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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 saw David Copperfield, the magician, when we were leaving Splash Mountain in 1996. I asked if I could take his picture and he grabbed my camera and took one of the both of us. It didn't come out very good, but it was fun.
I saw Will Ferrel right after Elf came out... he was wearing a USC sweatsuit, and my friend who was with me started freaking out and telling him how ugly his clothes were (Michigan was playing USC in the Rose Bowl that year, and we're both HUGE Michigan fans), and I was like "don't listen to her she's hysterical!" because I was afarid that his security guys would haul us away. But Will was totally cool with it, and he was like, "yeah, call it what you want, but I always wanted to be a USC cheerleader," and then he did this crazy split-hurkey thing. Hysterical.
I met this star, not at Disney, but in my small hometown grocery store. If you are a lost fan, you know who Michael Emmerson is. He plays Ben on the show. His parents live, right next door to me and they were grocery shopping. He was very nice!
When we were at MK right before the Super Bowl,we saw Brian Dawkins (#20 on the Philadelphia Eagles) standing outside Peter Pan's Flight with his kids & CM tour guide....waiting for his wife to get out the rest room. I feel bad I didn't say anything. He is DH's fav fb player, but we both decided not to bother him since he was with his kids.
We've taken mostly Nov.-Dec. trips and have seen several of the celebrities from the Candlelight Processional program pre and post show in the park, Barbara Eden, John Lithgow, Felicia Rishaud, and we also saw Sid Cesar at MGM one year. We usually try to give them alot of room knowing how much they probably need their personal time, but it is exciting to see someone we've seen on TV or in movies for years.
I had a disappointing experience (IMO) once in March 2006. I'm not sure who the VIP was, but it appeared that they had enough clout to get a character dining table for 10 with no advance arrangements of any kind. According to my notes:
We noticed one thing that I found disappointing. Epcot was packed on Friday night - particularly in the World Showcase area. We were waiting for our 6:30 ADR for the Princess Storybook Dinner...and the podium was turning away 'regular folks' in droves. A party of 10 showed up with a cast member leading them; very clearly it was some sort of VIP group, and it looked like a mix of grandparents, parents, and kids. The cast member with the VIP group went back and forth between the podium and the party at least 3 times that we saw. The first 2 times, the restaurant hostess...with a worried face kept looking at the ADR list, the large crowds around her, and shaking her head 'no.' When we were called to our table, the VIP CM was talking to the restaurant manager. 5 minutes after we were seated, the 10-person VIP group was being seated.
It's the only time that I've seen something like that. I'm not surprised things like this happen, but I was surprised that it happened right in front of dozens of guests.
Well at least you were able to get in before they seated them. I would be pretty ticked off if I got bumped for a huge group like that without an ADR. If it was you know just a celeb, spouse, and kids it probably wouldn't upset me. But, with a huge group like that, which will take over several tables *growl* The other thing though is the group could have had an ADR, but it was lost. That's happened a couple of times to us on various trips.
Not WDW but we saw Corbin Blue at DLR earlier this month.
Needless to say, it was the highlight of DD9's trip! He didn't sign autographs, but we did get some pictures and she was able to trade for a "Chad" pin.
My family and I were at WDW last week for the opening of American Idol experience, we were silly and thought that everyone would be there on the 14th for the actual opening, but they were all there on the 12th for the press conference. I was so disappointed, but we had lunch at whispering canyon cafe (which by the way is awesome!) and Sanjya sat a couple of tables away from us, I would've rather it been david cook, or well any of the other idols, but it was cool anyways
I saw Dennis Quaid this year... It was raining and he had his puncho on, just like all of us! In 1994, I was in the same boat that some New England Patriots players in the Pirates of the Carabean. I don't know a thing about football and I don't come from the US, so I didn't know who they were until we got out the boat and I saw those HUGE men with their Patriots t-shirt on and all the other people taking pictures!
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I still haven't seen anyone famous there, though. 
In 1994, I was in the same boat that some New England Patriots players in the Pirates of the Carabean. I don't know a thing about football and I don't come from the US, so I didn't know who they were until we got out the boat and I saw those HUGE men with their Patriots t-shirt on and all the other people taking pictures!
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