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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Too bad that the events could have used a bit more attention to planning. It does sound like they just didn't quite give things enough thought. The waits for some of the attractions and characters are ridiculous!
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Oh Yay another Sharon TR, All caught up. glad you are getting a nice girls only trip but sorry for the change in the numbers. I hope eveything is better. 5 hours for character meets, that is just crazy. who in there right mind would wait for that?
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Very glad you are doing this report. The two bedroom Villa at OKW is huge, but at least you and your Mother get your own bedroom.
(I had planned to go to the Rock Your Disney Side event AND planned to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. I probably would have been on the same boat, had the trip not been cancelled).
I seem to have more "near-miss" PassPorter meets than actual ones lately!
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Originally Posted by brandy_mel
Yay!! I love reading your trip reports. So glad you're back with another one. I pick up so many great tips from you. For instance, now I know I can get lemonade to drink. I totally agree with you. That Minute Maid stuff was disgusting. I can't wait to read more.
Yes, I love lemonade, so I was happy to see that. But I noticed the real stuff is only available at some places. You'll be able to tell the difference because the real stuff comes out of its own dispenser and the instant junk comes out of the regular soda dispensers.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
You definitely had the right idea to head into MK early for the Rock Your Disney Side event. It does seem that some of Disney's usual meticulous planning was missing from this event though. Nice 2-bedroom villa at OKW. I love how large all the villas are here.
I hate to say it, but it seemed like all their attention went to Disneyland. OKW is so nice for so many reasons!
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
How cool that you got to ride the Mine Train!! Wow, some of those wait times! I wouldn't wait 5 hours for anything!
No way would I wait that long for anything.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Too bad that the events could have used a bit more attention to planning. It does sound like they just didn't quite give things enough thought. The waits for some of the attractions and characters are ridiculous!
It seems like Disney is slowly learning from experience. I think those crazy waits contributed a lot to the creation of the Villains event.
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Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Yes, I am still hoping you are going in October for F&WF and our trips might overlap!!!
If I'm going by your ticker, probably not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Oh Yay another Sharon TR, All caught up. glad you are getting a nice girls only trip but sorry for the change in the numbers. I hope eveything is better. 5 hours for character meets, that is just crazy. who in there right mind would wait for that?
I thought about who'd be waiting and decided it must've been people who'd been in the parks since opening and had done everything and then were just using the wait time to rest. I did notice that most of the benches around the park were removed, so I guess resting in a queue is as good a place as any.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
I knew when planning this trip that it would be a late night in the MK for me, so I adjusted our schedule accordingly, making FP+ reservations for late morning or early afternoon. DM was planning to buy an AP (three trips for her this year), so I couldn’t make any FP+ for her, but because she doesn’t do thrill rides, it was only KS I was worried about getting her on.
The point I was trying to make before I got sidetracked is that I planned to sleep in a little. DM, however, had other ideas. She actually woke me up! I never get angry if someone wakes me up because I figure they expected me to be awake early anyway (99% of the time, I am awake). She was excited to get moving and hadn’t done any parks at all the day before, so I figured I could sleep when I’m dead and went ahead and got ready.
Unlike the night before, we had perfect bus timing and were on our way to AK in no time at all. Once we arrived, our first stop was to get DM her AP. Once it was added to her Magic Band, I added her to My Disney Experience and was able to copy over all my FP+ for her (with most of the times being identical). That was a relief, and super easy. I admit, I expected it to be harder than that, given Disney’s track record.
We stopped for a photo op in front of the Tree of Life.
We were both ready for breakfast so I got some strawberries and Mom got a giant cinnamon roll for us to share.
We finished off the strawberries, but we couldn’t finish the cinnamon roll (and knowing my DM’s sweet tooth, that’s saying something!). That thing was enormous!
We walked the PFET after breakfast. I was pleased to see plenty of activity.
Mom loved watching the gorillas play as much as I always do. Side note: I'm really excited to get to see the newborn gorilla on my upcoming trip! I will get to watch him grow up just like I did with Lilly!
We decided to see if something was going on over at RPW so we took the train over there.
So stinkin’ cute!
Today’s patients at the vet window included a limping partridge and some goats. I got to see the partridge.
Note: not a photo of the partridge
After watching the procedure (on the monitor, I wasn't close enough to see or get pics), we decided to explore some. Rafiki was due out in a few minutes, so I joined a fairly short queue, but a CM came and asked us to move (in order) to a different spot. Unfortunately, the dopey woman in front of me couldn’t follow directions, so she kind of stood around and I didn’t want to get in front of her, but the people behind us had no problem doing so. Long story short, instead of being the third group in line, we ended up about 11th. I figured I’d see Rafiki another time (when I wasn’t annoyed ).
I went outside to get a drink and noticed Chip and Dale playing a game with the kids.
After the game, Chip and Dale lined up the children and marched them over for a meet. These little children had no trouble following instructions and everyone ended up in the same position as where they’d begun. Take that,dopey woman. The line was fairly short, so I hopped in it. DM came outside in time to get a picture.
We caught the train back to AKL and headed over to Asia, where we needed to use FP+. I had Dinosaur ones made for both me and DM even though I knew DM wouldn’t ride. When we got there, the ride was down, so neither of us could ride. I got an email about rescheduling, but I figured I’d just skip it instead.
We went and got snow cones and found a bench to do some gabbing and people watching. When we’d finished our snack, we walked over and did the MJT. There wasn’t very much activity here at all.
With that done, it was time to use our KS FP+. Happily, there was more activity than the MJT.
I love how green the water looks!
Then we went over to use the EE FP+. DM doesn’t ride it, so I rode once as myself and once as her. I was thrilled to be able to see Heather at work. I don’t think she recognized me at first, because she was in CM mode.
After switching back to my own MB, DM and I were ready for lunch. I wanted Flame Tree and she thought that sounded good, too. We decided to get the chicken and split it, and it was enough to fill us both up. Also, it was delicious!
We were ready to head back to OKW for a bit of a break. I did try to sneak in a nap, but I guess I was too excited (or not tired enough) to sleep. After our short break, we set out again. We could see a bus for Epcot approaching our stop, so we decided to get on it rather than cross the bridge and wait for it to get to the final stop. This was DM’s opportunity to see just how vast OKW really is!
DM and I both had World Showcase-y thoughts, so we strolled right on through FW. But we did stop for a quick photo op.
DM wanted some fish & chips, so I left her there and continued on to France and got a croquet monsieur.
We ate together on a bench in France. Then neither of us had anything we actually wanted to do, so we ended up engaging in my favorite pastime – wandering around and just enjoying the atmosphere.
DM saw a Shakin Jamaican (which was some kind of coffee beverage and Kahlua) that she wanted to try. I warned her that it was pretty late in the day for coffee, but she insisted she’d be fine. I won’t tell you what happened, but you can guess who was right. Hint: my DM has this habit of not listening to my advice, and then when I’m right she always goes, “You should’ve told me!” Ah, I love my Mom!
Anyway, she said she wanted to do the Maelstrom ride even though I hate it. But since she’s my mom, I agreed. Luckily the standby was 40 minutes and she was all, “forget that!” We found a bench and did some people watching, but my lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. I suggested we watch Illuminations from our balcony and DM thought that sounded like a plan, so we went back to OKW.
We stayed on the bus until the last stop so we could get drinks to enjoy while we watched Illuminations. Then we changed into our pajamas and sat out on the balcony to enjoy the show. The view wasn’t stellar, but we were certainly very comfy.
After that, I hit the sack. DM stayed up for some reason.
Up Next: What do you mean, “there are no Italian Margaritas?”
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
What a great day, although how the heck you made it through it with so little sleep is completely beyond me! I wonder if your mom is going to be the one the next day with very little sleep...
Just catching up , was so excited to see a TR from Sharon when I got home, makes the post Disney blues not so bad.....LOL
It did seem that the event was not as organized as usual, 5 hours to meet the villians seems insane. While it would have been a great meet, waiting 5 hours would not be.
So glad you got to enjoy the Seven Dwarf Mine Train with a shorter wait....120 minutes in the heat is crazy. We had a fast pass for it last week which was wonderful as it was so HOT and the wait times were 100 - 120 minutes the whole time we were there, in the evenings it was a bit less of a wait, maybe 65 - 70 minutes but still so long.
Great day at Epcot - and glad you got to enjoy EE twice. Sounds like the perfect evening watching Illuminations from your balcony, even though mom could not sleep (maybe it was due to the Shakin Jamaican )
Just got all caught up!!
Sounds like a wonderful trip so far!! The OKW Villa looks beautiful!!
I used you as a "guide" when I went on my first solo trip and I found out people-watching was really kind of fun!!!
Can't wait to read more.....!!!
Love your attitude when you are awakened early! I can be a grump if I don' get my sleep. I can't wait to see the new baby gorilla boy, too. I will be so neat to continue watching Lilly grow up while seeing him develop, too. Strolling/wandering the WS is one of my favorite things to do now.
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Nice 2-bedroom villa at OKW. I love how large all the villas are here. 
OKW is so nice for so many reasons! 
I did notice that most of the benches around the park were removed, so I guess resting in a queue is as good a place as any.
I never get angry if someone wakes me up because I figure they expected me to be awake early anyway (99% of the time, I am awake). She was excited to get moving and hadn’t done any parks at all the day before, so I figured I could sleep when I’m dead and went ahead and got ready.
I figured I’d see Rafiki another time (when I wasn’t annoyed 
).
The line was fairly short, so I hopped in it. DM came outside in time to get a picture.
I don’t think she recognized me at first, because she was in CM mode. 
do, so we ended up engaging in my favorite pastime – wandering around and just enjoying the atmosphere. 
Then we changed into our pajamas and sat out on the balcony to enjoy the show. The view wasn’t stellar, but we were certainly very comfy. 
DM stayed up for some reason. 
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I wonder if your mom is going to be the one the next day with very little sleep... 
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