An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Chef Mickey's looks great - we are planning a very early breakast there in October - it will be my first time to visit!
We've had breakfast here once and really enjoyed it.
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Originally Posted by islandgirl
Great meal & some wonderful character interaction at Chef Mickeys!!! Also, more great purchases!! Can't wait to read all about the safari!
We did have fun with the FAB 5!
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Originally Posted by jbd
Thanks for all the pics, Cam! The kids and I looked at them over breakfast this morning. Every time a new character came up at Chef Mickey's, Anna would yell, "Yay! We're going to see ________!" The best was Goofy because she pronounces it like, "Goopy!"
I started reading your trip report because I was too excited about the trip myself, but it's really helped Anna not only get excited about the trip, but it has given her an "anticipatory set."
Anna is so cute! Glad my trip report is helping build her excitement!
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Originally Posted by WeRDisneyFanatics
Aw, what a great dinner at CM!! Awesome pins you got, too.
Now I'm looking for another way to display all my pins and lanyards from each trip!
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Originally Posted by honeybee723
I can't wait to check out the new queue at HM. Looks like everyone thinks that section will take the longest but maybe it's just the opposite way around.
I was so excited to get back on the boards after watching the movie to see what you thought. All I can say is WOW! It was so wonderful and sad at the same time, and I think it was by far the best movie out of the series. After seeing it my mom and I are really trying to see how we can do Universal Studios to see the WWoHP. The tickets are so expensive, when all we really want to do is that section of the park, but we know that isn't an option. Plus, we would probably be leaving my DH and Dad behind with Hope for most of the day, so we need to make sure they can handle the duties. But Stephanie's right, if you buy the movie when it comes out you'll see them as much as you like.
At least on the day we were at HM the scenic queue was as fast as the direct one because so many stayed in the direct route.
I hate that the US tickets are so expensive because really all Stefanie and I really enjoyed was WWoHP and Seussland. We will go back, but it won't be an every year thing.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures from Chef Mickey's! Can't wait to hear all about the safari!
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Originally Posted by Missy71
great pics Cam. Love the new queue at HM. Can't wait to ty it. Your purchases are awesome. I making up a new shopping list as we speak. Can't wait to hear about your safari.
I'm always making out wishlists for shopping while reading others TRs.
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Originally Posted by luvnwdwgal
I'm really looking forward to seeing the interactive que at the Haunted Mansion and the hitching ghosts! Really cute Chef Mickey pictures Cam! Looking forward to more!
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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
What fun at the MK. Chef Mickey's looked great too! Sorry Luke's toes are still bothering him. I have to say again that I love that you put photos of your purchases at the end of each day. It's like I'm going shopping!
I figure taking photos of my purchases might make up for the lack of food pictures in my TRs.
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Originally Posted by Shari2137
Cool purchases, looking forward to hearing about the Safari.
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Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Was it just the way the pictures were taken, or was CM's empty?
Love the purchase pictures!
It was very busy that night at CM, but I have tried to crop out most of the strangers.
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Originally Posted by scrappyjae
Jeez...away from the boards for 4 days and already 13 pages behind. Glad I haven't missed the Matthews Safari, I want to experience that with everyone else.
I am so glad you enjoyed the last HP movie. I went to the 11 am show on Friday and loved it. I did not love the woman with the infant that kept crying and she kept standing directly behind us in the back. Kinda made it hard to pay attention to the movie. This was so not the movie to bring an infant to.
Loved all the updates, especially the giant picture. I never noticed that either, can't wait to point it out to my kids on our next visit. They love finding new things to look at on our trips.
I was reprimanded back in college for screaming during the movie Halloween by some parents who had brought their infant with them. Personally, I thought that was a poor idea on their part. I tend to scream when I'm scared.
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
Great photos with the characters at CM!! And love all the purchases! Can't wait for all the photos we'll see next.
Have you done breakfast at Chef Mickey's? Which do you prefer?
We have done breakfast at Chef Mickey's. We enjoyed the food and character interaction as usual. But we're not really morning people and hardly every eat that big at the start of the day, so for us dinner is the better option.
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Originally Posted by mommapants
Nice couple of updates Cam. Glad you enjoyed the movie but there wasn't really any chance you wouldn't.
I love all the purchases and so happy you are posting them.
Quite a few more purchases to come!
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Originally Posted by MickeyD
Happy Birthday, Cam! Have a fun day. Our celebration for my 21 yr old started at a local pub at 12:01 am this morning.
Love the pics of the HM queue. Can't wait to experience it hands on. Love the updates!
At 53, I was sound asleep in bed by 12:01 AM.
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Originally Posted by scrappyjae
Yes, Happy Birthday! Hope your day was as great as mine. (Although getting stuck in traffic because a glider crashed into a tree killing someone wasn't such a great end).
How tragic!
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Originally Posted by elisa1006
we love having dinner at CM! Great character interaction! Love all of your pictures! Awesome purchases! I love seeing pictures of the items you get
More purchases to come!
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Originally Posted by mcc0313
Cam!!! Hope you are having a great day.
I did -- so much so that I'm not going to get a new update out today. Hopefully, tomorrow if our anniversary plans don't get in the way.