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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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11-15-2002, 08:34 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 10,351
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Soaring to New Heights
I was going to file a trip report on our side trip to Disneyland a while ago, but just never seemed to get around to it. According to DD though, this trip to DL and DCA was actually one of the highlights of her trip.
My cousin's daughter was a castmember at DL, so she managed to get us free hopper passes to the park. We only had one day in LA so had to make the most of park hopping on the only day we could spend there. Since we had never been to DCA, we decided to start there first.
We got there shortly after opening, grabbed a map and started wandering around. Our first stop brought us to Soarin Over California. We didn't know what it was (unlike WDW which I spend much time reading up on, we always dive blindly into DL), so decided it would be fun to try. We waited maybe 25 minutes or so in the lobby which has fun aviation photos in it. From there we were led into the main theater which was similar to walking into Star Tours or Body Wars with the exception of the seats being supported overhead rather than affixed to the ground. We got into our seats and were ready for whatever might come next. As soon as the lights went down and the show started, our row of seats swung forward and up so that our legs were suspended in the air. From then on we were on a thrill ride of our lives. My favorite part was the glider going through the pine forest and the scent of pine wafting through the air. This ride was definitely a 5 star attraction.
From there we wandered around some more before arriving at Paradise Pier. I'm not big on traditional theme park rides, but since it was just DD and I doing the park, I decided I could go on them just this once! We decided to start with Mulholland Madness which is a small 4 seater roller coaster resplendent with many sharp twists and turns. We waited approximately 30 minutes this time before embarking on our journey. I had butterflies in my stomach because I'm not big on roller coasters. Our car slowly pulled up the first hill before making a couple of sharp stomach churning turns. Just as we were at the highest point of the ride, our car jerked and then suddenly stopped. A voice came over the speaker announcing that our ride was temporarily stopped and would resume momentarily. This announcement was repeated again a few minutes later. In the meantime, it was very cloudy out and looked like it could rain at any moment. From my side of the car, I couldn't see any way down short of climbing down ladders with no railings. Yikes!!! A minute or so later they announced that they might start the cars in reverse down the track to get us down. The thought of going backwards down the first hill really didn't appeal to me. Pretty soon, they sent a castmember up there to stand with us. She assured us that we would be able to get out soon. Since we were trapped up there, I decided to take some photos. I got a picture of the tops of the rides at Paradise Pier as well as a great photo of the Grand Californian Hotel. About 10-12 minutes into being stranded, they decided that they would let us walk down (there are stairs by the way!) So we hiked down from the very top of the ride. When we reached the bottom, we asked whether or not we might be compensated and the castmember replied that we could be first in line when the ride was up and running again! Not a chance! We said "thanks, but no" and headed off to tour the rest of the park!
To be continued....
[ 11-17-2002, 09:05 PM: Message edited by: stretch2864 ]
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