Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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01-15-2006, 02:11 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Midsummer Magic Updated 2/5- IT\'s COMPLETE!!
I was going through some photo cd's today and came upon photos of our weekend at Disney in July. I was pretty busy back in June and July, taking summer session courses, work, and 4 kids at home so it's no wonder I forgot to even start one!
A few notes before I get started- for some reason this was not a good trip for photos. The first reason being it was so oppressively hot that I barely had energy to take pictures. The second reason is that my digital camera just wasn't working as well as it had in the past- so I became pretty frustrated with it and at times, gave up. I still will have some in the report but just not as many as I usually do.
And now, for your reading pleasure.. a pre trip installment... how did this little adventure come about? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img]
Rewind back to the beginning of July when Kevan tells me he has two vacation days floating that are in a use em or lose em category. That combined with a job promotion and a nice quarterly bonus got the wheels turning. And my birthday was looming around the corner.. even more reason to doing something mouse-ical, um, I mean magical. The kids were happy to have Nana all to themselves- which meant a steady diet of pizza, coke and Little Debbies whenever they felt so inclined. So a Mom and Dad trip this shall be.
Don't know how the conversation actually got to that point but the next thing I knew, we were talking Disney resorts. I suggested a moderate to begin with but then Kevan began male like pining for his beloved tropical oasis at the Polynesian. When I called up the good folks at CRO, the garden wings were completely booked but was offered a lagoon view at a good rate- so we took it.
The next issue and always the issue here in the black hole of competitive airfares (a/k/a Arkansas) was getting to MCO for something less than the price of the national budget. Lynn actually suggested Tampa- and with fares almost $125 cheaper per person than going to Orlando- we booked that. Of course, this meant renting a car- but I was happy to do that as it would be nice to have our own wheels. We ended up choosing Avis, onsite at Tampa International.
After all the details were sorted out, it was time to just wait it out- which luckily wouldn't be long.
Then a certain Emily has to cause trouble. Mind you, this was not my Emily but Hurricane Emily. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Around my birthday (July 12th) I got very nervous- the early models were looking very ominous- as it headed towards the southern US coast. Up until the day before we left, we were on pins and needles- but in the end came out unscathed, with no direct impact to affect the trip.
The night before we left, we managed to get the house in order, stock up on movie rentals and popcorn [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/popc1.gif[/img] for the kids and get to bed at a decent hour. Yay, the weekend is coming and we are headed to the House of Mouse!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
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01-15-2006, 02:14 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Great start Maureen!! I can't wait to hear about your trip!! We must have been down there at around the same time!
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01-15-2006, 02:35 PM
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#3
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NC
Posts: 3,536
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Great start, can't wait to read more.
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01-15-2006, 03:36 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wishing I was at WDW
Posts: 2,384
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Can't wait to read more!
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01-15-2006, 04:51 PM
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#5
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Great start Mo -- don'tcha just love it when a WDW trip comes together!!
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01-15-2006, 04:52 PM
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#6
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Great start Maureen [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]
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Sponsored links
 | | 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. |
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01-15-2006, 06:14 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: new york
Posts: 9,202
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
more please
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01-15-2006, 07:01 PM
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#8
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Newtown Square, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 23,859
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Excellent start, Mo!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Can't wait to read more!!
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01-15-2006, 09:10 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Methuen,MA
Posts: 4,499
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
great start can't wait to hear more
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01-16-2006, 09:06 AM
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#10
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
After a good night’s sleep, the kids woke us up early so it afforded us a good amount of time to make sure we had everything we needed. I also made a check of the weather and turbulence predictors on a few aviation websites. I know turbulence can’t always be predicted but just having the knowledge it’s a distinct possibility makes me feel better. I absolutely hate it and on occasion while enduring it have been known to look like this: [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img] Remarkably, even after Hurricane Emily the weather looked super and little turbulence potential was being shown on the weather maps.
At about 9:00, we dropped the kids off at Nana’s. She told them that they would soon be off to the park and for lunch at McDonald’s, so they didn’t seem all that interested in us going out the door- but rather when they would be going out the door. Kisses and hugs- we are on our way.
Having checked in online yesterday, we had a quick trip to the ticket counter to check our bags. One thing I love about our airport is that it is so small, you get some pretty friendly service from the customer service agents, and even more so from the TSA agents. We headed right through security with no problems and boarded our flight to Dallas on time.
Our Dallas connection was very smooth, even with the shuttle bus we have to take from the American Eagle satellite terminal to the main terminal. Our flight for Tampa left at 1:04 and we were sitting in the gate area by 12:00. I was starving so Kevan headed to McDonald’s and grabbed us a burger.
Flight to Tampa was very uneventful and un-turbulent, which was a very good thing. I tend to not let Kevan do anything but talk to me- it’s horrible I know, but even though I fly a lot, I am indeed a nervous flyer. This time, I at least managed to allow him his usual trip through Sky Mall magazine uninterrupted. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/applause.gif[/img] He finds the weirdest stuff in that magazine.
We landed at Tampa at 4:20, just a little ahead of schedule. Tampa is certainly a different airport- especially when one is so used to deplaning at MCO. One thing I must commend Tampa for that has never happened to me at Orlando- our luggage was on the carousel as we came up to baggage claim! After collecting the bags, we headed out on the ground transportation level, across the walkway (similar to MCO) to the Avis office. We were about 3rd in line.
The Avis agent looked pretty cross but we ended up having a nice chat with her. She looks at Kevan and says “ I can upgrade you to a convertible for $12 a day- would that interest you?” I guess I sort of squeaked at that point- a convertible- yippee![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] She gave us directions to find it and off we went.
It was a pretty one, a white Chrysler Touring, which I believe is standard fare in the rental car realm for a convertible- Lynn and I ended up with the same model in 2004. Kevan hates to drive so I gladly took the wheel!!
By the time we made it on to I-275, running through downtown Tampa, it was indeed rush hour. We blared the 80’s station and basically came to a crawl. This is when the temperature revelation came full circle. It was oppressively, unbearably hot.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif[/img] Not to mention that the car had a black interior- with no air circulating as we sat on the interstate- we got pretty uncomfortable very quick- even after we turned on the A/C.
Finally, we made the turn onto Interstate 4 and got going at a good speed. It was a nice drive over at that point and we made it onto Disney proper by 6:00 ish and rolled up to the Polynesian shortly after.
Coming Up: Off and running to EPCOT
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01-16-2006, 09:17 AM
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#11
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NC
Posts: 3,536
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Nice car upgrade, but that heat is no joke!! Can't wait to read more.
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01-16-2006, 09:42 AM
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#12
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
Posts: 12,270
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
I'm glad you decided to do this one too Maureen!! Can't wait for more!
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01-16-2006, 12:14 PM
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#13
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Great update Maureen [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Wow, a convertible [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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01-16-2006, 02:52 PM
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#14
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Another great update Maureen!!! Can't wait to hear about the Polynesian!!!
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01-16-2006, 03:27 PM
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#15
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Midsummer Magic- Pre Trip 1/15/06
Woohoo! Another Maureen trip report! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] Great start so far - and I so know what you mean about your DH finding the weirdest things in the Sky Mall magazine - trust me, Mark and Kevan are just so unlike, it's scary! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img]
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Sponsored links
| | 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. |
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