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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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11-23-2005, 02:05 PM
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#1
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Eileeeeeeen!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 28,861
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Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - COMPLETE
<font color="blue"> <u>Festing with Far-flung Friends Nov 30-Dec 4</u>
Pre-trip report
It all started innocently enough.
I was going to Disney for a Grand Gathering with family for the 050505 celebration this past May and started my pre-trip report a few days before I left. A darling Passporter named Karen aka zacksmom_1993 (whos trip reports Id been admiring for some time) read my pre-TR and posted that she was going to be there at the same time. A few PMs later and we had each others cell phone numbers.
Luckily enough, on April 30th, I came back from the POR pool just in time to catch Karens call. We made plans to meet at Fantasmic that night and I got to the stadium very early to grab a large block of seats for my family and for Karen and her son, Zack. Well, once I met Karen in person, I felt an instant connection what a doll! And her son is cut from the same cloth as mine theyre both called The Disney Kid by their classmates. We chatted and laughed before the show and wept and laughed during the show. I felt like I had found a long-lost sister!
Serendipity kicked in the next day and we ran into each other by one of the Friendship launches at Epcot right before the end of her trip.
I had a glorious Grand Gathering and then came home to a bad case of the post-WDW blues. Sigh
my AP had expired and I had no immediate plans to return to The World before my 40th birthday in Nov 2006.
Then I started reading posts about Mousefest. On June 6th, I PMed Karen. Are you and Zack thinking of going to Mousefest this Dec? She wasnt, but she started mulling it over. But, by June 10th, she had a room booked! Gosh
now I had better get into gear.
I wanted to wait for AP rates to come out before reserving a room, but then Disney announced the Best Rate Program and I realized I would need some help from a travel agent on this one. Aha Id finally have a chance to work with the woman whose trip reports inspired me to start taking more frequent trips
the fabulous Maureen from Grand Getaways ( http://www.grandgetawaystravel.com ) aka statelady01 here on Passporter. I hopped on Disneys website and ordered my AP voucher and, once I had that in hand, Maureen took care of all the details.
I had wanted to stay at Wilderness Lodge partly because I havent stayed there yet and partly because thats where Karen and Zack would be. No luck. All the BRP rooms were booked. So, I conferred with Calder and he wanted to stay at POFrench Quarter again our very first family trip resort back in December 02. Mo took care of it for us and we got a pretty good BRP rate I think its $104 (tax included) per night. She also arranged our MVMCP tickets for the big PP meet on Dec 1st.
Then it was on to AirTrans site to find flights. Got decent ones for $339 total for the two of us. We even got a late day departure on Sunday the 4th. Ill pull Calder out of school a little early on Wednesday and be park-hopping by dinner time. Were looking forward to trying DME for the first time!
Karen and I PMed a few times back and forth about what restaurants wed like to try to get ADRs for (they were called ADRs by this point!)
1) Since I had missed Chef Mickeys on the past few trips, I was desperate to go again. (We had PSs, they were *still* called PSs back then! but my traveling companions made us skip them. Those buggers!)
2) Karen was dreaming of getting into the Sci-Fi Dine In with a party of four.
3) After our fabulous GG experience with Teppanyaki in May, I knew wed want to eat there again.
Other than that, I didnt have ideas. Karen was in the drivers seat.
Wow! Did she do a terrific job, or what? She got all kinds of great times and restaurants. She even managed to re-jigger the arrangements as we both started hearing about new character meals and other restaurants from great trip reports. (I know Karen and Zack have at least one other ADR at Boma for breakfast. We both want to let our boys tour as much as possible, so the rest of the meals will be counter service.)
As for the Mousefest events I was sad to see that many of the times conflicted with where we planned to be for EMH mornings/evenings and our ADRs, but I figured that Calder would only have the patience for a few of these gatherings anyway. As long as he gets to see Miss Tara, hell be happy! Other than that, he wants to stick to Zack like white on rice which is nice (said in the Caddyshack voice) because I plan on sticking to Karen as much as shell let me!
Our current plans (which have yet to be laminated, so they are still subject to change!)
Wednesday Check in and head to MK for the 7PM Spectro parade. Crystal Palace for dinner with K&Z at 7:30PM. Wishes at 8PM and then stay for EMH
Thursday - AK in the morning, MK for LTT & MVMCP, HM hunt at 4PM (Plaza), Ride Meet (Liberty Bell) at 7:15 and PP meet 8:45 tip board
Friday - Ohana for 8:10 breakfast, Epcot, MGM for 3:55 SciFi dinner & Fantasmic before shopping at Downtown Disney?
Saturday - AK for EMH, 1-3:30 MegaMouseMeet (Dolphin), Epcot for evening
Sunday Chef Mickeys 9AM and then whatever we want to do
. Probably MK before our 8PM flight out
(Karen, correct me if I get any of this wrong!)
Ive made a few items for the trip luggage tags, autograph books and I stole Sarahs (DopeyGirl) idea for a window sign announcing our Mousefest affiliation!
Autograph book covers
Mousekeeping envelopes
Our window sign
Calder and I stopped into The Disney Store last week and nabbed a hooded sweatshirt for him and he discovered a fascination for cubies
. Anyone know if they sell these at DTD?
Once I get through Thanksgiving (and Im giving thanks because I dont have to cook the whole dinner this year just some pies and side dishes!!) Ill pull out our luggage and my Disney box and start packing. And I cant forget his Lego advent calendar
.
Ooooh, Im getting so excited!
</font> |
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11-23-2005, 02:48 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 18,767
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - 11/23
GREAT start Eileen!!! I can't wait to meet you guys!!!
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11-23-2005, 03:00 PM
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#3
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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: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - 11/23
What a great start!!! So looking forward to meeting you and Calder!!
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11-23-2005, 04:53 PM
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#4
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - 11/23
Great start and it's great to hear the background to how this trip came about!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Looking forward to meeting you guys for Festivus . . . I mean MouseFest!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
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11-23-2005, 05:42 PM
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#5
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - 11/23
Great start Eileen [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Have a great time [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]
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11-23-2005, 08:09 PM
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#6
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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: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - 11/23
YAY!! I can't wait to see you two again!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img]
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11-29-2005, 11:15 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 1,268
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - Pre-Trip - as of 11/29
Have a terrifice trip. I love the pre-trip report and can't wait to read all about your fantastic time!
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12-05-2005, 09:36 AM
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#8
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Eileeeeeeen!
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 28,861
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
<font color="blue"> We're Baaaaaack!
And what a time we had. I'll be downloading and prepping the pictures this afternoon and *hopefully* getting my lost piece of luggage back -- YES!! AirTran lost one of our bags and it's the one with my notebook with all the details of the trip. Yuck... I'll have one heck of a time remembering without those notes!
Anyway, we had a blast and an absolutely terrific time meeting other Passporters. But it was perfection itself to be able to spend so much time with Karen and Zack. Good golly, Miss Molly! -- did we ever fall in love with those two!
Can't wait to tell you all about it. (C'mon AirTran, find that bag soon!)
Eileen </font>
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12-05-2005, 09:46 AM
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#9
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 2,929
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
Welcome back Eileen [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]! Glad you had fun, and I can't wait to hear all about it.
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12-05-2005, 09:53 AM
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#10
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 34,171
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
Glad you had such a great time! Waiting for those pics!!
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12-05-2005, 09:59 AM
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#11
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Dreaming of the Future
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 24,867
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
Welcome Back! Hope they find the bag soon! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!
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12-05-2005, 10:29 AM
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#12
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Manchester NH
Concierge Level: 4
Posts: 12,514
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
Welcome back!
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12-05-2005, 12:51 PM
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#13
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386
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Re: Festing with Far-flung Friends - Mousefest 2005 - We\'re Baaaack! - 12/5
Welcome back, Eileen! I'm anxiously awaiting your trip report - I'm sure it will be fantastic.
Joy
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