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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We just got back from the World this Sunday. Overall we had a great time. I am going to point out some of the best things and not so great things.
We stayed at Pop Century, our second time there. We had a room only on the Saturday we arrived and then two rooms for the rest of our package. Everything was fine, we got checked in okay and everything was fine the next morning when we checked out and back in for the new reservation. They kept us in the same room and gave our daughters the connecting room. The first night we were there, we must have been too tired to realize the fridge was making a high pitched noise. We did notice it the second night and unplugged it and reported it the next morning. They switched it out while we were at the parks and everything was fine. Except that night, the fridge in our daughters' room started with a high pitched noise. They unplugged it and since they weren't using it decided it wasn't worth dealing with until we left. The next night, our fridge started the noise again so we unplugged it. So out of 7 nights, we only had use of the fridge for 2 nights without noise and it was unplugged for the other 5. Luckily we only had water in it, but still.
I also have to say, I wasn't very impressed with mousekeeping. I don't know if they quit doing the towel animals at Pop or if it was just because we clearly didn't have little kids, but I frankly missed it. I'm pretty sure they don't change the sheets when you are staying for a week, which is fine, but they didn't exactly make the bed correctly either. I had to pull the corners to fix the middle blankets more than once. I'm also not sure they wiped down the showers. I always tip when I stay at a hotel, but I found myself really questioning the practice this time.
Most of the buses we were on for transportation were either extra buses to help the line so they didn't use the Welcome Home or Welcome to the park announcements or were the regular bus, but were playing the announcements so low, you couldn't hear them. It is a little thing, but another disappointment.
I have mentioned on here before that we love Pop, but this trip it felt like a hotel, not a Disney resort.
I also noticed that some of the rides and locations in Magic Kingdom just looked tired. Enchanted Tiki Room, as nostalgic as it is, needs to go. It is old and showing it.
The parks were much busier this year than the first time we went in the fall. Epcot got a bit ridiculous. Though I am okay with the parks having alcohol, I'm not sure walking around with it is the best. Epcot had a very frat boy feel this year. Frozen doesn't seem to be worth the wait unless you have a FastPass.
Now just so you know, we did have some great experiences! Seven Dwarfs mine ride is very entertaining. We also really enjoyed seeing Frozen: a sing along at Hollywood Studios. Club Villain was the best! We bought the Memory Maker this time and enjoyed it very much. O'hana was delicious!!
I don't know if they quit doing the towel animals at Pop...
Sadly, Disney discontinued this fun extra at all resorts a year ago or so.
I bet most of us agree that it's a bit of Disney magic we sorely miss.
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The parks were much busier this year than the first time we went in the fall. Epcot got a bit ridiculous. Though I am okay with the parks having alcohol, I'm not sure walking around with it is the best. Epcot had a very frat boy feel this year.
Likely due to your having been there during Food & Wine Festival which seems to give some--they think!--license to overdo it.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Sadly, Disney discontinued this fun extra at all resorts a year ago or so.
I bet most of us agree that it's a bit of Disney magic we sorely miss.
I managed to miss this, and I'm so sorry to hear it. I stayed at Pop on my last trip--September 2013--and the only towel fun I had was a Mickey head the day I checked in. I even left daily tips for Mousekeeping and everything.
I didn't know they'd stopped doing it. I know that not all mousekeepers knew how to do the towel animals so if the mousekeeper for your room didn't know or didn't have time to do one you didn't get one.
If you didn't know, your local Goodwill may take clothing too worn or stained to resell. Our Goodwill states you should bag these separately and mark the bag so that its contents can be sorted properly. They have connections with various cloth recyclers.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
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Thanks for sharing!
We stayed at POP a few years back, it was our first time at a Value Resort and we found it to be very pleasant. We also had a connecting room with our friend who was travelling with us and we had a great time there. I too didn't know about the towel animal thing - shame, it will be missed, but we have so much fun at WDW that I'm ok with it
Thanks for your insight. I did not know that about the towel animals!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Tiki Room, as nostalgic as it is, needs to go. It is old and showing it.
I disagree. Tiki Room doesn't need to go. If an attraction isn't something you like, just skip it - there are plenty other people who might like it.
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Sadly, Disney discontinued this fun extra at all resorts a year ago or so.
I bet most of us agree that it's a bit of Disney magic we sorely miss.
Now that you mention it, we didn't have any this year at AS Music but I have to be honest, I didn't actually miss it. My first trip to Disney was in 1980, long before the towel animals, so it's not something I ever grew up with and while it was something we have gotten here and there over the years, it's not something I will miss.
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I managed to miss this, and I'm so sorry to hear it. I stayed at Pop on my last trip--September 2013--and the only towel fun I had was a Mickey head the day I checked in. I even left daily tips for Mousekeeping and everything. 
for sharing your thoughts!
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