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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
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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.

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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!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

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Old 10-11-2018, 06:22 AM   #16
patclairesmom
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Great first day! Those chairs are creepy, but I bet if they removed them, everyone would have a fit.
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Old 10-11-2018, 09:51 AM   #17
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Great start Donna!
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Old 10-11-2018, 01:55 PM   #18
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Great start! I agree, those chairs are creepy. But the pool slide is even creepier.
You took the words out of my mouth! I still question why Disney put that in there, given how many people seem to have clown phobias. I'm not one, but I do find the slide creepy all the same...
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Old 10-11-2018, 01:59 PM   #19
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You took the words out of my mouth! I still question why Disney put that in there, given how many people seem to have clown phobias. I'm not one, but I do find the slide creepy all the same...
Me too! I think, first off, he just has a creepy expression, and then, people slide out of his mouth...yeah, weird.

The chairs remind me of a horror movie I saw once, but I can't think of what movie it was. I keep expecting them to move or talk...
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Old 10-13-2018, 01:55 PM   #20
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What a great first day, except for the crazy long wait for your luggage! I’ve never been to Ample Hills Creamery, but your ice creams looked delicious!


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Old 10-13-2018, 02:30 PM   #21
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Nice start to your trip and all went well with the flight and arrival by DME. Too bad you weren't the first stop! Wish you had a better room and view as usually not good to be on the first floor at any resort!
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Old 10-14-2018, 06:41 AM   #22
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Great first day! Those chairs are creepy, but I bet if they removed them, everyone would have a fit.
You are probably right!

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Great start Donna!
Thanks Marnie!

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What a great first day, except for the crazy long wait for your luggage! I’ve never been to Ample Hills Creamery, but your ice creams looked delicious!


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The ice cream was really good! And they had lots of flavors to choose from.


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Nice start to your trip and all went well with the flight and arrival by DME. Too bad you weren't the first stop! Wish you had a better room and view as usually not good to be on the first floor at any resort!
I know, I always hope to be the first DME stop!

The first floor view was not the greatest. :
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Old 10-14-2018, 12:10 PM   #23
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September 18

We were up at 6:15 today, though I was awake at 5:15. We showered and had breakfast in the room. We left at 7:30, then went back when I remembered my camera battery was low, then Jeff went back again for his sunglasses.
What I didn’t remember was my neck cooing towel and my mister fan.

We went through the IG, and headed for the pin station to check in for the Destinations Discovered Tour.



We got water bottles, name tags, and headsets and ordered our lunch. Our guide was Robert, and he was excellent! There were 19 people on our tour and Robert said that was about the max; usually they have 10 or 11.

We waited in the Electric Umbrella seating and at 8:15 Robert came over and started talking…but he had forgotten to hand out the ear pieces for our headsets, so no one could hear him! Once he took care of that, we were good to go!



He started by giving a little history of Walt Disney and the Disney Parks, then we walked past the fountain and stopped at the mark that is the dead center of the Florida property. Cool!

Then we proceeded to the entrance to WS and stood in the spot that was first proposed for the American pavilion. Robert took some time here to look at the various pavilions from this vantage point and talk a bit about their design.











And then we headed toward Mexico. On the way he pointed out the Tower of Terror behind Morocco and how they adapted it so it would blend in.



When we got to Mexico Robert told us that they incorporated 4 different Mexican cultures into the pyramid: Maya, Inca, Olmec and Aztec. And of course there were quite a few additional details, but it’s so hard to remember all that was said!

I have a new zoom lens for my camera and I enjoyed finding interesting things to zoom in on.







We went into the Mexican pavilion, where we stopped for a bit to talk, and then went through a CM door for our first visit backstage. It’s just amazing to see all the clutter back there – dumpsters, construction vehicles, large warehouses – one he said contained much of the Christmas decorations.
Of course no pictures backstage, and I it really was a struggle not to touch my camera!

We came out in Norway and took a bathroom break.
this is a good time to point out that Robert was very good about stopping for bathroom breaks and seeking out some shade when possible, which was a blessing in the heat.

Then we toured Norway and I finally got to see the grass roofs that I’d never noticed before!















Spotted Remy on a rooftop in Norway…





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Old 10-14-2018, 12:38 PM   #24
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Oh I can't wait to hear what you thought of this tour - I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

You'd never noticed the grass roofs in Norway before... I just take them for granted now.
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Old 10-14-2018, 01:01 PM   #25
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Oh I can't wait to hear what you thought of this tour - I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

You'd never noticed the grass roofs in Norway before... I just take them for granted now.
Oh, yes! It was very enjoyable!

As for the grass roofs, I don’t know how I missed them!
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Old 10-14-2018, 01:15 PM   #26
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The tour sounds fantastic! Love all your photos especially with your new zoom lens.
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Old 10-14-2018, 01:27 PM   #27
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The tour is off to a good start so far! Lot of good info and details. Looking forward to the rest!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew

My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World
Orlando Trifecta TR
-Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!





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My Previous Trips1995-2000, 2006-Various in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, France, England, Holland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Lichtenstein, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Morocco; 1998-U.S. National Parks (California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada) 1999-Las Vegas, 2001-Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, 2005-Memphis, 2011-Austin, TX: ACL Festival and Orlando: Bay Hill Lodge; 2013-Paris and Eastern France's Wine Country, 2015-Memphis for 7 WDW: 2002-WL, 2003-CSR, 2004-AKL, 2005-BWI, 2007-POR, BC, 2008-Offsite Championsgate Omni & CBR, 2009-Poly, POR (Decade of Dreams), 2010-POFQ, GF, 2011-POFQ, 2012-CSR,WL, 2014-POR, 2015-DCL Magic in Western Caribbean, 2016-B Resort in DS, 2017-USF: Royal Pacific /WDW: Dolphin
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Old 10-14-2018, 01:28 PM   #28
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oh really interested in this tour! I'm excited to hear about it!
Loving the photos you have taken!
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Old 10-14-2018, 02:42 PM   #29
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What a fun sounding tour and beautiful photographs!!
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Old 10-14-2018, 05:08 PM   #30
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The tour sounds fantastic! Love all your photos especially with your new zoom lens.
It's funny, I was enjoying that lens so much, but once we looked at all the photos, I realized I didn't take too many wide angle shots. Oops.

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The tour is off to a good start so far! Lot of good info and details. Looking forward to the rest!
Thanks Dave!

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oh really interested in this tour! I'm excited to hear about it!
Loving the photos you have taken!
It really was wonderful!

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What a fun sounding tour and beautiful photographs!!
Thanks Tara!
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