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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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There is just so much here to see and the detail is amazing….you could spend hours here.
If you are a Star Wars fan, there is a huge section.
This had brought back memories of the recent Disneyland trip I had taken and my tour day of Hollywood! I am hoping to head there again this year.
A few more in Miniland.
I was now hungry. I had a raging headache from the flight school ride and hunger. I sat on a bench waiting for Claire and Skip. They had said they would meet me in this area at a certain time. I honestly had no clue if they could get on the ride fast enough or not and I just had to wait. Oh…and my husband left his phone in the car….on purpose too. I had told him when he made that decision that it wasn’t a wise one as we may get separated and will need to find each other but he had no desire to bring it in….and I was now cursing him.
They were a bit late and I am pretty sure I wasn’t very pleasant to him when they did arrive. He knows how I am with needing food. LOL.
We were going to just go to the pizza buffet.
I piled up my plate.
The food was just ok. Nothing fabulous but it did fill the need I had. Some of it was better than others.
A view of a death trap out the window.
We made a couple of trips and new pizza was brought out. It was better when it was fresh.
We honestly were ready to leave now. We just were not impressed with Legoland at all. It was mainly due to the poor staff. They just really turned us off of the place. And the loading techniques were awful. What looks like a short line was actually long.
We wanted to watch the waterski show and one was starting while we were eating. Skip tried to push off eating till later to go see it but I said no way. There was one later in the day and as much as we wanted to see it we weren’t sure we wanted to stay in the park much longer. Even Claire, who loves Legos was not impressed with the place. There was however one thing I had on my must do list before we left….the Gardens…so we worked our way towards them.
A look at one of the death trap rides through the trees. (If you had followed my Disneyland TR, I explained all about death trap rides)
We could hear that the waterski show was still going on, so we went to see if we could see anything.
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All of the Lego animals in the gardens are adorable! I think if I ever make it to Legoland, it will be with a plan to only look at all of the Lego creations, and not bother with the slow loading rides.
Sorry that you weren't that impressed with LegoLand. It sounds more like the employees ruined the experience than the actual Lego displays themselves. It goes to show just how important it is to have "cast members" that appreciate the company that they work for. That's why we all love our Disney on these Boards.
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Miniland is gorgeous and probably the only bit we'd really like. Now I've read all your report about LEGOLAND, I don't feel bad that we didn't make it there this trip.
All of the Lego animals in the gardens are adorable! I think if I ever make it to Legoland, it will be with a plan to only look at all of the Lego creations, and not bother with the slow loading rides.
The lego sculptures were just fantastic and much better than the rides.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Miniland is fascinated. After reading a number of reviews on Legoland, I'm certain that it would never be worth it for me to go.
It's really kind of expensive to go there too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Love the Star Wars display. The artists are really great. Sorry you missed the ski show.
Lot's of people saw my star wars pictures on facebook and asked me about them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Sorry that you weren't that impressed with LegoLand. It sounds more like the employees ruined the experience than the actual Lego displays themselves. It goes to show just how important it is to have "cast members" that appreciate the company that they work for. That's why we all love our Disney on these Boards.
It really was the employees that spoiled it for us the most. It really makes you realize what good customer service does for your experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Sorry about the disappointment of legoland
I am glad we had at least 2 free passes so the cost wasn't too bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Miniland is gorgeous and probably the only bit we'd really like. Now I've read all your report about LEGOLAND, I don't feel bad that we didn't make it there this trip.
I think you would've loved the gardens too. Though we could've just had a bad day.'
Here we are. I am so happy they kept some of the gardens intact. This was a highlight for us.
Part of Cypress Gardens “thing” was they would have southern belles walking around the gardens. Legoland pays tribute to that. Claire was pretty sure this was Belle.
We then entered the Gardens area.
Kitty!
Claire was pretty sure she found Cinderella too.
I don’t know what these little stumpy things were but they were kind of odd.
Now there was one thing I knew I wanted to see at Legoland in the Cypress Garden Section and that was the Banyan tree. It is said it was Planted in a five-gallon bucket in 1939 and now stands like a cathedral of soaring limbs and aerial roots. A banyan tree is an East Indian fig tree, of the mulberry family, having branches that send out adventitious roots to the ground and sometimes cause the tree to spread over a wide area.
I have to say it really did take “root” since 1939!
I believe there is a type of Banyan tree at the Polynesian out near the Spirit of Aloha.
Those 2 were done exploring the tree…I wanted to spend more time here.
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I dont know what these little stumpy things were but they were kind of odd.
These are called Cypress knees. They grow above the roots of the cypress trees generally in swampy areas to allow the roots to draw in oxygen. They are harvested by artists as a raw material for carvings.
I'm glad to see that part of the gardens are still there. I've been to Cypress Gardens several times and enjoyed walking around them. The Southern belles used to stand by air conditioning units in the summer to keep cool.
Liz
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These trees were probably my favorite part of Key West. 
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