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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thank you everyone for your warm responses! This turned out to be a very amazing trip for me, even though we didn't have much time to plan and the circumstances surrounding us being able to go were actually quite sad. We both needed this trip, desperately, so for it to go as right and wonderfully as it did was just so special!
So now, Part 4!
The day after MNSSHP was Animal Kingdom. We got to see some truly beautiful animals, including some giraffes who came very close to the vehicle. One had a calf-- adorable! We got to see some bontebok, which was very special. Such beautiful animals-- I don't understand how people can hunt magnificent creatures to the brink (or past) of extinction.
The next day at our Ohana breakfast, we asked if it would be possible to get a photo with some of the staff. They had made us feel so welcome and special that we wanted something to remember everyone by! The entertainment manager said if we came back at 1, he'd arrange something. We came back then and he had the photo pass photographer there, along with our server for the day, as well and Stitch and Lilo! We also got a selfie with Catharine, the greeter who'd intercepted our ticket a few days earlier so she could take us to our table.
Later at MK I saw Jack Sparrow again-- I'd told my sister over the phone I'd gotten his autograph, and she had teased she was jealous. So we waited to see him again and I got one for her, too. While he was signing, I asked if he'd made a decision about the navigator's position he'd offered. He said the problem was he'd passed out in Tortuga, as one does, and woke up there in Adventureland, and didn't know where Mister Gibbs or the Pearl currently were. He said if I could find the Pearl and either bring it to him or him to it, I had the position-- as long as I let him be Captain! I said of course, I wouldn't have any other captain. He said, "Not Hector." I turned my head away from the photographer and crowd and whispered, "H*ll no." That seemed to amuse him. He said in that case he'd give me 10% of the plunder (a huge amount for a pirate historically) and we shook on it. It was completely awesome (I know I'm overusing that word, but that's just how the entire trip was making me feel-- awesome!).
The next morning Catharine brought over the Ohana overall manager at breakfast to meet us. He said Catharine had mentioned the selfie the day before and it had given him an idea; he took his own selfie of himself and her with us. It was very playful and fun. Later at AK a couple of CMs were asking me about my Stitch obsession (I am not very subtle about it with the plushie I carry and most of my clothing) and I told them the tattoo story; one said it gave her goosebumps and the other asked if I minded if she retold it as an example of the kinds of magical things that can happen there. I said of course! Everyone should know the kinds of experiences you can have at Disney that make it more than "just a theme park."
The next day was our next-to-last day in the parks. I got to see Stitch again in Tomorrowland, and he gestured at me that he'd see me at breakfast the next morning. I was 90% sure at that point that it was tattoo/proposal Stitch, so I was really happy that on our last day he'd be the one I got to tell goodbye. My DH filmed the encounter and showed it to me later when we got back to our room, because after I rolled over to let the photographer scan my Magic Band, Stitch ran over to the camera and started mugging, making heart gestures and pointing at me. By the time I got done he'd already gotten back in position and waved bye, all innocence. Sneaky alien!
So, tomorrow I will recount our last full day and even a little about the morning we left-- the magic didn't stop even while we were waiting for the Magical Express bus!
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Best Disney moment: Stitch proposed to me, recognized me years later, and tried to end a Meet & Greet by waving bye to the line & leading me away!
I had some wonderful moments with Jack in Shanghai. You've got me wondering if it was the same CM. I absolutely can't believe the talent and heart these CMs bring to the job every single day.
I'm so happy you got to be a princess (pineapple princess?) for a couple of weeks. We all deserve a little magic, and I'm so glad it found you!
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So much Magic on this trip so far and you are enjoying it so much! Out of curiosity, where was the Adventurers Club benefit show held? I was such a big fan of the place and was quite sad when it closed!
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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!
SuperDave, the Ad Club show was at a Holiday Inn. The whole show is on youtube-- search for "Adventures in Charity 2018" and you should find it. We hate that it closed, too! I wish we'd known about the Adventures shows, but I'm really glad we got to see one.
So here it is, the final-for-this-trip chapter in our saga!
Our last day in the parks turned out to be a longer day than I expected. I wanted to spend our last day in the MK, and figured we'd have to leave at 6 because of the Halloween party. However, they weren't doing the party that night, so we got to spend the whole day there. We got to have dinner at the Skipper Canteen, which is my new favorite place to eat at Disney (yes, better than Boma, at least for this vegetarian!), partly because of the wonderful food, partly because of the servers, and partly because of the Ad Club-related themeing. But I'm getting ahead of myself!
This was our 13th Ohana breakfast in a row. Lilo remembered me and was very affectionate. Stitch was, indeed, Proposal Stitch! I asked him if he'd be in Tomorrowland that day and he signaled he'd be there until 4. I told him I'd try to see him there. Then our server brought over another manager; she was a manager of multiple resort restaurants and wasn't always at Ohana, but took time to come over and talk to us. She said she wanted us to know what an impact we'd had on the performers. That really surprised me-- obviously the characters have an impact on guests, but they see SO MANY people in a day, a week, a year-- it's really touching to think that they still see guests as individuals.
A few moments later Dany (the manager we'd met before) and Jackson, one of our previous servers, brought over lei for us. Mine was woven of pink carnations and pink ribbon, and my DH's was woven leaves. They were gorgeous! We're trying to dry them now to preserve them. Fingers crossed. Dany said they were made by Auntie Kaui, who has a table downstairs near one of the Poly's shops where she hands out flowers. (We made sure we told her thank you before we left the Poly!) They also gave us a photo of the four Best Friends characters, signed by all of them (Dany pointed out that Stitch insisted on signing on the front; the others all signed the back). She said they didn't give them out very often but wanted us to have one. THEN our server (we have her name, I just can't lay hands on the note immediately) came over and told DH to put his credit card away-- they were comping our breakfast! I asked how we tipped her, then, and she said Disney takes care of their servers when a meal is comped.
As we finished breakfast, every time Stitch passed our table he'd wave. The last time he stopped and hugged me, and taught me the ASL sign for "I love you." I told him I'd try to see him later.
I mentioned to DH that as our vacation went on, our breakfasts kept getting colder because more people kept dropping by to say hi or just chat (one character handler stopped at our table and said, "Where were you yesterday? I looked for you and couldn't find you!"), but what a wonderful reason for cold waffles! I wouldn't give it up for warmer eggs any day.
So, our last day was in the MK. We had a great time going back on favorite rides, like Haunted Mansion and PotC; and yes, we did stop by Tomorrowland before 4! Stitch was all kinds of affectionate, booping my nose and hugging my head; he was hugging and rocking me and just not letting go. It was awesome. I had a celebration button saying he had proposed to me and he was pointing at it and pointing at himself, letting everybody know "that was me!" Then he went into this massive dramatic series of charades that he was heartbroken that it was our last day, and then came back to me, grabbed my hand, signaled "cut" to the photographer, waved by to the crowd, and started leading me toward the exit. I told him if I only rolled with one hand, I'd just go in circles, and he bent over "laughing." More hugs bye, and then he ran over to the photographer and held his wrist out to be scanned. I asked him if he wanted copies of the photos, and he nodded vigorously. I said I'd find out if there was an email address or something where I could send them and he nodded again. Then he hugged me bye, and waved until we were at the wall with the exit. DH was recording the whole thing and told me later the M&G lasted SIX MINUTES. IT. WAS. AWESOME.
So, I wanted to find out how to get photos to a character from a specific time in the meet and greet. Doesn't that seem simple? We went to the photopass desk in Town Square. The first CM we talked to said, "Oh, that's a joke the characters play sometimes. They'll have the photographer scan their wrists like they're wearing Magic Bands." We tried to explain to her that this was different, that we were pretty sure Stitch actually wanted pictures. She brought in another CM who was getting ready to tell us the same thing, but we said no, we don't think he was joking, we've been seeing him a lot this vacation and this was, we believed, a sincere request for photos. They finally had a third CM bring up the photos and told us to choose three; they printed them for free and let me write a message on the backs (I just wrote one, "Stitch, see you soon, XOXO, Coreada"). They asked if I wanted to keep any of them and I said no, send them all to the Stitch who was at the Tomorrowland M&G at 2:30 ("There's only one Stitch." "Yes, I know. I saw him at 2:30. THAT one." ) The CM who took the photos said he would hand deliver them to Stitch himself. We thanked them and left, but DH told me, "I'm afraid they were just being patronizing to the crazy Stitch lady and those photos will never make it to him." We decided that when we got home, we'd contact Dany at the Poly (she'd given us her business card) and see if she could forward photos to the "right" Stitch.
We finished our lovely day in the park. On the way to our room, I told DH that I'd never left the parks so content before. I always hate leaving, though I'm always happy to go home to my pets; but I always want more time, more experiences, just MORE. This time, I felt like there was no MORE to be had. It had been as wonderful as it could be, and even if I never got to see Stitch again, I had gone out on top, as it were.
The next morning we were sitting outside waiting for the Magical Express bus to take us to MCO, and my phone chimed. My Disney Experience had updated; we had new photopass photos. I showed them to DH:
So basically, tl;dr: BEST. VACATION. EVER!!!
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Best Disney moment: Stitch proposed to me, recognized me years later, and tried to end a Meet & Greet by waving bye to the line & leading me away!
Oh my goodness, just when you think it can't get any better and then it was - wow, what an amazing end to a completely magical vacation!
I have adored reading every single word of this trip report - thank you so much for sharing it with us. It's a true reminder to all of us about how wonderfully magical Disney vacations can be!
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Out of curiosity, where was the Adventurers Club benefit show held? I was such a big fan of the place and was quite sad when it closed! 
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