WIZARDS, REAL AND AMAZING, CHRISTMAS PARTIES AND CANDLELIGHT- PTR - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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. December 6th-Day 4. Our Disney adventure begins!!
You guys!!! WE ARE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD AGAIN!!!!! AND AT CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN!!!!
Today we are planning on getting up bright and early and taking a cab to Animal Kingdom Lodge!!!!!! This is honestly my favorite resort on the planet and I cannot believe that we are going back!!!!! : love:
Those of you that have been to Disney with me know how much I adore AKL!! Especially at Christmas time!! This will be my 7th stay here and Muffin"s 4th. We spent our first Disney trip with Logan here and I think it formed his Disney affection for life!!
This is the most beautiful, exotic resort that I have ever stayed at. Seriously. We have been lucky enough to stay at many beautiful resorts all over the world but there is no place quite like AKL. Where else can you wake up to see a giraffe walking by your balcony?! That is just mind blowing to think about!!
Not to mention the resort itself is gorgeous!! We have stayed at many of the deluxe resorts over the years but none have been quite as all encompassing as AKL. We the Grand Floridian for its elegance and close proximity to the MK. We the Polynesian for it's incredible South Seas theming, we the Wilderness Lodge for it's amazing lobby complete with rocking chairs. We the Yacht Club for it's easy walk to Epcot and the awesome Stormalong Bay. However!!
In my book, the beauty and peace of AKL, the exotic atmosphere and the amazing restaurants are second to none. Not to mention the Savanna!! The uniqueness of this resort wins hands down for me.
Muffin, on the other hand, prefers the WL. I also love that resort but I just don't think it compares to AKL. Fortunately for me, the WL has been under construction of some form or another for the last three trips we have taken.. While I am more than sure that we will be back there someday, I am happy to say ( and I mean no disrespect) that this year it will not be in the cards.
It has been four years since we last stayed at AKL, so it is long overdue!! I miss the lobby Christmas tree. I miss the decorations. I miss the Zawadi Marketplace and I miss Victoria Falls!! The smells alone wafting up from Boma are incredible! I miss Boma. I miss Jiko. Heck, I even miss the Mara!!. It is time to go back.
For today we plan to visit AK (which happens to be my favorite park). We have fast passes as follows:
We purposefully made them for later in the day as we enjoy just strolling this park and stopping wherever we please. I hope to get lots of animal pictures.
For right now, the park is closing at 7:00 PM which makes our 7:55PM dinner at Boma perfect. After dinner, we plan to go to Victoria Falls for a nightcap and maybe get some night vision goggles and check out the Savanna.
Should Rivers of Light happen to be up and running, we will definitely stay for that and try for a later dinner at Boma. I have a really really good feeling that this may be the case. We shall see.
Either way, we end our first Disney day exactly the way we want to!!
About This Page: 
. While I am more than sure that we will be back there someday, I am happy to say ( and I mean no disrespect) that this year it will not be in the cards.
. It is time to go back.
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