The Promise of Spring: Flower & Garden Festival 4.0 -- A Cam and Luke TR COMPLETED 8/27 - Page 52 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a cool tour!! May need to consider this on our next trip. Although since it's a short trip where we'll likely do 1 park/day, may not have time since Pandora will cut a big chunk out of our day.
I need to come back to this from home tonight. Your jacket picture isn't showing up for me at work.
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Thanks for such a great description of the tour like so many others we are now considering it. We loved the backstage tour at AK several years ago This one looks almost as appealing. Sorry to hear you had such a rough go of it on 7DMT Kudo's to Luke for not channeling his inner Dr Beverley Hofstadter and offering her advice and encouragement of "Buck up sissypants!"
I love elephants. It's interesting to learn about their fear of bees. You wouldn't think that such a big animal would be afraid of a little bee.
I'm glad that you were feeling better after yesterday. Cancelling you adr was a good call.
Liz
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Looks like a great tour and amazing value for what you got in return! Great photos and closeups of the elephants and these themselves is worth the price! Glad you are feeling better!
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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!
What a great tour, lots of information and love the pictures. Glad you are feeling better.
Thanks! I actually weeded out some of the blurry photos, but I had so much fun photographing the elephants.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh wow, the tour looks amazing! I've been waiting for you to get to this part of the trip report, as I'm thinking of taking this tour and I wanted to get your views on it. Based on what I've seen, I'm thinking we'll book this...
The length of the tour, the value pricing on it, and a reserved spot for photographing really make this tour great for almost anyone. Stella was so cute up close.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
That sounds like an amazing tour and a great value!! How cool!! I love the photos of the baby elephant!! You sound refreshed today as well!!
Stella was so much fun to watch. I loved when she would start running. Didn't make for good photos as those blurred, but it was so much fun to watch. I definitely felt 100% better after a great night's sleep.
I was thinking EXACTLY the same as Cheryl! It does look a fab tour and I think we'll do this in October, so thank you for the detailed description!
I think you all would enjoy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
That tour sounded so interesting and fun!!! I didn't know that elephants were afraid of bees and how great that Disney was able to solve the farmers crop issue in South Africa. Loved the pictures, especially of the baby elephant with it's mom!
Stella stuck pretty close to her mom the entire time and was so cute when she nursed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
What a cool tour!! May need to consider this on our next trip. Although since it's a short trip where we'll likely do 1 park/day, may not have time since Pandora will cut a big chunk out of our day.
I need to come back to this from home tonight. Your jacket picture isn't showing up for me at work.
Colleen, the photo is missing because I forgot to upload it along with a few others. I'll add them momentarily.
Thanks to Colleen, I have realized that I omitted several photos from yesterday's update. So if you want to see the Mickey jacket and our PhotoPass photos at the Tree of Life in our cool elephant shirts, just scroll back up and to see those. Sorry! I didn't realize I had forgotten them because they were uploaded out of order on Photobucket.
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Thanks for such a great description of the tour like so many others we are now considering it. We loved the backstage tour at AK several years ago This one looks almost as appealing. Sorry to hear you had such a rough go of it on 7DMT Kudo's to Luke for not channeling his inner Dr Beverley Hofstadter and offering her advice and encouragement of "Buck up sissypants!"
Luke learned as early as our honeymoon that when I get motion sick there is really no quick fix. He makes it as easy as possible for me. For that I am thankful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clio
I love elephants. It's interesting to learn about their fear of bees. You wouldn't think that such a big animal would be afraid of a little bee.
I'm glad that you were feeling better after yesterday. Cancelling you adr was a good call.
Liz
I had learned about their fear of bees several years ago when we took the Wild Africa Trek, and like you kept thinking about the size difference between the two. Then I remembered that I'm afraid of spiders even though they are a lot smaller than me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
Really looks like an educational tour. We may take the tour this November. All the photos were great, love the baby.
I think you'd really enjoy this tour and it doesn't take up too much of the day.
Great start to the tour! Love the elephant pictures!!
It was and thanks! I sure had fun taking the photos.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Looks like a great tour and amazing value for what you got in return! Great photos and closeups of the elephants and these themselves is worth the price! Glad you are feeling better!
It was an amazing value. I was so cool to be so close to Stella and all the other elephants.
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Great photos and closeups of the elephants and these themselves is worth the price! 
Glad you are feeling better! 
I've been waiting for you to get to this part of the trip report, as I'm thinking of taking this tour and I wanted to get your views on it. Based on what I've seen, I'm thinking we'll book this... 
You sound refreshed today as well!!
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