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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow..I've always wanted to visit Japan...and of course Tokyo Disney Land....and from what I see through your pictures, it's beautiful! I wish I can go there someday...
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Wednesday 8 April – part two: a very odd Main Street
We then headed into the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel to explore that. It’s the newest addition to the resort hotels, having only opened last summer. It’s essentially another Grand Floridian in design terms, meaning the only park in the world without a similar hotel is now Disneyland in California. It’s beautiful outside and inside and definitely had the wow factor to it. I walked around taking it all and taking lots of photos with my jaw dropping to the floor.
We went through the lobby, which was also jaw dropping.
Then it was out to the main entrance, where we found a wonderful Cast Member, Fukuda, who offered to take a photo of the two of us and then gave us some Tokyo Disneyland stickers. She also tried to find us some leaflets in English, but with no joy, which she was very apologetic about. She was lovely and the perfect person to work at Disney, she was just loving it, you could tell.
That’s Fukuda, bowing to us on the left!
We headed back through the hotel and the station and through the bag check, which is just as cursory, as all the other parks, you’ll be pleased to know and then it was into Tokyo Disneyland.
It was 9.15 and all the lines had gone, so it was quickly through the turnstiles and then into the first part of the park, which was pretty mobbed. Everyone was trying to take photos and it was chaos.
We soon moved into Main Street, the only one in the world to be undercover, because it rains so often here. Why on earth they didn’t do this at Disneyland Paris is beyond me, considering how cold it gets there. It’s very interesting to see it covered and it did take a bit of getting used to.
Once at the end of Main Street, we found the first of their mosaics to celebrate the 25th anniversary. Called A Million Smiles, it’s very similar to what was done for Disneyland’s 50th anniversary and I have no doubt that the idea came from there, as a lot of this park seems to be based on Disneyland, as we found as we walked around.
One of the Disney photographers – I thought the outfit was very unusual!
We headed for the castle, getting photos on the way.
Soon we found Snow White’s Grotto to the left, again very much a Disneyland idea that they had adopted here. This was where we were due to meet Donna (HiddenMinnie68) and her family later on, so it was good to find it.
Very interesting Main Street. I had read that it was covered but didn't know what to expect. You would think it would look less intrusive. Maybe it would if the framework was in white. Hmmm, really does take some getting used to.
The castle looks pretty far away. Is it about the same size and scale as WDW or more like DL? Looking forward to more..
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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?
Last edited by Minnie Lor; 06-09-2009 at 11:16 PM..
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Reading this makes me even more anxious to visit Tokyo Disneyland. And I think I am going in 2012 (which seems so very far away!). It really looks like a lovely park. I can't wait for more!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
The hotel is beautiful, I really like all the mosaics...what a strange Main Street, I agree that the color does make it stand out, I would think like Lorie said white might have given it a different feel, but it does make sense regarding the weather...
Love Snow White's Grotto - it really looks so peaceful and perfect. There are so many similarities yet differences, it must be so fun to be able to compare all the differences that you have seen after traveling to all the Disney Parks.
very interesting photos. That hotel is gorgeous. I too think the roof might be less noticeable if it was painted another colour or perhaps higher? Looking forward to more.
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These are wonderful pictures Cheryl! So different and yet so familiar....I'm surprised to see all the shop signs on Main St in English and interested in hearing how you found the park being English speaking. I know we would be okay in the Paris park because we all speak at least a bit of French, but it seems intimidating to go into a country with no knowledge of their mother tongue.
Congratulations on learning a new language for your trip - I've noticed how many times in your other TR that it came in handy for you.
Just getting caught up ... the traffic cone Mickey was cute! And I love their monorail. With "Main Street" being covered, was it noisy in there? Seems like all the voices would just echo around for a while. Looking forward to all the fun you had at the parks!
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