We're Here! I might as well start my TR - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our next day of vacation was pretty special: DMIL's 52nd birthday. Since we had a late night last evening, I let the family sleep in. Then, off to Chef Mickey for 11am ADRs. I didn't tell DMIL anything about this place. They were shocked to have brunch with the characters! BTW, our family picture here was too cute! We tried to convince DMIL to stand on her chair and wave her napkin, but she declined. DD had one of her biggest meltdowns of the trip for this meal. I should have expected it since it was scheduled close to her naptime. The good news is that she took a nice long nap in preparation for the big evening festivities: MNSSHP!!
In fact, we all took an afternoon break/nap, then headed out at 5:30. I was glad the kids were able to rest up before the party. DD6 closed the party down at midnight, but DD23 months was done in the middle of Hallowishes. No biggie. She and I escaped thru the stores and made our exit so the rest of the family could stay and play. Of course, we stopped midway through to color with some CMs who were there just to help guests at the coloring table.
I forgot to mention this night of MNSSHP was sold out according to the CMs. I think that surprised everyone, the guests and the CMs. It was definitely noticeable in the lines, where the wait for the Fairies was 45 minutes at 7pm (when the party started). The line for the dwarfs had to be at least an hour, although they did have a cute little backdrop this year with wheelbarrows full of "diamonds." We were in line for the Princesses in ToonTown at 6:45. We were about the fifth family in at 7pm, which wasn't bad at all. That is, until they lost our PhotoPass photos. Don't worry, I e-mailed them and they were recovered five days later.
On to the princesses....This year was different than previous years. The cast was:
Cinderella and Prince Charming
Snow White and the Prince
Aurora and Prince Phillip
According to the coloring table CM, it was a pretty big deal that Snow wasn't with the dwarfs this year. It sounds like there were some complaints. We were delighted to see Snow's prince with her for a change, though. After the princesses, we stopped for a cruise around the carousel. Then, we met up with DH and DFIL who were patiently holding our parade spot in "Sleepy Hollow" just before the bridge in Liberty Square. Lucky for us, Tiana and Naveen were nearby and we snuck in to see them, too. We were done just in time to see the Headless Horseman. Of course, our special spot was overrun with other guests who didn't care that they didn't plan ahead for the parade and that we were there an hour and fifteen minutes prior.
I forgot to mention that DD6 was Wendy and DD23 months and I were Tink for the party. This made the parade very special for DD6, because Wendy and Peter stopped and made a huge fuss over her!! She was standing right up at the rope and Wendy saw her, ran to her to say hello, then ran back to Peter, and both of them came back to DD6. Then....Peter Pan crowed like a rooster at her!! DD had the biggest smile on her face and just giggled like crazy! Of course since she was at the rope, DD6 had other characters approach her, like the villains, the pirates and the dancing cowboys. My Tink costume had giant wings that were pretty noticeable, in fact they caught Hook's evil eye from the villains float. He pointed at me and shook his hook at me! So, I pointed at him, then pointed at the exit. He just shook his head back. (yes, I felt like a kid! It was very fun!)
So glad you had a great time at Chef Mickey's and MNSSHP. Our family can relate to the refusal of a nap from a little one. I hope to hear more about your trip soon.
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Then, off to Chef Mickey for 11am ADRs. I didn't tell DMIL anything about this place. They were shocked to have brunch with the characters! BTW, our family picture here was too cute! We tried to convince DMIL to stand on her chair and wave her napkin, but she declined. DD had one of her biggest meltdowns of the trip for this meal. I should have expected it since it was scheduled close to her naptime. The good news is that she took a nice long nap in preparation for the big evening festivities: MNSSHP!!
Liz 
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