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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
What Sweet thing for Zack to do and I imagine that Mary Devall treashures that gift more than anything. Great trip update, you all got so much done. Bravo for Maddie riding Space Mountain. I love the Space Mountain at DL.. the one in WDW .. not so much
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So sweet - I love it!! And Space Mountain too. Twice!
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We headed up to the lounge for a little mid afternoon snack before going down to the pool for a couple of hours. Thom sat and watched Maddie go down the smallest of the three monorail slides over and over and over again while Karen, Mary Devall and I went to the tippy top and went down the tallest slide. We then headed straight for the hot tub where Sharon joined us and we spent the rest of our time.
When the hot tub got a little too hot and a little too crowded, we found some comfy chairs right beside it. Maddie had come over to the hot tub by then, so Karen and I talked our pool boy, Thom, into fetching us some FAB’s. Karen went with a pina colada while I had a mango margarita and Sharon got a rock (actually she didn’t want anything ). Zack and Mary Devall got smart and went back upstairs to the lounge for soft drinks.
It’s really hard to beat sitting by a hot tub in California sipping a frozen drink and watching a grandmother totally tear into her misbehaving grandchildren. Karen, Sharon and I just sat there like we were watching a reality tv show . . . maybe called something along the lines of “Grandma don’t Play.” I just love to people watch.
When the show was over . . . um . . . when it was time to get moving, we went back upstairs to get ready and then back to the lounge again. Over some appetizers and glasses of wine, Karen handed out the tickets that would reveal our big surprise . . . we were headed to DL for the Fantasmic Dessert Party!
Thom, Mary Devall and I hadn’t been to Fantasmic at DHS since Mary Devall was about 3 years old. Technically, Maddie was there too because I was pregnant with her at the time, but didn’t know it. Add in the fact that “dessert” was in the name of this event and well, you know my family. We were so excited and so grateful to Karen for giving Mary Devall this grand finale to an already special birthday!
This was our first night being out late in the cooler weather, so we made sure to wear long sleeves. Long sleeves at the end of July??? Toto, we’re not in South Carolina any more.
We made the short walk to the monorail and quickly were in Tomorrowland. We walked across the park to Frontierland where Karen left us at Rancho del Zocalo for a quick bite to eat while she took off to stand in line for our Fantasmic seats. Apparently, even after you buy the tickets, you have to stand in another line prior to the event to receive your seating assignments.
Rancho del Zocalo was set up like Boardwalk Pasta and Pizza in that there were different stations depending on the type of food that you wanted. The problem was that I didn’t know what kind of food I wanted because everything looked good.
After helping the girls order their soft tacos, I finally decided on the adult version of the same (Soft Tacos Monterrey - "Fajita Style" Beef, Chicken, or Vegetables, topped with Cheese and served in Flour Tortillas). Thom went with the Citrus Fire-Grilled Chicken (1/2 Chicken, seasoned in a savory marinade of cumin, garlic, cilantro, lemon & lime).We met everyone outside and enjoyed our Mexican feast although Maddie and I went on a wild goose chase halfway during our meal trying to find a bathroom . . . when there was one in the entrance to the restaurant that we totally missed.
After a very filling dinner, we walked over to Critter Country to meet Karen who had our seating assignments and had snagged some sweet potato fries for her dinner. We had just enough time for a quick spin on Winnie the Pooh, so off we went in our bee hive car.
The walk back to the Fantasmic viewing area was extremely crowded, but we eventually made it to the check-in area. It was so to just show up at the last minute and be escorted to our seats in the raised viewing area.
Karen had been able to snag some front row seats, a row of second row seats and another seat off to the right. Maddie ended up sitting in Thom’s lap in one of the front row seats (which was good since the hag made an appearance during Fantasmic ), so we were all able to sit together. Luckily, the two seats in front of Eileen and Sharon were never taken, so they had a front row view also. Karen had spoiled us royally!
A CM immediately came around to take our drink orders. Since the temperature had dipped below 80o, most of us went with hot chocolate. The only problem came when they gave us our dessert boxes and Eileen’s gluten free desserts were nowhere to be found even though Karen had checked and double checked to ensure that this wouldn’t happen. Karen was not happy at all and, although a flurry of CM’s stopped by to say and/or to see what could be done, they never were able to offer Eileen any true type of dessert. That one still puzzles me given the number of restaurants at their dispense in DL.
Eileen was a sport about the whole thing. She would have loved a little something chocolate, but she at least was able to enjoy the cheese and fruit . . . and the show itself. This incident fell under the “best laid plans” category of the trip. You can only do so much yourself before you have to hand over control to someone else and hope for the best. I hated that Karen was disappointed and upset and I hated that Eileen didn’t have the same options as the rest of us, but I don’t think that any of us would deny that the experience was amazing.
The desserts that we were given were outstanding and included truffles, cheesecake and a key lime tart. My family of four could have shared one of the dessert boxes and had leftovers! I nibbled on it before and throughout the show and still had a ton left. I ended up taking all of the cheese with me and Maddie snacked on it on our drive up to Northern California.
The show itself was incredible! When the Sailing Ship Columbia came around the bend filled with pirates, I was in awe.
When the fire breathing dragon grew to the size of an actual fire breathing dragon, I was askerd . . . and in awe. It simply amazed me at how over-the-top this show was given the small amount of space in which they have to work. Thanks Karen for giving us this amazing experience!
After Fantasmic, we were welcomed to stay in our seats and watch Wishes. It was hard to beat the view from our room, but we were able to see Tinkerbell and Dumbo’s flights which were not to be missed.
We lost Maddie to sleep at some point during Wishes, so Thom went with her and Eileen back to the hotel.
The rest of us battled our way through the crowd to Tomorrowland to ride the standby line for Autopia. This is one of those rides that is so much better than its DW counterpart. Mary Devall was so excited as she drove us under overpasses and through park areas and even off roading (and for a second, I actually thought that we had left the track ).
We decided to end our evening with a ride in the Finding Nemo submarine. It was a cute ride, but the CM’s working the ride was the funniest part of it. They’re either always “on” or they were getting really tired because they were dropping funnies left and right.
When we resurfaced, we were steps away from the monorail, so we were soon back at the hotel. I do believe that my 11-year-old had a birthday that she will never forget!
DL's version of Fantasmic! really cannot be beat! And to watch it while eating such delicious treats?! Perfect! Disappointing about the GF goof, though.
Southern California weather sounds so good right now, as Sandy rages outside our windows (partially blocked by the tree that just fell)....I do miss it sometimes!
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whew - it's taken me a while but finally all caught up. I was out of commiosion for a few weeks because of surgery and then just as I was getting back into everything, Sandy hits so I'm back to playing catch up.
I sounds like you all are having an amazing time. I was hoping to go to DL next summer but this ankle - surgery and rehab is eating up all my time off. After seeing your amazing day in DCA I'm even more bummed.
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We then headed straight for the hot tub where Sharon joined us and we spent the rest of our time.
Karen went with a pina colada while I had a mango margarita and Sharon got a rock (actually she didn’t want anything 
). Zack and Mary Devall got smart and went back upstairs to the lounge for soft drinks. 
Karen, Sharon and I just sat there like we were watching a reality tv show . . . maybe called something along the lines of “Grandma don’t Play.” 
I just love to people watch. 
Toto, we’re not in South Carolina any more. 
We had just enough time for a quick spin on Winnie the Pooh, so off we went in our bee hive car. 
to just show up at the last minute and be escorted to our seats in the raised viewing area. 
and, although a flurry of CM’s stopped by to say 
and/or to see what could be done, they never were able to offer Eileen any true type of dessert. That one still puzzles me given the number of restaurants at their dispense in DL. 
She would have loved a little something chocolate, but she at least was able to enjoy the cheese and fruit . . . and the show itself. This incident fell under the “best laid plans” category of the trip. You can only do so much yourself before you have to hand over control to someone else and hope for the best. 
I hated that Karen was disappointed and upset and I hated that Eileen didn’t have the same options as the rest of us, but I don’t think that any of us would deny that the experience was amazing. 
). 
Holly: 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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