The Life of a VIP - Adventures By Disney Backstage Magic - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Love it Sharon! It looks like you are having a great time and I can't wait to read all about your ABD and what special surprises they have for you! Take lots of pictures of Club 33!
OK that was just totally cool. The Helicopter experience and all the sights. You are right aboutgetting the better view of things. OK I loved that you got to stand behind the counter at Central Perk. Was the Couch they always sat on there? But ahhh to pretend to be Jennifer Aniston.... well that would be cool. I am so happy to see you updating us as ou go along. I will still be excited by the actual trip report you write after.
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That is amazing!!! You saw some awesome stuff girl! That sunset shot is beautiful. (I'm a sucker for sunsets )
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You are off to a great start! I am glad the weather held out for your helicopter tour. VIP tour at WB...very cool, indeed. Andrew would plotz...he is a huge fan of Chuck!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
Great updates and pictures! I think I'm going to add the WB tour for our trip (the helcopter is too expensive)!! Thanks for the review and have a great time!!
OK that was just totally cool. The Helicopter experience and all the sights. You are right aboutgetting the better view of things. OK I loved that you got to stand behind the counter at Central Perk. Was the Couch they always sat on there? But ahhh to pretend to be Jennifer Aniston.... well that would be cool. I am so happy to see you updating us as ou go along. I will still be excited by the actual trip report you write after.
Everything was there! When the show ended, they dismantled that part of the set and put it in another spot as sort of a shrine. We were allowed to walk around in there and take photos because we did the Deluxe tour. The regular VIP tour (for less important people, I guess ) only stands in a corner and looks around from there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
That is amazing!!! You saw some awesome stuff girl! That sunset shot is beautiful. (I'm a sucker for sunsets )
It was a gorgeous sunset! There will be plenty more photos in the actual TR!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydani
You are off to a great start! I am glad the weather held out for your helicopter tour. VIP tour at WB...very cool, indeed. Andrew would plotz...he is a huge fan of Chuck!
danielle
Thom, our tour guide, customized the tour based on the shows that people watched. The guides can pretty much take you anywhere you want to go. We were able to walk around in his whole apartment! It was really
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great updates and pictures! I think I'm going to add the WB tour for our trip (the helcopter is too expensive)!! Thanks for the review and have a great time!!
I can definitely recommend the WB Studio tour. They were actually filming that day (a new show that I can't think of the name of right now. Blue something). You definitely get a great feel for how movie making works, and it's so cool to see where so much stuff was actually filmed.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Clearly, I'm still getting up insanely early, because it's not even 6:00 and I'm on the boards. But at least I'm not walking around all tired like a zombie, so I've stopped worrying about it. The first couple of days of the ABD have been wonderful!
On Tuesday morning, I spent my last few hours in Santa Monica on the beach. I noticed a lot of surfers since the weather was nice (do people work?), and I was thrilled, thrilled I tell you, to spot a dolphin in the water! I didn't get too great of a photo, but you can see it!
After meeting a group of my fellow Adventurers at the airport, we were driven to the Renaissance and checked in for the official start of our Adventure!
We had a little time to settle in before our welcome reception. That was followed by dinner and a cute game show.
Then we got that day's pin as well as a lanyard (or a new choice, a pouch).
Adventure Guides Jaime and Michael
Yesterday, we started the day with breakfast at Disney's Soda Fountain.
Then we toured the El Capitan, currently featuring Alice in Wonderland.
Then we went next door to Jimmy Kimmel Live! After a short bus ride (well, it would have been short, if not for traffic ) we arrived at the Jim Henson Studios, possibly my favorite part of the tour (well, so far at least ).
Then, another highlight. We drove to Griffith Park where we visited Walt's Barn and got to ride on his train!
After that, we had free time, which I spent checking out the sights on Hollywood Boulevard.
For dinner, a group of us made a pilgrimage...
I had my very first In N Out burger and yummmmmmm!
Today we'll be visiting Walt Disney Studios, the archives and Mickey's of Glendale ()! Then, we're going to Disneyland!!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Love the updae and the pictures. You and Kermit... better hope Miss Piggy does not belong to passporter. You two are sitting mighty close there. It sounds like you are getting a little used to the time frame. 6am is not too bad. I love watching surfing. could never do it,but its fun to watch. Breakfast at a Soda Fountain... sounds like my kind of breakfast
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Aug,1978- LBV;Apr,1987-Disneyland;March,1993-offsite;Jan,1997-offsite;Aug,1999- CBR;Sept,2000- ASMo;Aug,2001- ASSP;Aug,2002- ASMU/AKL;Jan & July 2003-POR;June,December 2004- PC;January 2005- ASMU; Aug 2005-PC;Dec 2005-AKL;Jan 2006-CBR ; July/Aug-Saratoga springs; Dec. PC;April 2007- Disneyland;Aug 2007-Disneyland & So Cal;Dec 2007-POFQ; Aug2008-POFQ & Nov 2008 PC,Y&B May 2009 ASmu, June 2009 PC ; Nov 2009 WL & POFQ;Jan 2010 BW & WL; June 2010 POFQ ; Aug 2010 Poly ;Oct 2010 WL; Jan 2011 PC
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Pixie Dust
the pictures, especially the merry-go-round and Central Perk! 
Sounds like you're having a great time. Can't wait for more and your TR!
Central Perk!! That's my all time fave show!! I'm a little jealous 
Have a wonderful ABD trip!
)
PassPorter Guide Author
) only stands in a corner and looks around from there.
) we arrived at the Jim Henson Studios, possibly my favorite part of the tour (well, so far at least 
)! Then, we're going to Disneyland!!
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