The Great Big East Coast Adventure - PTR - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok so we hit a slight snafu, though it actually ended up working out to my benefit. This entire trip started because my cousin was hoping I could babysit for her in DC during their reunion. Today she let me know that they won't be able to attend the reunion. So that leaves me with two "extra" days.
I thought, and I thought, and I thought. "What to do with these extra days?" I had a few options. The most logical being to just stay with my friend in NoVA for two days. But really, what is the fun in being logical? So instead I crunched a few numbers and made a few calls.
Ultimately, I decided to tack an extra day on in Boston! I made a call to the hotel, and they added an extra day onto my stay, and actually dropped the price a little! Woo hoo! Gotta love it!
So, now I will arrive in Boston on Sunday, and depart on Wednesday morning! Two FULL days in Boston! Wahoo!!! I'm really excited!!! It will be nice to be able to take a little bit more time to see Boston, without feeling the need to cram it all into one long, hectic, exhausting day. And now I can add on maybe a couple of other little things to see there. That will be so fun!!
So, now I'll take the train down to NY on Wednesday, and stay with family from Wednesday to Sunday. Then I'll take the train down on Sunday and go straight to Chris's house in NoVA. That will, clearly, cancel out my DC plans that are currently on for Sunday. But we do plan on getting into DC once or twice, so either way I'll make it work!
Anyway, so that's a little shake-up that happened! Good thing I didn't end up buying the train tickets over the weekend! Phew!
That's great! Now you won't have to end the day's tour in Boston with both of you cranky and tired! The more I hear about that hotel the more I like it. So nice that they lowered the price, when it's already quite a bargain for that area.
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That's great! Now you won't have to end the day's tour in Boston with both of you cranky and tired! The more I hear about that hotel the more I like it. So nice that they lowered the price, when it's already quite a bargain for that area.
I am thrilled that I will have a little more time to work with. I have a pretty good idea of my touring plan now, and will PM you to get your thoughts.
The people at the hotel are SO nice! I look forward to our stay there. And yes, the price is spectacular for the area!
Well, thanks to Laurie, I think I have my Boston plans firmed up! She has been invaluable to me with planning this trip... and it will really make the trip so much easier, being armed with all of the information she has provided for me!
Here are the plans, as they stand now... keep in mind all the times are estimates, lol!
Sunday:
1230pm - Arrive in Boston, friend will pick us up and drive us to the hotel. We'll check in and then go get something to eat.
230pm - Meet up with Laurie to go to the Public Garden, ride the Swan boats and go to the Hancock Tower.
6pm - Dinner with a friend.
Monday:
10am - 1pm - Whale Watching Cruise
130pm - Lunch around Quincy Market (likely at Hard Rock, but really who knows)
230pm - Browse Quincy Market
3pm - Begin walking on the Freedom Trail. We'll be starting in the middle of the trail, and heading toward the Old North Church... hitting Faneuil Hall, Paul Revere House, Old North Church and Copp's Hill Burying Ground. We'll also stop at Mike's Pastry Shop, per Laurie's recommendation!
5pm - Walk back to Quincy Market. Take the T back to the hotel.
6pm - Dinner with a friend.
Tuesday:
10am - Take the T to Boston Common. Begin walking the Freedom Trail, seeing the Park Street Church, State House, King's Chapel, Benjamin Franklin's Statue, Old Corner Bookstore, Old South Meeting House, the site of the Boston Massacre and the Old State House... finishing up at Faneuil Hall.
1230pm - Lunch somewhere in / around Quincy Market
130pm - Take the T back to Boston Common and walk to the Esplanade on the river. Watch the boaters and rowers a bit. Maybe walk through Boston Common, seeing the Frog Pond and various sites.
330pm - Back to the hotel for a rest / packing up.
630pm - Dinner with a friend.
Wednesday:
Off to NY on our first train ride together!
*phew*
And, I found one other awesome thing about the area around my hotel... about a block and a half away is Dunkin Donuts! This is very important, lol. I LOVE Dunkin Donuts coffee... so this will be a lovely treat!
Anyway... that's the latest. I'm pretty happy with the plans. Gives me a lot of time to just meander without getting stressed. And best of all, Boston is so compact (something I didn't know) that the first half of the Freedom Trail (Monday) is only .7 of a mile, and the second half is about .8! Can't beat that with a stick!
Can you tell I'm excited? Even Meri is getting into the spirit, telling everyone about Boston. I'm so glad she loves to travel!
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You'll be able to get a Dunkin Donuts coffee fix pretty much all over town--no worries!
LOL that's the truth! You can't go more than a couple of miles anywhere in New England without running across a DD.
Great plans for Boston! I'm so glad to see that Laurie has recommended Mike's Pastry! I was going to chime in with that as soon as I saw you were walking to the North End. That Laurie is one smart lady !
Okay, I'm hopped on early...but you've already gotten so much posted!
I have only been to Boston once and it was for business, so I didn't get to see much of anything. Tyler did a report last year on Paul Revere and he's been wanting to see the Old North Church and walk the Freedom Trail since then. I think a couple of years and we'll make a trip up there. Although it's a little tough being the Yankee household we are.
I think Meri is going to LOVE the train ride. My boys keep begging me to take a train ride. We've been on at train to NYC, but that's about it. I'm considering the autotrain for one of our future trips to Disney.
Wow, whale watching!! That is going to be fabulous. I hope you see lots of whales and take lots of pictures.
Big Dunkin' Donuts coffee fan here!!!! I give up coffee for lent and I'm counting down the days only 4 more wake ups!!
Great plans! I live near Boston, and you'll be doing some things that I've never done. Such as go to Mike's Pastry! I need to add that to the to-do list!
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This entire trip started because my cousin was hoping I could babysit for her in DC during their reunion. Today she let me know that they won't be able to attend the reunion. So that leaves me with two "extra" days. 
So instead I crunched a few numbers and made a few calls. 
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