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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wednesday 8 April – part one: the best monorail station in the world
I woke up to a report about British football. Oh the joy! Still, at least it was 6.30, so not too bad a time. I was soon up and about, as I wanted to shower and get dressed, so I could go outside to see what the view was like from our balcony in the daytime. The shower was superb, very powerful, although a little hot at times. There’s nothing like a walk-in shower to start off your day.
Once dressed, the view was worth getting up for, although I hadn’t realised in the dark that part of the huge parking lot sprawled out beneath us. Still, they had had fun with the cones this morning!
And we had a great view of most of the two parks in front of us. As I stood there, I also saw the monorail go past. There’s nothing more magical than that to start your day.
The monorail station
By the way, I just want to point out here that you can see a lot of the backs of facades if that makes any sense. You'll see a lot of shots of Tokyo DisneySea here, as we were closest to that, but you may also spot some familiar views. By the way, if you see Tower of Terror, that's in Tokyo DisneySea. It's one of the only rides introduced from another park in there, but we'll get there when we get to DisneySea... I'm getting ahead of myself!
We went to check out, but that ended up being quite a commotion, because we apparently came in on the second floor last night, which we didn’t realise. We went to the first floor and couldn’t find front desk, only to discover that it was on floor two. I left Mark with the luggage downstairs and went to check out, where I encountered a very large Japanese guy, who I guess was a regular, as he was snapping his fingers at the staff and expecting them to serve him. How rude. Fortunately, another staff member came out to deal with him and I got seen quickly enough. We had no expenditure on the bill, so it was away and back down to the taxi, which a staff member had specially called downstairs for us, as apparently usually they pick up from floor two.
We set off for Maihama station, where we quickly found the Tokyo Disney Resort welcome centre, only we couldn’t get in on the first floor, so we had to take the elevator up to the next floor. As we entered, we were asked which hotel we were checking in for and then taken to a desk, where two Cast Members dealt with us, checking us in, taking our luggage and getting our park tickets and monorail tickets. That’s free to Tokyo Disney Resort hotel guests only, with everyone else having to pay to take trips on the monorail – a good reason to stay at a Disney hotel.
We were offered the option of getting a three day ticket that could be used on all days for both parks, but we decided to stick with the one we had, which meant that we would be at Tokyo Disneyland today and Tokyo Disney Sea tomorrow. Yes, it’s the only Disney theme park in the world where this system exists and, for the first two days of any park pass, you have to decide which one of the parks you’re going to. You can’t park hop until day three.
That all done, we headed out and had a quick look around the Ikispiari complex. The best way I can describe this is that it’s like Downtown Disney, but very, very different. Yes, it’s got shops and restaurants, but that’s about where the comparison ends. Have a look at these photos, admittedly from before it opened, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s certainly themed much more than any Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World, Disneyland in California or Disneyland Resort Paris.
Next, it was into the monorail station and this has to be the best monorail station in the world. It’s just gleaming and huge. Only the Japanese could have a monorail station this lovely and the Americans could definitely learn from them on this. The Hong Kong and Tokyo systems are much, much better than the ones in Orlando and California.
We got up to the platform and found that one had left, but it gave us the chance to take in our surroundings and we got talking to the Cast Member on the platform, explaining to her that Tokyo Disney was the last Disney park for us, having visited all the others and she told us that was her dream as well. I’m very glad that we are now finishing that dream, as all the parks have been wonderful to visit.
When we got to the Tokyo Disneyland stop, the next one along, the lines were quite big to get in, but we figured those would quickly go when the park opened in a few minutes time. Instead, we had a look at the display about the history of the monorail. They had smaller displays like this all around the park, as it’s celebrating its 25th anniversary and it’s a nice touch.
Wow - it is so different, I love the theming of their "Downtown Disney', very original when you compare it to the others and the monorail, it looks like its own transportation system, loved the colors and the stations were amazing.
Tinkerboo (or in the real world, Toyah) Reading Challenge 2015: 0/84
Follow my journey from sweaty panting mess to running goddess (I hope!) Out walking with The Boy...
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Fortunately, another staff member came out to deal with him and I got seen quickly enough. We had no expenditure on the bill, so it was away and back down to the taxi, which a staff member had specially called downstairs for us, as apparently usually they pick up from floor two. 
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