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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yes, we do have 4 Disney days in Tokyo - 2 days for each park.
I now have most stuff finalised, we are staying in 6 different hotels over the 3 weeks, 3 in the first week alone! I have hotels booked for the Disney bit of Tokyo (offsite), the main bit of Tokyo, and the Hiroshima bit. Then 3 nights at the Disney Hollywood Hotel in Hong Kong, followed by another 3 nights at a cheaper one in Kowloon (Sheraton). And I also have the one in Singapore booked.
So all that is left now is to think about transportation from airports to hotels.
This is a very complicated trip!
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Congrats on sorting the details! I loved Singapore when I was there. I recommend visiting "Little India", a primarily Tamil enclave. It's very very India. Neat places to visit are the giant gold jewelry shops, and of course the little eateries that serve your food onto banana leaves instead of plates.
Another place we visited was an area known for cloth. DH got an amazing Malasian batik shirt while we were there.
Congrats on sorting the details! I loved Singapore when I was there. I recommend visiting "Little India", a primarily Tamil enclave. It's very very India. Neat places to visit are the giant gold jewelry shops, and of course the little eateries that serve your food onto banana leaves instead of plates.
Another place we visited was an area known for cloth. DH got an amazing Malasian batik shirt while we were there.
My DH lived and worked in Singapore for over a year about 17 years ago, (before we met), and we have visited it together on a couple of occasions since, so we are familiar with Little India - it is an amazing place, the temples are absolutely stunning and welcome anyone who wants to go in just for a look around!
We also know the clothing area well too, we have both had beautiful clothing hand made for us before - I have the most beautiful red satin jacket and black skirt, which fit like a dream, and were shockingly cheap to have made too.
We are really excited now!
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
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Just seeing this now. Awesome! How are the plans coming along?
Any experience with Hong Kong?
Trip plans haven't really moved on since I last posted, we have most stuff in place now and our partners-in-crime for the Japan portion have been busy going to WDW, so we left them to it for a couple of weeks! I think my dad is most impressed that we are going to Hiroshima, but we are most excited about the new-to-us Disney parks. I can't wait to get there!
We have no experience of either Japan or Hong Kong, only Singapore. So the first two weeks will be a learning curve/adventure for us!
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Originally Posted by Alaskan Mom
Your trip sounds amazing! I would love to travel to Asia someday, I can't wait to read your TR!
Thank you! I will definitely write a trip report for the whole trip, as we are hoping to go to Universal in Singapore, and revisit the amazing zoo and Night Safari there, plus they have a new River Cruise portion where there are PANDAS!!
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Trip plans haven't really moved on since I last posted, we have most stuff in place now and our partners-in-crime for the Japan portion have been busy going to WDW, so we left them to it for a couple of weeks! I think my dad is most impressed that we are going to Hiroshima, but we are most excited about the new-to-us Disney parks. I can't wait to get there!
Oh I cannot recommend Hiroshima enough. I think Mark was like "why are we going there?" beforehand and he absolutely loved the peace there. It's a place unlike any other we've ever visited.
Quote:
We have no experience of either Japan or Hong Kong, only Singapore. So the first two weeks will be a learning curve/adventure for us!
Thank you! I will definitely write a trip report for the whole trip, as we are hoping to go to Universal in Singapore, and revisit the amazing zoo and Night Safari there, plus they have a new River Cruise portion where there are PANDAS!!
Ooh... very interesting. Singapore is on my "one day" list (along with a lot of other places ) and that sounds fascinating.