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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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After our spin on the Carrousel of Progress our FastPass for Space Mountain was ready. On our last trip Evan was not tall enough to go on, so this was going to be his first time. I have not been on it since my trip in 2006. So this is my first time since it went through the renovation.
Let me back track just a moment. When we went on the People mover earlier and it went through Space Mountain they must have changed that part a little. You could not see the line at all. The entire building was darker do to the renovation but you used to be able to see into the queue area and I couldn’t see that at all this time. And we rode TTA a few times. When did that all change?
OK back to Space. Call me old fashioned but I did miss the giant chocolate chip cookie asteroids floating in space. I kept waiting for Evan to back out on me. We kept on walking and saw some of the interactive queue line but in truth the standby wait wasn’t too crowded until you got into the switchback section.
There is a roller coaster Evan loves at the shore which is the same type of coaster as Space Mountain, it is zippy and quick with some dips and turns but nothing upside down or deep plunges, basically the same but not in the dark. I was pretty confident Evan wouldn’t back out on me…And he didn’t. He rode Space Mountain! I enjoyed the newer version. It is much smoother than I remember and darker. I can remember being able to see the track from the glow strips on the side of the rocket and some of the track against the lightness of the walls but both of those are gone so it was much more “in the dark” feeling. I was a little nervous I might get motion sick as I hear some people are now that it is so dark and also as I age I find more issue with rides that didn’t bother me before. I survived just fine. I would give the changes an A-OK in my book.
Evan enjoyed it too. He is not very adventuresome with the ride so wasn’t sure how he would be. As we were on the moving walkway heading out he started to complain his brain hurt. Now I’m not sure what a brain hurt is. I asked if it was a headache or if he felt sick to his stomach and it was no on both of those. We walked quickly off the moving walkway and sat down and I gave him some water and he was fine in about 2 minutes. I think he just wanted some Mommy-love. He said he liked the ride but didn’t want to ride again – EVER! We’ll just have to see on future trips but for this trip it was one and done.
At this point we were approaching the time for our lunch ADR so rather than push it and try for Monsters Inc. we just walked over to The Plaza. We were about 15minutes early. They gave us a beeper but we were called within 2 minutes of that. We were seated in the solarium and from there we could see some of the Move it, Shake it, procession (whatever you call it). Lunch was pleasant until the family next to us left and a new family was seated and we got Mr. Loudmouth.
First of all he was just loud and it was a small room so everyone in there could hear what he was saying. Then there was some sort of issue when his teenage daughter wanted to order off the kids menu. The waitress told her she was too old and this guy flew off the handle. Yelling at the waitress that she had been ordering off the kids menu all week and he demanded the manager tell him she couldn’t order off the kids menu. I could see the look on the waitress face like look man I’m just doing my job here. She half smiled and was just like “what can I get you sweetie” and the girl ordered off the kids menu.
Problem solved, or so you would think it would be for most people. But now this guy had to relive it all over again and tell everyone at his table (and the room) what had just happened and what we had all just witnessed. So the second half of our meal was absorbed by this guy “talking” … ‘I mean don’t tell me she can’t order off the kids menu when she has been doing it all week…blah, blah, blah’ It was so overpowering that Evan and I couldn’t really talk and Evan kept staring over there and I had to keep telling him it was none of his business and to stop staring.
We finished our lunch quickly and then went to us the restrooms. We used the ones outside the restaurant, right near Tomorrowland and the secret back door exit from the MK. As we headed out of the restrooms there was a film crew at the little tables with the umbrellas at The Plaza. They were filming something professional but not sure if it was a commercial, or promotional video. It was a couple so maybe it was a reality show for all I know. We only hung out a minute and then it was on to more fun.
The next stop on our list was a new one for Evan. Tom Sawyer Island. The day was really getting hot so I wasn’t sure how much longer we would last. I told Ev you needed a raft to get over and he thought that was neat. We didn’t wait more than 1 raft and soon we were disembarking and exploring the caves. The caves are small and I was a little nervous it would become too tight for me – I’m not exactly child size but I was fine.
We were climbing various paths and stairs and he was running in and out. There was one spot where I tripped coming out of I think the wind mill building. I didn’t realize there was a step down and I sort of stumbled off the landing. I didn’t hurt myself but thought that it was not marked very clearly that there were steps, especially since we came in a different way than we were exiting.
Soon enough we arrived at the outpost of Fort Langhorne and Evan explored all over. I let him have some freedom here. I told him not to leave the fort and I sat on a bench near the entrance/exit. I took a wash cloth and wet it in the water fountain and cooled off a little. I was in the shade so I took my hat off too as my head was getting hot. I just enjoyed the quite down time. I people watched a little too and texted my mom. She was having a nice time. They were touring Paris Island so it had been an early morning for her and a rather long day.
After about 20 minutes or so I hadn’t seen Evan in a while. I didn’t see him running around and was wondering what he was up to. He couldn’t have gotten out; I was sitting right by the exit. Or was I? I noticed across the way the “secret” escape tunnel. Oh great, did he escape without me seeing him? I noticed one boy, about Evan’s age had found the tunnel and I would see him go out and then about 2 minutes later come running back through the entrance of the fort and back out the escape tunnel. I think he passed me about 6 times. Since I still hadn’t seen Evan I went to take a look around.
One girl was on the second level and kept yelling down to her mom that she would be in this room. I have no idea what was in that room but imagined it must be something fun. I found Evan in said room and he was firing an air riffle out the fort window. I gave him the 2 minute warning and in 2 minutes he came down. We took the escape tunnel out of the fort. That was a tighter fit then the caves. Exiting the tunnel we took a different path away from the fort than to the fort. I wanted to find the barrel bridge, and we did. OMG Evan loved this. I found it hard on my weak ankle but I managed fine. We crossed the bridge and came out near Aunt Polly’s.
Snack time was in order. Evan got a slushie. It was frozen lemonade and watermelon. It was the best snack I had all trip. It was just the right amount of tart and sweet, it was cool and completely refreshing on such a hot afternoon. We sat for a minute and I asked Evan if he wanted to go on the barrel bridge again. You know the answer was yes and I was given strict instructions not to drink his slushie while he was gone and he was given strict instructions to check in with me after each turn on the bridge.
All told I think Evan took about 5 passes over the barrels and I only had 2 sips of his slushie.
Coming up next: Leaving TSI and the rest of the afternoon.
Awesome update, Holly!! What a busy, fun morning!! I your new sig pic!!
Thanks it was a busy day. finally getting some pictures downloaded
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I love when you're so in sync with your traveling companion that you can turn a frustration into a shared joke, like your time on the "speedway"! I still call it the WEDway, too, only I have to say the full name every time. WEDway People Mover!
Evan has a great sense of humor and is old enough to get the inside jokes now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Great morning! It's nice that you were able to walk on quite a few rides early on. It pays to get there early! Though it sounds like your first attraction was the crazy bus ride! Hope you took your Dramamine!
I've heard about the double buses, but I don't know if I've ever seen one. I can't believe the bus driver let you stand in that in between area.
Always get there early you can do so much that first hour or two. Evan still talks about how cool the bus ride was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonK0527
Sounds like a great morning so far! Looking forward to hearing more!
More coming up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wishes
Great day, so far! And yes, I still call it the Wedway! I can never remember its new name!
If they would just keep the name alone instead of changing. I just like Wedway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
You two are managing quite a few rides ticked off already. I love CoP, but I've always thought there needed to be some additional rooms that fill in the time gaps.
I just felt sad coming off COP like it lost it's charm for me. Hopefully I will get it back on my next trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great morning at MK so far!
Thanks - it was a great morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
What a great time at national night out! And so great start to MK too!!!
NNO was so much fun and everything is free which is a rareity these days. Our MK morning was working out well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
I love how much the two of you are having together!!!
It was so nice to get away just the 2 of us and not have to worry about anything else.
You two really got a lot done in a short period!! Go Evan for braving Space Mountain and by the way, I miss the giant chocolate chip cookies too!! Sorry about the creepy guy at lunch. you time at Tom Sawyers Island sounds fun and that slushie was the perfect thing to cool you two down!! I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your day!!
__________________
Last edited by Tara O'Hara; 08-11-2015 at 10:11 PM..
Congrats to Evan for conquering Space Mountain, but I can personally understand once and done on it. What fun on Tom Sawyer Island! Not bad 5 barrel bridge crossings to two sips.
Sounds like a great time! Evan is brave-I'm too scared to try Space Mtn. I don't like the dark, and I don't like fast and zippy, so it's a no go for me.
Sorry about the rude dude at lunch. Some people you just have to shake your head at. My ds would've been staring at him too. LOL
OK I might have had 3. I really wanted the whole thing but knew I had to share nicely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Sounds like a nice afternoon, except for your rude lunch neighbors. How unfortunate that he ranted through the whole lunch.
Some people just can't "Let it Go"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
You two really got a lot done in a short period!! Go Evan for braving Space Mountain and by the way, I miss the giant chocolate chip cookies too!! Sorry about the creepy guy at lunch. you time at Tom Sawyers Island sounds fun and that slushie was the perfect thing to cool you two down!! I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your day!!
I knew Evan would Love TSI he is at the prefect age for it. Did Logan give it a try?
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
So glad Evan completed Space Mountain!!!
Me too, just don't know if he will try it again on our next visit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Congrats to Evan for conquering Space Mountain, but I can personally understand once and done on it. What fun on Tom Sawyer Island! Not bad 5 barrel bridge crossings to two sips.
It really was tasty and have been dreaming about it. It was nice to give him a little freedom too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
TSI is the perfect spot for a kid Evan's age! I love it too and we don't do it often enough.
I hadn't been to TSI in like forever and he loved it - totally the perfect age (and gender)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Congrats to Evan!!
Thanks I was very proud of him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezie
Sounds like a great time! Evan is brave-I'm too scared to try Space Mtn. I don't like the dark, and I don't like fast and zippy, so it's a no go for me.
Sorry about the rude dude at lunch. Some people you just have to shake your head at. My ds would've been staring at him too. LOL
I was very proud of Evan for his space flight. I probably should have let him stare but then he would have been just as rude but maybe the guy would have realized how horrible he sounded.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Holly: 
That looks so fun!!
your new sig pic!!
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Sorry about the creepy guy at lunch.
you time at Tom Sawyers Island sounds fun and that slushie was the perfect thing to cool you two down!!
I don't like the dark, and I don't like fast and zippy, so it's a no go for me.
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