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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What great weather you had that morning--AND it looks like you not only went to a Disney theme park, but were able to go on a Disney "cruise ship", too! What fun!!
I think Mark makes a pretty good truck(lorry) driver... sometimes you just have to cover your eyes, 'cuz you just don't want to know what's going on in the mirror or even in front of you!
Once again, the sepia toned pics of the cruise ship really put it in perspective.
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OK, so I'm finally caught up with everything and have made the following comments along the way (feel free to skip over as it's long ):
On the morning of your Sheraton stay and looking and the massive parking lot – loved the cones – that is too cute. There must be some creative parking attendants in Tokyo! I just the Mickey head shaped windows on the monorail. How cool! How interesting that you have to pay for the monorail if you aren’t staying at a Disney hotel. The Ikispiari complex looks so neat. WOW! The monorail station is HUGE and very clean looking! We could definitely take some notes on this area. And then I got the interiors pictures! WOW! that handles to hold on to!
The Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is just beautiful. So grand and regal looking! the Alice mosaic on the staircase! I loved all the little Disney themed details – topiaries, Peter Pan, the Lady & Tramp house, Mickey & Minnie statues, the Sorcerer Mickey fountain (great photo of the 2 of you in front of it btw). A covered Main Street – interesting – it looks a bit odd, not as real looking I guess. The Photopass photographer looked like she belonged more at Animal Kingdom or something like that.
The pictures you took of Frontierland made it look very spacious, but maybe that was because there weren’t many people around yet??? Very cool looking translation device. the red-head Minnie! MMMM that waffle looked delicious. Too bad you can’t get that in any of the parks at WDW (unless I’ve missed it all this time).
How neat to see the Mickey Mouse Revue. I wonder what they’re doing with it now. It would be nice to bring it back.
Toontown looked like so much fun! I loved all the themeing of it. What a neat parade! Loved the Blue Fairy & the Peter Pan floats. And how nice about the getting ready for the parade – again we need to adopt that policy.
Great picture of you & Mark in front of the 25th anniversary display. I smiled all through the dwarf pictures. Mark looks like he’s having the time of his life!! I bet he had that smile for quite a while after that.
WOW! The hotel MiraCosta is just amazing! Beautiful room – and what a view!
What a parade!! That looks awesome! All the floats just looked bumped up several notches from what I’ve seen! Your photos were awesome and I’m sure it was even better in person. Sorry you didn’t catch the fireworks. More beautiful photos of the interior of the hotel.
Oceano looks like a really neat restaurant. Tokyo DisneySea does look quite amazing. I’m going to wish & pray for that 2013 trip.
All the photos of the park were amazing! The electric railway looked like fun. At first when I saw Aquatopia I thought they were bumper boats or something – the ride sounds more fun that it takes you on a course on its own.
Pretty cool about seeing Abu. Mermaid Lagoon looks so neat. Now if we go in 2013 I wouldn’t feel quite so bad for having a 6 – and maybe 3 year old with us.
Mysterious Island does look, well...mysterious, but very cool!!
So great that you scored great seats to Cirque.
Loved the night time shots of DisneySea.
How cool to have a gondola ride! I want to go to Venice and do this some time. The SS Columbia looks beautiful on the inside and looks like there were some great views from it too. the ‘Titanic’ shot!
And I’d still like to see a pic of your fridge with all these magnets. Pretty please!
Don't worry - as usual, I'll drag it out for as long as I can.. there's at least another four or five installments to come yet... if not more!
I'm not worried. I figured I'd read it all again but take notes this time.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Last edited by Minnie Lor; 06-26-2009 at 05:45 PM..