles 2 or 3 times each week, a few 5K races, no pace goals…) from my teens through my early 30’s. Then life was complicated by high risk pregnancies, babies, and small kids, and I went on a running hiatus.
Five years ago I began running again. My dream was to run one of the half marathons at Disney World. At first I didn’t think I could run more than 3 or 4 miles, but since then I’ve run 5 half marathons, and 2 full marathons. But this one is special. I can’t wait!
When: We’re still figuring out the dates, but it looks like we’ll fly from Columbus, OH on Thursday, January 10, go to the race expo on January 11, race on January 12, and fly home on January 13 or 14. I think I can use personal 3 days to make this trip happen, but I’m not sure I can take 3 consecutive days without getting special permission.
Where: This is where it gets complicated. I’ve been to WDW 3 times with my son and husband, but I’ve been the chief trip planner. This time, I have to consider Julie’s opinions, preferences, and budget. We both agree that we want to stay on property due to airport and race transportation, but that’s as far as we’ve gotten.
Why: Because it’s there. Because we can. Because I’m craving the magic!
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
I love your "why" answer. Because it's there and because you can.
Looking forward to hearing all about your details! I have a handful of Disney Half's under my belt, and 1 Full, so this year is Goofy for me. It'll be fun though! Happy planning!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Jules and 'Chele Run Half the World! Installment II
I can't believe I began this TR and forgot about it!
Good News:The trip is still on!
The Bad News: After 23 years of marriage, my husband moved out in May. Without getting terribly off topic, I'll just say that his choice was unexpected. He started training with a woman who is about 13 years younger than me and runs about 1 min. 30 seconds per mile faster than I do. The rest is history.
The BEST News: With each day that passes, I feel stronger and more centered. I had a hard time running for 2-3 months following the change of my marital status, but I still managed to log a few miles each week. Now I'm back! I can't wait to let the magic of WDW wash over me.
Can I afford this? Nothing has been finalized, so I have no idea. It won't put me in debt, but it's definitely a luxury. Since I had already paid for the race and the lodging, I decided to go for it.
Trip Updates:
1. We have lodging! I booked a studio at Boardwalk Villas - I saved a bundle by renting points from a woman I've worked with in the past. She is honest and helpful, and I have no worries about renting. It took very little convincing to get Julie to agree to BWV. Between DME, free race transportation, and the location of BWV, she was sold.
2. We have flights! I let Julie deal with this. She did a great job of watching the fares and getting a good deal. We should arrive in Orlando just before 4 on Thursday, January 10. Our departing flight takes off on Sunday, January 13, at 3:50. Both are nonstop!
3. The most fun so far has been making dining reservations!! I LOVE the new system! (I'm pretty sure I was able to make an on-line dining reservation when my family and I spent a day at DL in 2010, but never for WDW. ) I found the old, telephone reservation system to be exasperating at times. Dinner 1 /January 10: Kouzzina - Since we're staying at BWV, I thought it would be a good idea to dine close to our room on our travel day. I might try to tweak the time. Currently our ressie is for 7:05, but since our flight gets in around 4:00, and we need to stop by the race expo to get our packets, we might not make it in time. I hope a 7:30 or 7:45 time is available! Dinner 2/January 11: Les Chefs of France - This is my birthday dinner! We're spending the day at Epcot. I really wanted to get ressies at Le Cellier, but it didn't happen. We'll eat on the early side, at 6:30, since we'll have to be up super early the next morning for the race. Dinner 3/January 12: 50's Prime Time Cafe - After the race and showers, we'll head to DHS. Our dinner ressie is at 5:45. Hopefully we'll still be awake for it! Breakfast/ January 13 - Cape May Cafe - I think this is a character breakfast, something I've never done. Since we're flying out later in the day, we'll enjoy a leisurely breakfast and spend some time at DTD before departing.
Tickets - any deals on 2 day tickets? They all seem to be for multi-day tickets.
Dining plan - thoughts?
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.
Jules and 'Chele Run Half the World! Installment III
Two quick updates:
I HAD a Disney Visa card, jointly, with my estranged husband. I finally applied for a new one, and it arrived today! Once I make a purchase, they'll send me $50 in Disney Rewards Dollars. I'm headed to the store (momentarily) to make said purchase, in hopes that it's not to late to actually cash in on this deal.
Aside - I racked up $130 additional Disney Dollars on the old card before the split! Between the two cards, I'll be able to pay for most of my food on the trip.
I was nervous about the timing of our dinner on the first night. 7:05 just seemed a bit early, since our flight gets in around 4:00, and we're planning to go to the expo to get our race packets before dinner. The next available time at Kouzzina was 8:05, so I switched . I can always snack on Mickey shaped rice krispie treats if I get too hungry!
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.
Everything happens for a reason. I'm so happy for you that you're still finishing this race! Sounds like things are falling into place with your ADR and disney visa!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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Jules and 'Chele Run Half the World!
I’m giddy with excitement! We’re in the very early stages of planning the trip, so what better time to begin a PTR?
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Pixie Dust
JuliB
It'll be fun though! Happy planning!
Dinner 1 /January 10: Kouzzina - Since we're staying at BWV, I thought it would be a good idea to dine close to our room on our travel day. I might try to tweak the time. Currently our ressie is for 7:05, but since our flight gets in around 4:00, and we need to stop by the race expo to get our packets, we might not make it in time. I hope a 7:30 or 7:45 time is available!
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