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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm very excited for all of this! I have a good friend who's going to be in town and wants to do the special 24 hour celebration in May. I'm not sure if I want to fight the crowds for that, but I would love to check out the new changes...especially the Hatbox Ghost!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Disney's updates...some have been great (stars in Peter Pan's Flight at DL) and some have been poorly conceived and offensive to this traditionalist (Swiss Family Treehouse -> Tarzan's Treehouse; Pirates on Tom Sawyer's Island). Lately, Disney seems to be on a roll, enhancing with a small brush rather than creating abominations with a broad one. I'm hoping for the best!
I'm back to report the Hatbox Ghost is cool to see. I've seen it twice now. The first time, my daughter and I were looking around anxiously trying to figure out where it is, and when we finally saw it, we were so busy trying to get a picture of it that I missed the disappearing head effect.
The second time I saw it, I was prepared. I still tried to take a picture of it, lol, but at least I did see the effect. It seems like the timing of the effect is a bit too slow for everyone to see the entire thing if you don't come across it at just the right time. Either they need to speed up the effect just a tad or slow down the ride vehicles a tiny bit. Either way, it was very cool to see this little bit of history back in the ride!
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I'm back to report the Hatbox Ghost is cool to see. I've seen it twice now. The first time, my daughter and I were looking around anxiously trying to figure out where it is, and when we finally saw it, we were so busy trying to get a picture of it that I missed the disappearing head effect.
The second time I saw it, I was prepared. I still tried to take a picture of it, lol, but at least I did see the effect. It seems like the timing of the effect is a bit too slow for everyone to see the entire thing if you don't come across it at just the right time. Either they need to speed up the effect just a tad or slow down the ride vehicles a tiny bit. Either way, it was very cool to see this little bit of history back in the ride!
I've got another update! Rode on the Matterhorn and saw the updates. The Yeti is great and scary, just how he should be! I kind of think he looks a bit like a white-haired version of Harry and the Hendersons, lol, but scarier!
I do have a heads up for people with mobility issues, even slight ones...it's not easy to get into or out of the new ride vehicles. They're all individual seats, but they're not really seats...just flat maybe slightly padded floors of the ride vehicle. You pretty much have to squat down to sit and then extend your legs out with our feet into a recessed spot on each side. To get up, you have to bend your legs all the way up to get yourself into a squat position and use your arms to help push yourself up. After I got off the ride, I watched as another rider had trouble getting out of her seat and needed two people, one grabbing a hold of each arm, to pull her up because she tried and couldn't get out on her own. It's like a "real" toboggan. It's still bumpy and jostling as ever, but that's how this ride always has been. I really liked it, but it's definitely not for everyone.
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Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!