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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This is awesome, I just wanted to comment so it is saved in my threads. I am gonna copy these and add them to my sacred passporter "brain" that will be with me at all times on my first wdw trip
I don't know if this is a secret, but when my husband and I went to Fulton's on our Honeymoon, they gave us a free lobster dish and a huge sample dessert tray.
Also, the tombstones are named for the imagineers who worked on the Haunted Mansion- doombuggies.com has a list of the full names!
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When the crypt goes creak, And the tombstones quake. Spooks come out for a swinging wake. Happy haunts materialize, And begin to vocalize. Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize!
My kids love the popcorn growing in the corn field on the queue to Barnstormer.
On the theme of hidden Mickey - We always keep an eye out for the fire hydrants throughout the four parks. They are themed to the area you are in.
Also, my husband is a land surveyor, and we are trained to look for survey markers. In WDW they are found in the ground, are a 5 inch metal circle with Mickey's head and labeled WDW Survey Marker. We have found one in Epcot and one in Toontown near the fence by Minnie's House.
I am sure most of you know this one...but it is one of my favorites....
When exiting the POTC look at the moving ramp...you will see yellow footprints leading the way out...but one set is a foot and a peg leg print. A little nod to the Pirates.
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I don't know if this was in the thread earlier (it's a big thread).
When we took the KTTK tour, we were told this story of the statue of Walt and Mickey in front of Cinderella's castle. The sculptor made the statue (who made the statue after Walt's passing) made it with Walt pointing down Main Street to another sculptor of Roy Disney with Minnie on a bench (located at the beginning of Main St, except when the Christmas tree is up). The story goes that Walt is pointing at his brother, Roy, and Minnie and telling Mickey to "Go to my brother and Minnie. They will take care of you now, for I have to go."
I really like this meaning behind the sculptors and believe it really gives them a whole new depth of meaning behind them.
A few other tidbits about the statue.
If you also look at the ring on Walt's right hand it has a hidden mickey on it.
Walt's height on the statue is actually a few inches taller than he really was. This was to symbolize how Walt appeared bigger than life to those around him.
The height of Mickey, which noone really knows, was made so that he would be tall enough (at least if he tilts his head just right) to go on any of the attractions the WDW. (ok, that one the guide may have made up but I liked it).