OUR VERY NAUTICAL NEW YEAR - Updated 1/16/07 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wake up . . . whenever
Grab something to eat and hit Animal Kingdom
See 8:30 Wishes
Eat Dinner at Citricos (9:20 ADR)
Midnight Wishes Cruise
Ring in the New Year
What Really Happened:
Scott and I both figured that Epcot and Magic Kingdom would be packed on New Years Eve. We have heard the horror stories about the crowds, and we desperately wanted to avoid them if possible. Our thought was that, if we went to Animal Kingdom, we might avoid the crowds because fewer people might go there, in part because it closed early.
We woke up between 8-9, got ready and went out the door. Before doing so, we made a quick addition to our plans for the night. We called dining and had them add a bottle of champagne and some chocolate covered strawberries for our midnight wishes cruise. Around 10, we hit the Sassagoula Food Court for some quick breakfast. I had Scott get in line for food. We split 3 beignets (yummy, but nearly joked on the powdered sugar!) and we split an OJ.
While Scott was in line for food, I ran to the Concierge desk. Scott’s parents have never been to Disney, but we peaked their curiosity enough that they have agreed to go with us later in 2007. I had initially tried to use a TA, but, because I was trying to lock in 2006 rates for it, I wanted to at least get something booked today. Unfortunately, the concierge could not help me, and I would have to call reservations to do that. We jumped on the bus to AK. After arriving, we took some pictures of the beautiful Christmas tree that they had outside and then cleared security a little before 11. After looking at some of the beautiful birds and other animals in the Oasis, we proceeded to Kilimanjaro Safari, which is one of our favorite rides at AK. I sent Scott ahead with my AP (he walks faster) to get a FP, but he called me on my phone and told me that the wait was only about 20 minutes, so we went into the stand-by line. The ride was great, and we saw some nice animals (I still maintain that those animals know to pose for you). One of the highlights was seeing the baby giraffe which had not yet been born when I was there in September with my mom. After getting off of the safari, we took the train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Once there, we got photos and signatures from Rafaki, Jiminy Cricket and Pocahontas (we again used the great autograph books that Caldercup had made for us; thanks again!). After taking the train back, we split up briefly. Scott went to see if he could get FPs for EE. However, they were all sold out (this was around 1 p.m.) and the stand-by line had a 2 hour wait. He decided that we would catch it next time we come to Disney (we had ridden it before, so no biggie). I went to Tusker House, which is one of our favorite places to eat at AK (at the resort, we love Jiko). When Scott came back, I already had a table and the meal (to split) which was a half of rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies and cheesecake and coke to wash it down. Excellent as usual.
After eating, we browsed around the gift shopped where I bought a couple of t-shirts with zebra/tiger Mickeys on them (one for me and one for a friend). We then went over to Discovery Island to casually view some of the animals. This was one of the more humorous parts of our trip. In one of the areas, they had kangaroos, flamingos and a condor. Scott and I have never seen a kangaroo in person (we do not get a lot of them in the outback of Philadelphia). One came within viewing distance but was standing behind a tree stump and would pick its head up periodically. Scott kept trying to get a picture of it, but when he would put the camera up, the kangaroo would duck its head down. This happened several times, but it was clear that a battle of wills was brewing between the kangaroo and Scott. After about 6 pictures, Scott reluctantly gave up and left the area. However, we walked around a corner and another kangaroo walked right out into the open (and much closer) and Scott got his picture.
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