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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wednesday 23 December – part five: a fireside chat
When we were done eating, we went out to sit around the fire. When we got there, there were lots of people there, but most of them quickly disappeared, as the fire wasn’t on. Not that it was that cold out, but obviously they thought it was. We sat there for a while, chatting to the woman there, who turned out to be German, and the Cast Member.
We then looked for the animals on the savannah. They weren’t that close and I can understand that, given the shouting teenagers that we had to endure. Why on earth do people insist on putting the animals through that sort of noise? Finally, we were able to get a couple of shots.
We headed back to the lobby, getting more photos on the way and then sat down by the fire there. This was a lot warmer and we enjoyed sitting there, taking it all in. Mark had some fun with some self-portrait, some of which were better than others.
After a while, I suggested we head off, as I was starting to get sleepy and I needed to make it to a certain time to take my pain medication.
We retrieved the car from valet parking, watching with amusement, as a rude woman marched up to valet, demanding concierge service and was told that she would need to go inside to check in first.
We drove back a different route to the Beach Club, using the same route that we would take to get there. It’s not the route Disney signposts you to, but we thought it was quicker.
Once back at the room, we decided to go and change some travellers cheques up and then went out to get some photos of the resort.
From there, we headed for Martha’s Vineyard, where Mark got a Stella Artois and I got a glass of Riesling. It was nice just to sit there and watch the world go by and gave us the chance to watch an American football match and still I cannot figure this sport out for the life of me! : After a while, it got busier and therefore noisier, so we headed out with both of us commenting that our drinks had gone to our heads!
In the lobby, we stopped off at the Photopass counter to sort out a couple of our photos that had missing effects, such as Tinkerbell and Stitch and that was quickly done for us. I was impressed that we didn’t have to go into the parks to get that sorted out.
Then it was into the Marketplace, where we had decided to spend some of our many snack credits on some presents for our nieces and nephew. As there are four of them in total, we didn’t want to spend a fortune. I would love to buy them all tops, but the cheapest ones we found were $25, which quickly mounts up, so getting a snack box of Minnie character cookies for each of them. While there, we got chatting to the Cast Members about the guests that we’ve encountered this vacation. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve still met some lovely people, but we’ve also met a large number of total idiots, not something we’ve ever noticed at Disney as much as on this trip. The Cast Member was telling us about her experiences. I don’t know how they deal with some of the people they come into contact with. :
From there, it was back to the room and off to bed.
The weather today was in the high 60s and cloudy. The best thing today was dinner at Boma. The worst thing today was being hit by my chronic fatigue at the mall. The funniest thing today was the voice of some of the princesses at breakfast. Today we tried sitting around the fire at Animal Kingdom Lodge And the result was it was a lovely thing to do. The most magical moment today was having our photo taken by the Christmas tree in the lobby of Animal Kingdom Lodge.
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: After a while, it got busier and therefore noisier, so we headed out with both of us commenting that our drinks had gone to our heads! 
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