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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, DH and I made it back from WDW after Opticon...we just made it out in time. Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on Florida and many other parts of the eastern United States. We flew out at 3:55 pm and it was my understanding at that point that the airport was due to close at 5:00 pm.
However, the rest of our trip was lovely!!
We arrived to HOT and HUMIDITY that I had never experienced before...It was like walking into a wall...but we were at Disney World - how bad could it be!!! Upon our arrival at the Contemporary, we got off the DME and got checked in. When I saw the sheer size of our room, I was shocked and amazed!! And the king size bed was incredible, although I have informed DH that I prefer a queen size...I kept losing him on the far side of the bed!!
Day 1: We didn't do a lot the first night, just met up with DS and his friend for dinner at Whispering Canyon.
While there waiting for our table, I saw this young girl, around 8 or 9 years old. She and her family were also waiting for a table, but the girl was clinging with what amounted to a death grip to a turkey leg!! Occasionally she would take a bite and then go back to whatever she was doing. She played with the Lincoln logs, sat with her mom, picked on her younger sibling, even went to the bathroom with that turkey leg. I have wondered if she ever finished it or if she took it to bed with her like a stuffed toy!!!!
Dinner at the Canyon was good. We got into the silliness a little bit, but mostly just enjoyed being off of the airplane...flying from Alaska is a long day!
Day 2: DS and his buddy headed home to Alaska as they had already been there for a week.
DH and I headed for Epcot and the F&WF and cheddar soup. DH had been craving it since the moment he realized that we would be there for the festival. Spent our day wandering and snacking...it was great! We did have to take a short break and go back and get DH checked into the convention, but then back to Epcot we went for more yummies and Illuminations.
Day 3: DH was off to class and I had a good chunk of the day to myself. Would have been great if I hadn't goobered. I accidentally took 3 Tylenol PM...thinking I was just taking regular old Tylenol! I got on the monorail to head over to MK and realized about the time we got the GF, that I should probably go back to the room since I was pretty blurry!!! I have not separated all the blue Tylenol from the white ones...and marked them accordingly. That is not going to happen again!!
After a shortish nap, I met up with a friend from Tampa and her DH and we wandered around Disney Springs until my DH was out of class. At that point he hooked up with us and eventually we ended up at the Wave at the Contemp for dinner.
Day 4: Again DH was in class for at least the morning. He kind of balked at the 3 hour lunch they had scheduled and decided that the 3 credits from Saturday along with the 5 from Friday, he was good in that department. Now he only has 2 more to get off the internet to give him the 10 he needs for his license renewal. Going back to class after a 3 hour lunch was "cutting into serious park time!"
My Tampa friend came over again and the three of us hit DHS and AK since we were all in need of a roller coaster ride or two!! We went of the safari and it was just starting get dark and to rain and the animals were actually up and about actually doing stuff! They were the most active I have ever seen them in all our trips. When we saw the cheetah, my friend and my DH started saying "Here, kitty, kitty." The driver CM was like, "Oh, no, please don't call it...cheetahs can run 60 plus mph and I can only drive 8!!"
Remember I mentioned it had started to rain...well, it didn't stop!! We ended up DRENCHED!!! When we finally got back to the Contemp, we were all soaked and chilled (due to the air conditioning on the bus). Got my friend mostly dried off and sent her home.
Day 5: DH and I headed for DHS and MK. Spent the day just wandering and enjoying ourselves and making sure to hit the roller coasters whenever we could. It was very strange not having a kid with us!!
Day 6 and 7: Tampa friend and her DH picked us up both days for a trip to the dark side...US! Love the HULK!!!! Rode that like three times over the course of the day! Had Butterbeer. Played at being Men in Black. DH bought himself a wand - Mad-Eye Moody's...appropriate when you consider DH is an optician!!
Also on Day 7 we had to move over to the POFQ. It is so wonderful of Disney to take care of shifting the luggage! They make moving resorts sooooooo easy!!! And I have to tell you, we have found our favorite resort! LOVE the FQ! We are already planning a longer stay there that the two nights we had this trip. I love the feel of the resort and I'm thinking I will be willing to pay for the river view...it was so tranquil and pretty!!
After we checked in and decided we were hungry, we headed to Scat Cats, got some jambalaya and baked taters and hung out for the live music. The guys were great. They were taking request of all kinds and just going to town. I noticed that a lot of the requests were for songs relating to where the requester was from, so I asked for "North to Alaska." Yeah, I stumped them.
Day 8: We were off to spend our last full day at the parks. We managed to hit three parks in one day and actually do stuff in each. Never managed that before! We were getting a bit nervous, watching the weather channel and wondering if we were going to get out ahead of the storm.
Departure Day: We were still concerned, but it was looking good for getting home. We managed to squeak out on one of the last flights leaving that day before the airport closed. We are so excited to be coming back in February for a slightly longer stay and the cruise I booked last February! Hoping to stay in FQ again!!!
Also, DH discovered that Opticon 2017 will be held at WDW again and that the timing is right for him to need 10 more credits for the next license renewal, so it's looking like we will get to head that way again next September as well!!
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Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
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Upon our arrival at the Contemporary, we got off the DME and got checked in. When I saw the sheer size of our room, I was shocked and amazed!! And the king size bed was incredible, although I have informed DH that I prefer a queen size...I kept losing him on the far side of the bed!!
with that turkey leg. I have wondered if she ever finished it or if she took it to bed with her like a stuffed toy!!!! 
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