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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Interesting info about the bear. I have a Japanese acquaintance that does that at WDW. I thought it was just her trademark. Looking forward to more but not the "we're leaving" part.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
I was suprised that it is indeed smaller than Epcot just becuase it looks so big in the pictures, guess Disney created a great layout as I would not say any section looks like it is lacking.
Loved the pictures from the last post, you cannot get bored with seeing them as each one just has a different view or angle.
I am so enjoying this and I am trying to push it out of my mind that this is your last day of your trip I am so glad you are stretching it out (any possibility you can do that until your next trip )
I wonder whether the reason it looks - and actually felt - so big is because of all the water everywhere. That could be an optical illusion...
Well, I'm not sure I can stretch it until the next Disney trip, as that's December but I did promise in the Decade of Dreams trip report thread that I would do a trip report for next weekend for Madonna and our day at Wimbledon, so you will have that to look forward to, although I do have a 5,000 word planning assignment to do by the end of July...
Friday 10 April – part three: the highlight of Mark’s day!
Now Fortress Exploration! Now this is something that any kid would love and Donna, if you’re reading this, the next time you go back to Tokyo DisneySea (because I know you will go back! ), Luke and Liam will love this.
First we went on the pirate ship Renaissance and explored that. Mark found the cannons and had great fun firing those again and again… and again! I think it was the highlight of his day!
It’s already too much for him!
At Fortress Exploration, you get a map as you enter in English or Japanese that tells you what there is to see and we must’ve spent the next half hour or so looking around it all. There are numerous observation towers, some equipped with telescopes to see other parts of the park.
Looking up at the volcano One of the Journey to the Centre of the Earth cars on its head-first plunge
There are specific places to visit and we found them all in the end. The Navigation Centre allowed you to pilot your own sailing shop for 100¥, while you could also see Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machine. Mark had fun with that one!
OK, so who thinks he pulled something doing that?!
The Pendulum Tower was great, but did remind me of a recent episode of Lost.
My favourite had to be the Chamber of Planes, where you could move the planets around. It was lovely in there and you could just imagine you had stepped back in time about 500 years ago.
Finally, we came out of there and the courtyard here by the restaurant is really cute:
What an amazing area...the pirate ships look like so much fun to wander through, guess Mark likes his accomodations, even though he looked a bit cramped on the bed
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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I am so glad you are stretching it out (any possibility you can do that until your next trip 
)
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