A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure COMPLETED - Page 37 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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They're brilliant, aren't they? You see, when everyone was commenting about how good the first batches were, I knew there were much better ones to come. What I'd love to know is how they came up with the idea - a brilliant mind there definitely.
So adorable! We so have to do Photopass once we get our APs next month!
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Hi Chepz! I feel like I have been reading your reports since you were a baby and I love them all. I just came upon this report and wanted to add a couple of comments- First, the walk through in Cinderella' castle is not new, it was there when the park opened but had been closed down and forgotten for a long time. When they found it again, they cleaned it up and reopened it. That's why the standard seems a bit out of date. Second, the Roger Rabbit ride is better if you have seen the movie recently! Also, if you hold the wheel tightly, the car will not spin and so you can enjoy the theming. I found this out as I am one of those people who easily gets motion sickness!
As for breakfast, the French Quarter has coffee and begnets in the morning. Not sure of what else they may have,but it was really crowded one morning in Sept. because it is about the only place to go!
A special birthday, a diamond anniversary and a west coast adventure UPDATED ...
I'm so glad you mentioned the Sleeping Beauty Castle diorama walk through. Haven't done it in years and never thought someone might think it new and not up to snuff. I meant to say something and forgot.
PS - I didn't even know it was there when I lived there - it took an out-of-stater to reveal it to me.
Hi Chepz! I feel like I have been reading your reports since you were a baby and I love them all.
Well, it has been a while now - probably about 13 years or so...
Quote:
I just came upon this report and wanted to add a couple of comments- First, the walk through in Cinderella' castle is not new, it was there when the park opened but had been closed down and forgotten for a long time. When they found it again, they cleaned it up and reopened it. That's why the standard seems a bit out of date.
Cool and good to know - I bet we've visited on one of the occasions when it was all closed down.
Quote:
Second, the Roger Rabbit ride is better if you have seen the movie recently! Also, if you hold the wheel tightly, the car will not spin and so you can enjoy the theming. I found this out as I am one of those people who easily gets motion sickness!
Dang it - I wish I'd known that before we did it, but if we ever do it again, at least now we'll know for the future...
Quote:
As for breakfast, the French Quarter has coffee and begnets in the morning. Not sure of what else they may have,but it was really crowded one morning in Sept. because it is about the only place to go!
Sorry for the lateness of this update - board issues earlier on today...
Thursday 10 September – part ten: he talked forever!
When we came out of the Little Mermaid ride, we stopped at the Photopass pic for Grizzly River Rapids, and honestly, the Photopass guy here talked forever! He told us each pose he wanted us to do beforehand, chatted away about where we lived, and was lovely, but I saw at least three other groups give up and move on, because he was talking so much. We think Karen and Sharon got the same guy, as they were saying the same thing later about their guy.
With that, we made our way back to the hotel…
I tell you what, when the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail is practically empty of kids (it’s a play area), you know it’s a seriously hot day. I checked with the Cast Member to see whether it was still open, and it was, but the kids just didn’t want to know.
We stopped off in the shop by the Grizzly River Rapids, where Mark had some fun!
We then headed back to the room…
After a couple of hours cooling down in the lovely air conditioning in our room, we were off again, as we were due to meet Sharon and Karen at the Carthay Circle just after 5:00pm for dinner. We stopped off to watch people on the Grizzly River Rapids on the way…
… and our way through Grizzly Peak…
… stopping in the now obligatory gift shop, where Mark found another hat. I do not think this one suited him however.
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I have barely had time to get over here but now caught up again.
The photopass pictures are just amazing. they have such clever set ups. I hope WDW takes some of these ideas.
Of course they are now changing up DL's photopass and I think the cost is going up too. I think it's going to be like memory maker now.
There is just too much to comment on but it all looks fabulous.
I will try t keep caught up for the next week but then I head down to FL next Tuesday. I am sure I will be super behind once again. LOL
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You see, when everyone was commenting about how good the first batches were, I knew there were much better ones to come. What I'd love to know is how they came up with the idea - a brilliant mind there definitely. 
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Great pictures from DCA! Can't wait to hear about dinner! 
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