Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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05-02-2006, 01:36 AM
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#10
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Two go wild and go west! TWO UPDATES 5/1!
Friday 14 April – part two: where is this taxi driver going? and I want one of these bathrooms!
As for the views from the plane, there wasn’t too much to see for the first couple of hours, except a couple of snow topped mountains:
Then we flew over the snow at the top of Canada and the views were beautiful:
 
We flew over the Hudson Bay – not that you would’ve known that from the view from the plane. The only way we could tell was by following our journey on the interactive map as it was all pretty much frozen over. As we flew near Winnipeg on our map, we waved at Donna (GoofyMom). You know, despite all her recent posts about spring finally being here, it still looked very snowy round there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
We saw more snow covered mountains around the Yellowstone area …
 
… and then we hit the clouds again and didn’t really see anything else until we landed.
The second half of the flight seemed to drag by, although I did watch the Constant Gardener, which helped to pass the time. An excellent and thought provoking film. Finally, we were preparing to land and Mark and Colin in the seat next to him were both marvelling at the deserts and canyons we flew over. I kept telling Mark that he hadn’t seen anything yet and that the Grand Canyon would truly take his breath away. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
As we landed, we could see some of the landmark hotels on the Strip – the Luxor, the Stratosphere and the MGM Grand. I couldn’t take photos of any of them as I wasn’t allowed to have my camera on my lap during the take off or landing, because we were in the emergency exit seats.
By the time we got off the plane and had walked into the terminal, it was looking very dark and foreboding outside. The captain had warned us just after we landed that there were likely to be thunderstorms later in the day and a gentle rain had started. When we got outside a little while later, we were grateful of that, because it took the humidity out of the air a bit.
Because we were near to the doors and amongst the first out, we only had a five minute wait before we cleared immigration. No questions from the guy we saw. Very odd. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Our luggage took longer to come round, but eventually it made it and we said our farewells to Colin and Kim. He was going to get a surprise when they got outside – she’d booked a limo to take him to the Venetian as a surprise. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
As for us, our mode of transport was a lot less glamorous and a lot more hair-raising. Let’s just say I’m very glad that I had my seatbelt on when we got into our taxi. Our driver was a madman and was slamming the brakes on all the time. On more than one occasion, I did think that we were going to end up in the back of the car in front of us. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]
We finally made it in one piece just about and walked into the Venetian, absolutely awestruck. As we had pulled up outside, I couldn’t help but marvel at how close it was to the original and the decadent theme continued as we walked inside. I briefly had time to glance up outside, where there was a beautiful ceiling with more in the lobby.
We quickly checked in and were given our room on the 26th floor. It was quite a hike to get through the casino and to find the elevators up to the room, but as we walked through the casino I couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t as garish or as “in your face” as I had been expecting, which was a pleasant surprise. You certainly couldn’t miss it, but it didn’t completely dominate the resort either.
You know you’re in a big hotel when there are three separate sets of elevators, all going to different floors. Having picked the right ones, we found our room quite near the elevators. I put the key in the door and when it opened, all I can say is wow. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] I was truly lost for words with the beauty of it. This was worth every penny we had paid for it.
I really wanted to come here because of the size of the rooms. It just seemed like a worthwhile indulgence and the second I opened the door, I knew that was right. There was so much space and as for the bathroom, well it was just like something out of Extreme Makeover Home Edition, especially that lovely walk-in shower. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img] Lots more room than our one at home! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I could cope with this being our home for the next four nights.
The only real downside was the view. It wasn’t as spectacular as I had hoped, but I could live with that, the rest of the surroundings more than made up for that.
 
The view from our room
 
 
Our suite
  
The amazing bathroom
Next: is that sky real and a perfect first dinner
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