The trip of many changes... TRIP REPORT UPDATED 2/25 - Page 30 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You sure had a great spot for the castle show. Love the pix. I did not know they were doing this show since the new Happily Ever After is so heavy in projections.
I didn't know until I saw it listed under park hours, so I don't think Disney did much to promote it, but maybe that's just me. I probably wasn't paying attention to an announcement they made about it.
Friday 12 January – part eleven: seeing Happily Ever After….
It was time for Happily Ever After. I’ve heard very mixed things about it and I understand that, as I know so many people adored Wishes, but I loved this and thought it was way better than Wishes. It was beautifully done and had a lovely idea behind it. I’ll just let the photos do the talking at this point…
When it was done, the sea of humanity we were in seemed to take ages to leave, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re in the hub – you have to wait for everyone else around you to leave. Thank goodness the park was now open until 11:00pm, as I think that helped, with some people no doubt going off to enjoy the rest of what the park has to offer, rather than heading out. We must’ve waited about 10 or 15 minutes, then the crowds seemed to ease, so we started to make our way out.
We found a couple of Photopass photographers with little or no line, so we grabbed some photos with them…
We said our goodbyes to Ginger at the gate. I’d so enjoyed all the time we’d been able to spend with her and I understand, from what she told us, she had a blast in between when she was on her own as well, so it all worked out well. I hope we get to see her again.
We headed for the boat launch and we lucked out and there was a boat waiting. I didn’t know if we’d get seats, but we did and we were soon on our way back to the Wilderness Lodge. I got some photos as we walked back to the room…
… and then, when we got back, even though it was only about 9:15pm, we just crashed. It had been a long day.
The weather today was cloudy and a bit windy with some rain and temperatures in the low 70s. The best thing today was spending time with Ginger. The worst thing today was that awful weather this afternoon – thank goodness we weren’t out in it! The funniest thing today was Mark traumatising Pooh! Today we tried watching the Happily Ever After fireworks And the result was we loved them! The most magical moment today was oh my goodness, so many… but it has to be seeing my donkey!
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Well that was a practically perfect in every way kind of MK day. You take such great photos. I'm particularly loving your WL shots as its my goal to stay there in December. I rarely see the bears either, and always enjoy them when I do. Once I was there for late EMH and DH was under the weather - I got a private show for the country bears just me and the bears (and 2 CMs running the thing).
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
You captured the fireworks so well, I really enjoyed Happily Ever After, but the crowds leaving not so much. Glad you were able to spend so much time with Ginger.
We got to see the new Happily Ever After fireworks show in January and absolutely loved it! We viewed it from the side of the hub closer to Tomorrowland since we showed up so late but still enjoyed it. Sounds like a wonderful evening with Ginger! I'm looking forward to finding out what your travel plans will be for the new couple of years as you've mentioned that you won't be returning to WDW any time soon.
Amazing photos! How do you do it? I'm assuming you used a fireworks setting, or did you use another setting? And how to you get your arms/hands so stable - a trash can? I've tried so many times for fireworks photos and they just don't turn out nearly as good as yours!
So glad you had such a great time with Ginger, and you're really kicking jet lag's butt!
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Tanya
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Your fireworks pictures are beautiful. I'm glad to hear that you liked Happily ever after. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the fall when we go down.
I like the country bears and remember when they had a summer show and a Christmas one. They were all cute.
I wish they would leave Pirates alone. The story goes with the time period and making the redhead one of the pirates doesn't make sense to me but what do I know.
I'm glad you guys had a fun time with Ginger.
Liz
Cheryl, you could be a professional photographer with such amazing photos of Happily Ever After. It was like I was there I really liked the night photopass pics too because of the background lit up, very nice.
Well that was a practically perfect in every way kind of MK day.
Love the Mary Poppins reference!
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You take such great photos.
Thank you so much!
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I'm particularly loving your WL shots as its my goal to stay there in December.
Oh you will love it at that time of year.
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I rarely see the bears either, and always enjoy them when I do. Once I was there for late EMH and DH was under the weather - I got a private show for the country bears just me and the bears (and 2 CMs running the thing).
We got to see the new Happily Ever After fireworks show in January and absolutely loved it! We viewed it from the side of the hub closer to Tomorrowland since we showed up so late but still enjoyed it.
I'm glad you enjoyed it from there and it's interesting to hear from someone who saw it there, as I've heard it's only really worth seeing on Main Street or at the hub, which I get, but I'm sure it's still fun to view it from other parts of the park.
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Sounds like a wonderful evening with Ginger! I'm looking forward to finding out what your travel plans will be for the new couple of years as you've mentioned that you won't be returning to WDW any time soon.
Well, this year is out, as we have a three week vacation already booked for September - back to back cruises on the Magic, westbound Transatlantic and then NYC to Quebec. Then we're going to Disneyland and Aulani in spring 2019. After that... well... we'll see. I want to get to China and visit Shanghai Disney, plus see Shanghai itself, Beijing, Xian and Chengdu (baby pandas! ), so if that comes off, that's no return to WDW until 2020 at the earliest....
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I probably wasn't paying attention to an announcement they made about it. 
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just me and the bears (and 2 CMs running the thing).
Liz 
Amazing photos! How do you do it? I'm assuming you used a fireworks setting, or did you use another setting? And how to you get your arms/hands so stable - a trash can? I've tried so many times for fireworks photos and they just don't turn out nearly as good as yours!
I really liked the night photopass pics too because of the background lit up, very nice.
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
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