From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok - so I just read all 37 pages! Whew! So far, sounds like you had a great time with just a few hiccups. I really like all of your pics - great camera!
we had a lovely time, just not what we expected at all. I will be doing a trip report in due course - I'll post details here when I get started on that....
Love MiniLand! So cool! The one negative I think I see in every LEGOLAND review is the lack of shade.
And it's just silly, as that's something they could easily have fixed when they took the park over by planting a lot more trees. Why they didn't know that, I don't know.
Ok - so I just read all 37 pages! Whew! So far, sounds like you had a great time with just a few hiccups. I really like all of your pics - great camera!
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Tuesday 28 February – part four: love my new super zoom on my camera!
When we were done with Miniland, we made our way over towards the former Cypress Gardens part of the park…
We learnt on the Island of the Sky that Cypress Gardens was Florida’s first theme park, which I did know, but I didn’t realise that it opened in 1936. I love how they’ve preserved quite a chunk of it.
We made our way down to the lakefront to take in the view…
However, it wasn’t long before something caught Mark’s eye:
Love my new super zoom on my camera!
We made our way over to the giant banyan tree, which again we learnt earlier from Island in the Sky that this had originally started life growing in a wheelbarrow! Look at it now!
We carried on walking, and caught a glimpse of the LEGOLAND Water Park, which is only open from something like April to September…
We also saw some Weeping Angels – sorry sad Doctor Who reference to all of you wondering “what the heck?”…
We then found the pavilion…
… and it wasn’t long before we had finished our round tour of Cypress Gardens.
This takes up more land that you expect, as everything in LEGOLAND Florida is very compact, and you literally move from one land very quickly into the next one.
Weeping Angels--So. Creepy. (Love them!)
Excellent pictures of the hawk/eagle/falcon (?) Not something one gets to see every day, very cool!
Great coverage of the whole place. How long would you estimate that you were there?
Curious for your next installment.☺
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Excellent pictures of the hawk/eagle/falcon (?) Not something one gets to see every day, very cool!
I wasn't sure what it was. I was half hoping someone would tell me after posting the photos... anyone?
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Great coverage of the whole place. How long would you estimate that you were there?
We got there about 10:15am and left about three hours later... technically we only did one ride and walked around the park, so obviously if you have members of the family who want to enjoy the rides, you could easily fill a day there.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I think that was the first banyan tree I ever saw - when I went to Cypress Gardens in 1980 or so. Glad they've kept a part of that park, especially with its history of first Florida theme park.
I loved going to Cypress Gardens. It's good to know that they saved part of it. I remember the Banyan tree. It looks bigger that I remember. there used to be a sausage tree there, too.
Oh those weeping angels, I just don't like or trust them.
Liz
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So cool! The one negative I think I see in every LEGOLAND review is the lack of shade. 
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
we had a lovely time, just not what we expected at all. I will be doing a trip report in due course - I'll post details here when I get started on that....
I love how they’ve preserved quite a chunk of it. 
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