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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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First Day at The World - UPDATED 2/2
We arrived by Disney's Magical Express yesterday around 5pm, checked into the Poly. I was disappointed because they didn't have a room for me in my requested Rarotonga. They had me in Aotearona and I really didn't want to be on that end of the Polynesian property. So I settled for a ground floor in Niue. I think the room was larger in Rarotonga, the bathroom there definitely was bigger. However, housekeeping is more attentive here. What was really nice was when we came into our room, there was a Mickey on the bed, made of 3 leis, very pretty. I'll upload those pictures when I get home.
We dropped our carryon bags in the room, went to Captain Cook's, got our refillable mugs, which are still the same blue ones we bought in December . Had quick bite to eat and headed to the Magic Kingdom since they were having EMH PM hours. I don't do morning EMH because normally I don't make rope drop, our body clocks are still on Pacific time and then that particular park tends to be more crowded. I learned this little tidbit on Touring Plans (The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World) and it worked for us when we came in December.
First stop was City Hall to get a GAC for me for "no stairs." At first, it seemed crowded, but then after Wishes, the crowds did seem to disburse a lot. We rode TTA twice, Buzz Lightyear, and I decided to brave Space Mountain. I say brave not because I'm a chicken, I love the ride, however, getting out of the vehicles since I have a knee problem was something I was afraid to attempt. The standby line said 50 minutes, but I didn't think it was that long since the end of the line was not outside the mountain. I looked at the cars while we were on line and decided that the front car would probably work best for me, seemed to have more room and even if I had to wait, I asked for a front seat. Loved space mountain, didn't love the trying to get out of the rocket experience. It did take me a couple of tries to pull myself out and ended up straining that knee. Needless to say, I won't be doing it again any time soon, and just hope that when SM goes into rehab, they will give it the same rockets that Disneyland's SM has. Oh the downside of old age.
We caught the end of Wishes after getting out of SM, walked through the Castle, hit the Haunted Mansion twice. One thing I noticed that was different to me anyway, was the stretch room. I don't recall the stretch room making stretching, creaky sounds as it stretched. Nice touch. After that, we went on Big Thunder Mountain, skipped Splash because it was kind of chilly then to Pirates and because we passed it and there was no line went on the Magic Carpet ride.
Stopped at the Bakery on Main St. and picked up apple turnovers and chocolate croissants to bring back to the room, got on the monorail and back to the Poly.
It's supposed to be steady rain today, temperature is 60º, humidity is in the 80% range so we'll go with the flow. Just had some coffee and a bagel and we'll head off to Epcot.
Sounds like a great start! Sorry about SM... the rockets sit very low. I can see how you would have had trouble. Good luck adjusting to the time change!
You're off to a great start!! Hey, at least you tried SM. And now you know. Hope the knee doesn't give you any more troubles today -- have fun in the rain!!
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Tanya
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. Had quick bite to eat and headed to the Magic Kingdom since they were having EMH PM hours. I don't do morning EMH because normally I don't make rope drop, our body clocks are still on Pacific time and then that particular park tends to be more crowded. I learned this little tidbit on Touring Plans (The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World) and it worked for us when we came in December.
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