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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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No reservations needed. You just need to get there mighty early to get a good spot to view the shows. I haven't seen World of Color yet, but it is my understanding that it is a lot like Fantasmic! and since it is new who knows how far in advance you have to get there. I know for Fantasmic! it is about 2-3 hours depending on where you want to sit. Hope that helps!
Re: Fantasmic! not only do people usually arrive 2-3 hours early, you're sitting on the ground and not on seats, so be warned! For me and my daughter, we're willing to sit 2 hours to get a good spot to see the show, but we arrive prepared with a deck of cards, some food and drink, some paper and pencil to play tic tac toe, etc.
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World of Color requires a Fastpass unless you want to view it from the back. You wouldn't be able to see the projected images. You can get Fastpasses beginning at park opening near the Grizzly River Rapids ride. The line was pretty harrowing in the morning, but cleared out later and was only 20 min or so (that was for Fastpasses to the third show.) If there are two showings of Fantasmic! we generally walk right up to the second one for a great spot (30 min. at most on croweded days like Christmas). I'm not willing to wait hours for anything. I know I can always come back. My observation on our trip two weeks ago (certainly not scientifically based) was that Disneyland was much less crowded in the evenings, and I think it's because everyone's over at DCA for WOC. For example, we had dinner at Cafe Orleans and when we walked out of the restaurant at about 8 PM (Fantasmic! played at 9:00), there were only 3 or 4 families parked on their blankets to stake out a spot. In the past, the entire area would have been filled with people waiting. Of course, YMMV, but it was just something we noticed. Also, we walked up to a prime viewing spot in front of the castle for firworks just 10 minutes before they started. During the summer! At Disneyland! I was amazed.
That's a good point! I forgot to mention that it will likely make a difference when you go, and what day of the week you want to watch the shows. The 2-3 hours Fantasmic thing is mostly in the summer. Also, I neglected to mention that I'm a local AP, so we often go just to do a ride or two and then stake out a spot for the show, so we don't mind the wait too much.
Finally, I forgot to suggest that if Fantasmic is doing a 2nd show, and you're not too tired to wait for it (usually, it's around 10:30), then you may want to try for a good spot for that show, and at most the wait would be an hour.
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2013 WDW trip here!
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Yep, we're going in October. We'll be there on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Tuesday is the Halloween party. Hopefully, it won't be as crowded, particularly if we see the later shows.
Fantasmic here at DL is standing room only, no theater. The area where you'd stand is just in and around walkways in the park, thus no line. There is no reason to wait 3 hours in october unless you must have a coveted front row view along the river. The whole area is sloped so there is plenty of viewing.
WOC is more crowded because it is new, but we got a great viewing spot along the river 20 minutes before the show on a night in august, no need for fastpass. We stood along the jumpin jellyfish/ golden zephyr area and could see just fine. We also beat the crowds out by starting to walk 5 minutes before it ended, we got out ahead of the mess of people and caught the fireworks from the esplande! You just have to be creative and patient, it will all work out.
Fantasmic here at DL is standing room only, no theater. The area where you'd stand is just in and around walkways in the park, thus no line. There is no reason to wait 3 hours in october unless you must have a coveted front row view along the river. The whole area is sloped so there is plenty of viewing.
WOC is more crowded because it is new, but we got a great viewing spot along the river 20 minutes before the show on a night in august, no need for fastpass. We stood along the jumpin jellyfish/ golden zephyr area and could see just fine. We also beat the crowds out by starting to walk 5 minutes before it ended, we got out ahead of the mess of people and caught the fireworks from the esplande! You just have to be creative and patient, it will all work out.
Oh, great tips. Thanks for these. Hopefully we will get to see both shows while we are there.
If you are not a DLR hotel guest then the easiest way for WoC reserved spots is to order online the picnic lunch for $15. You in theory get a tote bag with the meal. Trash it if not to your liking but some people really like these meals. For a special $30 a person meal then do Ariel's Grotto or Tratatoria.
The people in the front area stood packed with rude people holding up kids or cameras. It was one hour before the show and the CMs were demanding people to stand up and pack the area. So some people were there for 3 hours of which almost 2 were standing.
Great show however.
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Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
If you are not a DLR hotel guest then the easiest way for WoC reserved spots is to order online the picnic lunch for $15. You in theory get a tote bag with the meal. Trash it if not to your liking but some people really like these meals. For a special $30 a person meal then do Ariel's Grotto or Tratatoria.
The people in the front area stood packed with rude people holding up kids or cameras. It was one hour before the show and the CMs were demanding people to stand up and pack the area. So some people were there for 3 hours of which almost 2 were standing.
Great show however.
I won't be ordering any special meals. I won't spend extra money or time just to see a show. No show is worth either $15/per person or waiting 3 hours. If its not crowded, fine, but otherwise, we won't be seeing it.
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Originally Posted by dolphin041599
I won't be ordering any special meals. I won't spend extra money or time just to see a show. No show is worth either $15/per person or waiting 3 hours. If its not crowded, fine, but otherwise, we won't be seeing it.
I agree, wouldn't pay for the show, but.....since I have to eat anyway, I'm shelling out the money for the dinner at Ariel's Grotto this one time. Of course, since it's just me this time (husband at a dinner for his convention, kiddos at home), it's not too huge a deal.
I agree, wouldn't pay for the show, but.....since I have to eat anyway, I'm shelling out the money for the dinner at Ariel's Grotto this one time. Of course, since it's just me this time (husband at a dinner for his convention, kiddos at home), it's not too huge a deal.
Ginger
That's true, but from what I've seen/read/heard, the food you can order doesn't sound all that appealing to me and I know my parents won't eat some of that stuff so its not really worth it to me. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that crowds are low and we'll be able to see both shows.
There is the tightfisted approach and the all out approach to any event in life. The tightfisted person brings their own drinks and snacks to a movie or baseball game. I am tightfisted most of the time.
For me it was worth paying for dinner at Ariel's Grotto. Mom should not be out in the night air and does not handle lines, waiting, crowds and other things that send her into sensory overload. We had a nice dinner then walked down to various areas until we were seated in the viewing area. It was our big night out and a special occasion. Low stress meant she was a lot happier when the preshow and show happened.
This trip I will get up early on day two of our trip and waddle over to DCA and try to get FP for World of Color. It is not important this time for us to see the show. I am on special diets and Mom would not like the food. I do not want to spend $30 for the show and we already planned for dinner each night. She would be just a happy with Fantasmic. First time I paid because it was special, second time it is not a must thing to do.
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Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
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I know I can always come back. My observation on our trip two weeks ago (certainly not scientifically based
) was that Disneyland was much less crowded in the evenings, and I think it's because everyone's over at DCA for WOC. For example, we had dinner at Cafe Orleans and when we walked out of the restaurant at about 8 PM (Fantasmic! played at 9:00), there were only 3 or 4 families parked on their blankets to stake out a spot. In the past, the entire area would have been filled with people waiting. Of course, YMMV, but it was just something we noticed. Also, we walked up to a prime viewing spot in front of the castle for firworks just 10 minutes before they started. During the summer! At Disneyland! I was amazed.
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