An Animal Kingdom State of Being with Cam and Fam COMPLETED 9/18 - Page 54 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow, so much to comment on after only being away from the boards for 3 hours!
First, glad you heard from DVC MS, and happy they're giving some points back! And, that they will have something in place to hopefully prevent others from going through the same thing.
Second, LOVE the comment about Stefanie having her own mouse at home - YOU!
GREAT character interaction already today, and on making the rope drop!
And finally, Stefanie is getting some great extra attention with her nails!
FUN day - and it's not even lunch yet!
Great start to your MK day!!! Love all the wonderful pictures with the characters! YAAA for Disney for getting back to you and for giving you those points back!!!
We did have a great start this day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Wow, so much to comment on after only being away from the boards for 3 hours!
First, glad you heard from DVC MS, and happy they're giving some points back! And, that they will have something in place to hopefully prevent others from going through the same thing.
Second, LOVE the comment about Stefanie having her own mouse at home - YOU!
GREAT character interaction already today, and on making the rope drop!
And finally, Stefanie is getting some great extra attention with her nails!
FUN day - and it's not even lunch yet!
Disney customer service is the best! Stefanie got so much attention this day for her nails that she'll show them to every single character we meet after this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenny Pot Pie
Love this trip report! Thank you for sharing your adventure!
What a wonderful morning at MK - love all the pictures
Love all the photos especially the ones of Stephanie with Belle and Cinderella, she looked so happy...especially her little mouse
I'm so glad Disney called you and everything is resolved. They do have great customer service!!
Wow, lots of great character interaction! The photos of Stefanie with Cinderella are super-precious. You can tell that Cindy was really engaged with Stefanie. Also love the photos of the 3 of you with Mickey & Minnie!
How nice to know that Disney has followed through on your letter and tried not only to make it right for you by crediting you with some points but also to make sure something like that doesn't happen again!
I love Disneys dedication to pleasing their customers Super cool that you got some points returned to you as well! I love all of the Meet and Greet photos...especially those rascally chipmunks Can't wait for more!
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PREVIOUS TRIPS: 1997- Off-site, 2002-Contemporary, 2009- POFQ, 2011- Beach Club, 2012- Disney Magic, 2013 Disney Fantasy
I'm glad you got a call from Eli re: the check-in fiasco. Very glad they gave you back some points and even more glad that they intend to make sure that the back-up procedures will be used if (more likely, when!) there's another computer malfunction.
The character photos are just great! I love that you're Stefanie's "House Mouse".
I love all of the pictures with the princesses and Mickey and Minnie!
Stefanie was one happy princess herself with all of that wonderful character love!
The smile on her face tells it all!
Such a great morning at the MK!
I am very happy to read that you received a personal response to your email!!
I really did think it was sad that you were not greeted downstairs and taken right up to Club Level!
How great that they returned some of your points!
I love all of the pictures with the princesses and Mickey and Minnie!
Stefanie was one happy princess herself with all of that wonderful character love!
The smile on her face tells it all!
Such a great morning at the MK!
I am very happy to read that you received a personal response to your email!!
I really did think it was sad that you were not greeted downstairs and taken right up to Club Level!
How great that they returned some of your points!
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face tonite . Stephanie looks so happy with the various characters, you can tell she is so enjoying herself!
Glad you got a response to your email and refund on some of your points. That's Disney for you. You wouldn't get a response like that from anywhere else.
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I really love all the Character pics. Stephanie looks like a pro, having that autograph book and pen ready!!!! It is really good to hear Disney stepping up to the plate and will fix the problem ......
First off what a great morning at MK, so glad that you were able to catch the opening ceremony, and what great character interaction to start off the trip. Love all the pictures...and Stefanie's reference to her mouse....priceless, I am sure Cinderella loved her response.
So glad that you heard back from Disney, and that they took so much time to hear what happened, I agree I found it so strange that they did not have a back-up system, I would figure that they would. Even if they could not get you a room, the fact that you could not go upstairs, even with your confirmation was just unheard of. Glad that you were able to get some compensation....definitely better customer service than you had a check in.
Wow, lots of great character interaction! The photos of Stefanie with Cinderella are super-precious. You can tell that Cindy was really engaged with Stefanie. Also love the photos of the 3 of you with Mickey & Minnie!
How nice to know that Disney has followed through on your letter and tried not only to make it right for you by crediting you with some points but also to make sure something like that doesn't happen again!
I had forgotten when I was ordered prints that I wanted an 8 x 10 of us with Mickey and Minnie, so writing today's update got me to finish up my order with snapfish. The new meet and greet area is real photogenic, I think.
Quote:
Originally Posted by langefamily4
I love Disneys dedication to pleasing their customers Super cool that you got some points returned to you as well! I love all of the Meet and Greet photos...especially those rascally chipmunks Can't wait for more!
She could spend all day with Chip and Dale and never get bored. In fact a special magic for one of our trips would be for them to come along with us all day. She'd be ecstatic and I'd wear our poor camera out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm glad you got a call from Eli re: the check-in fiasco. Very glad they gave you back some points and even more glad that they intend to make sure that the back-up procedures will be used if (more likely, when!) there's another computer malfunction.
The character photos are just great! I love that you're Stefanie's "House Mouse".
I had mentioned having a plan in place for the future and he was so sweet in telling me that they appreciated that I wasn't just complaining, but that I wanted check in to run smoothly, even without computers. I had tried to keep my tone positive and that does seem to have helped. And I love being Stefanie's "House Mouse."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luvsun
I love all of the pictures with the princesses and Mickey and Minnie!
Stefanie was one happy princess herself with all of that wonderful character love!
The smile on her face tells it all!
Such a great morning at the MK!
I am very happy to read that you received a personal response to your email!!
I really did think it was sad that you were not greeted downstairs and taken right up to Club Level!
How great that they returned some of your points!
Her face is priceless when she's with the characters that is why they factor so heavily into each of our vacations. We'll have to try Club Level again some day just to get the escort upstairs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Missy71
Thanks for bringing a smile to my face tonite . Stephanie looks so happy with the various characters, you can tell she is so enjoying herself!
Glad you got a response to your email and refund on some of your points. That's Disney for you. You wouldn't get a response like that from anywhere else.
Her face and smiles and love just pour through and I can get teary-eyed with a big 'ole grin when I'm going back through our pictures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
I really love all the Character pics. Stephanie looks like a pro, having that autograph book and pen ready!!!! It is really good to hear Disney stepping up to the plate and will fix the problem ......
She has been known to give professional advice to kiddos who aren't prepared for their turn. She does it so sweetly that most of their parents thank her, too.