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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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10-31-2001, 01:23 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Charlotte, NC USA
Posts: 542
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Our magical trip...Or I could have sworn I saw Walt Disney following us.
Day One-Arrival night
Cast:
Sherrie (that's me)
Geoff (that's my DH)
and Taylor (DD whose 8th birthday was the prompt for our trip this year)
Dates: October 18-October 23
I am feeling better so here goes our magical tale:
OK, our flight does not leave Charlotte, NC until 5:10 pm so I took the day off to make sure everything and everybody was ready. So far, so good, as things go off without a hitch. I pick up DD from school and we meet DH at airport around 3:30 pm. I'm never going to be at an airport 2 hours before my flight, just isn't going to happen I don't care what the experts say. We go on a tour of the airport looking for the father of DD's best friend who has guard duty there now. I won't let her ask each one she sees as I know their job is a serious one, but the few she does manage to speak with get so tickled. She tells each of them that she wants to make sure "Mr. Billy" knows she is at the airport and getting ready to go an airplane and she isn't scared because she is going to Disney World and nobody could hurt you if you are going there. (I must say I really want to believe that sentiment. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )
The flight down was very uneventful and we were pretty much on time. As someone else has already mentioned, I really didn't think that the "extra" checks at the airport were very effective, but I still felt as safe as I always have.
We never told DD exactly how we were getting from the airport to Disney. We kept telling her we would find a bus or taxi once we got to Orlando. (Magic Moment#1) Imagine her surprise, when we are going down the escalator to the baggage claim and she sees the Transtar driver holding up a sign with her name on it. I thought she was going to pass out right then and there. She said, "Mommy, Walt Disney sent somebody to pick me up, now how are you and Daddy going to get there?" I asked if we could bum a ride with her LOL and she happily agreed. After we got our bags, the driver informed us he would have to go and get the car while we waited for him. As we were waiting, a limo pulled up in the shuttle space next to ours and she admired and said how much she wanted to ride in one. (Magic Moment #2) (Now, keep in mind when I booked this they told me it was a towncar.) This little mini-stretch limo comes pulling out of the deck and rolls into our space. Out pops our driver, DD's face lights up like its Christmas and she hops in the backseat like a diva-in-training. We are pulling out of the airport and she looks all around the car and promptly declares, "This is Paradise!!" She was so excited to tell someone she was riding in a limousine, that I let here call my mom and explode into all the details. It was pretty darn cute, if I say so myself.
As it was close to 8:00 pm as we were pulling into AKL, it was hard to take in the outside area of the lodge. Even so, it was a beautiful sight, once we pulled up to the front. We went to check in and had to wait maybe 5 minutes as there were a few guests ahead of us. Once, we got to the CM, she informs me that we have been "upgraded" to a pool view, at which point DD pops up. The CM acknowledges her and her birthday (another mystical experience to behold as the child cannot figure out how everyone knows her by name and that we are celebrating her birthday, wink wink) and DD then says that she can't wait to look out her room and see the animals. Now, after that, I turned to the CM and promptly said I was told our room was a standard savannah view with animals and not a pool. She says that is not what we have, but I pull out my voucher which says that IS what we have and she works her magic to get us a room on the outlying savannah (sorry I can't remember the name at this point) but it is room #2214 which is not too far from the main lobby and down one floor. We could certainly smell Boma everyday, yum yum!!. Our room was very nice and the birds were still hanging out for us to see even at night. The only thing missing, was that a CM that had helped with our reservations had sent DD a birthday card that was supposed to be delivered upon arrival. As we got there so late it would not be done until the next day, which as you will see turned out to be even more special!!
Next time...I am sure that Walt Disney must be following us
[ 10-31-2001: Message edited by: arielsmom ]
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