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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
What? No comments about the Academy Awards last night?
what did you think? did you watch them?
What would you do differently?
I watched last night from beginning to end. I don't really enjoy the red carpet stuff. I don't are what designer you're wearing.
If I produced the Oscars, here's what I'd do differently:
-the opening number/monologue would be no more than 5 minutes, or that awful "Jaws" music would cut off the host.
-The entertainment would consist of live performances of nominated songs, clips from nominated movies, and clips of performances from the nominated actor/actresses. Nothing else. Jennifer Hudson and Shirley Bassey are good, but they're not relevant this year.
-We don't need a "theme"; the theme is the Oscars for goodness sakes.
-In Memoriam stays, but includes ALL actors that have passed and whatever publicists, editors, and sound designers that fit in no more than a 10 minute presentation. (I resent that they choose to spotlight Jack Klugman and Charles Durning, but not Phyllis Diller and Andy Griffith. Who makes the decision as to who is more worthy of a final bow?)
-No corny dialogue between presenters. Most of that stuff is not funny and just lengthens the show.
-Add an usher to the front of the stage to help winners get up to the stage. Certainly Hollywood is full of hot, muscley, men who would appreciate a part time job for the evening. This is my idea; Beefy Joe is planted at the base of the stage stairs. When a woman wins, Beefy Joe takes her arm, escorts her to the podium and then departs on the other side of the stage, down the stairs returning to his original spot when the applause begins. If a gentleman wins, Beefy Joe either helps him up the stairs if he needs it, or shows him directly to the podium, and once again continues down the stairs on the other side of the stage, returning to his original spot during applause. This insures that the winner gets up onto the stage safely, and doesn't mess around with the presenters too long.
-Hire a killer stage manager that will keep the show running on time!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I agree with all of your comments. I have always wondered why they do those cheesy interactions between the presenters - they are never funny and I am always wondering - was that supposed to be that awkward on purpose?
The opening of this years was waaaaayyyyy too long. Yes a nice 5-10 minute opening that doesn't included Shatner being brought in via satellite would have been awesome.
I also would like to add - the White House did not need to be included in the Best Picture presentation. I think Jack Nicholson would have been just fine and at that point in the evening I just wanted it to be over already so the additional speech was just annoying.
And was Rene Zellwiger drunk or just suffering from some bad botox? She just seemed so out of it and was squinting like it was really bright in there.
Personally I think Billy Crystal should just be the host and lets stop worrying about getting other people to do it.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
I watched from beginning to end too. That also included all the E! Red Carpet special. So all in all I watched 6 1/2 hrs of Oscar coverage. I agree that the monologue was a little too long, but overall I enjoyed the show. I think no matter who the host is, you are not going to please everyone.
If there is anything I would change it would be all the boring awards like editing, costume design and sound editing. I don't think anyone really cares who wins those awards, except for those nominated.
I watched from beginning to end too. That also included all the E! Red Carpet special. So all in all I watched 6 1/2 hrs of Oscar coverage. I agree that the monologue was a little too long, but overall I enjoyed the show. I think no matter who the host is, you are not going to please everyone.
If there is anything I would change it would be all the boring awards like editing, costume design and sound editing. I don't think anyone really cares who wins those awards, except for those nominated.
I agree with Kathy. (Except for costume design... I do like to see who wins that. )
I watched the whole show plus the red carpet show on E too, and honestly I thought it was the best Oscar show I'd seen in YEARS. I loved LOVED loved Seth MacFarlane. I thought he was witty yet classy enough and had great charisma. I'd love to see him host for years to come. He's up there with Billy Crystal as far as I'm concerned. I could have done without William Shatner in the opening...what's he done in the last 20 years? And his eyes were so red he looked like he'd been smoking I don't even know what.
I loved that the theme was musicals...there is usually a "theme" to the Oscars. I thought all the performances were magnificent. Performances are the main reason I watch awards shows, like for example the Tonys. I don't know the people nominated and I don't get to vote, so whether someone wins or not does not really affect me one way or another unless they are someone I am a HUGE fan of (like Daniel Day Lewis). If I didn't want to see the performances, I would just wait till the show was over and look online to see who won.
Shirley Bassy was completely relevant this year because they were doing a tribute to James Bond's 50th anniversary. And let me tell you, it was wise of them because my husband, who never ever watches the Oscars, watched with me until that point because he loves James Bond. I think these producers know what they're doing.
My favorite part of the entire night was the performance by the Les Mis cast, even though it included Russell Crowe who makes me want to drag my nails on a chalkboard when he sings.
__________________
MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I caught little bits of the show here and there, as I went in and out of patient rooms but only if the patient had the Awards on.
I have never found them interesting, but last night found some parts okay. I do agree: they need to get the presenters to stop trying to have "impromptu" discussions that are stilted and painful to hear/watch. The one that comes to mind from this year was Jennifer Aniston and Channing Tatum. That was just torture, and I only saw a few moments of it!
I would love to see the best design, best musical score, best makeup, etc. but SHOW me why they won. A short clip (10 seconds or less) or a photo or a short score reflecting the final product would be great.
I think the idea of an escort across the stage is good. I also think they could come up with some better signal of "You're done, step away from the microphone." A nice bell, a mellow gong, a donkey braying, someone screaming "Shut up already" - any of those would be better than that 'Jaws' music.
I would love to see the best design, best musical score, best makeup, etc. but SHOW me why they won. A short clip (10 seconds or less) or a photo or a short score reflecting the final product would be great.
I kind of think the idea with awards shows though is that they think that many people have already seen these movies...so if you saw the movie, you don't need to see a whole clip on why the makeup/music/design was good. You already know.
__________________
MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
I enjoyed the show (took three viewings to finish....and our DVR missed the last three categories!). I agree with a lot that's been said here. There were some very bad jokes, so really dumb banter between presenters, and some really good moments.
I loved that there was a lot of music. That's one reason why I like watching the Tony Awards even though I have no idea about the plays being awarded most of the time.
This year I had actually seen a few of the films that were nominated...well more than usual. I like that the awards were pretty well spread around. I don't like it when one film picks up most awards.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
) 
Linear Mode
