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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Having been bullied by a certain person to do a trip report I hadn't thought about I decided it was a good idea and thought it might help me to finalise my planning if I started a PTR for this trip.
In June 2012 I was working away from home (home is in Paris) in Brisbane three weeks at a time. We were in the final stages of planning our July 2012 trip to WDW and I booked a July 2013 trip to Tuscany 2 weeks in a Villa with a pool.
When we went to WDW in July things took a bit of a curve ball when we bought into DVC as we got 2012 and 2013 points which needed to be used. Also we got an email from the company we rented the villa through that the particular villa we wanted was not available as the owners had decided to take it off the market for renovations.
We decided to use the DVC points late August 2013 but still go to Tuscany in July 2013 but to cut it down to a week. The company offered us a choice of 4 other Villas and we choose one just outside Arezzo, just off the main motorway which connects Pisa and Rome. We have the villa from the 13th to the 20th of July.
Plan A was to drive and take the dog and cat with us. However, DH Graeme got more and more worried about the cat who likes the outdoors getting lost and the dog being affected by the heat so we decided he would drive them over to the kennels we use in Maidstone and we would fly and hire a car.
So the plan for the moment starts on the 12th of July. Graeme and the kids will drive to Maidstone and drop the dog and cat off at the kennels. This sounds mad but it is only really a three hour drive and the kennels here are very sterile and unfriendly and 3x the price that it is worth it. The dog and cat are very well known at the Maidstone kennels. Once the animals are dropped off they will pick up some bits and bobs from the supermarket and drive home.
Saturday the 13th of July we have a late afternoon flight from Paris Orly to Pisa where we pick up a Vauxhall Zafira and drive to the villa. We probably won't get there until 9pm so we will only arrive, unpack and sleep.
Sunday will be a quiet day, we will have our own pool so we will probably spend a good bit of the day there, hopefully venturing to the nearby village for lunch which will hopefully involve an outdoor table, some wine and pasta and lot of people watching.
The plan for the week is a day in Siena, a day in Florence, a day in Pisa and a day in Rome as well as a lot of pavement cafes. pizzza, pasta, Gelato and wine.
We fly back home on Saturday the 20th and on the Monday Graeme will go get the animals while I go back to work for three weeks.
My WDW holiday is planned down to the nth detail this holiday will be more about going with the flow.
Hey, what do you mean bullied you? I only made a suggestion...
This sounds like a great holiday and I can't wait to hear all about it, especially as selfishly this will help me plan for summer 2014 when we head to that neck of the woods after our Med cruise!
Hey, what do you mean bullied you? I only made a suggestion...
This sounds like a great holiday and I can't wait to hear all about it, especially as selfishly this will help me plan for summer 2014 when we head to that neck of the woods after our Med cruise!
This sounds just wonderful! Italy is one of my favorite destinations, especially Tuscany and Lombardy, and I think it would be wonderful to stay in a villa and just explore at your leisure, with no plans to fit in all the sights.
You may have not mentioned any names, but I knew exactly who was being referenced. This trip sounds wonderful with pizza, pasta, and Roman sights.
I was thrilled to see Cheryl's question about you doing a TR, in hers, and more so when I saw you obviously took her up on the idea! Can't wait to hear all about it. After a week in Italy last summer, this is one of my dream trips - a villa in Tuscany!
Well I managed to stop myself from making a major mistake last week. I booked our flights a couple of months ago and I looked at all the local airports to get the best price. I considered Florence, Pisa, Rome and Milan before booking Pisa. Then I left it until last week to book the car hire. By this time I had it in my head we were flying to Florence and booked car hire there as well told the owner we would be arriving from a Florence flight which landed at 6pm. I only caught my mistake when I got an email from Easyjet telling me to check in. Guess I shouldn't try and plan two trips so close together.
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Scottish Hogmanay (with a stolen Picture)
Last edited by Thomhazel; 07-01-2013 at 04:03 PM..
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I hadn't thought about I decided it was a good idea and thought it might help me to finalise my planning if I started a PTR for this trip.
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Pixie Dust
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I only made a suggestion... 
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