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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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WOW! Great time at the party! I SO need to do that sometime! You saw so many "rarely seen" characters!
I haven't had a chance to read your PTR for the coming one, but looking forward to catching up on it - and then reading the TR when you're back. ENJOY!!
And I must say, Emily is ADORABLE!! Scott is going to have a time of it fending off suitors, I think!
I love how many characters, especially rare ones, you all were able to meet at MNSSHP! Great pictures, too! Nice ending to your trip with more time at MK!.
Thanks!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
Great party! And naturally, Aurora would want a pic with Duffy!
Thanks!!! Em got a kick out of that!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sc507
So sad to see this coming to an end! At least we get to look forward to another one very soon For a short period of time in MK, you sure got a
lot done!
Thanks - I will get the next one started as soon as I can!!! Only about 28 more hours till it starts!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What an amazing time at the party! The pictures are fantastic! Glad you had a great last day at MK as well! Looking forward to your final thoughts!
Thanks! Hopefully tonight!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
A great last day! Do you normally get a rental car? I assume you like it. I've always wondered when we start to drive (paying for 4 tickets can be a bit much) if we'd drive to the parks or not. It would be nice for DtD though - getting there by bus is a nightmare!
Looking forward to the purchases!
thanks! Yes - we do always rent a car (this trip starting tomorrow, we are not, so it will be interesting!) we really enjoy having the freedom!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
So sad to see this coming to an end but wow, what a party night you guys had!
Thanks - it is sad.....however, in about 28 hours my next trip begins!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
WOW! Great time at the party! I SO need to do that sometime! You saw so many "rarely seen" characters!
I haven't had a chance to read your PTR for the coming one, but looking forward to catching up on it - and then reading the TR when you're back. ENJOY!!
And I must say, Emily is ADORABLE!! Scott is going to have a time of it fending off suitors, I think!
Thanks!! And awe - thanks for the compliments on Emily!! It will be interesting when the boys start coming around!!! Daddy can be pretty tough!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
What a fabulous time at the party! I just love that Flynn actually had the crown in his satchel. Leave it to Disney to keep the details correct! Your photos of the Enchanted Forest area are beautiful. Your point-of-view in those is just different enough to show lots of detail I'd not noticed before. I can't wait for the expansion to be finished so we can see how it all works together.
The only reason I'm not too sad this TR is almost over is that I know you're leaving TOMORROW on the next one!!
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Looks like you had an awesome time at the Party. Glad you were able to meet a lot of character and Em finally got to meet Flynn Rider! Finishing your trip at MK was perfect. Looking forward to final thoughts.
What a fabulous time at the party! I just love that Flynn actually had the crown in his satchel. Leave it to Disney to keep the details correct! Your photos of the Enchanted Forest area are beautiful. Your point-of-view in those is just different enough to show lots of detail I'd not noticed before. I can't wait for the expansion to be finished so we can see how it all works together.
The only reason I'm not too sad this TR is almost over is that I know you're leaving TOMORROW on the next one!!
thanks - yes, I thought it was quite magical that he had the crown!!!
Less than 24 hours!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Looks like you had an awesome time at the Party. Glad you were able to meet a lot of character and Em finally got to meet Flynn Rider! Finishing your trip at MK was perfect. Looking forward to final thoughts.
Thanks!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Despite all the stress prior to this trip, we were able to just getaway and really enjoy ourselves. With all that has happened (and been happening) we have learned to really just appreciate the here and now and go for it while you can.
The weather could have been better for us – but hey –it’s a vacation and Mother Nature doesn’t care…….and it’s Florida! But man, was it HOT and WET most of the time we were there!!! We are used to going in the summer (July) and I believe it was hotter this trip than when we visit in July!!! The humidity was awful!
Firsts for us on this trip were:
Spirit of Aloha: we all LOVED it!!! Probably would have loved it even more had it not been raining and they were able to present the entire show, but what we really didn’t know, we didn’t miss!
Grandstand @ SSR: we usually stay in the Springs section at SSR, but this time we stayed in Grandstand right next to the pool and a bus stop – we would stay in this exact location in a heartbeat!!! It was fantastic!!
50’s Prime Time Café: have always steered clear from here – as Scott & Emily were nervous about the staff picking on them – and they really don’t care for that – especially if they are hungry!! LOL!!! But we really enjoyed it – and I think if we did it again, they both would be more relaxed and enjoy it more – the food was FANTASTIC!!!
Food & Wine Festival: although we have been at WDW during the F&WF, we have never really been able to truly enjoy it – as the last time we were there in October, Emily was only 7 and we were with another family also. We really enjoyed this – we didn’t feel rushed at all, and feel very fortunate to have a child that loves to try new foods!! Being with Emily during this made it even more enjoyable!
MNSSHP (not our first time to one, but first time in 6 years!!) was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (even if we had to do a do-over!!) – we had a fantastic time and went in with the plan to see what we would not normally be able to see on a regular park day and I think we accomplished quite a bit of that in the amount of time given!
Photopass Plus: A win, win for us!!! We are photo hogs!!! We are those crazy people that purchase all the photos at the meals, at least one of every ride photo – so for us – the Photopass plus was a HUGE savings for us – especially considering that just the meals we had that they take your photos would have cost us $160 (5 meals at $31.90 per photo package) – then you add on the ride photos – and we had 11 ride photos!!! So again – HUGE SAVINGS!!! Scott was thrilled with not having that on our final room bill!! We will definitely take advantage of this as much as possible!! I ended up with over 1300 photos with all the editing and such for a week long trip!
And then just a few photos of some of the purchases we made!
Stitch Pillow Pet:
Alex & Ani Bracelets:
Necklace for me – with 3 Mickey Heads (reminds me of us!):
Vinylmations:
Magnet frame for the fridge (we get one of these every year!):
Emily’s new ears!
Em’s new Nerds pen & necklace (she loves this new line!):
Pins:
Books for Emily (and me!):
Wine bottle stoppers for a shower gift for my cousin!!
IPad cover for me!!
Bullseye Pillow Pet for Em’s BFF
New frame for my office:
Scrapbook supplies!
Ornament (we always get this same style every year!)
Ornament for Scott:
Halloween bucket that popcorn came in!
And then the infamous autographed converse shoes!!!
And now I am off in less than 24 hours for the next trip to celebrate my birthday and New Years!!! Follow me there on my PTR thread (link in sig)!!
See Ya Real Soon!!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Great wrap-up! I love all the purchases and Em's sneakers. I have to learn to make better use of the Photopass. I was there for 17 days and ended up with almost 150 photos, which I thought was a LOT. But you had over 1300!! And some real keepers, too.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Great wrap up! And I also have that iPad cover!! We are on the way to being twins - professions, DVC fleece, iPad cover. Geesh! Of course you can tell us apart because you're the one back in the bubble now. Waaaaahhhhhh!!!
Great wrap up, Lisa! Love all your purchases but especially the Alex and Ani bracelets. I might just add one of those to my souvenir wish list for June.
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but wow, what a party night you guys had! 
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Thank
Pixie Dust
Great pictures, too! 
For a short period of time in MK, you sure got a 
The pictures are fantastic! 
Glad you had a great last day at MK as well! Looking forward to your final thoughts! 
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