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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It was time for our FP+! We headed right over as we were going to meet some princesses. I bet you can guess who!
Yep! We just had to get a picture of Claire with Rapunzel!
I want to thank my dear friend Janet for loaning us this dress…without it we never would’ve gotten this special picture.
Needless to say, Rapunzel was very impressed with the dress.
The other Princess in the room was Snow White! She loved Claire’s dress as well and they had to do some twirling.
That was fun. Before I would let Claire change out of the dress there was one more spot I needed to go.
It’s important to get Rapunzel in front of her tower.
And of course near her bathrooms!
We then got Claire changed into some comfy clothes and headed out to find some more fun.
My next picture shows Splash, but we didn’t ride it. I think we might’ve went to go see how long the wait was as this is a favorite of Claire’s and it must’ve been too long.
We then decided we wanted a snack. We headed over towards the Dole Whip stand, but it was still crazy crowded so we went to the little stand near the Aladdin Flying Carpets and got a Citrus Swirl. This was a first for us, but I had read about them and it did not disappoint at all.
We sat near the exit to the Tiki Room and enjoyed it without too many people bothering us.
We then set off towards the Hub.
If your remember…Today was the day I had FP+ for the new parade, but the system messed up and only had Claire showing up as having one. I wanted to check with a CM in the area to be sure all was fine and that I would be able to get in. The CM I talked to said it would be fine and to find her when it was time to go in. We still had a little more time to waste and Claire wanted to go see the laugh floor again so we did that. We got out just a little before our parade viewing FP time was to open so we headed straight back there and found our special CM and she let us in. It was already getting crowded. I was shocked…we weren’t late at all, right on time, but evidently they allowed people in much earlier than the set time. I worried we wouldn’t find a good spot to see the parade as all along the rope it was already full. I found a family with a little bit of space and a stroller parked next to them so we decided to stand behind the stroller as we would not be blocking anyone’s view. Well I guess I picked the wrong spot. It was a family with the grandparents along as well. All were sitting along the ground, except Grandpa, who was nowhere in sight. Grandma turns to me about 5 minutes or so after we have been standing there and says that we are in Grandpa’s spot, so when he returns we will have to allow him in. I say OK, but there really was more than enough room. The lady next to her looks at her and at me and says “I can scoot over and your daughter can sit on the ground next to me”. I thank her profusely and Claire goes and sits down. Grandma gives that lady some dagger eyes. Not sure why it was such a big deal, but I guess it was to her. Grandpa comes around and says I am in his spot could he please get his drink…sure thing! I move over a bit and there is still room for both of us, but I can see he will block my view. Grandma has a satisfied look. After about 45 seconds Grandpa gets impatient and walks off….never to come back to his “spot” again. He walked around the area the whole time the parade was on, so I lucked out, but I am sure that made Grandma annoyed. LOL!
While waiting for the parade I was texting back and forth with my friend Janet. I think she was as excited as I was for the 2nd viewing of the parade! LOL! I took this picture while I waited.
It would’ve been a cool picture if it didn’t have the darn crane in it, so I played with photoshop and though it’s not perfect in any way, this is my fixed version.