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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yeah, I think that it's kind of ironic that so far the only Disney characters of African origin are animals (The Lion King). I understand that Disney's relative lack of diversity in it's characters is probably due to the fact that Disney's movies are deeply rooted in European fairy tales, not the result of racism. Having said that, diversity is still something that needs to be addressed. We've seen Disney present heroic non-European characters with Pochahantas, Aladdin and Mulan, I'm glad to see them finally present an African American fairy tale. Perhaps in the near future Disney will explore a Latin American fairy tale. Goodness knows all cultures have heroic tales that Disney can bring to life better than anyone else.
And for any that may want to roll their eyes when they read posts like this and compain of fashionable political correctness, just put yourself into the shoes of a four year old African American or Latina girl who goes to Disney World and sees almost exclusively white female characters. These little girls need someone of their own ethnicity to identify with. It may be a little thing, but little things mean a lot to little people, and seeing an African American or Latina princess would surely add to the Disney magic for these little girls and help to let them know that they can be whoever they want to be.
Wow, I seem to have gotten on to a soapbox this morning. Sorry about that.
How wonderful! And I don't think it is unusual for hand drawn animated films to be announced this far in advance. I remember touring the studios at WDW (when they actually worked there) and seeing production work on Alladin, Muilan and Brother Bear (I think those are the correct ones) years in advance of their release.
Cool! I'm hoping that they will also do the World Premiere of this film in New Orleans. I was lucky enough to attend the World Premiere of the Hunchback of Notre Dame back in 1996 and it was awesome to have a little piece of Disney right there at home.
just put yourself into the shoes of a four year old African American or Latina girl who goes to Disney World and sees almost exclusively white female characters. These little girls need someone of their own ethnicity to identify with. It may be a little thing, but little things mean a lot to little people, and seeing an African American or Latina princess would surely add to the Disney magic for these little girls and help to let them know that they can be whoever they want to be.
Yes to Bman and Disneybine. As someone who always wanted to be a character in the parks, I really think every little girl, and boy, should have at least one if not more Princesses or Princes they could grow up to be!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bman
Yeah, I think that it's kind of ironic that so far the only Disney characters of African origin are animals (The Lion King). I understand that Disney's relative lack of diversity in it's characters is probably due to the fact that Disney's movies are deeply rooted in European fairy tales, not the result of racism. Having said that, diversity is still something that needs to be addressed. We've seen Disney present heroic non-European characters with Pochahantas, Aladdin and Mulan, I'm glad to see them finally present an African American fairy tale. Perhaps in the near future Disney will explore a Latin American fairy tale. Goodness knows all cultures have heroic tales that Disney can bring to life better than anyone else.
And for any that may want to roll their eyes when they read posts like this and compain of fashionable political correctness, just put yourself into the shoes of a four year old African American or Latina girl who goes to Disney World and sees almost exclusively white female characters. These little girls need someone of their own ethnicity to identify with. It may be a little thing, but little things mean a lot to little people, and seeing an African American or Latina princess would surely add to the Disney magic for these little girls and help to let them know that they can be whoever they want to be.
Wow, I seem to have gotten on to a soapbox this morning. Sorry about that.
-B
I read this and I know exactly where you're coming from.
My best friend Matt and I were at the bar one night, and I was trying to explain to him how the characters in the park work - like, how there are face characters and non-face characters. (He's never been, and doesn't really know a whole lot about WDW). Anyway, he asked if anyone could be a face character, and I was like, "Well, of course you have to kind of look like that character. I mean, if you want to be Jasmine or Mulan, I'm pretty sure it helps if you've got some Indian/Asian heritage in your gene pool."
To which he replied, "So, what do the black people do?"
And I was pretty much at a loss...because other than the storyline at the Festival of the Lion King, there's no real demand for African-American characters at the parks. And then I felt kind of bad, so I bought him a shot to make up for it.
But anyway, I'm glad to see the new princess, be she white, black or green. I'm super-excited for the return to hand-drawn animation, and the fact that it's set in NOLA, my favorite place (next to WDW, of course) makes me even more happy.
I also agree it's about time. i had the chance to meet the niece of one of the storybook artists and he had leaked to her about this story, but she hadn't seen a pic yet. You all helped me help her to see the new princess and now she can invision the finished story. lucky her...
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Thanks so much for the link - this is indeed wonderful news. A black princess in the WDW family is long overdue and to have a hand drawn work of animation to look forward to is a rare treat.
Joy
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First, I'd like to say that as I was reading Bman's and wvugrrrl's posts, I was emphatically nodding my head, and saying to myself, "Yes, exactly, I'm so glad Disney is addressing the lack of diversity in fairy and princess tales..." and taking it all very seriously and to heart...and then I read this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by wvugrrrl
And then I felt kind of bad, so I bought him a shot to make up for it.
and burst out laughing. wvugrrrl, that's exactly what I would have done in the same situation...because, really, what else can you do to make it all better besides consume al-kee-hol???
Yay for this thread...it made me both socially aware and also snort Diet Coke out of my nose.
On a more serious note, I'm very excited to see Disney have a new movie that is not only original, but also set in America (even better, the South! ), AND provides a new princess, espeically one that brings a little diversity to the princess cast!
I'm also super excited about the film being hand-drawn. I love the Pixar stuff, but I don't want to see hand-drawn animation disappear...Lilo and Stitch was so beautiful! And Randy Newman is doing the score?? Be still my heart!
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Here's to Disney for setting a movie in New Orleans. I hope with all my heart that NO will come back better than before. 
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Glad Disney finally did this. I'm very anxious to see this one.
Kris
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