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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 know some of you guys have recently done the walking in Walts footsteps tour. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about it. What did you get on the tour, where did you go, did you recieve any fastpasses or go on any rides? I have decided to do the tour on my trip and have read conflicting information about what you get and do on it.
Thanks in advance.
I don't have any answers for you, but we're hoping to take this tour next February so I'm interested to hear others responses as well. The girls should be home from their girls' trip soon.....hopefully they will have lots to say about the tour!
Thanks Debi, I had read that and info in other places but the information isn't really detailed. Hopefully one of the ladies who recently did the tour can do a little review of exactly what they did.
Our tour started just as the park was opening. Our orders for lunch were taken, and we made our way up Main Street, stopping along the way for interesting tidbits of information. From there we went to Club 33, and got to get in the elevator and take pictures. Then on to the Tiki Room where we were inside before other guests (lots of info and pics). And then one of the kids in our party got to wake up the birds for the show after everyone else was in. We then rode the train (lots more info here) and returned to the patio at the Disney Gallery and had lunch after some more info. At lunch we were given our pins, visited with the guide, and generally had a wonderful time. I'd highly recommend the tour, especially if you are a fan of Walt or Disneyland. It was very informative and just plain fun!
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When we did the tour the choices were several different types of croissant sandwiches (turkey, roast beef, and veggie), and Walt's favorite chili soufle(chili topped with cornbread). Yum! Both the sandwiches and soufle were excellent. It came with fruit, chips, and your choice of soft drink or bottled water.
We went on my birthday, and there were six other people on the tour celebrating their birthdays, too! I remember we saw the replica of Walt's office on Main Street (in the Mr. Lincoln building), has the furnishings and personal effects that were in his office the day he died...kind of eerie...
We toured Main Street, lobby of Club 33, Jungle Cruise, Disney Gallery, peeked inside the private quarters that were once the Disney family apartment (now just storage, I wish they'd restore them), lunch was great...got a special pin! Sounds like this is a little different than what some folks have seen, so maybe they mix it up a bit depending on what attractions are open, etc.
Funny story though...our tour guide was a very nice middle aged man, really enthusiastic and knowledgeable about Disney history, even passed around an original tourist map/brochure from opening day. We found out that he was actually a Disney executive, had worked in every single department at the park (housekeeping, food service, you name it). The one thing he hadn't done was be a tour guide, so he took the training, and we were his first, and possibly only group. There was this loony woman in the group, filming the whole tour, wearing safari shorts and a safari hat. She asked him questions constantly, and she kept getting more and more outrageous...she asked him, totally seriously, if it was true that Walt's body was cryogenically frozen and hidden somewhere underground at the park! So after the tour, we all went to have lunch, and a huge group of tour guides had gathered to honor him with his official tourguide badge (guess it's a bit of a tradition). It was very sweet, and several people including our guide got a bit teary-eyed. They were so proud of him! We found out he had been there hours before the park opening, walking the route and saying his spiel to himself so he wouldn't forget what he was supposed to say.
THEN...we found out that the kooky lady who was filming him and asking him those bizarre questions was...his wife. It was priceless!
__________________
Katiebell
Citizen of Disneyland,
and I looooooove pirates!
Our tour was pretty much like Tink's description. We got Fast Passes to Splash Mountain and Soarin. The part of the tour DW and I really enjoyed was going into Club 33, and going into the "off limits" Wedding garden and taking pictures of the castle. We got magical pictures there.
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