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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great photos from both AKL and the Tree of Life--I've spent a lot of time just looking at the carvings, but somehow am in too much awe to remember to take photos!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
everybody for your kind comments about my. Cheryl, it is particularly gratifying to get a compliment from YOU, oh goddess of Disney photography.
OK, now back to our story.
I'd experienced It's Tough to Be a Bug before getting all those Tree of Life photos, and now it was time to play some more. I set out for the Single Rider Line (SRL) of Expedition Everest (EE). It was a mostly-cloudy day, so this is probably the least attractive photo I've ever taken of the Himalayas, but in the spirit of accuracy, here 'tis:
I rode it several times and always made friends with my seat mate, which on this trip was always a male. I like to try taking photos from the top of the mountain.
Hey buddy, can you identify any animals on the Tree of Life from here?
Of course, I totally "cheated" on this next one, zooming like mad to get a pic of my favorite attraction in all of WDW:
And I always have to get a shot of the Yeti's silhouette as he tears up the tracks, which is easy to do without a flash:
I stopped for some silly pics -- I think this was at the DVC booth not far from the Minnie-Mickey Trail.
Of course, I had to push past my innate shyness to ask the DVC rep to take those photos.
Who isn't thrilled every time they catch a glimpse of DeVine?
I'd made myself a lunch ressie at Yak & Yeti and enjoyed the decorations upstairs:
This was my first time doing the Table Service there, and I was disappointed in the food. (I’d enjoyed counter service with Sandy & her family last March, so maybe I ordered the wrong thing this time – Lo Mein with Chicken. I found it a totally ho-hum dish.) Oh well – I simply pushed the plate away and knew I’d be extra-hungry for dinner at Boma later!
I work for an architectural firm, and we recently offered last year's summer intern a full-time position. He grew up in Orlando and is a huge WDW fan, so he and I will give a lunchtime presentation on the “Architecture of Walt Disney World” sometime this spring or summer. So I took advantage of my solo day at the AK to get lots of “detail shots” that will (hopefully) impress our architects (who are mostly non-Disney folks). The Animal Kingdom is chock full of great details. I hope you’re happy with this selection – get comfy again, because this could take awhile, too!
Whether or not we consciously notice all these details, our eyes and brains are taking them all in -- fully immersing us into Disney's Animal Kingdom.
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For me, the #1 fascination with WDW is in the details -- every place you look contains something marvelous, fantastic, beautiful, and totally in character with the "world" Disney has created just for you. (Well, just for ME, actually, but I don't mind sharing with you. )
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