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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi everyone! As I sit here at home on our first snow day from school, I am in such a mood to return to WDW. ( I know we don't have it nearly as bad as other parts of the country and my kids are having fun sledding today.) So, DH and I think we have finalized dates and ADRs. What to do now? I know! I'll write a PTR to keep the fun rolling.
Some of you might recall that I started a trip report last year and never finished it. Sorry! I just lost the steam to keep going, but I really want to keep up with this trip.
Introductions: Me-Lisa (49 at time of trip), DH - Scott (still 49 at time of trip), DS (13), Dd (11)
Where: AKLV Jambo House Savannah Studio
When: July 31 - August 9
Why: our annual family vacation
We plan our vacations for early to mid August to avoid the larger summer crowds and to have a couple of free weeks before school starts. The heat and the humidity really doesn't slow us down. I do prefer going in the fall and spring, but school schedules - ya' know how it is!
Two summers ago, we spent one day at Universal. Harry Potter was beckoning our kids. We had a great time and they have been asking to return. We skipped last year and now with the Diagon Alley completed, we will spend one day at Universal and Islands of Adventure to experience all that is Harry Potter. It will be one long amazing day! If anyone has done this with the new additions, please chime in. I would love to know your thoughts.
Next: Will we ever get these trip dates finalized?
What a great way to pass the time, Lisa!! Sounds like a great start to your plans! We were very anti-Disney in the summer types before we took our grandson last July! Now it seems as though we are doing it again this year!
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Great start! Not sure if I mentioned before, but we are a "Lisa & Scott" also
Haha! I know we've mentioned it in the past. My sister and her husband have the same names as a couple from my church. My friends get confused as to which couple I am referring.
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So, we have a good idea of when to go on vacation. We look at school dates and AP expirations. This year we had to plan it a little earlier than normal to get the most out of our soon to expire APs.
After last summer's stay at AKLV (our DVC home resort), we decided this year would be nice to try something else. We love WLV and have never stayed at BLT. Now, I don't care for split stays. I much prefer to stay unpacked and make myself "at home" for the duration. Since we have AKLV points, we did make reservations at the 11 month window. At 7 months, we were able to get half BLT and half WLV. DH really wants to try BLT. I would also like to try it, but if we could get a 1 bedroom. We only have enough points for a studio. Dates set. Rooms set.
I made our ADRs with no problem. This will be our second long vacation using the TIW. We just got back from a quick 3 day weekend and used it then, also.
Dining choices are: Tokyo Dining- new; Rainforest Cafe-repeat; Biergarten-repeat; Trail's End for breakfast-repeat. Counter service is a mixture of must do's and grab whatever looks appealing whenever you are hungry. Most breakfasts will be in the room.
Now, all we have to do is wait until our window to make FP+ opens and everything will be done!
That's what I thought! Dh's group at work has a couple of multi-day conferences each year. The summer conference is usually in a pretty nice place and spouses are invited. We have great meals, explore the area, shop, and hang out at a beach or a pool while the guys are in meetings. Then the whole group spends the evenings at nice dinners and taking tours.
If you guessed there was a conflict with our dates - you guessed correctly. One afternoon, DH was texting me about dates and I was sending back information. We looked at calendars and available accommodations. In a span of about 20 minutes, we had pushed our dates forward by about 4 days and made changes to our resort stay. We were able to keep our dates in line with the AP expiration and after much discussion, decided to go back to AKLV for the entire length of stay. The split stay didn't work with the new dates. We will be staying at WL over Christmas and realized that BLT studios are just too small for our family. We tried for BWV without success. We love AKLV, so it will still be great!
Due to the new accommodations, we revisited our ADR choices and made several changes and additions. Our current ADRs include: ESPN Club-repeat, La Hacienda-repeat after several years ( Parrillada-Del Mar is sooo good! ), Trail's End-repeat, Sanaa-NEW!, Yak & Yeti-NEW!, Boma -repeat (breakfast)
Great plans! Love the ADR's! I'm interested in Univ./IOA for the new HP attractions. Can you do both parks in one day? We will travel in Aug too and some of my kids are big HP fans!
Great plans! Love the ADR's! I'm interested in Univ./IOA for the new HP attractions. Can you do both parks in one day? We will travel in Aug too and some of my kids are big HP fans!
Universal has a 1 day park to park pass. From what I understand, you can travel between Diagon Alley and Hogsmead on the Hogwarts Express. If your kids are fans, then they will have a great time!
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Sounds like a great start to your plans! We were very anti-Disney in the summer types before we took our grandson last July! Now it seems as though we are doing it again this year!
Parlor Panther in 'stalking mode'
AKL and we are planning on staying there in December! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!
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