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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I'm realizing I haven't posted since we got back! I'll do a quick recap. I've never found an easy way to upload photos here, but if I can figure out how to do it directly from tapatalk, that would be a game changer.....
Day 1 - Reno, toured the city
Day 2- Camped 2 hrs from Vegas. Toured Death Valley with short hike. Had to go back to camp for DH's forgotten bedding. Got to Vegas around 8pm. Groceries, hotel, sleep.
Day 3-Toured Luxor, Manalay Bay, and Excalibur inAM. Solo trek to Golden Tiki in PM. NY NY, Aria, Belagio in PM
Day 3 expanded. I've really got to figure out how to upload pictures in a way that doesn't take forever. And I need to figure out how to upload from a phone. I'm clearly nearly 40, if I were 20 I'd have this figured out. But if I were 20, I wouldn't be posting on a forum, I'd be doing some other fool think I don't have time to care about as a 40 year old!
ANYWAYS!!!
I was disappointed to miss out on strip time on the night of Day 2, but there was nothing for it. We got waylaid by having to go back for DH's stuff. And we knew that Vegas could eat our bank account alive, so we needed to go grocery shopping. It was nearly 9pm when we got to our little HoJo room, and we were beat.
So, on Day 3, we chowed some breakfast in the room and headed out to the strip. The HoJo is on Tropicana, so we walked till we hit Excalibur, then took the tram to Mandalay Bay. MB doesn't have an impressive lobby, that we found at least, but they have that outdoor waterfall area that's really pretty. We had to get creative to figure out how to access it, but eventually we got it figured out with the help of some staff (not CMs, but all casino staff were very welcoming and friendly throughout the trip). We really enjoyed this area, and it wasn't at all crowded.
Next up was the Luxor. We walked through the elevated walkway to visit. Although the elevators up say "floors 22-30, guest rooms only", you don't need a key to get in and go up. So up we went. These elevators go SIDEWAYS. They made me feel sick last time, and this time I got a little of that as well, but I tried not to pay any attention to it.
I think the 27th floor was the top floor that has windows and balconies. It took us a few tries to figure it out. There are windows that look down onto the food court area that forms the base of the internal pyramid open area. DH marched right over to the window and looked down. DS was a little hesitant. I was going "no effing way" and clinging to the wall about 8 feet back...when DS started to follow my lead. I told myself "NO. Do not encourage your son to get attached to fears." And I forced myself over to look. I didn't like it, but I kept a calm exterior. Good mommy! We also peeked over some open air balconies up there, and got a glimpse of some rooms that were open for housekeeping. It was pretty impressive.
Next up was Excalibur, before heading back to the room to rest and eat lunch. Not much to say about Excalibur, but I enjoyed the theming as a relic of the history of Las Vegas theming. I really thought it was charming, but there wasn't any huge "WOW" moment.
Back to the hotel, this is when I found time to leave the family to visit the Golden Tiki, which I described earlier. Well worth my visit, although I didn't think much of the drink I chose.
Quite a lot of exploring on the strip this day as you hit quite a few of the casinos.
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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