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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 fell WAY behind with this move. For the most part it looks like there were some good times had. Although not so sure about the boys with Anna and Elsa. Some of those pictures are too funny. The look on their faces Sorry about the rainy days. Rain in WDW is better than rain at home though.
Good luck with all the school stuff. I'm dreading my kids reaching school age. I'm so busy with them right now I don't know how I'll fit in sports and homework. It's a tough job being a mom!
Yes, don't faint. It's me and I'm back to finish this report. Sorry for not updating but life was pretty busy. I've hardly had time to be on the site much less update this TR. These last two days of the trip I'll do by memory because I took 0 notes. So it'll probably be more pictures than anything else. Thanks to those that have stuck around!
June 12 - 3 parks in a day
We originally had an adr for Tusker House, but due to budget issues we had to cancel. I was pretty crushed because I was really looking forward to it. But there's always a next time...
Anyways, we took our time getting ready. I'm not sure at what time we left the room, I'm gonna say 9:30ish.
We arrived at AK. Since we had some time before our first FP+, we headed over to Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I wanted to see me some gorillas. And boy did I see them.
This was the wait time for the Safari. It was probably like 10 am.
Ok, back to the trail.
Can you tell I'm fascinated with the gorillas.
After what seemed like a million years (my kids were getting bored) we exited. It was time for our Kilimanjaro Safaris FP so we headed on over there.
This was the FP line. It was worst in person.
What the heck! It was the longest FP line I've ever been in.
We boarded our truck and went off to enjoy the safari.
At least I got a glimpse.
Our second FP+ was fast approaching. We headed on over there getting some pictures along the way.
This has got to be my most favorite picture EVER.
We still had a couple of minutes so I took some more pics.
We went in and had another great ride. Again, AJ was the odd man out. He doesn't mind.
Arben and Abniel have the exact same face expression. The girl's pose is hilarious!
I tried to do a silly pose but it didn't quite come out right.
I wanted to see Finding Nemo - The Musical. My boys aren't too keen on the musical shows but they had to suck it up for mommy.
I enjoyed the show very much and got some pretty good pictures too.
When it was time to exit the theater, we realized it was raining. Ok, let me rephrase this... it was POURING!
We put on our handy dandy ponchos and just kept walking. We headed over to Dinoland USA for our next fastpass ~ Dinosaur. When we got there, the ride was down. We waited a couple of minutes, but with no sign of the ride coming back up (we never got to ride it) we decided to just go back to the resort. I had some plans for the evening, hopefully the rain would let up.
Great day at AK! When I saw the pic of your family with the frame around it, I thought, "That's a great family photo." Then I saw where you said it was your favorite - I agree!
Great to see you writing again! Wonderful photos from the safari and the show - shame about the rain later on.
Thanks Cheryl! I wish I would've taken better notes, everything seem a little foggy now. But I knew I had to finish this TR after all it was a great trip and worth sharing and re-living.
Great day at AK! When I saw the pic of your family with the frame around it, I thought, "That's a great family photo." Then I saw where you said it was your favorite - I agree!
You did a nice job capturing the Nemo musical.
I just loved that shot so much! Memory Maker was the best decision I made for this trip. There were so many great family shots. I'm always the one behind the camera so there aren't very many shots in my camera with me in them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Winner photos from photo pass! Your safari pics are wonderful, too. So funny to see the wildebeest and oryx lying down-- lazy things!
And I didn't get a shot of the laziest of them all - the lion. I rode the safari twice and never saw him. Lazy thing!