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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Cheryl, I'm so sorry I've gotten so far behind on your TR! I have so much catching up to do as I know DH mentioned whenever we get to travel to Tokyo he does want to go to Disneyland Tokyo! I'll get back to commenting soon. I have a cranky toddler right now.
Love the pirate ship. I'd have to fire the canon too. Looks fun!
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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?
That fortress and that pirate ship are amazing!! My boys would totally LOVE that. I could just see them acting out many an adventure while exploring there. And...Great pictures yet again.
We headed next into Mysterious Island and just had to go on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea again, as it was so much fun.
We thought about going on Journey to the Centre of the Earth, but we decided against it. While it was a great ride, it was a bit intense. Maybe when we get back to Tokyo DisneySea, we’ll do it again. I have no idea when we will get back, but we will be back.
We walked through Mermaid Lagoon...
We headed over to Arabian Coast, as I fancied a bit of curry at the place Frank had eaten at yesterday, Casbah Food Court, but sadly the only curry options were meat ones, so I had to be satisfied with seafood chow mein, which was very nice. I got to try a bit curry, as Mark got the curry sampler, which included a shrimp one.
On the way out of the Arabian Coast, Mark went for a few funny photo ops:
Aren’t these just too cute?
I just fell in love with this cutie from Sindbad’s Storybook Voyage!
Next it was into Lost River Delta and this time, we walked through the other side of the water and found Chip (Dale was somewhere, but we didn’t get a photo with him) and Goofy. It’s so cool the way that the characters just appear from anywhere and you can go up and see them. Mind you, I can’t see any other park in the world where you could do that. It only works because of the Japanese culture and the way they line up for things.
We found some more sunglasses at a stall and got another two pairs, as they were so comfortable and so cheap and I knew I would kick myself if anything happened to the ones I had just bought. It’s hardly as if I can just pop back and get another pair, now is it?
As we were now back in Port Discovery, we just had to go and have another spin on Aquatopia. It’s such a fun ride and, although the concept is so simple, it’s such a complex ride to coordinate. Very clever.
After that, we walked back towards Mediterranean Harbour, as I wanted to see their afternoon show, which is called the Legend of Mythica. We weren’t sure what to expect, except that we knew it was a land and water based show featuring the characters, but that was about all we knew about it. Therefore, we didn’t know where to stand to watch it and, with 25 minutes to spare, we weren’t sure what would still be free. As we walked over Ponte Vecchio, we noticed that a lot of viewing places had been taken already, so we found an open window and grabbed that.
Taking the opportunity to catch up on my trip report!
The only problem with it was that it was in the wind and was freezing there. It was that sort of cold where usually you would give in and go and buy a new sweatshirt, but I suddenly had a flash of inspiration. As we were near to the hotel, why not go and get an extra layer from there? It couldn’t be more than five minutes away, so off I went, power walking and running some of the way. It did take me just over 10 minutes there and back and I tell you, by the time I got back, the wind wasn’t bothering me, as I was that hot from the power walking and running! I think I got back at the right time, just before Mark froze to death!
As I walked back, I could see the difference, just in that time, with crowds gathering all around the lagoon and a massive structure now at the centre. That was obviously part of the show. I was worried I had missed something, but a quick look at my watch told me that I was back in plenty of time for the show.
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Cheryl you have so many great photos! What is that building that looks like an old wooden lodge?
I assume you mean this one?
From memory - and the not so great Tokyo DisneySea map on their website, I think it's either Lost River Outfitters, which is a shop or Miguel's El Dorado Cantina. It's hard to work out which.... It could also be home to Musica Mexican, a form of entertainment that we didn't get to see while we were there.
Did Mark get the genie to appear out of that lamp? And while we're on the subject of Mark, did his teasing of the characters get past the language barrier?
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Please explain about the characters and that the Japanese line up to see them. At WDW, people line up for character meets (sometimes a stray person just steps up) and there's a handler there too. So I'm not seeing a character handler in your photos so is that the difference? Were there single file lines to see the characters or did they just take their turn better?
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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?