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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I had read an hour before park opening. It kind of kills the idea of getting an early breakfast ADR to get those empty Main St pics.
I've read the same things. My fear is that it's just going to be someone making a 'proclamation', some characters come out and wave, maybe some small fireworks like with the train station opening, and that's it. I haven't watched any videos of it since we leave next week. I'll wait to see it with my own eyes.
I had that same thought regarding my favorite early ADR and empty Main Street pictures...I really hope that is not the case but I somehow think it is all gone now.
I hope you report back with some more insight after you take it all in - the good, bad, and ugly.
Hmmmm, what did people say they didn't like? Anything significant or just that they preferred the train station ceremony?
Mostly that it just didn't have the 'magic' and seemed pared down. I'm just afraid it's going to be like the Star Wars stage show which to me is a big let down. Show some film clips, character comes out and hits a few poses, that's about it. It just seems cheap and easy. But who knows, you can't please everyone.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cattailmarsh
I had that same thought regarding my favorite early ADR and empty Main Street pictures...I really hope that is not the case but I somehow think it is all gone now.
I hope you report back with some more insight after you take it all in - the good, bad, and ugly.
Josh at easywdw.com is reporting that they are letting people down Main Street 75 minutes before regular park opening. Yeah, kinda waters down the fun of having an early morning ADR at Crystal Palace.
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It has always been tradition for us to do an early breakfast at Crystal Palace on our first day at the parks. Not sure I will fight to get those early morning reservations if they are going to let everyone in that early. Sort of defeats our purpose of getting great Memory Maker photos in front of the castle without a lot of crowds in the pics.
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i wasn't one of those people who was like 'oh yay rope drop is so magical'. except i now realize that it was. because the new show just is not.
here's how it works: (i will give a *stop reading now* warning before any spoilers.)
you arrive. you go through bag check and scan your ticket and walk into the park. the train station is covered with scrim--it went up maybe last wednesday. and then you are on main street. it's not crowded.
i'm going to stop with the second person point of view now. sorry about that.
so the show is on the castle stage, and as such people gather around the hub area. many die hard people line up along the paths to the various lands, all ready to run to attractions. you can get breakfast from the bakery/starbucks or from caseys. i recommend caseys, as there's ample seating and it's a not bad area from which to watch the opening show, especially if you've seen it twice and realize it's kind of meh.
anyway. the first two times i watched from maybe 20 feet from the castle. here's what it's like:
IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS *stop reading now*
there's a disembodied voice announcing that 'it's almost time to open the park'. then some random costumed person comes out on stage--it was a woman one day and a man the other. said person is like 'oh my look at the time!' they wave the princesses in. the princesses wave at everyone. then the fairy godmother appears in the upper castle balcony, throws some glitter confetti, says bippity boppity boo, and two fireworks go off. and that's it.
there's no song. there's really no show. it definitely feels like it was thrown together at the last minute.
you are then escorted by cast members holding ropes to the various lands. which is nice, because it prevents running/pushing/general chaos.
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