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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It took two days to read thru through this whole thing, but I did it! I love reading about your family trips. Our reunion is coming up, but we're all spread out
It would've been nice to be all in the same place, but oh well.
I can't wait for more updates!
Sorry for the delay, everyone. I've been trying to stall because DSIL is still having issues with her computer and I haven't gotten her pictures yet. But the time has come where I can no longer stall, so I'll have to continue without them and add them in when I (hopefully ) get them from her!
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Originally Posted by zacksmom_1993
Sharon! What are you thinking with your park bench creation? Just what we need, more benches that we have to drag Jill and Eileen off of to get anything done.
Didn't even think of that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoJayMom
I just love the Mickey light over the table!
A hidden Mickey! But his "ears" are attached to the wall, not the lamp. It's an optical illusion hidden Mickey.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
I resemble that remark!
Great photos, Sharon. Glad the rest of the family made it safely.
And all I could think was, "Oh. A wed wose. How Womantic."
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpwife153
I am not surprised DM was enjoying the attention for her anniversary : Two words, free dessert!
You said it, sister!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
I just found that out about the recycling of cards on this trip. I had some gift cards and when they were empty, the offered them back to me and I told them that I was just going to throw them out. They told me that they would recycle them for me. Too cool!
I knew they recycled the keys (as most hotel chains do these days), but I didn't know they turned into park benches. I just figured they ended up as plastic tubs full of bleach or something boring like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shnewell
It has taken me a couple of days, but I'm all caught up now!
I am dying laughing at your description of the sweating air and the frisky animals. As for the air, that's what I'm greeted with every day when I walk outside anytime between about May and October.
The amorous animals reminded me of the KS ride we took in June 2009 when there was record-setting heat in Orlando (well over 100 most days we were there). It was just miserable outside, and we took one of the first KS rides of the morning. As we pulled up to a stopping place, two antelope were getting it on practically right next to our vehicle. There was an awkward silence, which prompted me to say, "Well, it's the circle of life!" Everyone laughed and we moved on. I had never made a connection with the weather, but I wonder if the two are related?!?
Maybe the weather does cause the animals to be frisky!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
It makes me think of our dinner at Sanaa when we had an excellent view of two frisky giraffes. They weren't exactly in progress, but the one giraffe sure was trying for it... and it got a little close at one point. I remember being so grateful that Meri's back was to the windows, and we just tried to distract her until the show was over! I can't remember what the weather was like, lol... but I think it was hot and sweaty!
It is the sweaty weather.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Know the Cole Porter song "Too Darn Hot"? I guess they should play it on the ambient loop at AK on hot days.... or maybe not.
I don't think they need any errr... stimulation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mousestruck
Love the photo of your parents... they look so happy, despite the disappointing view! Very cool trivia about the cards. I never knew that! I have tons of them hanging around our house... probably enough for a nice chunk of bench! Great pics of the boys swimming. Boma is my favorite eatery on property, so I suspect your dinner was awesome! (Come to think of it, I could go for a zebra dome right now!)
Boma is a huge favorite (Eddie's favorite anywhere), so everyone was really looking forward to this dinner!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Sorry the fam's room didn't have as good a view as yours.
But dinner will make up for some of that, I bet!!
Yup! Dinner was a big hit!
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofyboysmama
It took two days to read thru through this whole thing, but I did it! I love reading about your family trips. Our reunion is coming up, but we're all spread out
It would've been nice to be all in the same place, but oh well.
I can't wait for more updates!
It was nice being together, but we've been separated before and it was fine too! Sometimes it's nice to have a little time to yourself, so I'm sure you'll appreciate it at times.
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Day Two, Part Three The best meal of the trip so far!
Once everyone was ready for dinner, we mosied down to the first floor to check in. While we waited, a woman complained that she’d been waiting 40 minutes and had seen people get seated ahead of her. DM worried that we’d have a long wait, but our buzzer went off almost immediately. Apparently, that other woman didn’t have an ADR.
Dinner here was as delicious as always. My only complaint is I had so much food that I was full before I got to the soups. Usually I get soup first so that doesn’t happen, but I forgot this time. Oh, well, a reason to return (not that I need one – this is a family favorite)!
Our server brought out a special dessert for my parents for their anniversary – a selection of treats not available on the buffet. My DM started digging in before I could get a picture!
After our fabulous meal (and a quick run through the gift shop at the resort), we headed to the bus stop for an evening at MK. It was EMH, but I doubted any of us would stay the entire night. It was raining lightly, so we brought ponchos.
When we got to the MK, Wishes was just starting. Daniel had a bit of an upset stomach so we rested a bit while his stomach settled. We had a pretty decent view of Wishes, but with the light rain, I didn’t take any pictures.
Once Daniel’s stomach had settled a bit (I think he overate a bit), we moved on. Everyone seemed to be sharing the same thought – the Haunted Mansion! So that’s where we headed. I spotted Tiana and Naveen, so I had to stop. Princess Tiana is DM’s favorite character, so we had to say hello! The older boys complained a little because they were ready to ride something. But the line was short, so we stopped to meet them.
Then we went on the Haunted Mansion. The line was fairly long, so we took the shortcut and didn’t go through the graveyard. This is one of my favorite rides, and I really love that everyone can ride it. This time I rode with Daniel, I think. The ghost switched our heads, which was pretty amusing.
Then we went over to ride Space Mountain. It was lots of fun, but the lights were kind of on during the ride, so it was a little dark, but you could still see the entire track. Sort of like dusk instead of darkness.
For some reason, there were a lot of people waiting for ride photos, so I sent the boys to ride again with their Dad (and he doesn’t love SM – it’s a tight fit for him at 6'5", so he took one for the team). It took about 15 minutes before my pictures were added to the Photopass+. But I have to say that 14 minutes and 30 seconds of that was waiting for my turn!
After the guys were done with their second ride on Space Mountain, everyone was ready to call it a night. But some people wanted a snack before we left (I was still stuffed from dinner). So I polled the group and they decided a visit to the Plaza ice cream parlor was in order.
I really can’t tell you why Isaiah decided to be surprised by his ice cream in the photo. He’s a funny kid! We waited about 10 minutes for the bus back to AKL and everyone got seats.
It was about midnight by the time I got into bed. Daniel asked to watch television for a little while, which was fine with me. Except we both fell asleep without turning off the television. And then at like 3:30, I woke up and shut off the tv, but then had the hardest time getting back to sleep. I eventually did fall asleep, after using my “count backwards from 100” trick.
Up Next: Weather mojo in overdrive! And the best meal of the trip so far!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
I woke up and shut off the tv, but then had the hardest time getting back to sleep. I eventually did fall asleep, after using my “count backwards from 100” trick.
Just got all caught up with your postings Loved your room at POR and it sounded like a great day at Epcot! So glad you were able to score such a great savannah room view but I felt bad that your family didn't get such a great view Congrats to your parents on their 50th Wedding Anniversary. It was so nice that their anniversary was recognized by Disney throughout the trip! Can't wait for more.
OMG, get out of my head!!!! I am just getting caught up on your TR ( only on your first day right now) But I had to stop and comment. I guess I have heard either you or Heather mention the tartine from France and when we were just there we walked the other way you did around WS and were headed in that direction to share one, but I got pulled into the carmel shop and decided on a salted carmel and was in just pure heaven after that. Never made it back for the tartine during our stay, but funny thing is that I did make it back for another salted carmel.
The scrolls checking in at POR must be new, we didn't get one in May
OK, off to read more now.............carry on
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) get them from her!
Didn't even think of that!
: Two words, free dessert!
There was an awkward silence, which prompted me to say, "Well, it's the circle of life!" Everyone laughed and we moved on. 
But the line was short, so we stopped to meet them.
I eventually did fall asleep, after using my “count backwards from 100” trick. 
PassPorter Guide Author
) But I had to stop and comment. I guess I have heard either you or Heather mention the tartine from France and when we were just there we walked the other way you did around WS and were headed in that direction to share one, but I got pulled into the carmel shop and decided on a salted carmel and was in just pure heaven after that. Never made it back for the tartine during our stay, but funny thing is that I did make it back for another salted carmel
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