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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I started reading this at work (ssssshhhh) not being able to see the pictures . Stupid work computer blocking me and stuff...how rude...you would think I was at work or something! So I am going to read this when I get home!!
I love the shots of all the resort details! I think my favorites are all the gators.
It's good that a CM was able to look up your voucher. Going all the way back would have been a bummer! Glad Deb could help you out with copying most of your FP+
Such fabulous photos of Epcot! Good to know the info about the MB and scanning them at Test Track. I have a feeling that will be important for us to know next week. And my niece will probably be like Claire and just let me watch while she designs the car
I love all the gators there too!
I was so happy I didn't have to go back and get the right voucher.
I bet she will! Claire loves to be in charge with things like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great photos from your start at Epcot! I can't remember the last time we had a wait at Nemo.
thanks...and yes if there is a wait for Nemo, you know it's busy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irenaroo
Nice start to your Epcot day. Good plan getting soarin done early before lines develop!
It was a good plan!
Quote:
Originally Posted by iwonathomas
Catching up! Seems like a nice day is far and glad your friend was able to help get some of your issues resolved.
She was very helpful to me and I was so appreciative!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DawnK
I started reading this at work (ssssshhhh) not being able to see the pictures . Stupid work computer blocking me and stuff...how rude...you would think I was at work or something! So I am going to read this when I get home!!
We saw a few Seahorses and I wanted to try to get some shots of them, but so did everyone else apparently as it was very crowded around the area. There was a family there that would just not move. I was getting annoyed as the mom was holding the baby with her chest falling out of her top and a skirt so short her rear could practically be seen….and she kept going on and on to this baby about the seahorse…which he had no clue or interest in. And as soon as I would make to move around her she would move as well. And I sure didn’t want to knock her because I was sure she will spill out of her outfit at any moment.
Those were the best I could get, even though we did stand there for quite some time.
We moved on and I tried to convince Claire she should pose for some pictures.
She looks thrilled about it, doesn’t she?
I tried to convince her to pose inside of Bruce, but today was not that day for her. LOL. This picture cracked me up with the lady looking in his mouth.
We stopped off in the gift area and I looked at a few shirts and Claire tried to convince me she needed another stuffy and I told her no she didn’t.
That strawberry shortcake was now a distant memory…especially since I only got a small portion of it…..so it was time for a snack.
Claire wanted a pretzel with cheese and I went for the Mickey Bar. Of course I forgot to order the cheese and had to order it after I paid since she reminded me she couldn’t eat it without it. We then found a spot to sit and eat…and she pretty much ate that darn thing without the cheese till I insisted we were not wasting it.
While sitting there we saw Tiana and Naveen come walking towards us. What a surprise!
And they walked right over next to us to have a meet and greet.
Claire didn’t want to meet them, but I said we were whether she liked it or not. LOL. I knew she was just being shy, so we finished up our snack and she plopped a nice big drop of cheese on her shirt. Oh Great! Oh well nothing we can do about it now. I told her I would photoshop the orange stain out of the pictures. We got in line, which actually was filling fast, but still we weren’t too far back.
We had some teen girls in front of us and the one was crying with excitement about Naveen being there. I kept thinking she must have some disability because she was just so insanely excited over Naveen. But I don’t think she did and her friend was excited, but not near the same as this one. Claire even looked at me with a wondering look. I mean, it’s neat to see Naveen, but to cry over him…..that is a little extreme. But glad it made her Disney dream come true then.
I thought Naveen’s shoes were super cute.
And while we waited I did take a few shots.
And then it was our turn.
They really liked Claire’s skirt, which was Peter Pan themed…and I believe has a map on it too.
No he wasn’t pointing at her stain. LOL.
Claire looks a little unsure about taking his arm.
Needless to say, Claire was very happy we went to the meet and she thought they were both a lot of fun. See mother know best!
Our next Fastpass Plus was now up. Let’s just say the choices at Epcot suck. I mean besides Test Track and Soarin’…we really don’t have other must dos that need a FP. Claire loves Figment, so I chose that as one. Rumors were floating around for a while that they were going to close Figment, so I thought it best we were sure to get on it. I have now heard it will be staying for the time being…at least.
I had to take a picture of this….Skip’s real name is Dean…and I could use a Dean finder at times. He likes to disappear….and did it a lot while we were cruising.
And of course, Claire talked me into letting her buy a stuffie. I really agreed because I would’ve felt awful if this did close and she didn’t have the chance to get one again. She was all smiles about that.
We then headed back to the Seas. Our next FP+ was for Turtle Talk with Crush….let me tell you now, total waste of a FP. It does not get you in any faster at all.
We were early so we explored the area a little more.
The lady kept throwing these heads of lettuce to them, but they didn’t seem all that interested for the most part, and when they were interested, it was only the fresh ones, the old ones were not eaten at all.
I believe we then headed in to the turtle talk waiting area. Of course there is no distinction between those with FP’s and those just coming in to watch. We all could enter and waited in the same area.
Thanks for the info on Crush! Definitely won't use a FP on that one! I was curious since it is just one big room. The day seems to be going pretty good!
Sorry for all the car issues when arriving. I would have been upset as well. Not sure why they had such difficulty finding her name and worse yet that they have not even tried to fix the issue or respond to emails or letters.
They do not deserve your business after that, at least a response would have been nice.
Love the pictures of POFQ, we usually stay at Riverside when we stay there but I love the FQ side as well, just so quaint and I love the feeling of the resort.
Glad they were able to help you with your ticket without the voucher, I did that once as well. We got all the way to DTD and I said...wait, I forgot the vouchers and they were able to look it up thankfully.
Cant believe Nemo was backed up to the Lighthouse, I don't think I have ever seen a line there but I do know that the FP+ has changed the wait times in certain ways. When we were there I was shocked that the Figment line was outside the door. Granted it moved quickly but I was like...where did this line come from?
It looks like a great day in Epcot. I can't tell you the last time I rode Figment. I know DH never has so its been at least 10 years.
I am pretty sure the first time I rode it....many many years ago, it was the original version and that was better.
We skipped it one year and Claire was not happy about it, so I try to do it at least once a trip now for her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TinkerbellJenn99
Sorry about the lady showing her rump - ugh some people . I LOVE seahorses to so i would have been miffed.
Looks like a great meet with Tianna too
I swear that outfit didn't even look comfy! I used to wear short tops and shorts years ago when I was skinny, but they were comfy...this outfit looked like she would bulge out the top and bottom and I would be holding myself in at both ends. LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Thanks for the info on Crush! Definitely won't use a FP on that one! I was curious since it is just one big room. The day seems to be going pretty good!
I would have thought they would've divided the room for a FP side, but that wasn't the case. I think it's just an option because there really isn't a lot of options that are available to FP at Epcot. And anything halfway decent is in the first tier!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
just joing in and all caught up!!
Hello!!! Glad you could make it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMadonna3
I absolutely adore Claire's outfit and the pics of the Seahorses are super cute, but so are all your other pics
Thanks! I had that made for our 2012 trip. It took months and months and the girl kept telling me it was sent and it still didn't come. I finally told her I was contactin my credit card company and paypal about a refund and all of a sudden it showed up. So I am trying to get good use out if it when I can.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Sorry for all the car issues when arriving. I would have been upset as well. Not sure why they had such difficulty finding her name and worse yet that they have not even tried to fix the issue or respond to emails or letters.
They do not deserve your business after that, at least a response would have been nice.
Love the pictures of POFQ, we usually stay at Riverside when we stay there but I love the FQ side as well, just so quaint and I love the feeling of the resort.
Glad they were able to help you with your ticket without the voucher, I did that once as well. We got all the way to DTD and I said...wait, I forgot the vouchers and they were able to look it up thankfully.
Cant believe Nemo was backed up to the Lighthouse, I don't think I have ever seen a line there but I do know that the FP+ has changed the wait times in certain ways. When we were there I was shocked that the Figment line was outside the door. Granted it moved quickly but I was like...where did this line come from?
I really want to get to Riverside one of these days. It's on my list of a place to stay, I just haven't managed it yet. Plus I want to do a longer stay there, preferrably in a royal room with Claire.
It was really busy this week and I hated seeing those rides with normally short lines stretching way out.
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I can't remember the last time we had a wait at Nemo. 
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Pixie Dust
. Stupid work computer blocking me and stuff...how rude...you would think I was at work or something! So I am going to read this when I get home!!
Katie's graduation
. I LOVE seahorses to so i would have been miffed. 
~ Jenn 
Liz 
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