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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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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Wow!!! I woke up this morning and realized that it is only 15 days until we will be back in Kissimmee and next door to our Happy Place. I have been working on the pre-trip report for some time and have just been putting it off. DW says that I am really good at doing that. Here is the first post for the PTR.
2 LONG 2 B away from our Happy Place
After visiting the park routinely once or twice a year for several years, we have not been to WDW since 2008. This is just TOO long to not have a real dose of Disney. We have been going to Disney Stores whenever we are near one. But, this is just not enough. Whenever I am working or near a computer, the computer is on one of many Disney related sites. Still NOT enough Disney. I guess you can see that I for one have been suffering from a severe case of WDW withdrawal. DW and I were at Disney in August 2008 during TS Faye and then I was back for Mousefest in December 2008. Early this year I started planning a trip for the end of this year. DW was not sure about that as we have had several health and family issues this year. After some discussion, it was decided that we would go ahead and plan the trip.
Here is the list I started when I got the idea to do something to get over the anxiety of not seeing our Happy Place.
1. Convince DW that we really need to go back to WDW.
2. Research resorts and make the reservations
3. Decide on park tickets and get them ordered
4. Decide on special events, activities, and other parks
5. Buy a waterproof camera
6. Get pennies and quarters for pressed pennies
7. Review meal choices and make ADRs
8. Buy new walking shoes and socks
9. Prepare a packing list
10. Pre-order the Photopass CD
11. Order TripTik from AAA (for the new maps)
12. Go through our pins to select the traders for this trip
13. Write a PTR
14. Research scooters and make reservations
When I started this list, I felt the excitement rising.
Item 13 is really out of position so I am going to move it up and give you some general information about the trip.
Schedule: September 16 through September 30, 2012 YEAH!!!! 2 weeks!!!
Travel: Driving from western North Carolina—Dodge Durango SUV. DW calls it her FIRETRUCK. It is very comfortable and has a roof mounted DVD player for the back two seats. The only problem is the fuel mileage. It only gets about 16 to 18 MPG on the road. This means we will use about 120 gallons on the trip. We certainly hope that the price settles down.
Players:
(1) DW, Judy (62) my wife and best friend. She is also a very patient travel companion. I know I can be a challenge on the road. Last time at WDW was 8/2008 with our grand-daughter and me.
(2) DBiL, Dan (59) my wife’s brother. The last time he was at WDW was early 90’s. WOW, is he in for a lot of surprises. Due to some health issues, he will be using an ECV.
(3) Michael (67) that would be me. The last time I was at WDW was Dec 2008 at Mousefest.
Resort: Vacation Village at Parkway
Great start! Can't wait to read more about your plans! TWO WEEKS! Wow! That is awesome! I know you will be in for a few surprises yourself with the new Fantasyland! Even though a lot hasn't come online, just seeing the new 'skyline' will be great!
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
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Thanks for all of comments. Yes, we are getting very excited about this trip. Here is the next installment as I report on the progress of the planning list.
List item 1 was less difficult that I had thought. I mentioned that we should go back to WDW this year and both DW and DBiL agreed immediately. I chose late September as the best time since my business goes crazy starting October 1 through the end of December. DW is making monthly trips to Virginia to take care of family members in declining health. DBiL had already scheduled a summer trip to Fairbanks, AK. As neither of them likes hot weather, fall became the best choice. After I told DW that September would be the best time and that it would give us time to get most of the money together, she got excited and started helping me plan.
List item 2 gave us a lot more problems. I started out planning where we would stay – ON property or OFF. The more I worked at it the more I realized that we would not be able to fit ON property into our budget. (DW had lost her job of 27 years due to a decline in building starts in our area. DW held a state plumbing contractors license and was working as an estimator for a company specializing in new home construction. With the downturn, there were no new construction plans coming in so there was no need for an estimator. She was the first one to be cut. For the past two and a half years, she has only worked for short periods of time and now not at all. She turned 62 in July and has decided to officially retire and start drawing SS. Her first check will come while we are on this trip. So budget would play a lot into our planning.) Next choice would be to use our timeshare and try to trade into DVC. Once again, we met with difficulty. It seems that most of the people who own at DVC are not putting their time into the RCI bank and when they do the time is gone immediately. I was looking for a one or two bedroom unit since all of us can be LOUD sleepers. I did see studios(too small for us) pop up more frequently but at an RCI trading power points level that was more than we had available. NOTE: If we owned a DVC, we would NOT be putting it into the bank either. I looked into resort rental rates and could not fit them into our limited budget, even at one of the All Stars. Free dining was not available when I started looking. Not sure that would have helped enough to allow us to go that way.
I checked with RCI and decided that if we could put two weeks together in September we would go then. The last two trips to WDW we had stayed off property at Vacation Village at Parkway near the intersection of I-4 and 192. This resort is only a few miles off main gate Disney on World Dr. I checked with RCI and found two things, (1) we have two deposits expiring in October and (2) I was able to get two weeks back to back in September at VV@P. Because this resort is a sister to our home resort, we get a discount on the RCI exchange fee. That means we were able to get two weeks for only $278 exchange fee. After I made the reservation, I spoke with the resort directly and now have a condo on the 8th floor with a view toward EPCOT. (We will not have to move during the two week period.) Being in this location should give us a view of Illuminations on nights we are not in the parks.
This unit is a two bedroom lockout (really two one bedroom condos with a common foyer.) Each unit has a full kitchen, a king bed, bath with shower and a separate jetted tub, living/dining room, washer/dryer, two TVs and a balcony. Each building has elevators. The resort has a recreation staff, gym, several pools and spas. There is an activity calendar with a lot of activities in case you do not want to go to the parks. The Arabian Nights dinner theater is on site. Shopping and other restaurants are within a few blocks.
List items 3 & 4: Tickets
Walt Disney World
We decided on 10 day hoppers for DW and DBiL and an AP for me. The AP is so we can get free parking and discounts on some food and in some of the shops. These benefits should allow us to more than break even with the added AP cost. Having the AP will also give me some incentive to not wait so long between visits.
MNSSHP DBiL said NO so DW and I will be going by ourselves on the 21st. With the AP, I was given the discount on both tickets. Score the first benefit.
WAT @ AK I showed DW the pictures and videos on this one and she immediately said NO. This was echoed by DBiL so I will be doing this one by myself. This trek goes rain or shine so I will have to prepare for just about anything.
IoA @ USF DW said NO to this one since she does not do roller coasters (motion problems). So DBiL and I are planning to do one day at Universal and Islands of Adventure. I can’t get this close to WWoHP and not go. We are planning on doing all of the rides in WWoHP, Jurassic Park, Hulk, and Spiderman. We will buy the express pass to help make this happen. It has been over 10 years since I have been in this park but I still have some tickets with unexpired days (1 adult and a few child.) I hope to upgrade the child passes to cover the second adult ticket and the express passes. We will see.
List item 5 Get a waterproof camera. I have seen the need for this feature in a camera on several trips to WDW and other places. I have missed so many great opportunities for pictures due to downpours, swimming pools and water parks that I have decided to be prepared this time. I did a lot of research and finally settled on the PENTAX WG-2 camera. The specs are so extreme that it is far beyond anything I could put it through (especially at WDW). Well, I did say I wanted to be prepared for anything. I got it in time for a trip to our home resort in Virginia and their waterpark. The camera works great. While searching for this camera, I started looking for a replacement for my Nikon D40 dSLR. Taking pictures inside the rides and shows at WDW has always been a challenge with the ISO and shutter speed limitations of this camera. If I can work it into the budget, I am looking at replacing the body with a new Nikon D5100. My current lenses will work on the new body. This is a desire and not a necessity so it may not happen. After all, the current camera has served me well for 5+ years.
Update: I just picked up the Nikon D5100 camera. The Best Buy 18 month no interest payment plan made the decision for me. I will be renting an 18-300 telephoto lens to use in the parks (especially on the WAT). There is a rental company in Orlando that will deliver the lens to our resort and pick it up at the end of the trip.
List item 6 Pennies and quarters for pressed pennies. I now have enough for 50. I May add more as I see new bright pennies.
List item 7 Review meal choices and make the ADRs. Here is the list as it stands right now. This list has already been changed several times.
Breakfast most days will be cereal and fruit in the room.
Monday 9/17 7:40 pm Dinner at Chef Mickey
Tuesday 9/18 8:50 am Breakfast at O’Hana (DBiL birthday)
Tuesday 9/18 3:45 pm Early Dinner at Mama Melrose (Fantasmic package)
Thursday 9/20 7:10pm Dinner at 1900 Park Faire (My birthday)
Friday 9/21 5:55 pm Dinner at Crystal Palace (DW birthday)
Saturday 9/22 7:50 pm Teppan Edo (DW and my anniversary)
Monday 9/24 6:00 pm Trail’s End
Wednesday 9/26 pm Boma
Thursday 9/27 noon T’Rex.
We have already paid for tickets for the Arabian Nights Dinner Theater. These are not date specific so all we need to do is to pick one of the free evenings and call to make the reservations. Remember, this show is on our resort property. Another two choices would be off property at Boston Lobster Feast (DW's fav) and Texas de Brazil (a Brazilian steakhouse near USF).
I just went through the list again and found that most of them are buffets. This meal schedule can play havoc on my fitness program. I joined Weight Watchers when my weight hit 200 and my pants size became a tight 38. I shot past my goal almost a year ago and have held my weight within two pounds since then. My current pants size is 34. I hope that all of the walking around will keep me in shape.
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Last edited by rhinohunter; 09-03-2012 at 08:44 AM..
Reason: Add spacing
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