A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 6/24 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Monday 24 December – part fifteen: what do you mean “you couldn’t be bothered to stand”?
We wandered back to Cars Land when we came off it, and got in line, after checking that Mater would be out shortly.
We found another Photopass photographer by Flo’s and got some photos done there. We were told to do a shot with Mark driving and me as a passenger, so I hammed it up a little!
After that, we still had 15 minutes or so until our Fastpasses were ripe, so we settled down on a seat in Cars Land, and just people watched, and enjoyed each other’s company. It was so lovely just to be able to do that.
About 7:55pm, we heard some yelling, and with sinking hearts, heard what was being said. Radiator Springs Racers had gone down, and would be down for some time, possibly the rest of the night. Mark checked with a Cast Member, who suggested we come back after World of Color to see if it was up and running. If it was closed for the rest of the night, then the Fastpasses we had would be good for tomorrow…
Mark noticed that there were a lot of Cast Members around, so he asked one of them what they were doing there, and discovered that there was due to be a dance party at 8:00pm, with a car and girls, and sure enough, that’s what appeared. We grabbed a few photos, and then when it got mobbed, we headed out.
We walked back through Pacific Wharf….
… and found our entrance to World of Color. I had no idea that they now do different entrances for the various restaurants that offer World of Color dining packages. We’d been told earlier that the one for the Carthay Circle never fills up, and it was a pretty good seating area, and so it was. I spoke to a Cast Member, and explained about my chronic fatigue, and I was given a seat. Everyone, apart from immediate family, was asked to keep out of the handicapped area. Just to explain for those who don’t know the California Adventure that well. There are only a few benches in the viewing area for World of Color and those are specially reserved for those with special needs, chronic fatigue being a prime example, with everyone else expected to stand and wait for the show or sit on the ground and wait. The benches are patrolled by Cast Members and they decide who sits down.
There was an elderly couple sitting on the same bench. The woman asked if her grandson could sit down, and I told her she needed to check with the Cast Member, as technically it was for those with medical difficulties, and I’m sorry, but if he has no medical need, why should be take away from someone who needs to sit down?
The Cast Member told her what I expected, that he couldn’t sit down as it was for those with special needs, and they did stop him from doing that, but as we waited, I heard the grandfather turn round to his son/daughter behind him, and say that he was surprised that they’d been classed as handicapped, because he only “couldn’t be bothered to stand for an hour.” He even had a bit of a laugh about it. I was absolutely appalled by that. If only I could’ve done, I would’ve dragged him around the crowd, and shown him all the other people who probably “couldn’t be bothered” to stand either, but that’s what they were doing and perhaps there were some people in that crowd with medical needs who didn’t realise there was another option for them. So absolutely rude – I was actually glad when the show was over, and I could get away from them, as I really wanted to give them a piece of my mind.
As I sat there, it got colder and colder. The moon was clear, and it did get cold – probably low 40s, which isn’t too bad, so long as you’re moving, but sitting there, I could feel myself shaking, and I had three layers on and gloves. Thank goodness I’d brought all of those with me!
The show started at 9:00pm, and it had a holiday start to it, which I wasn’t expecting, but it was very neat, and a lot of fun.
Then it was off into the usual show, although I say the “usual show”, there were definite changes to it from the last time we saw it back in August 2011, most notably the whole new section from Merida.
While the show was still spectacular, I’ll be honest, it didn’t wow me as much as the first time we saw it, I think partially because you know what to expect, and also partially because it was so cold. I remember the last time the flames went off, we were like “ not more heat”, but this time it was very welcome!
When the show was done, we headed back to Cars Land to discover that Radiator Springs Racers were still done, and would be for the rest of the night. Oh well, looks like those Fastpasses will come in handy tomorrow then…
We headed back to the Carthay Circle, and ended up where we’d started the day at the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Café, getting a hot chocolate to warm ourselves up. We also found out what the topping was to those cinnamon buns – cream cheese. Yuck! If I’d have known that before, I’d never have eaten them…
A bit warmer now, we headed back to the room, and to bed, as tomorrow would be another early day in the parks for Christmas Day.
The weather today was rain first thing, then dry and a bit of sun later, with temperatures in the low 60s. The best thing today was Cars Land. The worst thing today was Radiator Springs Racers going down in the evening for the rest of the night. The funniest thing today was going on Luigi’s Flying Tires. Today we tried Radiator Springs Racers And the result was they are amazing – a brilliant addition to the park. The most magical moment today was just sitting together in Cars Land at night, enjoying looking at it all lit up.
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Mark checked with a Cast Member, who suggested we come back after World of Color to see if it was up and running. If it was closed for the rest of the night, then the Fastpasses we had would be good for tomorrow… 
he couldn’t sit down as it was for those with special needs, and they did stop him from doing that, but as we waited, I heard the grandfather turn round to his son/daughter behind him, and say that he was surprised that they’d been classed as handicapped, because he only “couldn’t be bothered to stand for an hour.” 
I remember the last time the flames went off, we were like “
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