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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I love the Villians......just keep any and all clowns away from me. I don't likey them whatsoever. And it's true, Disney wouldn't be Disney without the villians
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I actually told my DH that I REALLY think that DHS should add a Villian character dining!!! Wouldn't that be ?!?!?! (I would even settle for a Pixar one.....but Villians..........that would attract many of the teen/adult population that visit WDW don't you think?!?!)
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I think that the real reason there may not be as many villains is not the "fear" factor. It's because they're getting their own park at Dark Kingdom. This concept may be considered as the fifth theme park. All of the rumors are hard to ignore. Even some of the Question/Answer sites are giving the Villain park as the answer to - what is the 5th WDW park? I read a post on another site that even mentioned names for the individual lands of the park. This would also be a great way to eventually add Marvel characters to the parks.
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It's because they're getting their own park at Dark Kingdom.
You might want to search through some of the many discussions about the idea of a 5th gate with that concept -- Dave Marx has made really cogent arguments why it's unlikely to happen in the fashion much of the rumor mill has projected.
I actually told my DH that I REALLY think that DHS should add a Villian character dining!!! Wouldn't that be ?!?!?! (I would even settle for a Pixar one.....but Villians..........that would attract many of the teen/adult population that visit WDW don't you think?!?!)
There used to be a villians' character meal at 1900 Park Fare. We went back in 2000. There was Captain Hook, Gov. Radcliffe (the villian from Pocahontas), the Queen of Hearts, & Prince John (from Robin Hood).
There used to be a villians' character meal at 1900 Park Fare. We went back in 2000. There was Captain Hook, Gov. Radcliffe (the villian from Pocahontas), the Queen of Hearts, & Prince John (from Robin Hood).
Aw man!!!! So bummed that we missed out on that!!! They so need to bring that back!!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
The funny thing about rumors is that if there is smoke there is usually fire.
I would agree -- if the fire was actually made to smolder due to things Disney has said. Unfortunately, in the case of this new "gate," the rumors most often come from busdrivers and CMs who are only passing along conjecture. They rarely come from anyone with actual inside info.
Disney plays these things exceptionally close to their chests and it would mean enormous censure if not outright firing if anyone from Imagineering leaked this info before Disney wanted it "floated" or announced.
Whether Dark Kingdom is a reality or not, I don't see the connection between a supposed cut-back in villain appearances and the creation of a new park. A new park would be a multi-year project post-announcement (you can only hide these things for so long). During that time, Disney's marketing machine would be pulling out the stops to build anticipation for the park. A cut-back in characters in comparison is so small and so subtle that there's no assurance the average guest would respond to the stimulus (closing Fantasmic! is something that would be noticed). The notion that cutting back on villains now - the absence that makes the heart grow fonder - just doesn't seem useful or necessary at this time. Part of the risk of taking something away is that guests will become unhappy. When they know it will be replaced by something bigger and better, then folks understand, and look forward to the new stuff. When there's no explanation, it's just something that's gone away. That can result in reduced return visits by disappointed guests.
Running the parks is not the same as Disney's home video strategy, which is to take a movie out of print for a few years, then re-release a new, enhanced edition (they have to be running out of precious metals to name those editions for by now). Parks and Resorts wants folks coming back constantly, not wait patiently for a few years before returning. You get them to come back with new things and with things they already love, not by cutting back on them. If enough people love villains to justify an entire park, then you don't mess with the business those folks bring in on a constant basis. It's not likely that villains fans will stay away from a villains park, no matter what they do now.
What's far more likely, if there are fewer villain appearances (which has not been confirmed), is that, as always, Disney is counting heads in every character queue, and making decisions based on that info. Disney has a huge line-up of characters, and more are being added all the time, so there's no shortage of "idle" characters who can be put out in public. If certain characters aren't "pulling" then other characters might. It's as simple as that.
I'm not saying the villains' popularity is down. The last time I saw a queue for Hook and Smee it seemed quite respectable. I just don't think, one way or the other, that a small change to the line-up of characters in the park has anything to do with a park that, if it were to happen, would open at least three to five years from now.
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I wish they had more villain things going on. Even if they sold more villian merch. The only shop I know is that one in DHS. They really don't even carry that much anymore. I LOVE Malificent and would love to see more of her.
Malificent is my favorite. I think I might implode from excitement if I ever saw a meet & greet with her.
Malificent is my favorite. I think I might implode from excitement if I ever saw a meet & greet with her.
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party right after the Villians stage show, you can meet Malificent. They don't sign autographs but they do pose for pictures.
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party right after the Villians stage show, you can meet Malificent. They don't sign autographs but they do pose for pictures.
NOOOOO!!! Really?? I'm trying to plan a solo trip in Oct including MNSSHP. I would die a happy girl if I met her!
I saw the Queen of Hearts at DHS some years back chasing kids around under the big hat. It was awesome and the kids were eating it up!!
On my trip last month we did meet n greets with over 50 characters and not one was a villian. I was bummed about it but I don't think it was on purpose. I think they were all gathered in one place conjuring up the evil weather that lasted most of my vacation!!
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?!?!?! (I would even settle for a Pixar one.....but Villians..........that would attract many of the teen/adult population that visit WDW don't you think?!?!)
Michelle - with my step sisters!
Jen
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