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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 just booked the Backstage Safari for our trip. (Got a bonus @ work, so the mouse gets that too! LOL) Anyway, I need some information from anyone who's gone. Can I get to AKL by 8:15 using DTS? What do we need to take other than the obvious, and what can we expect to REALLY see? Two weeks from today-POP Poly & EMH! Hog Dog!!!!
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I can't tell you for definite what you can expect to see, as Disney do warn you that it can change on the day, but we were taken to see the areas where the animals are kept behind the scenes and we learnt all about how they train them. The highlight for us was being able to pet a rhino - an experience I will never forget. We also saw the surgery area at Rafiki's Planet Watch and the food stores for the animals and it was all finished off by our own private tour of Kilimanjaro Safaris, with no commentary and our guide pointing out all the things we'd learnt about earlier in the day. I hope that helps.
you can get there with disney transport. just make sure you give yourself ample time. plus remember usually AKL buses go to blizzard beach first.
i did an experimental afternoon tour. started out in the back behind the on stage operating room. went to the elephant barn, the giraffe barn, the kitchen where they do all the food and the aviary. think that's about it.
Ditto what Cheryl said! That was pretty much our experience too. Petting the Rhino was Amazing!! It really was a great tour and I am sure you will love it!
We didn't see them do surgery, but we did see the backstage bird aviary because I asked to. I've learned from several different people that they make a few changes based on the spoken desires of the specific tour. I'm a birder, so I asked to see any backstage bird areas. Someone on one tour was a vet tech and asked to see surgery. So if there's someplace where you have a specific interest, speak up!
My DH and I did this tour last year and had Paul as our guide he was awesome a retired teacher who dreamed of working at Disney World. In fact both he and his wife work at the World. Anyway we started by hoping into vans and going backstage to where the rino pen was, we got to meet sampson and talk with his keeper, next to the elephant pen and then on to conservation station where we had refreshments and they brought out a spider some smaller creatures and then a huge snake which I was somehow brave enough to pet. Lastly the safari with Paul was great b/c as we rode we could keep learning about the animals instead of the commentary. We also got a pin only available to those who took the tour. As you can tell from my incessant blabbing I loved it!
Thanks for the information. One more question -- Where during the tour were you allowed to take pictures, if any? This trip is keeping me going. Only another 11 days!!!!
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