PassPorter's Decade of Dreams Timeline: Milestones and Memories (1997-1998) About This Page:

[Jennifer Marx]

PassPorter's Decade of Dreams Timeline:
Milestones and Memories

The Group Trips: 1997-1998

Read the previous installment (1996-1997) here.

Spring 1997: The success of our Walt Disney World field test trip resulted in two things, neither of which involved charging ahead with the production of our guidebook. Rather, that field test trip was the catalyst of our personal relationship -- Dave and I fell in love on that trip. Disney magic strikes again! The second outcome of that trip was to inspire Dave to plan a special trip to introduce his family to the wonders of Disney. Together he and I coordinated a trip for his parents and his brother's family, staying at the Treehouses in the former Disney Institute (now Saratoga Springs). We took over two entire Treehouses and had a full week to spend in the parks. We created a customized version of our "PlayTimer" for the adults in the family, and a homemade autograph book with matching bag for Allie and her cousins.

Here are some photos from that trip (click each image to see larger versions and a description):





We did save the PlayTimer book we used on this trip, but it hasn't been seen since we moved a few years ago -- it's probably still in one of the many boxes we have yet to unpack. If we find it, we'll scan some pages of it to share with you here.

1998 - When we got home, we began talking up Walt Disney World to our team of community leaders in the AOL VirtuaLeader Academy (we called them the VLA Cadre). The family trip went well, so how about a group trip? More than 30 Cadre members jumped on the bandwagon to go along with us to Walt Disney World in January 1998 (almost exactly ten years from today!). As everyone was scattered across the country but online (sound familiar?), we planned our trip together online using our message boards. We decided to stay at the Treehouses again because they were so accommodating to large groups like us, and we secured five of them this time.

We also made a customized version of our PassPorter prototype for each VLA Cadre member. Rather than use a spiral binding as we did in our previous prototypes, we placed the pages and pockets in a padded ring binder -- in essence, a precursor to the PassPorter Deluxe! We used a ring binder because we wanted to be able to customize the book more for our group. Here are some scans from that prototype:


Note: If anyone wants to see more scans of this book, let me know and I'll put more up.

Thanks to the prototype, we have all our trip details recorded -- the pockets are still filled with receipts and maps. It's so much fun to look through ten years later! I'm amazed to see how much I customized for the group -- there are charts indicating who was joining us for which group meal, along with in-depth descriptions of each restaurant we were going to. I even put a survey at the end of the book to get everyone's feedback on the format. As I recall, we considered these two group trips to be larger field tests of the PassPorter concept.

We had a really wonderful time on both of these groups trips, and we gathered a lot of really useful data and viewpoints for our project. Later in 1998, we took a couple of additional Disney trips, just the two of us. But, unfortunately, "real life" was intruding on the dream of actually publishing a guidebook. Our work on AOL was becoming more demanding, and we were writing more computer books as well. In addition, Dave had a full-time job at WQXR in New York City that was requiring plenty of attention. (Yes, we had one of those "long distance relationships" going -- we even thought about writing a book about it!) The idea was languishing, falling slowly by the wayside.

Then something serendipitous happened in August 1998 that changed everything.

Read the next installment: The Plunge!

[mrsmac2001]

I will patiently wait for more!

[jpod523]

i wish i could go on trips to disney and call them research! those pix are great! it's amazing how much has changed in ten years (but with disney, it's amazing how much changes in 10 hours! ) can't wait to hear more about how the book we know and love came to be!

[chezp]

Oh you can't just leave it there Jennifer - that is NOT fair! I'm loving reading all of these installments, so much I never knew about the development of PassPorter. It's great!

[Dave Marx]

Originally Posted by jpod523

i wish i could go on trips to disney and call them research!

I've got to admit that research at Disney is a whole lot better than research in a dusty archive, but if you could see just how our research trips differ from the typical vacation, you'd know that it really is work. Really! (No matter how often we say this, I can imagine folks thinking, "Yeah, right!" ) No, I'm not going to moan about all the sacrifices we make for our art - if we didn't enjoy this, we wouldn't be doing it.

Still, there's a big difference between working at something you love to do, and going on vacation. Maybe that's why we're not fans of commando touring - it just seems like work to us. Our research trips are commando-style. We have a jam-packed agenda, we have to complete it within a strict time budget, and there's no choice between completing our tasks and relaxing/having fun - we're there to get the job done. In the case of this particular trip, we were also functioning as tour directors/group leaders for more than 30 people. Those of you who have done this or something similar know just what I mean.

Also, at that time we didn't know whether PassPorter would actually come to be, so "experiment" might be a better term than "research." Fortunately, it was a very successful experiment.

[debe]

I'd say it was a

very successful experiment

and a FANTASTIC one at that!!!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Dave Marx

I've got to admit that research at Disney is a whole lot better than research in a dusty archive, but if you could see just how our research trips differ from the typical vacation, you'd know that it really is work. Really! (No matter how often we say this, I can imagine folks thinking, "Yeah, right!" ) No, I'm not going to moan about all the sacrifices we make for our art - if we didn't enjoy this, we wouldn't be doing it.

Still, there's a big difference between working at something you love to do, and going on vacation. Maybe that's why we're not fans of commando touring - it just seems like work to us. Our research trips are commando-style. We have a jam-packed agenda, we have to complete it within a strict time budget, and there's no choice between completing our tasks and relaxing/having fun - we're there to get the job done. In the case of this particular trip, we were also functioning as tour directors/group leaders for more than 30 people. Those of you who have done this or something similar know just what I mean.

Also, at that time we didn't know whether PassPorter would actually come to be, so "experiment" might be a better term than "research." Fortunately, it was a very successful experiment.

I do hear you and believe you Dave! When you look at everything that changes between editions of PassPorter, you guys have to go and research all that. If there's a new restaurant that opens, you have to eat there, even if it's one that you don't fancy. Although of course spending time in Disney is magical, it's not a vacation, as you're tied to what you have to do. I can see why commando touring is no fun on your actual vacations!

[lauriep]

Originally Posted by Dave Marx

I've got to admit that research at Disney is a whole lot better than research in a dusty archive, but if you could see just how our research trips differ from the typical vacation, you'd know that it really is work. Really! (No matter how often we say this, I can imagine folks thinking, "Yeah, right!" ) No, I'm not going to moan about all the sacrifices we make for our art - if we didn't enjoy this, we wouldn't be doing it.

Still, there's a big difference between working at something you love to do, and going on vacation. Maybe that's why we're not fans of commando touring - it just seems like work to us. Our research trips are commando-style. We have a jam-packed agenda, we have to complete it within a strict time budget, and there's no choice between completing our tasks and relaxing/having fun - we're there to get the job done. In the case of this particular trip, we were also functioning as tour directors/group leaders for more than 30 people. Those of you who have done this or something similar know just what I mean.

Also, at that time we didn't know whether PassPorter would actually come to be, so "experiment" might be a better term than "research." Fortunately, it was a very successful experiment.

All the hard work you and Jennifer do is very visible between the covers of every Passporter and right here on this site! I know from experience that working for yourself simply means that you NEVER really get a day off! There's always something you should be doing.

[Wendyismyname]

Okay, I am such a sappy person and I just LOVE that you guys fell in LOVE on your first trip. That in itself is the greatest story.

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I adore the photos!

[DrDolphin]

Thank you for the update - but hurry back with more!!! I can't wait to read what happened next!

[RobDVC]

Sounds like the seed is beginning to blossom.....

[Colexis Mom]

What a great start and story