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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You have most definitely been missed around here! I do understand your reasonings but selfishly, I wish you still wrote TRs. Actually I miss all of the CLQ.
It's nice to know I've been missed.
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Originally Posted by davishomeschool
Ooh! Another trip report!! I love your pictures!!
If you love these pictures, just wait!
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Originally Posted by SuperDave
Nice start to your TR and glad you are back! Some great photos from the ongoing revitalization of DTD! Looking forward to see how you fare at the 24 hour MK experience!
It helped that I'd spent some time at the event in 2014. I knew more what to expect and how to plan better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcmary
Happy to know you're busy, looking great and still traveling to WDW. Awesome photos, as usual. Since this is not a TR, thank you for a brief reunion. Tell your crazy clique we send our best.
Thanks! I'll give them your regards!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I'm so glad you've come out of retirement to write another "sort of" trip report...
I can't get over how much things have moved on at Downtown Disney since we were last there - then again, looking at your dates, that is nearly three months on. Where does the time go?
You know, it's your fault I'm writing this, right? And during my Canadian trip (Toronto and Niagara Falls), I spent the whole time thinking about details for the TR, for you! You're my enabler.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DawnK
I am so happy to see your smiling face again!!! I look forward to more!
Thanks. And lots more selfies are on the way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
SO happy you are posting this "not a" trip report. We have all missed you. I was off the boards for a little bit and when I came back there were no Princess Sharon reports to catch up on. No you can't retire.
Sorry about that! I just had too much on my plate and the TRs ended up being something I cut out. I kind of miss writing them though, but don't tell anyone.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Please do send me a request on Instagram. I don't post much, but there are a few I do - I post there more than Facebook these days. I'm ohtoodles8 on there - see a pattern?
WARNING! This next update has a lot of photos. I tried to break the posts up, but if you're using a slow connection (or a data plan), this is going to test it!
Also, sorry for the delay. I've been fighting with Photobucket, and Photobucket's been winning. That's one thing I do not miss about writing TRs.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Day Two – Friday, May 22 Just how many hours will I spend in the MK?
After a 4:30 wakeup call, I got ready (I’d showered and packed a backpack before bed, so it was just a matter of putting on my clothes and brushing my teeth) and was out the door at about 4:50.
It was very crowded at the bus stop, and when the MK bus arrived, it was standing room only.
Not really a clear photo, but I wasn’t going to blind half the bus
Mickey and Minnie in their pajamas were there, but only for the TV cameras. Boo!
This is a blurry mess, but I love how it looks like Minnie is peeking at me
They kind of screwed up the countdown. I watched it later on the Disney Parks Blog and they only show them counting down from like 4 or something instead of 10 because of the goof. I guess counting backwards from 10 is hard.
Crowds were on Main St.
Not so much in Liberty Square, which is why I used it as a shortcut.
This was my first time seeing the new queue at PPF.
If you’ve read any of my TRs before, you’ll know that for some unknown reason, strangers always try to ride with me on this ride. I don’t mean in my hunny pot, but actually next to me in my row. It happens all. the. time. Yes, including this day. Some random dude decided he’d rather ride with me than with his family. What is that about? It’s like photobombing. Pooh bombing. That sounds really gross. Don’t Pooh bomb me, park guests, mmm-kay? Things you thought you wouldn’t actually have to tell people.
It was around this time that I decided I had so many hours of park time that I’d try to ride every attraction in the MK. It required a little strategizing on the fly, but nothing major. I had a 7DMT FP+ for later in the evening, so it wouldn’t be too tough to pull off. Right? Maybe not.
Anyway, that’s why I rode things I usually skip. I did the ones that I knew would get busy later while the park was still relatively empty.
I nearly had a wreck from taking photos while driving. Don’t selfie and drive! Especially because the picture’s probably gonna come out blurry and with you looking like a total goober!
This was seriously the longest queue of the morning so far!
This was a last-minute trip for me (I booked at 28 days out ), so I wasn’t able to get an ADR in the MK. I made one at the Poly instead. On the way out, I played Sorcerers of the MK, but I couldn’t get it to work. It didn’t seem to see my spell cards. Oh well.
The parade was passing on my way out, but I would stop and watch the whole thing later in the day.
This was my first time seeing the newly-refurbed Polynesian lobby. I liked the look of it.
I knew what I wanted for lunch (knew, in fact, since the day I’d made the ADR).
I also got an entrée, which is unusual.
I don’t feel like checking AllEars.net for what it was. I’m pretty sure it was teriyaki steak. I was so full after eating all this that I didn’t eat a single thing the rest of the day!
The filming that had been going on when I’d arrived had wrapped up, so I was able to get pictures downstairs.
Back in the MK, I had the bulk of the attractions done, so it was a more leisurely afternoon.
Newly-refurbed hub area
I found a shady spot to watch the parade at 3:00, but it wasn’t great for getting photos. (But bonus, I was able to charge my phone a little, and it needed it!)
These photos made it seem like I had a really good viewing location. In fact, it wasn’t great, but I could position my camera to get these photos. Here’s my actual view…
I’m normally not a soda drinker, especially Coke, but I felt like the caffeine would give me a bit of a boost.
It was finally time to use the first of my FP+. I’d purposely made them later in the day, knowing the park would be busy then and I’d want to have something to do (I learned my lesson after the 24-hour-day in 2014 ).
This version of the parade doesn’t stop and let people join in on the dancing. Not sure if that’s how it is now or if it was just a shortened version I saw.
My first time meeting Merida!
The wait for Merida ended up being about 30 minutes – one of my longest of the day (Anna & Elsa were the longest at about 40 minutes).
Finally got around to taking the train. I saved the longer, sit-down, shaded attractions for the hottest, busiest time of the day.
I took only a few pictures of Wishes – I just wanted to watch it.
I saved the shows for later, when I figured I might need a power nap, but I actually watched the shows! My Dad would be disappointed.
Philharmagic selfie
I was tired of carrying around so much stuff in my backpack, so I decided to get a locker and lighten my load. I was worried for a moment because I didn’t have any cash on me, but no need, because they do take Magic Bands for payment.
I hate wearing socks, so I knew my feet wouldn’t be happy in them for 24 hours, so I’d brought some flip flops to change into. My feet were pleased.
Oddly enough, this time of the night was busier than it had been during the day. The same thing happened last year, which is why I made my FP+ for later in the day – to give me something to do without waiting forever. I had a 7DMT FP+ to use, but the ride was down, so I did other stuff instead.
I attempted the MILF, but the standby line was nearly 40 minutes. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
You can see the crowds at this point! I think a lot of people intended to watch COP Big Ed-Style.
It was raining a little at this point. I had my poncho with me, so I was wearing it, but if I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t have bothered.
The Peoplemover had the longest line I’ve EVER see for it. Like 10 minutes!
I had to give myself a pep talk to ride the teacups. It makes me a little sick. Frankly, I was looking for any excuse to skip it, but the queue was short, so I had to suck it up and ride.
Can I tell you? There is like no legroom in those things. I rode alone and still felt cramped!
Blergh! I’m happy I won’t have to ride that again any time soon probably next year at the 24 hour event.
The Mine Train was finally running again.
Of course it broke down again when I was about 20 people from the front of the line. Luckily, it was only down for about 20 minutes. I would’ve been upset to miss it and not be able to say “I rode everything in the park.”
I watched the 1:00 parade. In this case, 1 AM. Notice how crowded it is.
The standby for MILF was finally manageable, so I crossed that off the list.
Not much of a wait for Tink at 2 AM. You can see Mickey had a longer line, though!
I can’t believe how perky I look after 22 hours!
I could’ve stayed awake longer, but I felt like I’d done everything in the park (which, yeah ), and I had nobody to keep me company so I decided to call it a morning. I didn’t even nap on the bus back to POFQ. So I know I can make the full 24 hours if when I do it again!
Here are my Fitbit stats. It resets at midnight, but luckily I remembered to get a screenshot of the next day before I went to bed.
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Up Next: A down day
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Wow, what a day! I could definitely see myself spending 24 hrs at MK.
I kept laughing at your mention of MILF. It reminded me of the movie American Pie.
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About This Page: 
Some great photos from the ongoing revitalization of DTD! 
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
That's one thing I do not miss about writing TRs.
I guess counting backwards from 10 is hard. 
Especially because the picture’s probably gonna come out blurry and with you looking like a total goober! 
PassPorter Guide Author
), so I wasn’t able to get an ADR in the MK. I made one at the Poly instead. On the way out, I played Sorcerers of the MK, but I couldn’t get it to work. It didn’t seem to see my spell cards. Oh well. 
The same thing happened last year, which is why I made my FP+ for later in the day – to give me something to do without waiting forever. I had a 7DMT FP+ to use, but the ride was down, so I did other stuff instead.
Luckily, it was only down for about 20 minutes. I would’ve been upset to miss it and not be able to say “I rode everything in the park.”
so I decided to call it a morning. I didn’t even nap on the bus back to POFQ. So I know I can make the full 24 hours if when I do it again! 
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