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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Last full day! What? Already? Oh well, even though this was a quick trip, it wasn't too painful knowing that we would be back two weeks later.
Saturday was AK day. We arrived at the park and quickly made our way to KS for our first FP+. I love KS, but this was probably the least exciting version I've ever been on. Two exceptions were the male lion was standing on his rock and the baby giraffe was standing right beside the road on dd's side of the truck! This is the trip I decided to leave my camera at home. Our driver was difficult to understand and her improv needs practice. She was energetic and enjoying herself, but didn't quite pull off a professional presentation. I might be in the minority, but I miss Wilson and Little Red. I like for the guides to follow a storyline. Providing information about the animals is great, but there seems to be too much time between animal sightings. This lends more time for awkward silence or too much non-guide talk. Does that make sense?
After the safari, we were able to walk on Primeval Whirl with practically no wait. My kids think this ride is awesome. Dh and I like it, but once is enough for us. Ouch!
Our second FP was for Dinosaur. The FP line moved very quickly, but the stand by looked a little long. After delivering our dinosaur to present day, we headed over to EE for our third FP.
Dd has ridden EE several times and has always enjoyed it. For some reason, she acted a little unsure of it this time. She kept asking me questions, like she had forgotten what it was like. Well, that uneasiness lasted about two seconds into the ride. She had her arms in the air and was screaming with excitement almost as soon as we took off!
Our usual snack/lunch at AKL is egg rolls and fries from Yak and Yeti CS and we continued with that tradition. Dh got the food while I went over to Drinkwalla for frozen Cokes. There is a gazebo behind Drinkwalla that overlooks the water and that is where Dh was waiting for us with the food. After Dh finished eating, he walked behind us on the bridge to take a picture of the kids and I in the gazebo. As we were smiling for the camera, Baloo came up behind Dh and just stood there. Dh had no clue and couldn't figure out why we were laughing. He was startled when he realized what was going on. Again, I had no camera and my phone was stashed away in my backpack.
We watched ITTBAB. Great as always. We didn't go to any shows or walk the trails this day. There was a period of an afternoon downpour, so we hung out in a gift shop for awhile. We were already in there, so we didn't get wet. We were able to get a fourth FP. We chose to revisit EE!
Now here is where I should tell you that the name of this TR should be " I Really Love my Son!". Why? DS desperately wishes that the whole family would like to ride Kali River Rapids. We don't. I told him that I would ride it this time provided it is the last ride of the day and the wait isn't too long. We were able to get a fifth FP to use on KRR. All four of us made our way through the line and then lightening is spotted. The ride is shut down and we have no idea when it might reopen. DS wanted to wait it out for a bit. We stood in line playing Heads Up on my phone and reading the fables on the ceiling. Just as our FP time is about to end ( and I have hopes of freebie FPs to another attraction ), the ride opens. Great. I guess you can tell where this is going... Yes, I got SOAKED! Completely soaked! Oh the laughter. I wouldn't have minded so much, except the earlier rains had reduced the temperature and the clouds kept the sun blocked. It was slow drying and I was wearing performance wear materials (quick drying). All of us got wet, but I caught most of it. Dh told me my mascara ran, so I got a napkin and tried to wipe it away. More laughter... I was walking around with mascara down my cheeks, not smudges under the eyes. Ugh. DS had a blast, so that's all that matters.
We got some ice cream and headed out of the park. Back at POR, we changed into swimsuits and cover ups and headed to the food court for dinner. It wasn't very crowded and we were able to get our food in a short amount of time. The kids were ready for the pool after finishing dinner. We walked over and found a couple of available lounge chairs. The kids swam for over two hours while Dh and I lounged and explored Ol' Man Island. It was a relaxing end to a full day.
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Wow sounds like you had a blast at AK. I have to believe the wet clothes & running mascara will be an image forever burned into your son's memory bc his mom helped make one of his wishes come true in the most magical place on Earth. And that is what it is all about - making our children happy, their wishes & dreams coming true at least those within our grasp.
It is funny you mentioned having to wait for an Epcot bus while a few AK busses went by. When we have stayed at POR we always had trouble getting a timely AK bus! This is a great weekend trip. You got a lot done and had a lot of fun in a short amount of time.
I've never been on Kali because I don't like walking around wet! I'm not really even into the pool at the hotel!!! I told my DD I would go on Kali with her this upcoming trip & im really regretting it. The things we do for our kids!
Sounds like a great day! And I love how you aren't sad to be leaving because you will be back in 2 weeks!!! I have that SAME thing coming up next weekend!!! DH & i are going for the weekend, then when we leave, we will return 13 days later!!!
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What a fun day at AK! I am always the person most soaked on KRR, but I will ride it every now and then as it is a favorite for Luke. We laugh that I'm a magnet for water.
Wow sounds like you had a blast at AK. I have to believe the wet clothes & running mascara will be an image forever burned into your son's memory bc his mom helped make one of his wishes come true in the most magical place on Earth. And that is what it is all about - making our children happy, their wishes & dreams coming true at least those within our grasp.
Oh, it will be a memory for sure. Actually, it was pretty fun.
It is funny you mentioned having to wait for an Epcot bus while a few AK busses went by. When we have stayed at POR we always had trouble getting a timely AK bus! This is a great weekend trip. You got a lot done and had a lot of fun in a short amount of time.
You never know what to expect with those busses. It was a full, fun weekend.
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Our driver was difficult to understand and her improv needs practice. She was energetic and enjoying herself, but didn't quite pull off a professional presentation. I might be in the minority, but I miss Wilson and Little Red. I like for the guides to follow a storyline. Providing information about the animals is great, but there seems to be too much time between animal sightings. This lends more time for awkward silence or too much non-guide talk. Does that make sense?
Again, I had no camera and my phone was stashed away in my backpack. 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I'm another who's previously been soaked to the skin on Kali and I've also said never again! 
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