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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am envious of your short wait times, remembering our trips during that slow time of year. I never even got to ride Pirates on our summer trip, because the wait was always too long!
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Great morning at Chef Mickey's & MK! My boys, especially Dyaln right now, just love CM! Sorry about the pictures.
I'm sure you're having a blast right now!!!
The Jungle Cruise was closed, so we moved on to climb the Tree House at Maddie’s request. The oddest thing is that Maddie has a slight fear of heights, but she loves the Tree House. She hugs the walls and puts a death grip on the railings, but she makes it through with a smile on her face every time (although sometimes it’s more of a “grin and bear it” smile ).
The Magic Carpet ride appeared to be a walk on, so off we went. Sure enough, we were on the next go around and had a great time.
Since we had a big breakfast and had plans for a big dinner, we decided just to snack that afternoon. After getting several rides under their belts, two little girls were ready for their first snacks of the day. Thom grabbed them two frozen lemonades and then we found an empty spot to relax beside the Magic Carpet ride while they refueled. They also had fun checking out the “creatures” outside of the nearby store (I had a picture of Maddie too, but it was the final victim of the corrupted photo card ).
After our short break, we cut through to Frontier Land, stopped in Liberty Square for a few stockade pictures and then headed to ride HM.
The girls wanted to ride together on HM, but the CM loading the doom buggies told them that they couldn’t. We talked to a CM at another ride later who told us that the cut off for a child to ride without an adult was 7, so apparently the CM at HM thought our girls were much younger than they are. Most CM’s ask, so they learned to immediately give their ages and we never had another problem with it. The CM at HM just assumed and didn’t bother to ask, but it was no big deal since they just split up and rode with Thom and me (of course, I don’t see that as a punishment since I think we’re delightful people ).
While we were in the area, we had a photo op in the new Rapunzel seating/bathroom area. Although I love a good bathroom as much as the next person, it’s almost a shame that this beautiful area is just a backdrop for the toity. It is a greater diverter of traffic though from that perpetually clogged path that runs under the CHH bridge. And the bathroom itself is gorgeous . . .
We then moved next door to ride IaSW which took on whole new meaning since we had traveled to Europe this summer. The girls had fun picking out the countries and the children from the places we had traveled.
They rarely even notice King Arthur’s sword, but today they wanted to give it their best try. They both gave it a good tug, but we left it the same way we found it . . . stuck.
On our last trip, we used a FP for Pooh, so they were eager to go through a fairly short standby line and touch as many things possible along the way. Even though Mary Devall is a pre-teen, she was right in there playing with Maddie.
From there, we took the short walk over to the Teacups where we split up into a teacup for the girls and a teacup for the adults. The proof is in the pictures that they had fun. Thom took it easy on me and didn’t do a lot of spinning, but probably only because I was taking pictures. Normally, he wouldn’t be so kind.
Next, we walked over to Storybook Circus and straight to Maddie’s old favorite, Barnstormer.
The standby line was listed at 10 minutes, so we hopped in line . . . but this ended up being our longest wait of the day. Apparently, shortly after we joined the line, the ride went down.
Several people left, but we had nowhere to be, so we decided to wait it out. Of course, it could have been the fact that all four of us were enraptured by the train wreck behind us. A woman was talking away on her phone while her older son was smacking the younger one. She never said one word to him until he took the younger one’s hat and then he turned around and kicked her. She finally got off the phone, but never even mentioned his behavior. My family is far, far from perfect, but geez . . .
We actually only ended up waiting about 20 minutes before the ride started back up, so we were soon flying through the air . . . for the approximately 45 seconds that the ride takes!
The girls were ready for another snack, so we ducked into the Big Top and came away with frozen lemonades, caramel corn and a big chocolate chip cookie. We found a little shade and then thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon sugar snack.
Once we had our fill, we wandered over to Under the Sea where we walked right on that ride. If I’m not mistaken, this is where the CM gave us the info on the age limits of children riding without an adult.
What a great late morning and early afternoon in MK! Great pics.
My girls get the age thing because they are short like me. They are now 12 & 13 and most people think they are 8 & 11.
Fun day so far! I love the pictures of your girls together - they seem to really LIKE each other.
My DD is always assumed to be 3-5 years younger than she is. She's 13 (closing in on 14), and has been assumed to be under 10 still! I keep telling her she'll like this when she's my age!
Lots of fun at MK! I'm a bit leery of heights, too, so I totally get Maddie. But in spite of it, I just love climbing around the Swiss Family tree house. Great pictures of the girls having fun!
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What a fun day you had together in the MK So cute that MD will still hold Maddie's hand while walking around the parks and it's a picture that is just so sweet! I give you a lot of credit for going on the Teacups at all as I have found that as I get older just looking at that going around can make me feel queasy