TR: Thingamabobs, Zebra & Giraffes, Oh My! Completed 3/25/15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We made breakfast in the villa this morning, sitting on the balcony watching all our animal friends!
I also did a bit of laundry another HUGE perk of staying in a villa do laundry as you go, so that you have all clean clothes to go home!
We didnt have any real plans for today other than whatever we felt like until later when we met up with our friends at DHS. So I suggested Downtown Disney for some shopping. Emily was all for that Scott not so much.
So Emily and I headed on our own to DTD for some retail therapy, while Scott headed to the gym to do some physical therapy for his back and a good soak in the hot tub. He was hurting from the last few days. Apparently he also got a nice nap in while we were gone as well.
Emily and I found DTD to be busier than we had expected. Last year we visited DTD on the 4th also and had the place all to ourselves it was great. Not so much today it was packed . But we managed to find some things We made custom collars for our puppies that we would be getting when we returned home they had to have some bling! Although I am still super bummed that there are no real pet items provided by Disney any longer.
Then we went to World of Disney (we had another one of those 20% off coupons!) and Emily basically spent all her spending money here! She purchased a Fireman Duffy for Scott, 3 vinylmations, a couple of costumes for her Duffy, some pins, and a pillow pet Sulley. I also found a new lanyard for Scott, a 2014 scrapbook kit, a frame, a magnet and salt and pepper mill set I had been eying for some time.
Then Emily stopped in Tren-D to pick up a shirt she had seen in there.
With our arms full of packages, and most of her spending money spent, we were ready to head back to the room! But we were getting hungry ~ and what is one to do when hungry in DTD?? Earl of Sandwich of course! We did have the courtesy to call Scott and see if he would like one so we placed our order to go, and brought lunch back to the resort with us to enjoy on our balcony! Sorry forgot take photos of the sandwiches, but Scott had the Italian, Emily had the Hawaiian, and I had the Caprese.
We just relaxed a bit in our room before getting ready to head to Disney Hollywood Studios for the afternoon/evening. We were meeting up with Lisa # 1 and family again for the evening. They had already been at Epcot for quite some time this morning, and were now at DHS.
We arrived at DHS around 2:45 p.m. And just as we arrived I realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses. So we stopped at one of the shops so that I could purchase a pair (it never fails, this happens to at least ONE of us every trip!), and Emily conned her Daddy into purchasing a new hat for her!
We also had stopped for a Photopass Photo!
Lisa #1 had sent me a text that they were at Lights, Motor, Action and that Matthew was able to secure a slot for the Jedi training in a bit so we agreed to meet there in a bit.
We had our first fast pass for Star Tours, so we headed there for our adventure.
When we came out, it was time for Matthews Jedi Training and we were able to find Lisa and her family easily. I took a ton of photos as well as the Photopass photographer here are a few! Matthew was so excited to be a part of this, as he knew when he visits Disney again he would be too old for the program.
There were a lot of kiddos being trained today so Matthew may or may not have been a bit disappointed when he had to fight Darth Maul rather than Darth Vadar? Regardless, he had a great time!
After Matthews training they wanted to go see American Idol and get out of the sun and heat to let Paul rest so they went to do that while we went to the Great Movie Ride!
Em was so excited to get the Western side as Scott had never seen this side we always get the gangster version!
Somehow, Emily snuck in another surprise Photopass photo! She is such a character!
Then we headed over to one of my favorite shows Beauty and the Beast! I cry each and every time with this show! We were late getting into the show, so we literally sat in the last row, so my pictures are not the best but thank goodness for zoom!
After the show, we were getting thirsty so we stopped for some specialty drinks from one of the Frozen kiosks. And Im sorry but I cannot for the life of me remember what we had (and I forgot to take photos!!!) other than Scott and I had adult versions and Emily had a non-alcohol version and it was over $30 for 3 drinks (with tip)!
Up next: Back with the whole gang!
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Emily was all for that Scott not so much. 
Apparently he also got a nice nap in while we were gone as well.
. But we managed to find some things We made custom collars for our puppies that we would be getting when we returned home they had to have some bling! Although I am still super bummed that there are no real pet items provided by Disney any longer.
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