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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thank you, Lisa. You know how these things go - sometimes your pics are ok, sometimes not I'll try my best.
NEXT WEEK WE'LL BE AT DISNEY !!!!! Not ... we would have been at Disney had we not changed plans. Next week we will be freezing in Maine - and that's assuming the weather stabilizes enough for us to complete the drive up there - leaving tomorrow.
BUT, I'm still on track for my Solo Expedition starting the 27th (gotta use those last 24 DVC points!). Haven't done much except
1) Pre-Ordered PhotoPass Plus for the January Trip with the kids. Even though we only have four days in the parks, I figure we'll get our money's worth with the Character Meals and Ride photos. And, this is the first time I've ever used photo pass.
2) I've been researching the Magic Kindom, MVMCP, and where to get the best photo ops. I don't want to copy other's photos, but it's been so long since I've been to the MK, I thought I'd best brush up.
3) Most important of all - Did some Shopping!!! (I NEVER shop, unless it's for electronics - camera, computer, A/V stuff) Took advantage of the 25 % off at the Disney Online store (use Code DISNEYPAL) to get a few things.
- Various Christmas Ornaments (2 for $16, before 25% discount)
- A new Hoodie for me (I have one of these furry lined ones from LLBean, and it's my favorite)
- This iPad Case caught my eye ... but then I realized I never really need a case cause I just jam it in a plastic sleeve and put it in my bag
- But, darn - that was so cute. So, instead, I ordered this ...
I wanted the smaller version, but this one will actually hold my laptop. If you knew me, you would know how out of character a purchase like this is. But, I'm pretty sure it will go well with my jeans
So, that's it. All that's left to do is online check in for the November Trip at the end of next week. I think I'll do a separate TR for each trip, and will try to do some live reporting, if possible.
I'm looking forward to seeing your Disney photos, too. The new Fantasyland looks like a great place for photos. I love the look of Beast's castle and the Ariel ride building.
Good luck with your drive to Maine. The weather has cleared up and should be a bit warmer through the weekend, but be careful with black ice on the roads at night/ early morning!
Thanks for stopping by my rather disjointed planning thread. I mostly use a Canon 5D Mark III DSLR, and I use Lightroom and Photoshop for editing. I also do a lot of HDR or blending of images with different exposures - it doesn't always make a better photo, but I enjoy playing around.
Ah, the Mark...possibly the Holy Grail of cameras. One day I'd like to own one of them, but right now I'm still using my entry level Nikon D3000. Soon as I feel like I've outgrown that one, I'll probably upgrade to another Nikon, and then in the future possibly branch out to another manufactor...like Canon for the Mark.
I was using Photoshop Elements for most of my edits, but then I got introduced to Lightroom and fell in love with how easy it was to navigate. I still have a lot to learn about it's capabilities and what each option can really do, but now I do my clean edits in there and tweak the photo in PSE. My next class will be for Lightroom, and then I think I'm going to move onto learning Lighting since that's such an important element of taking pictures...especially when you don't tend to use your flash.
I could definitely see the HDR elements in your photos, and it's beautiful. Do you shoot in RAW? I know I'm rambling on and on about photography junk, but when it's something you love, and you find someone else who loves it too, then it's hard to shut up.
Love your purchase from your shopping trip. Looks like the weather is going to be in the high 70's during the day, but chilly in the morning and evenings...that sweatshirt will definitely come in handy.
Nice job shopping. I like the cell phone pocket in the hoodie, I'm thinking my DD could use one.
Thanks! Extra pockets are always nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm looking forward to seeing your Disney photos, too. The new Fantasyland looks like a great place for photos. I love the look of Beast's castle and the Ariel ride building.
Good luck with your drive to Maine. The weather has cleared up and should be a bit warmer through the weekend, but be careful with black ice on the roads at night/ early morning!
Thanks, Laurie. So far we have had great weather - the drive up was good, and we've been in Camden for about 5 days - very COLD, but no rain after Day 1. I can't wait to see the Fantasyland expansion stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great stuff!
Thanks, Marnie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hugmonster
Drive safe. Think of all the lovely fall pictures you can get. Now to go sweatshirt shopping....
Thanks - unfortunately, most of the fall colors are dead and gone, but it was still a good drive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee723
Ah, the Mark...possibly the Holy Grail of cameras. One day I'd like to own one of them, but right now I'm still using my entry level Nikon D3000. Soon as I feel like I've outgrown that one, I'll probably upgrade to another Nikon, and then in the future possibly branch out to another manufactor...like Canon for the Mark.
I was using Photoshop Elements for most of my edits, but then I got introduced to Lightroom and fell in love with how easy it was to navigate. I still have a lot to learn about it's capabilities and what each option can really do, but now I do my clean edits in there and tweak the photo in PSE. My next class will be for Lightroom, and then I think I'm going to move onto learning Lighting since that's such an important element of taking pictures...especially when you don't tend to use your flash.
I could definitely see the HDR elements in your photos, and it's beautiful. Do you shoot in RAW? I know I'm rambling on and on about photography junk, but when it's something you love, and you find someone else who loves it too, then it's hard to shut up.
Love your purchase from your shopping trip. Looks like the weather is going to be in the high 70's during the day, but chilly in the morning and evenings...that sweatshirt will definitely come in handy.
I think Lightroom is perfect for 90% of what most people need to do (or even more). I do shoot RAW - most photos are developed in Lightroom, but I do a fair amount with Photoshop for some photos.
The Canon 5D Mark III is a great camera - but I have really learned that it's not the camera so much as it is practice. (The camera and lens does certainly help in special cases, like low light photography). Good Luck with your Photography - you already do a great job, and you have such a beautiful young model
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Cool shopping items!
Thanks!
Wasn't planning to revive this thread, but just got news that my waitlist for a BLT standard room for the second night of my solo trip has come through. While I was looking forward to a night at Jambo House to get photos of the Christmas decorations, this is better, since I'll be concentrating on the Magic Kingdom at night. I still plan to spend time at Animal Kingdom on the 28th
The current plan is to arrive back in Florida on Sunday, the 25th, after driving from Maine. I will then make the 2.5 hour drive North to Orlando on the 27th. Wish me luck
And, although I have no new Disney Photos to add, here are a couple of late afternoon shots from the Maine Coast:
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Happy to say we arrived home (in South Florida) yesterday, after a week of cold temps in Maine. 24 hours from now, I expect to be in the Magic Kingdom
I have to finish laundry and packing - although not much to pack for a short 2 night trip.
As mentioned before, this was to be a relaxing 2 night stay at Jambo House, with meals at Jiko and Sanaa - to celebrate our 35th Anniversary & use up 24 2010 DVC points. It will now be a solo trip, since DH will be recovering from the just-completed drive (2,000 miles plus the other 12,000 he's done in the past few months).
I'll try to do an almost-live report, starting tomorrow.
And, even though I'm ditching him for my trip, Lou surprised me yesterday with this:
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