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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
As I have mentioned before - Emily is part of a Dance company - one in which she has to auditon for every year - they allow girls to start auditioning at 10 - and they can continue to do so all throughout high school. This is Emily's 3rd year as part of the Junior Company (there is also a Teen Company (have to be 13 to audition for this....so most likely next year - just missed this year!)). In addition to many more classes than the average dancer, these girls participate in a lot of community activities such as performing for nursing homes, hospitals, benefits - they have performed at the Ronald McDonald house, Hershey Park & Disney (of course, before our time - hopefully again soon!). So they are pretty busy - and sometimes are given the opportunity for some fun times - such as dancing with the Rockettes, cast from Billy Elliott (and soon Newsies!!!) and one of the events we attended last weekend - Tremaine Dance Convention!
Emily loves going to this convention - as Tony Bellissimo (from So You Think You Can Dance) teaches a Street Dance class - as well as Marty Dew who teaches Hip Hop - now, Emily is a ballerina......a tap dancer......a jazz dancer............Hip Hop and Street - she just loves having fun with it!!!
So our journey began last Friday - Emily took half day of school, me half day of work - and we met up with our roomies for the weekend (Jackie & Ashley - we have become great friends and also choose to room with each on these events because we get along so well and travel well together). There were about a dozen or so girls plus chaperones attending and all of us traveling at different times via train from CT to NYC - with the intention of meeting Friday early evening to attend a show in the city.
So here is our luggage for the 4 of us for just a weekend...........
And here we are on the Metro North train heading from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal!!
We arrived at Grand Central at 3:41 and the best part about this convention - it's right at the Grand Hyatt - which is attached to Grand Central!!! don't even have to go outside - and fantastic when you are carrying luggage, dance bags, and coolers!!!
We soon found Miss Marcia who was the organizer for the weekend - and she gave us our room key - and somehow - we SCORED on our room!!! Not only did we have the 2 queen beds - but we also had a sitting area - with a table, couch and chair with an additional tv - this proved to make for a comfy weekend!!!
I had brought a TON of snacks, beverages - and Jackie brought us Mommies some wine - so we unpacked and moved right in!!
Usually the first night of this event - which does not actually begin until Saturday morning - all of us as a group will go to dinner and a show together - well, for whatever reason this year - there were several things going on - some were going to see Annie (Jackie & Ashley had just seen it, so Em did not want to go without them), some were just staying at the hotel, and some were going to a small production done by Parsons Dance - this is what we chose to do - BEST $23 for entertainment I have spent!!! They were fantastic!!! before the show, the 4 of us chose to go to dinner on our own - as some were still coming in on trains - we ended up eating at the Pig & Whistle - an Irish Pub somewhere near Times Square (forgot the address?) - we each had a bowl of chili with chips - it was so YUMMY!!!
We met the rest of the group at the theater down on 19th - we took the lovely subway down..............
After the show - we headed back to the Grand Hyatt via Subway again - and called it a night (well, Jackie and I had a glass of wine ) as these girls had to be downstairs and ready to dance at 7:30 am!!!
Lucky for us - I had brought breakfast items too - so we did not have to wait in the crazy long line for breakfast - we just had to wait about 20 minutes for an elevator!! Imagine hundreds and hundreds of dancers all in the same hotel with 24 floors!!!
Emily is ready to start her day.........
some of her friends..............
Stretching -
the first class Emily had this am was Jazz Tech/Combo with Derrick Schrader..........
Next class was Ballet with Jeff Amsden - unfortunately we didn't get to do a photo with him.............but here he is.....
Mr. Joe Tremaine popped into the class for announcements.......
And the 3rd class this am was Contemporary with Keri LaGrand.........
Then we had a quick hour lunch break - so we just ran over (along with the hundreds of others!) to Grand Central and grabbed sandwiches from Juniors!
Back to class........next up is Tap with Laurie Johnson (this woman is AMAZING!!!!) check out her shoes!!!
while Laurie was showing the kids the choregraphy - I couldn't help but notice that Emily's hands were doing the taps on the floor!!! That girl is always tapping!!
Laurie had them getting funky with their tap!!
next - they had Hip Hop with Marty Dew (Emily adores this guy!!) and she had to dress the part of "Hip Hop"
cont in next post.............
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
About This Page: 
- hopefully again soon!). So they are pretty busy - and sometimes are given the opportunity for some fun times - such as dancing with the Rockettes, cast from Billy Elliott (and soon Newsies!!!) and one of the events we attended last weekend - Tremaine Dance Convention! 
) as these girls had to be downstairs and ready to dance at 7:30 am!!!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Threaded Mode
