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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay--Mary and I get there on the 5th, giving us almost 2 days before Bob joins us! The plan for the first day is this:
Arrive at VGC around 11:30A. IF we can check into our studio, we'll unpack, grab some juice, pop and milk and then head to the parks. If we can't well, then it's straight to the ticket counter to get our tix that Mary got from Walmart. I have heard we can have these added to our KTTK cards. THAT would be the best alternative, but I'll ask when we check in. I don't want to waste the time traveling back to VGC just to find out we can't add the tix.
Typically entering mid-week around noon is fairly quiet, so we're going to go through the main gates instead of using the monorail. I have found it's really hard to get unobstructed pictures in front of the train station. I'm hoping that we can do that. From there, it's Main Street and a Birthday Pin for Alice. Mary has a picture of her which we'll put into the inside cover of the autograph book with a short request for autographs to take with us. During our regular forays we'll use the autograph book for a single autograph and picture with Mary and whatever character is there. I think I've had this "photo/autograph" book for years. Finally, I have reason to use it.
Where do we go first? Fantasyland of course. One of the things we both agreed to was the last trip we didn't get enough Fantasyland. This time we're taking land by land while the crowds are low and then do the mad touring later in the week when the crowds pick up. We thought a good 2-3 hours just in Fantasyland/Toontown AT LEAST. We'll do as much video as we can, though probably short segments. I'm not going to try videoing the rides. Of course, we'll have to ride the carousel and we're planning on eating at VillageHaus as we've never eaten there. I always need to get a mug and there Mary will help out by getting one for Alice. For once, we'll stop at the Princess Fantasy Faire. We've never done that either. No reason before now.
Once we're done with Fantasyland we'll transition into Tomorrowland via Tink's area and get pix and autograph. Then on to Tomorrowland. If there's no line at the subs, we'll do that first. We hopefully will be there in time to see one of the StarWars shows. Always good pictures with that, but we never get close enough to see first-hand. Then it's on to Space Mountain, Star Tours, Buzz --well, you know the drill. If my back holds out, there's Autopia, and the Innovations building. I never know what I'm going to find in there! Is Captain EO still showing? It wasn't our favorite, but Mary and I are going cover to cover!!!!
If time allows, we'll head on over to Frontierland and Adventureland, but I'm guessing that looking in every nook and cranny, it will be pretty close to the Memories and Me show by the time we get done with Tomorrowland. Somewhere in there, we will indulge in a Mickeybar, popcorn, and shopping! Always shopping!!! After MMM show, we'll head back down Mainstreet stopping at the Mainstreet Bakery for Mary's (and my) chocolate croissant for breakfast the next morning. Though we may do this before MMM IF we can grab the monorail back to DTD afterwards. CAN WE???
Once back at the room, packages get put on the bed--oh yeah, packages can be delivered, can't they?, swimsuits come on and we head down to the pool for a little hot tubbing and a poolside sandwich and "high tea" for supper. Once we are thoroughly pickled --water-wise--keep the G-rated, it's back to the room, jammies on and a movie--Disney of course, while we play a game of cards with Disney cards--of course another glass of "high tea", and then beddy-bye!
Now that I know that Duffy is at DLR, I may pick him up now instead of waiting until Bob's and my trip next winter. So, day one is finished. That is the end of an 18 hour day, so I think we'll be ready to call it quits. I'm really wondering how much of this we'll really get done??? Oh well, always fun to dream!!!
Say does Sleeping Beauty castle give a kiss goodnight like Cinderella Castle?
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Beautiful Mother
Last edited by Beautiful Mother; 09-20-2011 at 09:15 PM..
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It sounds like you have a great trip planned. I can't wait to hear all about VGC, as I'm staying there for a couple of nights in December. I think it's great that you are going to try a bring Alice some of the magic from the DLR. You've got some great ideas so far--how about doing an autograph book for her? I've done one with an inexpensive 4x6 Disney photo album that I found at Walmart and filled it with blank index cards. You can put a photo on one side and the autograph on the other. Would Vinylmations be a good gift for her?
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I would love to be there to see your whirlwind day. Have fun.
Not sure about villas but the hotel lets you check in and leave your bags then calls you when your room is ready. When you are checked in at the hotel you get a room key from what I remember but not activated for a specific room, been a year. They will walk you through that.
Tickets are at main gate. From the lobby about 10 minutes top.
No Kiss at end of the day. Purchases can be sent to your room
Hope other passporters can help you with details and plans.
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Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
Thank you, both. I do have an autograph book for her, but it may not have enough space for all the autographs we want to get. Say--has anyone ever asked the Barbershop Quartet for autographs? Just a fun wonder???
Yes, that's a lot planned for day one. Typically, we plan a lot and get 50% done. The last trip took on a life that wasn't ours. Mary brought a friend along who hijacked the trip with her Indiana Jones frenzy. It was a less than pleasant trip. It quickly started revolving around her. Anyway, not this year. DH better not try hijacking the trip when he gets there LOL!!!!
You can ask any cast member for an autograph including Dapper Dans. Get more autograph books and have lots of fun doing things your way.
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Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
Love all of your plans! Captain EO was still showing when we were there in June. If your room is not ready, you can go ahead and check in and get keys, and they'll send you a text message with your room number when it's ready. Just remember to take your phone with you!
On our first stay, we arrived and the room wasn't ready, so we set up the text message. Then I forgot my phone was in a bag that we checked in with bell services, so I couldn't get the text!
Thanks, Darlene- Now no matter what I'm ready to go! At least I'm getting in the mood.
A side note--in the middle of all this planning, I've applied for a new job where I work. I've been doing this job for two years and the place I work for has opened the position as a real job not an "add-on". It would be a nice promotion. The job closed on Friday and I really want it. It means so many things beside extra $$. One job, not three, my own office (eventually) and most importantly that the management has NOTICED all I do and do well (just quoting others). . I'm getting too old to run around like a chicken with her head cut off. I have all the qualifications and all the education I need, but ---- it would be really nice if this trip were celebratory and not "fight the blues" trip!
So--pixies and prayers would be appreciated!
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Beautiful Mother
Last edited by Beautiful Mother; 09-25-2011 at 06:09 PM..
Thursday DD & I have all day before the man shows up. So, we have a full day for US--the girls rule one more day! So, today--up early and out the door for MK. Well, for us getting into MK at 7AM is like a day off for me, cuz Nebraska time is 9AM. So I've gotten to sleep two extra hours! YES!!!! Let's see-yesterday was Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Today we tackle Frontierland, Adventureland and then at 10AM---Over to DCA for our fav--Toy Story Mania. And Paradise Pier. Oh-we'll throw everything we can into the mix for the afternoon and later in the day we pick up our Picnic lunches so we can have reserved seating for World of Color. Bob gets in about 6pm. We'll eat our picnic lunches (we ordered one for Bob as well) and then walk around until it's time for World of Color. After WOC, it's back to the villas and the pool--unless we still have some energy--then either jazz at Ralph Brennan's or DLR (open until midnight!) End of day 2.
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