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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I was just wondering if anyone had been to the What Will You Celebrate Tour in your city? What time did it start and what was it like? We will probably go to the one in New Orleans on 10/20 since DS does not have school that day, but I was just curious as to what it was all about.
Royal Oak, Michigan had the big "celebration" yesterday. They handed out balloons, had face painting and bounce houses, restaurants had "Disney themed" meals on the menus and there was a chance to win a trip to WDW. I don't know what time it started but it ended at 8pm.
Is there any info out there about what time they will be doing this?
Dh works about 2 blocks away so I'm trying to talk him into going... but he refuses to ride home on the train w/ a balloon!
I keep chiding him that he doesn't love his children enough to take a balloon home on the train...and then he points out that I need to stop kidding myself that the balloon would be for them!
Hmmm...if it goes to 8pm I may be able to corral the kids and get down there myself.
I would love to go to the one in New Orleans, but dd will have school that day, and I'm not sure about going and getting back during school hours. I won't let her miss for it.
In NY they handed out balloons, had a computer signed up so that you could register for a free trip, some of the people had clipboards and were asking random questions as your Disney travels.
I did not see any face painting or games for the kids but I stopped there around 12:30 on the way home from work so maybe they had other things planned at other times. They did have people along a whole street (from 42nd to 43rd).
I am not sure when they started but I did see the "What Will you Celebrate" van roll by around 10:30 when I went down for coffee during work.
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I went to the Providence, RI one, it was disappointing.
After seeing the characters and crowds for Toronto, I expected a lot more. I couldn't get any info on the schedule, so I called Disney in Florida, they had no idea of what I was talking about. They told me about getting in free on your birthday, that it's not a tour. A call to Disney media relations got me bumped over to DL guest relations, who told me the same thing, and again, they didn't know about the tour. I called the Providence police, and they didn't know anything, which I thought was wierd, figured there must be some crowd control necessary, right? I finally called my local news stations, and one of them was able to give me times of 11-2. I was all excited, the kids were hyped.
My kids had testing that morning, and nothing for the rest of the day, so I pulled them out of class to see Mickey. There were about a half dozen people handing out balloons. That's it. No computer. No characters. No events. No themes in restaurants. Nothing. Just people standing there with balloons. I asked, and they said that was it, they were handing out balloons for three hours. Figuring that maybe they couldn't say anything for fear of crowds, we sat on benches for another 1 1/2 hours waiting, but alas, she was telling the truth on that one.
They told me that the kids could register the balloon codes (looking at the invite later, it says you have to be 18, I guess for the daily instant win contest). I had already registered without a balloon code, so I couldn't use one, and when I tried to enter one for the kids like they said I could, I found that the cookie or whatever they use to track you wouldn't let me enter a second e-mail address on my computer, so that was that. Bummer for the kids, who were upset that the lady lied.
By entering the code on the balloon invite, you're supposed to get a free 'digital' prize. I gave an invite to my father, who takes us every year, and there was no digital prize, it just sent you to the instant win game, which gives you a wallpaper type of thing anyway if you don't win.
I was really excited to go to this thing, I cleared my work schedule to be able to go. I pulled the kids out of school--for nothing. The codes didn't even work (which I've seen other people on the web say too). It's a hit or miss thing, I guess, on what you will see. From looking on the web for the Providence schedule, others are having a really hard time finding times/events etc. also. I don't understand why Disney would be so secretive, or so inconsistant with the promotion. We didn't even have the stupid computer to sign up, what's up with that?
As for the question on what time to expect to go...Toronto started at 5am, ours at 11am. All you can do it try to call around like I did and hope you get lucky.
You would think that by Disney standards alone, that all of these events would be much more coordinated, themed, and substantive. It almost sounds like there's a different event planner/committee in each city, so you get what that "committee" is willing to throw together; being that so far from the posts above, each city was something different.
And wouldn't you know it that I could have gone to the Royal Oak, MI one being that I was OFF that afternoon and around the corner at Beaumont...UGH, but I digress...
You think Disney would have this planned a little better?!
Sorry to those of you that were disappointed and glad for those who had fun!!
OK. I just viewed the video/pics on the site, and they showed Mickey and Goofy running around, going in shops. The girl told me no characters. We waited the three hours and didn't see them. Oh well.
Now I'm really having second thoughts about whether or not to attend. Back in 1996 when the world premiere of the Hunchback of Notre Dame was in New Orleans, that event was really first class. There was a parade with many of the Disney floats and characters, and even Michael Eisner was there. After the actual movie, there was a stage show in the Superdome with several of the people who were the voices of Disney characters (Belle, the Little Mermaid, etc.) The stage show was incredible, just what you would expect from Disney. I'm really surprised that the "Tour" doesn't seem to be very well organized. Oh well, I guess I will wait to see what more of you have to say in the next two weeks if you attend the tour in your cities. Maybe they will kick it up a notch if the feedback is not good.
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