Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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05-15-2005, 04:03 PM
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#46
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 15
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
I have just got done booking my trip in Oct and will be staying at th AK and can not wait to go.
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05-15-2005, 05:59 PM
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#47
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
Posts: 12,270
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Just catching up! Great photos of the castle! And how cool you were able to get around the MK so easily. Sorry to hear it was so cold (I remember how cold that "December Cold" was!!)
Can't wait for more!
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05-15-2005, 06:33 PM
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#48
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 34,171
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/13
[ QUOTE ]
Why oh why won't Disney put the PRINCES out for more meet and greets? That would be so fantastic!! Love those pictures Marnie. Glad to hear that Cinderellabration is worth the time. I've heard mixed reviews.
[/ QUOTE ]
Oh Mary Ann I agree with you! Great update Marni! I love your TR's and your pics! Thanks for sharing!
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05-15-2005, 07:56 PM
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#49
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago Illinois
Posts: 5,421
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/13
Great update. Sounds like a great trip!
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05-16-2005, 12:09 AM
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#50
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Posts: 2,323
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Your kids are just so adorable and the photos are wonderful, keep it coming. I can't go this year, sigh, we were supposed to go to DL, but a wedding and a trip in one year? No, I don't think so.
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05-17-2005, 05:37 AM
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#51
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Day Three – Sunday April 17th ……We’re Flying
Well, at least I got into vacation mode, finally. Matt woke up at 6, Alexa at 6:30, and me and Colin slept until 7:30 I think I really needed that sleep! Since Matt was up so early, he went to Mara for some coffee, and then out to the lobby to wait for Zawadi Marketplace to open so he could get a Sunday paper! We took our time this morning, and didn’t head out until around 8:30.
First stop of the day was Epcot. The bus fairies were looking out for us again, because we walked right onto a bus at the stop Once at Epcot, there was a little bit of a crowd Now Epcot really needs to do something about their entrance. We all know the bag inspection tables are too close to the turnstiles, but the other problem is that they try to funnel everyone right down the center of all the turnstiles, so the line stretches back to the monorail exit People weren’t branching out to the other turnstiles Because Epcot had everything else roped off, people started going under the ropes (us included). Why should we wait in a humongous line when there is no one in line right here? Ridiculous if you ask me!
Once thru the long lines, we were held up. Even though it was after 9, they character caravan was doing it’s thing and they still hadn’t dropped the ropes in front of Spaceship Earth. And Alexa was complaining that she was hungry We’re finally let thru, and we move to the right. Most everyone else is heading left to Test Track and Mission Space. We have our own Mission this morning, but it’s a flight over California and not a space flight We made it to the Soarin’ entrance (they still had the walls up blocking The Land), showed our annual passes, and were let thru. It was quite eerie to be in The Land with it closed. Very quiet! Alexa was still complaining of being hungry, so I told here we’d get something inside (not knowing it still wasn’t open) We head down the escalator, and towards the Soarin’ entrance. I verified that Alexa would be able to ride (with the height gage and Alexa) and we were off. Matt stayed back with Colin. We ended up on the first ride of the morning. Row 1 in the middle. My only complaint is that in the queue when they put you into a row, you’re supposed to stand on an arrow (I think). They are too close together, IMO. I’m small, and I felt I was right up next to the the person in front of me. If you’re just normal size, it makes for close quarters!
Let me tell you, when the benches started going up, I thought we were going to go right into the screen . I think I closed my eyes What else can I say about this ride, FANTASTIC! The sites, sounds, smells, it’s just amazing! Alexa enjoyed it as well, except for the fireworks at the end, they were too loud and scared her. But when we “landed”, she said that she had enjoyed it anyway, although she wouldn’t be riding it again! Oh well, at least she tried it! We made our way out the long queue area, and found Matt and Colin. Now it was Matt’s turn. The wait time was saying 20 minutes by now, but we’d see later in the week that a 20 minutes wait was pretty good! We goofed around while waiting for Matt, taking pictures and such to pass the time!
After Matt landed, it was time for breakfast. Everyone was hungry, and Alexa was really voicing her opinion about needing to eat! Since the only breakfast we’ve ever eaten at Epcot has been at PSB, we didn’t quite know where to go. We walked out to the area in front of the fountains, and saw that the Fountainview Bakery was open. Well, that will do The line was somewhat short, thankfully. Wow, how could we have missed this place all these trips before It was a bagel and orange juice for Colin, a chocolate croissant for Alexa and me to split (and chocolate milk) and a fruit tulip for Matt (boy that looked heavenly, and tasted it too)! Grand total of $11.88 (that’s my kind of breakfast)! We originally headed outside to sit, but it was quite cool as the wind had just picked up, so we headed back inside.
After our tummies were full, we headed over toward Mission Space and Innoventions East. Innoventions was first, and we did some of the activities inside, including the plastic tour so the kids could make a FREE plastic robot (how often do you see FREE at Disney )! We had to take advantage of that. After the quick little show telling us all about plastic, and the kids making 2 robots each, we headed off to Mission Space. The standby line said 20 or 30 minutes, but the single rider line said 5, so I told Matt to go for that. I’d stay with the kids outside until he was done, and then it would be my turn. The kids occupied themselves playing with their robots, so the time passed quickly (or at least without whining)! Space Mickey and Space Goofy were out doing pictures, but they didn’t want to go and have their pictures taken
Matt emerged after what felt like 45 minutes. It wasn’t a 5 minute wait like it was posted, but rather close to 20 So I decided I’d skip it for now (unfortunately, I never made it back )! It was now past 11, and World Showcase was open, so we headed off in that direction. First we came across the Snow White topiary
Then we headed for the Kid’s Maze, on the rose pathway. The kids always like to run around in here, and this year was no exception. There did seem like less topiaries this time around, but it was still a nice area.
The kids (or rather Matt) were getting hungry, so he went off to the McDonald’s station just down the way to get some fries and some water ($4.87). When he came back, I corralled the kids and we went to sit on the benches outside the maze. We ate, discussed what we would do next, and then all of a sudden we hear this “thump”. Yikes, Colin just landed head first off the bench and onto the cement walkway This would be the beginning of Colin’s missteps/falls for the week. Not sure if he was going thru a growth spurt or what, but he was not steady on his feet all week. After many tears and lots of hugs and kisses, everyone calmed down, and that was good enough to send Colin off to dreamland. He had a bump on his head, but not nearly as bad as he’s gotten before or as it could have been. I think he got his hands out at the last minute to absorb some of the fall. I was frazzled, Matt was frazzled, and we just needed a break.
Coming Up Next.........Day 3 Part 2...Can we make it past meltdown???
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05-17-2005, 06:16 AM
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#52
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Maine
Posts: 1,831
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Poor Colin!! Those bumps on the head can really hurt! I hope he felt better soon!
With every review I hear about Soarin' I get more excited to try it. Looking forward to more, please!
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05-17-2005, 07:50 AM
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#53
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 7,569
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
So glad ya'll liked Soarin'. It was our favorite ride at CA last summer and I can't wait to get the kids on it this year. Pixies for poor Colin's head. And I've heard such good things about those silly plastic robots, that I've got to aded that to the list.
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05-17-2005, 08:11 AM
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#54
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
I can't wait to try Soarin'!!
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05-17-2005, 08:34 AM
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#55
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Bethlehem,Ct 06751
Posts: 3,918
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Great update!
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05-17-2005, 08:42 AM
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#56
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 18,767
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Awesome update! Soarin' sounds amazing!!!! Hope Colin's head is ok! Can't wait for more.
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05-17-2005, 09:10 AM
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#57
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: WI
Posts: 17,126
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Poor Colin! Glad to hear the bump wasn't too bad. Soarin' sounds great!! Another awesome update Marnie!
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05-17-2005, 10:25 AM
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#58
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Facebook Addict
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Philadelphia
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 39,682
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Wow! sounds like a busy day at Epcot. Pretty neat that you were on the first "trip" of Soarin' for the day.
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05-17-2005, 11:29 AM
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#59
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Metairie, Louisiana
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 1,596
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Great update Marnie. I hope Colin's head was okay. More please!!
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05-17-2005, 12:23 PM
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#60
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: LITH, Illinois
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 3,205
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Re: Colexi\'s Spring Break Adventure, Thread 2 of 2 - Updated 5/14
Poor Colin! Another great update!
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