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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How cool to see the castle turrets turning back to blue again! And wow, you're right, that snack turned into quite a meal..
Every bite was good too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
We always enjoy the burgers over at Peco Bills
I do too. I often hear some people don't like it, but it has the best Disney fast food burgers in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
I don't think we have ever eaten at Peco's Bills. Looked good!
I know we are contemplating skipping our CA trip next summer and going to see my parents in FL and driving down to Orlando to go to Universal to check out Harry Potter, but it would be so hard to be in Orlando and not go to any Disney parks!
I do love universal. They do some amazing rides...so differently than Disney....but yes it is hard to not at least visit Disney as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The castle's turrets are looking such a pretty blue! We had the same experience with Dumbo this past May. The trip before we could bypass the playroom. I didn't enjoy the waiting in that area as we didn't even have a child, so it maybe quite a while before I'm ready to ride again.
I am wondering if during busy times they make you go in there? It really is just a kiddie area and holds no interest to us at all. I guess at least it's cool and you don't have to stand in line, but still not my cup of tea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
The parade looks amazing!!!
It really is!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
I always thought you had a choice at Dumbo, to wait inside or not. well at least you got to sit and rest in the AC
It was like that in the past for us. I am not sure if they just do it during busy times or not...or maybe too many people were skipping the play area and the line was too long?
Quote:
Originally Posted by iwonathomas
Catching up! Great pictures of your older daughter.
Love all the pictures of the parade. I fell in love with it when I went back in May. Can't wait to hear more
Thanks...her baby shower is just around the corner now. It seems to be coming so fast.
I just love this parade!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Great parade photos but sorry about the crowds It can be rough!
It was very crowded. My mom has already invited us to stay with her again next year and I am not sure...I am really thinking Universal and Sea World because it was just so darn crowded during our spring break week. I have to check and see when Claire has it this year....and also with Skip, because he has mentioned California a few times.
Glad you had a good time!
I want to hear about HP stuff!!!
I really lucked out and my wait for Gringotts was just over an hour mid day. I was so happy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Glad you had a good time. How was the villains night at DHS?
it was HOT!. LOL But it was fun. I wasn't there to wait in lines for villians...which were super long. I met up with a friend and had a nice time with her and then walked around and just looked at things, rode a few rides and took pictures of Villians from the side.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Glad you had a great trip! I can't wait to hear about the Gringotts ride!
It is such a cool ride!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
from you Florida weekend!
Thanks. It was really hot, but I made the best of my time there.
After about 10-15 minutes we beeped and got back in line and made our way to our Dumbo.
Here we go! Claire gave me instructions that she was going to control our flying…and I gave her instructions to get us up high so I could try to take pictures.
And the lovely view of the trees that surround the ride now.
That was fun, but it bums me I can’t get a better view of the new Fantasyand with all the trees they planted.
We headed off back into New Fantasyland next. We had a date with Belle.
We arrived at Belle’s cottage and got in the FP line and were let in practically right away. Of course when using the FP’s for Belle you skip the first room, but we were ok with that.
This enchanted mirror still amazes me and I am not sure how it works. You can’t see the seams of where it would open beforehand and it really intrigues me.
Once the mirror opens our portal, we headed into the next room.
Now Claire is in a shy stage…and also the “I am too cool to do that” stage. She refused to participate no matter how much prodding and urging I did.
I told her she wouldn’t get her picture taken with Belle if she didn’t at least be an extra and she still refused. UGH! That was the whole purpose of getting the FP for this. Oh well, nothing I can do. But I probably will be skipping this attraction in the future if she won’t participate as its cute, but not something I need to repeat over and over.
We then made our way into the library.
Here she is!
The little girl who played Beast was so cute. Her parents told me on the way out that they didn’t even know what Enchanted Tales was when they got in line and were so excited that their daughter got the starring role.
Because Claire did not volunteer, she wasn’t able to get her picture with Belle. That really was the only reason I had made this FP too. The show is cute, but not something we need to see every time, so I don’t think we’ll be doing it again any time soon.
So sorry you missed the photo op with Belle. We agree with you, it's a cute show but not necessary to see on every trip. Especially since we don't have adorable kids to be in the show... I don't think they did "extras" when I did it in soft opens in 2012 but we were kind of bummed we didn't get our picture with her too
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Just getting caught up!!! Love all your parade photos!!! I too took a TON of photos of that parade!! I love it and all the creative costumes and floats! We were lucky to see the fire!!! Sorry you didn't get to
__________________
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Great pictures of the parade, Dumbo area and Tales with Belle! I remember when you could bypass the circus tent for Dumbo too but I guess it's better to wait in the shade than to have to wait in the hot sun like the old Dumbo ride. Glad you had a nice weekend in Florida! Look forward to reading about that trip too!
So sorry you missed the photo op with Belle. We agree with you, it's a cute show but not necessary to see on every trip. Especially since we don't have adorable kids to be in the show... I don't think they did "extras" when I did it in soft opens in 2012 but we were kind of bummed we didn't get our picture with her too
It was pretty much the same as when we did it as a preview in Nov. of 2012...both Claire and I participated then and got pictures.
I really think everyone should have an opportunity to get a picture with her though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Good to know that if you don't participate you don't get a picture. Sorry Claire wasn't up for participating.
I have heard at slow times they sometimes will, but I wouldn't count on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
What a bummer that you can't get a picture if you don't participate!
A lot of people have complained about that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Just getting caught up!!! Love all your parade photos!!! I too took a TON of photos of that parade!! I love it and all the creative costumes and floats! We were lucky to see the fire!!! Sorry you didn't get to
The parade is wonderful....and I do see it one more time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a shame about the photo with Belle. However, I love all the shots you got from Dumbo!
Thanks. I like taking pics of Dumbo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great pictures from Dumbo and in Enchanted Tales!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Great pictures of the parade, Dumbo area and Tales with Belle! I remember when you could bypass the circus tent for Dumbo too but I guess it's better to wait in the shade than to have to wait in the hot sun like the old Dumbo ride. Glad you had a nice weekend in Florida! Look forward to reading about that trip too!
You are right...at least we were not in the sun.
I hope to get the other TR going in a week or 2 and get that one done quickly...or at least thats my hope.
I have another something something coming up in Sept. So I will be working on TR's for the next year.
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from you Florida weekend!
And wow, you're right, that snack turned into quite a meal.. 
We had the same experience with Dumbo this past May. The trip before we could bypass the playroom. I didn't enjoy the waiting in that area as we didn't even have a child, so it maybe quite a while before I'm ready to ride again.
It can be rough!
Liz 
PassPorter Guide Author
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