Rides, Rainclouds and mishaps....Disney Style - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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But, I have to say, I'm getting tired just reading your TR. Can't wait for more
Thanks, I'll post more in the next installment tonight.
For a minute, I thought you meant you were getting tired because my TR was boring. Then I reread what you wrote. Surprisingly, none of us really got tired during the day. It was only once we got in the truck at night that we felt it.
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You guys really get a lot done everyday!! Sounds like a wonderful time at MK and I love the photos!!
Thanks about the photos. I think the reason why we got so much done is because we went in the parks with no set plan except one - to have fun. We did whatever time allowed and if we didn't get to something, then we'd do it another time.
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What a great day you all had...a nice relaxing morning and breakfast seemed to make your little one happy. You got a lot done during the day...once again some great pictures. Never knew about the double fries but that will definitely come in handy as my little one loves this place...
Glad you were able to grab a good spot for Wishes and Tinkerbell...
All the character meals made Abby happy this year. I was a little concerned about them because 2 years ago, she wouldn't even look at the "fur characters." I figured the meals would either work out for us or I'd be left wishing I didn't make the ADR's. They worked out and in an absolutely great way. At 3 of the 5 I had planned, we saw a character almost immediately and then Abby couldn't wait for the rest. What a difference 2 years has made with Abby's behavior with the characters.
I'm glad the tip about the double fries will come in handy for you too. It certainly made it easier in that Lenny and I could eat our own too without having to share since I actually found the portions to be smaller than 2 years ago for the adult meals. That's okay though because IMO the meals were "right-sized" this year for us instead of being too much.
Thanks about Wishes. I'm not sure why there weren't alot of people where we sat. Even once they started, it was still relatively uncrowded. There were a few trees around, maybe people thought they'd be in the way?
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Sounds like you had a lot of fun at 1900 Park Fare and a great time at the Magic Kingdom.
We did. Pretty much the whole vacation was great, even with our few mishaps - like the scooter.
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You are really getting to see at lot of characters
I was surprised by all the characters we saw this year (well not at the meals - those were planned obviously) . I don't know if we were in the right place at the right time or if it's because when I saw little crowds of people, I stopped to see what they were doing.
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Great update and love all the pictures. Sounds like a pretty great day to me, you got lots done, but it wasn't commando in any way.
Hope Lenny can get his scooter fixed with little or no trouble.
Thanks. We didn't do commando this year since mom wasn't with us. Last time with mom, it was commando. Stop for a cigarette, then rush here. Stop for another one, then rush there. Yes, we didn't take many breaks this year, but we took our time. We didn't really rush to anything. If when passing a ride Abby wanted to do it instead of whatever ride we were heading to, IMO, there was no harm in stopping - mom would never have allowed that (it actually annoyed her the last time).
And I'll update on the scooter in the next installment.
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Another great day. You sure are getting a lot done. This may be a wild guess, but is Peter Pan your daughter's favorite ride?
According to Abby, her favorite ride this year was the Carousel, but since she rode that only once a day but SW and Peter Pan several times a day, I'd say it's definitely up there. I kept telling Lenny my dad was with us this year because we were on Peter Pan so much. He died in 2004 but Peter Pan was one of the rides he absolutely loved (that and 20000 Leagues).
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Great update. You are sure finding a lot of characters and getting so much done. We saw Wendy and Peter walking down the street in MK. It was strange that they were more intent on their own private conversation than the guests looking at them. I never did find where they went that day.
Thanks. We never saw the Characters that intent on their own conversations, but I did see a few "Character Handlers" and Photopass People like that.
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Great update. And I continue to be impressed by how many character pictures you got!
Thanks. I am too. Like I said, I don't know if it was luck or just in the right place at the right time.