Feature Article: Cast Member Confidential - A Disney Book Review - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Feature Article: Cast Member Confidential - A Disney Book Review
Cast Member Confidential - A Disney Book Review by Cheryl Pendry
Let's be clear at the outset, Cast Member Confidential: A Disneyfied Memoir is not for the faint-hearted.
It's very much an adults-only book, and not something you want to leave lying around for the kids to find. There's a fair bit of swearing in it, which reflects the story being told. It's not out of place, but it's worth knowing in advance, if that's likely to offend you. There are adult themes running throughout the 258 pages, but it's never gratuitous or out of place. It's just how things are in the story.</p> So what's the story about? Well, you know it's going to be something a bit juicy when the back cover screams at you that, 'This is the story that Disney would never tell you,' and that's a pretty accurate description. This is an autobiographical tale from Chris Mitchell, who heads to Walt Disney World as a complete cynic. He gets a job there, and the next year sees him change his viewpoint on Disney magic; more than once, I'd say. It's always interesting, and certainly never dull, and by the time I reached the end of the book, I was genuinely sad to see this trip come to an end.
Each chapter is very cleverly titled with a famous Disney phrase, like 'Something There That Wasn't There Before,' 'A Spoonful of Sugar,' and, 'I just Can't Wait to be King.' Each title gives you a rough idea of what's coming up, as it should, but each chapter seamlessly blends a number of things together. As well as exploring the author's journey while working at Walt Disney World, it also explores his world view, which I found really interesting. I'll be honest, I bought this book to learn more about Disney behind the scenes, but in the end became more fascinated by what was happening to him outside of his work. That's something I never thought I'd say, and says something about the quality of the story being told.
I don't want to give too much away about Mitchell's journey, but it's fair to say that when he starts at Disney, he's the type of person that all Disney fans know, the type who roll their eyes whenever the 'D' word is mentioned. It's intriguing that he chose the job, but there is good reason, and before long, he finds himself being sucked into the magic.</p> Although this a relatively recently-published book, it's obviously taken some time to see the light of day, as he ends his time with Disney working as a photographer, but before the days of PhotoPass. As such, it means much of his focus is on the characters at meet-and-greets, the people behind them, and their interaction with guests. I've heard some horror stories in the past about the guest behavior the characters have to endure, but my goodness, this was much worse than anything I was aware of before!
Something else that raised my eyebrows were the descriptions of how Cast Members treat each other, with those fortunate enough to play the characters, according to Mitchell, regarding themselves as much better than everyone else. Even among the characters, there was a definite hierarchy. Whether that's still the case now, I have no idea, but it's certainly a change from the happy Disney family that you imagine Cast Members to be a part of.
That happy family image also goes out of the window with the description of some of the parties that go on. Perhaps the observation that sticks most with me was that a lot of Disney Cast Members were leading a double life, with a Disney role to play during the day, but an alter-ego appearing outside of hours. It was also interesting to read about some of the characters that Mitchell came into contact with. On more than one occasion, from his descriptions, I'd made my mind up about that person (and by the way, all of them have false identities to protect their modesty), and then something happened that changed my mind completely about them. This book certainly has a lot of twists, and turns in it.
If you have a desire, as I do, to hear the whole truth, warts and all, about life working at Disney, then this is the perfect book for you, but be warned, it doesn't draw a veil over anything. You will learn things that will shock and surprise you. All I'm going to say is that I'm never going to look at Pooh Bear in the same way again; if you dare, read the book and see what I mean! Provided none of this review has put you off, I would thoroughly recommend this book. It's a really gripping read, and provided me with laugh-out-loud moments, tears of both joy and despair, and wonder, as I read it. It's certainly a wonderful Disneyfied memoir, and I'd love to read more such memoirs in the future.</p>
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
Thank you for this article, Cheryl. I will be heading to the Amazon website to purchase this book today! I purchased a book from Amazon entitled The Dark Side of Disney. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I have skimmed through it. Let's just say you shouldn't leave it lying around for your child to look at/read either.
Thank you for this article, Cheryl. I will be heading to the Amazon website to purchase this book today! I purchased a book from Amazon entitled The Dark Side of Disney. I have not had a chance to read it yet but I have skimmed through it. Let's just say you shouldn't leave it lying around for your child to look at/read either.
I've been eyeing that one up on Amazon - and having seen the cover, I know what you mean about leaving it lying around. If I do get round to reading it, I'll try and do a review of that one as well.
After working there for nearly 16 year, yes it's a job. I don't nor have i ever worked at a park itself, but I have heard the stories about the character clicks. And all the partying you hear about is mostly CPs. Once a year our zone used to go to F&W toghether, but we never got out of hand. I worked for CIGNA many years ago and they are both similar in the fact that you are one out of a great number of employees making the wheel turn. Mind you, I haven't gotten a raise at my FT job in nearly 4 years because of the economy; a good friend of mine just got a job offer (she's in the same business) in Jacksonville, but that is no something I would have applied for, since I don't want to leave my Disney job. Yes, it does get aggrivating somethimes, but so does ANY job.
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If I do get round to reading it, I'll try and do a review of that one as well.
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