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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Which seats are better for this show? I would assume that front and center would be but it looks like category 2 seating gives you a wider view of everything going on. Just looking for opinions to help us decide.
Honestly, I've not had a bad seat. We've had tickets in the very back row, and in the last row of the first section (wheelchair seating). There is something to see every single time you go, and never a point in which you can't see something.
I agree with Teresa. The theater was designed around the show (as opposed to a show just being done in an existing venue) so there really are no bad seats.
Which seats are better for this show? I would assume that front and center would be but it looks like category 2 seating gives you a wider view of everything going on. Just looking for opinions to help us decide.
TIA!
One of the Cirque's trademarks is, "there are no bad seats". Obviously, closer to the stage can be better for some things ... but, you can actually miss out on other things, if you're that close.
For example - not at Disney, but at another show - they had a pair of performers who were dwarfs, a married couple IIRC. And at one point, the wife goes bouncing out over the audience, suspended (mostly) by a balloon ... just enough to put her weight at maybe 5 or 10 poinds.
Those right up close to the stage weren't in the path she took 'round and about the audience. Those of us about in "mid-field", though? Were. (I was fortunate enough to be able to put up one hand, and - along with six or eight others, of course - give her one of the several "boosts" that sent her slowly bouncing off to the next group of lucky folks.) I believe we were six or eight rows back, and just to one side of "center stage" - but she bounced all OVER the tent, covering just about every section of the audience.
I don't believe anything like that is part of La Nouba, but it gives you an idea of how nowhere is truly a "bad" seat. Partly because of the layout of the seats, both in their tents for travelling performances, and in the theater in DTD, which was (a) designed specifically for Cirque du Soleil, and (b) is modelled directly on those tents.
And partly because the performers themselves make an effort to spread the entertainment around. Not everything will be at center stage; sometimes the little vignettes mid-performance will be to the Left or the Right of the stage. And occasionally (as was my experience) out in the audience sections. ^_^
There's also the issue of "view". Close seats let you see tiny details, and be really close to the action. But there's often so much going on, that sitting close means you miss things happening ELSEWHERE on the stage. Sitting a bit further back gives you less immediacy and (slightly) less detail, but you get a better "big picture" view of the show in return.
So: Some seats are a bit better than others. But none are "bad" - just "not quite as good".
Gigantic caveat: one problem with Cirque's seats, IMO, is that they are not at all "Pooh-friendly". If you're the same size as us (see pic below), they will be quite uncomfortable. DGF reports that the seating for La Nouba is especially unfriendly to Pooh-sized guests; she thoroughly unenjoyed the show in '09, despite being a head-over-heels fan of the Cirque. (We're even considering Tapis Rouge VIP-level tickets the next time a show comes 'round this part of the world ...!)
However, if you're not wide-bottomed like I am? Or if you've NEVER been to a live Cirque performance? Well, as they say: "your mileage may vary".
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Thanks everyone. This is exactly the kind of info I need to make a decision. I don't want to miss anything going on so it looks like category 2 will be what we get. Thanks again!
I'm thinking of going to this show in October as haven't done it since 2004. Lot of good tips from everyone. Will probably do cat. 2.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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