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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Manta sounds GRREEAATTTTTTT. OK, I am a thrill ride junkie as well. Glad you were able to ride it so many times and live to tell about it. Not sure about the IDIOT comment anymore. Love all of the pix.
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Discovery Cove looks like it would be an incredible experience. You are a sweet, brave mom to ride Manta 3 times for your kid.
It really is incredible!
Yes I was brave. or crazy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Congrats for riding Manta... 3 times! Claire is definitely becoming a thrill ride junkie! Cookie Monster is so cute!
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I was shocked Claire loved it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Manta sounds GRREEAATTTTTTT. OK, I am a thrill ride junkie as well. Glad you were able to ride it so many times and live to tell about it. Not sure about the IDIOT comment anymore. Love all of the pix.
I will admit it..I am one of those idiots now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe you rode Manta and not once, not twice, but three times! What a great mom you are - I hope Claire realises that!
I tell my kids all the time that I am a great mom....they don't always believe me.
We ran into Mom and Dad randomly then. I told them we were going to go see Shamu. Dad wanted to come, but Mom wanted to shop. Dad was worried about leaving Mom alone, but I told him she could handle herself.
This makes me think of Jaws 3 the movie. A lot of scenes were done in this lagoon, though it looked much different back then. If you ever get a chance, there is a guy on Youtube who has these great videos where he goes to places movies and tv shows were filmed and he shows how they are now verses then. His name is adamthewoo.
Across the way it used to be a stadium for the water ski show…now over there you will find Shamu Stadium. (I can’t remember if the seating is still over there or not anymore and I don’t seem to have a picture) Well not exactly across in the picture…but across the lagoon and to the left I believe of the picture…..
There was a long line to get into the area to go see Shamu and the other whales….or I guess I could say all the Shamus. I really don’t know all their names and they all look like a Shamu to me.
I saw these cute popcorn holders and I really regret not getting one now.
As we waited, Claire told me she had to go to the bathroom. I knew it was a little ways away to get to one so I did as any good parent would…I told her to hold it as I wasn’t getting out of line.
Soon the line moved and we were all let in to observe the whales swimming. It was hard to see at times over the people.
Some of my shots are through a glass window and some are over people’s heads.
I could watch them for hours….however, Claire could not as she had to pee.
So we made our way towards the exit…
…only to find an underwater viewing area, and again I told her to hold it.
AWWWWW!!!! There is a baby.
Claire was griping and complaining so we moved on. I know she enjoyed the whales, but the call of nature was stronger. I guess I took a few random pictures on the way out.
Claire, if you stop here for a picture, I promise we’ll go to the bathrooms next.
We then quickly made it over to the closest bathrooms for Claire and she was a happy girl once again.
We just decided to explore over here as we haven’t been over in this area before.
We were getting a bit hungry, and I can’t remember if this was still open or not, but I think Mom wanted to go eat later with us, so we didn’t go in to check it out.
We just roamed the gardens near it.
I found Nemo.
These sculptures were made out of trash found in the ocean.
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I agree, baby Shamu is too cute! I really like those sculptures from the trash from the ocean, but I also find them disturbing, as it brings home to you how much rubbish ends up in the sea.
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Love baby Shamu!! The area where you watched the whales looks like the same area where we did a "Lunch with Shamu" type thing about 8 years ago. Not sure if they still do that lunch or not.
Great pictures of Discovery Cove and Sea World. You're a lot braver than I am. I wouldn't ride the Manta once let a lone three times.
My daughter worked at Sea World of Ohio the year she graduated from high school.
We got to go quite often that summer. I still miss the place.
Liz
Isn't it so cute. It stayed by momma the whole time too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I agree, baby Shamu is too cute! I really like those sculptures from the trash from the ocean, but I also find them disturbing, as it brings home to you how much rubbish ends up in the sea.
I loved it.
I thought the same thing, beautiful but sad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Discovery Cove looks so beautiful! You're a special Mom to ride Manta three times
It really is gorgeous.
I felt like a hero that day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
So many great pics from Sea World and Discovery Cove! I'm like you, I could watch animals be cute all day!
Now if she wanted to watch something and I didn't she would fuss if I begged her to leave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Love baby Shamu!! The area where you watched the whales looks like the same area where we did a "Lunch with Shamu" type thing about 8 years ago. Not sure if they still do that lunch or not.
I think it is in that area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clio
Great pictures of Discovery Cove and Sea World. You're a lot braver than I am. I wouldn't ride the Manta once let a lone three times.
My daughter worked at Sea World of Ohio the year she graduated from high school.
We got to go quite often that summer. I still miss the place.
Liz
I guess I drank some crazy juice that day!
How fun. I do miss the one in Ohio. I would probably try and go at least once every other year if it was still here.
I think it's a water park now...or it was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
You rode Manta 3 times. No one will ever get on that thing. EVER
I found more flamingos….and you know me and flamingos….lots of pictures.
Some were just relaxing while others were having a fit.
And they had some beautiful flowers in the area too.
We moved on in search of a snack.
Sea World has put in some charging stations too.
Oh…I want to see the sharks!
We went into the shark area. The tunnel in here was also used in Jaws 3. I purposely went in there because I had thought it was, and later I found out I was correct.
Hi Dory.
Help! My daughter has been eaten.
Love the tunnel.
That was pretty darn cool and I was able to check something off my want to do list!
We headed back outside…..looks like an escapee.
We looked through a few shops. I was trying to find a 50th anniversary magnet, but I never did fine one.
I had Claire take this picture for Katmark (Kathy) on Dis.
And while we’re in the spirit of things she tried on another.
More pretty flowers.
Sea Worlds pick a pearl is a little different than Disney’s and pretty darn cool.
I decided on a funnel cake. Claire said she didn’t want that, but of course she did end up helping me eat it.
We stood in the longest line for it too. Well the line wasn’t really long, just slow servers.
Claire went with chips.
I see we have a drink there too. We must’ve not gotten our mug refilled??? Hmmm. Maybe they couldn’t do it there, but I know we did refill it a few times that day.
After tackling Manta, Claire wanted to see how the line for Kraken was. Kraken is called a floorless coaster, which I guess means you are on top of the track but up a bit higher so your feet dangle.
This is the locker area for Manta. There is a charge to use them though.
We checked Kraken and the wait was pretty long….I think an hour. (which I found odd since Manta was still pretty much walk on) We also stopped and took a look at the penguin wait and that too was still really long.
So we worked our way back up front and decided to look through some more shops.
We shopped around a bit. I know I bought some sort of magnet, but I don’t think I got myself anything else…and I am sure Claire picked one or two items out, but I no longer remember what.
We then headed out to the car.
We drove the short distance back to the Marriott Grand Vista and took a walk around the pool area before heading back to our room.
It’s always a thrill to be the one to open the door.
We headed in and got cleaned up and decided where to go for dinner. Well if you know me, there is always one choice I have for offsite eats….The Cheesecake Factory. Dad decided he would stay behind and watch TV, so I drove Mom and Claire over.
There was quite a wait. I know at one time we were sitting near one of the doors and it had cooled down quite a bit and it was quite cold there. Mom was having a fit as she saw people going in who came in after us. She had me go up and ask how soon. Let’s just say I have this issue every time we go to a Cheesecake Factory. It’s like they want to torture me. They tell me soon and then we get called. It’s like they forget about us every single time we go.
Finally we got seated and made our orders.
We LOVE the bread there.
Claire got her usual pizza.
Mom got some different types of tacos.
And I got the crusted chicken parmesan.
It was all delicious. We had plenty of left overs and dad had an assortment to choose from when we got back.
I no longer remember our conversations that night, but I know we had some good laughs about something.
Of course we couldn’t leave without taking dessert with us.
I think Claire got one too, but I don’t have a picture.
I believe when we got back I took Claire for a quick swim before calling it a night.
And then we lay in bed watching TV till we fell asleep.
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What a great mom you are - I hope Claire realises that! 
You are a sweet, brave mom to ride Manta 3 times for your kid. 
I really like those sculptures from the trash from the ocean, but I also find them disturbing, as it brings home to you how much rubbish ends up in the sea. 
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