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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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08-04-2009, 04:00 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: Pirates & Princess Party - A Magic Review
Pirates & Princess Party - A Magic Review
by Barry Hom
Disney has a lucrative business with pirates and princesses. The Pirates of the Caribbean movie series has made a truckload of money. The ride that inspired the movie is as popular as ever and recently has undergone changes with the addition of Captain Jack Sparrow. A Pirate Cruise disembarks from different points at the Walt Disney World Resort. A Pirates Lair recently took over the old Tom Sawyer's Island location at Disneyland. For those who want to experience the princess lifestyle, the Walt Disney World Resort offers the Perfectly Princess Tea Party, the Princess Storybook Dining at Epcot, Cinderella's Grand Feast, the Wonderland Tea Party, the Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique, and special meals at Cinderella's Castle: "Once Upon a Time Breakfast," "A Fairytale Lunch at Cinderella's Royal Table," and the "Dreams Come True Dinner." (Sorry, PassPorter friends, I am not having a makeover at the Biddidi Bobbidi Boutique and writing an article on it. They can't pay me enough to do it!) You can also experience rides and attractions based on Disney princess, such as Cinderella's Golden Carrousel and Snow White's Scary Adventures at the Magic Kingdom, and the shows "Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage" and "Voyage of the Little Mermaid" at Disney-MGM Studios.
If pirates and princesses generate this much money and attention for Disney, why not combine these two cash cows? These two Disney properties come together at the Pirates and Princess Party at the Magic Kingdom. This hard-ticketed event began in January 2007 and returns on select nights from August 11, 2007 to September 3, 2007. I had visited the event on its last night during the spring: March 8, 2007. The event hours during my visit were 7:30 PM to 1:00 AM. On the select nights in August and September 2007, the hours are 7:00 PM to 12:00 AM. Ticket prices from Walt Disney World's website are as follows:
Pirates & Princess Party Advance Price: Ages 10 and over: $38.95 + tax Ages 3-9: $32.95 + tax
Pirates & Princess Party Day of Event Price: Ages 10 and over: $45.95 + tax Ages 3-9: $39.95 + tax
Advanced tickets can be purchased on www.disneyworld.com or by calling 407-W-DISNEY.
The Pirates and Princess Party follows a similar format to another hard-ticketed event, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The party has a parade and fireworks. Stations scattered around the Magic Kingdom hand out candy. Nearly all the rides and attractions are open, except for rides such as the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland. Guests are allowed, even encouraged, to come dressed in princess or pirates costumes. On the night of my visit, one guest came dressed up as the red head from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! With your Pirates and Princess Party ticket, you can enter the park as early as 4:00 pm without regular park admission. If you enter early, you can catch the rides and attractions not open during the event. Additionally, during spring event times, you might be able to catch the Wishes fireworks show before the Pirates and Princess Party (if Wishes is scheduled during your visit). You can see two fireworks show for the price of one ticket (assuming you've never seen Wishes before). Sadly, Wishes is not scheduled for any of the fall Pirates and Princess Party dates.
When you enter the park, you're given a small bag to collect candy from around 13 "Treasure Spots" scattered around the Magic Kingdom. The bag is made of velvet, has the Pirates and Princess Party logo emblazoned on the front, and is a little smaller than your hand. The Pirates Bazaar at Adventureland has similar bags that you can stuff full of "precious" stones.
The Magic Kingdom laid out red carpets at the entrance. You really feel like royalty when you walk on this carpet! Be sure to pick up an event map to find your way around the park, to see the show times, to locate the "Treasure Spots," and to see when other activities are scheduled through the night.
The event has the two things that Disney does best; parades and fireworks. The "Disney's Enchanted Adventures Parade" begins at Frontierland and winds its way across Liberty Square and down Main Street U.S.A. You can see royal knights on horseback, court dancers, and Disney princesses such as Ariel, Snow White, Belle, and Cinderella. The pirates' portion of the parade has a 39-foot pirate ship, a treasure float with Jack Sparrow, and Peter Pan with his gang fighting Captain Hook and his cronies. My favorite area for parade viewing is in Frontierland in front of the Country Bears building. This area has enough light to videotape and photograph without excessive problems. You can find other well-lit spots along the parade route in Frontierland.
The fireworks show is called "Magic, Music, and Mayhem." This show starts out with fireworks celebrating the Disney princesses. Then the pirates attack and cause trouble for the princesses. Don't worry, like most Disney attractions, it ends happily with a little help from a "pixie-dusting" Disney friend. I've seen the fireworks shows at the Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland. They've all been spectacular and this show is no exception. View this show anywhere along Main Street, U.S.A., facing Cinderella's Castle.
The "Dream Along With Mickey" show is performed at the Castle Forecourt Stage in front of Cinderella's Castle. Mickey Mouse and other Disney character friends invite guests to join in to dream and have happy, adventurous exploits. On the night of my visit, the show abruptly ended early due to technical difficulties. This show is also performed during regular park hours.
You think that treasure hunting, watching the parade, and admiring the fireworks show is enough to fill your evening? The Pirates and Princess Party has even more fun! DJ booths in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland allow you to dance the night away with such Disney characters as Stitch and Sebastian. Watch break-dancing pirates and acrobats perform their incredible moves. Meet Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella at the Princess Pavilion in Mickey's Toontown Fair. Learn how to be a pirate in Captain Sparrow's Pirate Tutorial. The Magic Kingdom is packed full of these smaller shows during the event!
The best part of the Pirates and Princess Party is experiencing the Magic Kingdom's rides and attractions with a short wait. FastPass is not available during the night, but it's not needed. Most waits are 5 to 10 minutes. You will rarely find a long queue. The longest line I saw during my visit was 15 minutes for Peter Pan's Flight. Still, the wait for this ride is relatively short compared to its normal wait time during regular operating hours. Since the waits are low, you can go on rides and attractions that you may not experience during the day because of long queue times, like AstroOrbiter or the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. Sorry, the Hall of Presidents is not open during the Pirates and Princess Party. You will have to find someplace else to take a nap!
Figure out which princess you want to be: Cinderella, Snow White, or Princess Leia. Decide on which pirates you want to dress up as: Captain Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, or a Pittsburgh Pirate. Then go to the Pirates and Princess Party and have fun. You will have a magical and memorable experience. Just remember to collect a bag of "treasure" for me!
More Information: Disney's official web site for the Pirates and Princess Party
My video of the Pirates and Princess Party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJyJfqpRkbk
View the full article and download a free formatted PDF of it here!
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 08-04-2009 02:44 PM
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcome and encouraged.
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