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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry we're coming to an end, but look's like you all had a great time So cool you all were picked for a Disney commercial! Thanks for letting us tag along
After our great lunch, we ventured back across the park to use our FP’s for TSMM.
We had such a good time that Maddie and I decided to ride again standby while Thom and Mary Devall took off to use their RnRC FP’s. They had two sets of FP’s, so I figured the standby line of 50 minutes would pretty much equal out two rides on RnRC.
The line moved ever so slowly, but Maddie and I easily entertained ourselves.
After we had waited about 30 minutes, I sent a text to Thom to let him know that we were still in line. I was afraid that they had already finished their two rides, but Thom’s reply told me otherwise. He informed me that he and Mary Devall had just been in a flash mob for the promo people on Sunset Blvd., so they hadn’t even been on RnRC yet. Mr. Skeptical had officially changed his tune about the validity of the footage being shot at DHS today.
Maddie and I finally got on the ride and had a blast. We both had all-time scores and, for the first time ever, I was the high score in our vehicle.
As a matter of fact, we were sitting right in front of the screen that displays the high score when it happened . . . there was an announcement that the ride had stopped.
No big deal. This happened all the time on other rides. I was sure we would be starting up again momentarily (since that’s what the next announcement always says ), but instead we heard “This ride is closed. Someone will be coming to assist you out of your vehicle momentarily.”
What the heck happened Sure enough, two CM’s were soon opening secret doors on the car in front of us which released the lap bar and allowed for the entire door to slide up. Little steps folded down to the ground. Our turn was next and we got out without any trouble. We were told to stand to the side behind the people from the car in front of us.
So, you might be asking yourself (as we were asking each other at the moment), “Weren’t you essentially finished with the ride and steps away from the exit?” Why, , we were.
Apparently, the cars in front of our two cars were far enough around the bend, so that they could safely exit where the accessible cars load and unload. The car in front of me was apparently at the point of no return for exiting out of the normal exit because we ended up backtracking through the entire ride watching as the CM’s unloaded people and they joined our line.
I have to admit that it was pretty to walk through the ride. The CM’s didn’t mind if we took pictures or touched anything as long as we kept our hands off the screens themselves.
It probably took about 30 minutes to get back to the front. I had to laugh when we finally got to a special exit door because our car was about two feet in front of us. Back to where we started!
Maddie was a really good girl during this entire experience. She thought it was pretty cool to touch everything - - especially a big band aid that was actually squishy like a real band aid is. We also saw where they hid step stools and such that they used to help people step over the tracks.
Right before we walked through the exit, a CM gave us two FP’s that were good for a week. Too bad that we were leaving shortly!
Thom had sent me a text during our fun to let me know that they were done with RnRC. I waited to call him until we were outside to find out their location. They were watching some streetmosphere characters on Sunset Blvd. so we easily found them.
I let Maddie tell them about our adventure. We had even come up with her opening line “I got a bunny for the first time ever and broke the ride!” Between flash mobs and broken rides, we had quite the interesting afternoon.
Mary Devall and I left Thom and Maddie to ride ToT one more time.
The crowd was so light that the ride photo beside ours only had two people in it! How cool would that be to have an elevator to yourself? You would just have to buy that one.
Speaking of buying something, I really wanted a ToT t-shirt. I had been given a gift card for a project that I had worked on last year, so I wanted to buy special with it. Mary Devall helped me pick out one, but then I realized I didn’t have my AP with me. We took off to find Thom and Maddie and then I ran back to make my purchase.
We still had a bit of time before we needed to think about leaving, so we headed back across the park to ride ST one more time. The girls wanted to catch the end of the show under the hat, so we stopped so that they could watch and gather the streamers that shoot out at the end. We were about halfway to ST when poor Maddie tripped again and went splat on the concrete. This time she had scraped her knee.
I picked her up and then sat down with her on a nearby bench. Within seconds, a CM who had been sweeping nearby was at our side and had pulled out a little purse filled with band aids. Rose was a grandmother so she said that she always carried supplies. She was such a sweetheart and made sure that Maddie had two band aids on her knee before she left us.
Once Maddie was feeling better, we moved on to ST. We had the same water scene that we had this morning and Thom and Mary Devall convinced themselves that it was new. I seriously had my doubts, so I sent a text to the one who would know - - Ms. Karen.
The girls wanted ice cream, so back we went again across the park to Hollywood Scoops once we saw that Gertie’s and Min and Bill’s were closed. After my frozen cappuccino at lunch, I wasn’t in the mood for ice cream, so I passed while the rest of them enjoyed a scoop.
I was actually more in the mood for , so we headed back towards the tip board where I knew there was a popcorn stand. The funny thing was that when I approached the counter and ordered, the CM was filling a small bucket of popcorn at that very moment. It was quite the Twilight Zone moment and the CM just handed it over with a knowing look. I was soon eating my popcorn and batting little hands out of it. They had finished their ice cream by this time and wanted something salty.
When we finished with our snacks, Thom and I decided that it was time to go. We were having such a great time and the weather was so perfect that none of us really wanted to make a move for the gate. Mary Devall even asked if we could ride just one more ride. - - when she suggested one more ToT drop with me I knew she was being sneaky.
We wanted to do a little more shopping before we left, so we moved the girls in that direction and away from the lure of the rides. Mary Devall still had over half of her money left, but she ended up just buying another vinylmation.
There was a tram waiting to take us back to our car, so we were soon on our way to the train station. After a quick stop to fill up the car, the directions on my phone messed us up again and we ended up going down several “Dead End” streets trying to get to the train station that was one block away. On a positive note, we now know where the Children’s Hospital in Orlando is located.
We finally made it to the train station where we watched the beginning of the Super Bowl while we waited on our train. We even managed to finish up Maddie’s homework from last week.
Our train was on time and the attendant sent us right down to dinner. After our late ice cream and popcorn, we weren’t too terribly hungry but we ordered dinner anyway. And “ordered” is all Maddie did because she fell right away.
I ordered the pork chop which was kind of yuck, so I was the only person who wanted dessert. I chose Haagan Daaz caramel ice cream and it was so good that I couldn’t keep Mary Devall’s spoon out of my little cup. Hey lady, you didn’t want dessert!
While we were lingering over dinner, we did have an interesting experience. An attendant escorted an older lady into the dining car and sat her at a booth catty corner from us. After a bit, I noticed that she was talking to her salad and apparently her salad was very entertaining because she would just laugh and laugh. No one else was seated in her booth, but she talked away and laughed as if she were in the middle of a cocktail party.
Mary Devall had noticed her already and I told Thom to slowly peer over his right shoulder to see what was so intriguing to Mary Devall and me. He thought it was sad, but I reminded him that she was doing well enough to ride in a sleeper car and it was apparent that she was going to see someone. She just lived in her own little world which seemed to be a very happy place.
I did go back and forth as to whether even to put this moment in my trip report, but I did admire how sweet the train attendants were to her and she did seem to be quite happy in her world. She was one of those people that passes through your life for only a brief moment, but you can't quite forget them.
About this time, I also received an answer back from Karen confirming that the water scene in Star Tours was not new. She also said that she would take it easy on Thom this time since he was missing a really good Super Bowl. Mary Devall grabbed my phone to read the message and apparently read my initial question to Karen because she exclaimed “Mommy, you called Daddy and me goons!”
I looked at my phone and saw that I was a victim of auto correction. “No, I actually called you two goobs, not goons.” That didn’t make her feel better for some reason.
When we got back to our bedroom, we were surprised to see that our attendant hadn’t made up our beds. She dropped by a few minutes later and suggested that two of us sleep in the empty bedroom next door. The bottom bunks are much wider than the top bunks, so being able to stretch out was going to be wonderful. I imagine that it also made it easier for her since she didn’t have to mess with the top bunk in our room.
We immediately took her up on the offer and she got both rooms ready. Maddie and I slept in our original room while Thom and Mary Devall went next door. I can’t speak for everyone, but Maddie and I had a great night of sleep . . . well, until we were rudely awakened about 3:30!
Our train breezed into Columbia on time at 4 a.m. and we made it home in time to sleep for a couple of more hours before it was back to school and work. It was time to go back to my crazy little world!
What a great last day Jill...Mary Devall is too cute trying to lure you back with one more ride at ToT. Sounds like it was a perfect last day...sorry that the trip had to come to an end.
Score on the extra bedroom, I am sure everyone slept comfortable (well at least until it was time for that early rise).
Great trip! We are once again considering the auto train to get to Vero Beach - even after the disaster it was last summer. I realize that my expectations are skewed from all your great train trips!
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
What a wonderful last day - you certainly packed a lot in and how fascinating to end up being escorted out of Toy Story Mania like that. I'd have loved to have done that to see behind the scenes. In a way, you got your own unique behind the scenes tour without paying for it!
Great last day! Cool to walk through Toy Story like that. The same thing happened when I was on Buzz Lightyear with a group of PassPorters a few years ago. We sat for a LONG time and then had to walk out.
Well, if you're gonna get a behind the scenes escort, that's one heck of a ride to get it on - I've always wondered! Great last moments.
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So cool you all were picked for a Disney commercial! Thanks for letting us tag along
He informed me that he and Mary Devall had just been in a flash mob for the promo people on Sunset Blvd., so they hadn’t even been on RnRC yet. Mr. Skeptical had officially changed his tune about the validity of the footage being shot at DHS today. 
Sure enough, two CM’s were soon opening secret doors on the car in front of us which released the lap bar and allowed for the entire door to slide up. Little steps folded down to the ground. Our turn was next and we got out without any trouble. We were told to stand to the side behind the people from the car in front of us.
to walk through the ride. The CM’s didn’t mind if we took pictures or touched anything as long as we kept our hands off the screens themselves. 
, so we headed back towards the tip board where I knew there was a popcorn stand. The funny thing was that when I approached the counter and ordered, the CM was filling a small bucket of popcorn at that very moment. It was quite the Twilight Zone moment and the CM just handed it over with a knowing look. 
I was soon eating my popcorn and batting little hands out of it. 
On a positive note, we now know where the Children’s Hospital in Orlando is located. 
right away. 
She also said that she would take it easy on Thom this time since he was missing a really good Super Bowl. Mary Devall grabbed my phone to read the message and apparently read my initial question to Karen because she exclaimed “Mommy, you called Daddy and me goons!”
. Thanks for sharing another trip with us - can't wait for your June one!!!
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Aimee
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