Introducing Friends to the Mouse TR - UPDATED 10/9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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It was a beautiful morning over Bay Lake Tower on Thursday September 26th.
We got ready in our room and made our way down the BLT/Contemporary bus stop for our, at the time, 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios. We arrived at Hollywood Studios and we immediately split up. I headed to Toy Story Midway Mania while my wife and daughter got in line to sign up for Jedi Training Academy. I got fast passes for just after lunch. My daughter was signed up for the 4:15 showing of Jedi Training Academy. Now, our 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios had turned into a full day.
After getting our fast passes, I met up with Kristen, Jeremy and Jackson and went on Star Tours since Patty and Maureen were still in line for Jedi Training Academy. Jackson loved the ride. After Star Tours, Patty and Maureen were out of the line and able to join us for a showing of Muppetvision 3D.
It was raining so Linda called Phineas & Ferb inside so they were not available for a meet and greet. We were able to see Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.
We got in line to see Mike and Sully and we were the last group of people to see them since they are not allowed to be out in the rain either and it was pouring. We had a good 20 minute wait for Mike and Sully so we were able to get some good shots of the new Monsters University themeing.
Maureen with Mike and Sully
After the Mike and Sully meet and greet, we split up again. This time, Patty went with Kristen, Jeremy, and Jackson to tour the Legend of Jack Sparrow. Maureen and I are not pirate people so we went to see what characters were available to meet in the Art of Animation. We met Sorcerer Mickey. He had a very short line compared to Winnie the Pooh and the characters from Wreck It Ralph.
The group got back together again so Maureen and Jackson could watch Disney Junior Live on Stage. It was Maureen's fourth or fifth time seeing the show and she would like to see something other than Minnie's Birthday but she still enjoys the show. Jackson loved it since it was his first time seeing the show. After the show, Kristen, Jeremy, and Jackson did their fast passes for Toy Story Midway Mania and went back to room so Jackson could nap. After their afternoon at the resort, they went to dinner at Garden Grill.
Our day was only half over. We took the risk and had lunch at the ABC Commissary. We had heard bad things about it but found the meal to be above average for counter service especially in Hollywood Studios where we find the counter service pickings to be slim. I went with a burger. My wife had the chicken club sandwich and Maureen went with another turkey sandwich.
Patty and Maureen hanging out at ABC Commissary after lunch
Maureen was getting antsy and wanted to do something. So, Patty stayed at the table and we went on Star Tours. Also, I was able to grab a good picture of Maureen on the star speeder.
The family hooked back up again and we still had a few hours to kill before Maureen's Jedi Training Academy but not enough time to go back to Bay Lake Tower. We settled on the Back Lot Tour something that we had never done on our previous trips. We thought it was a very interesting tour.
She's going to get wet
Some Old Props
Then, we got on the tram and completed the tour. It was getting hot with the lack of cloud cover after the mid-morning rain so we headed for cover again at Studio Catering for a popcorn snack and took advantage of the free water that the quick service restaurants provide upon request. After the break, Patty went to see Indiana Jones while Maureen and I went over to get prepared for Jedi Training Academy.
(to be continued - Jedi Training Academy and Dinner in Epcot)
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Last edited by Timothy Mouse; 10-18-2013 at 10:25 PM..
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