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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was wondering that also, but figured that it must be short for "surprises".
Exactly right! I'm not sure if it's just a southern thing or not, but "sursies" are just a cute (or not, depending how you feel about "cute" sayings ) way of saying a surprise.
Exactly right! I'm not sure if it's just a southern thing or not, but "sursies" are just a cute (or not, depending how you feel about "cute" sayings ) way of saying a surprise.
Jill
Thanks for clearing that up! I've never heard that before, but I like it!
Sorry it's been so long since the last update! Things got a little crazy for me (but fun stuff) which prevented me from resizing my photos, since I can't do that at work. Also, I may have been subconsciously avoiding this update, since it's filled with goodbyes. I finally made time to do it yesterday (last night, at like 10:00!) so the next update is coming right up! Thanks for sticking with us!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Also, I may have been subconsciously avoiding this update, since it's filled with goodbyes.
I kinda thought that was what might be going on. All the more reason for you guys to do this again sometime soon (and write TR's to share with us of course!)
We spent our morning packing up. We were all headed home that day, except Heather. She’d extended her stay and was leaving the following day, but she packed up as well, because she moved (I want to say she went to SSR, but I’m not really sure). After everyone was all packed up, we went down to the lobby to take care of our bags (most did RAC, I stored my bags).
While we were in the lobby, we ran into Sheri, so we got to say goodbye to her again. I’ve spent time with Sheri on like 5 of my last 7 trips! I didn’t think it was that many, but after counting them up, Sheri definitely makes regular appearances in my trips! Maybe I’ll get to see her again next month!
Anyway, bags stored and having bid Sheri farewell, we were to be joined by the fellas (Bob & Larry) at the Mara for brekkie. We all climbed into the elevator and Eileen was having a wardrobe malfunction, so immediately after the doors closed, she stuck her hand down her top and started rearranging things. Except the doors immediately opened back up and everyone waiting for an elevator that morning got a free show! Hilarious!
And I’m so glad I put that in my notes, because I’d kind of forgotten about it. And it would have been a shame if I hadn’t been able to share it with all of you! Right, LeeNee? I kid, but I’m sure if I hadn’t remembered, Eileen probably would’ve told the story herself (or one of the other ladies).
Aaaaaanyway, we made it to the Mara without further incident and everyone grabbed something for breakfast. I forgot what I had, but it was probably a Mickey waffle. Today was to be an Epcot day, so after breakfast, the ladies and I piled in the Outlook while the fellas drove over in their own car, since they planned to drive home after some time with us in Epcot.
After entering the park, I stopped to get a quick photo of the holiday topiaries at the entrance.
The only thing I really wanted to do was to see the World Showcase Players in the UK pavilion, since they were doing their version of A Christmas Carol. Nobody else really had any must dos, so we were on our way. On the way, we bumped into Kelly (OhToodles) but she wasn’t with her family at the moment. I was so glad to see her, since I hadn’t gotten any photos at the meet the night before. I asked her to pose for a pic with my buddies.
We made our way over to the UK and settled in to watch the performance. Unfortunately, the spot was in the shade, on a bright sunny day. I mean, that’s good for us, since it was a warm day, but my photos aren’t great. You’ll remember that Karen starred in the WSP’s Romeo and Edna earlier in the trip and she’d gotten a “get out of performance free” card… err, button. Well, I’m not sure whether or not she was wearing it that day, but Bob sure wasn’t since he was chosen to play Scrooge! And if you know Bob, you’ll realize he was horribly miscast! He’d grumble, bah humbug and then immediately start grinning. It made for quite an entertaining show, and a fitting end to our trip!
They “recruited” another guest to play Bob Crachit, but it wasn’t Larry (but how awesome would that have been ).
And after a visit by Mr. Marley…
I think they have the wrong Mr. Marley, mon
Bob, I mean Ebenezer went to sleep.
And then awoke with a jerk – who was not the CM standing next to him, as Bob inquired . He said “Are you the jerk?” and it almost made the CMs laugh out loud! I’m pretty sure they’re going to incorporate that into the show. Instead it was the first of three spirits.
Love this picture!
The show was loads of laughs and I highly recommend you catch it if you’re there during the Christmas season. But you’ll have to admit that if I’d showed you the pictures without telling you the story, you’d have no idea at all that it was A Christmas Carol right? Well, except for the sign.
Karen had something for a friend that she wanted to get signed, so off we went to Character Connection. I got a quick shot of the Epcot tree on the way.
The decorations near the fountain looked nice at first, but once I got a better look at them… Well if I can’t say anything nice, I won’t say anything at all.
The line looked to be about 30 minutes, but because we’d be gone before the Disney Visa meet and greet started, we decided to wait it out. It was worth it, though, because we got some really nice Photopass shots!
First we met Mickey.
I think Larry was off getting a drink or something. He joined us in time to visit with Minnie. But first we met Pluto.
We let Eileen get in some exclusive time with Minnie.
And then we got a group photo (with Larry!).
Minnie had her diva meter turned up to 10. I love her poses in our photos! Donald Duck was next.
And finally, Goofy. And I was completely composed. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
After some one on one time with Goofy, my buddies joined me for perhaps my favorite shots of the trip…
I love how Goofy’s munching on the top of Heather’s head
We needed lunch, so we climbed Mount Epcot and got Sunshine Seasons. Everyone got something different. I had Asian. Chicken it looks like. I’m too lazy to go check Allearsnet. I can tell dessert was key lime pie.
We were joined by Lesley and Tom, so in a way, we were recreating our final lunch from last year. Right down to singing “Now it’s time to say goodbye.” I’m getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about it.
After lunch, we could delay our departures no longer (except for Heather, that stinker ). She was on her way to I think the MK (or maybe to check in? she’ll have to fill us in). We said many sad goodbyes (though we did have some plans in the works for when we’d get together again, so at least that made it somewhat better). Jill, Karen and I walked out with Bob & Larry to the parking lot. They were right next to us, so after another round of hugs, we climbed into our separate vehicles (with one last giggle over the Incident).
I drove over to the Car Care Center and returned the rental car, which took all of 5 minutes. We caught the shuttle back to AKL where we spent our final hours together shopping, using up snack credits and then saying goodbye. Even though we knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d see each other again, we all ended up crying. I was planning on getting DME, but since Karen was planning to get a cab (to maximize time before heading to the airport), I decided to skip DME and rode with her in the cab.
Once we arrived at the airport, I checked my suitcase and got my boarding pass (A19, using the Early Bird Check-in). My flight was delayed due to late arriving aircraft, but was otherwise uneventful. I slept nearly the entire flight home.
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Great pictures. That is a funny story about Christmas Carol. Sorry to see this trip report come to an end. it was awesome to ride along for the ride. Cant wait to hear the others side of the trip. See ya next time Sharon. just love your reports!!
Bob SO does not look like a Scrooge! Love the World Showcase Players! They're lots of fun to watch--especially when they pick on someone from your group.
Sorry that you're all having to say goodbyes. Glad to hear you don't have to wait long to see each other again, though.
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That was a great trip!!! I'm so sorry you all had to go home. Well, 'cept Heather. Thank you so much for allowing me to go to WDW with you. I had a ball!!!!
What awesome pics with all the characters! My fave was the one with Minnie blowing kisses.
(And I stole that pic of me with your peeps. It was good to see you all one last time!)
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) way of saying a surprise.
I finally made time to do it yesterday (last night, at like 10:00!) so the next update is coming right up! Thanks for sticking with us! 
Deb
Hilarious!
I kid, but I’m sure if I hadn’t remembered, Eileen probably would’ve told the story herself (or one of the other ladies).
And if you know Bob, you’ll realize he was horribly miscast! 
I’m getting a little teary-eyed just thinking about it. 
). She was on her way to I think the MK (or maybe to check in? she’ll have to fill us in). We said many sad goodbyes (though we did have some plans in the works for when we’d get together again, so at least that made it somewhat better). Jill, Karen and I walked out with Bob & Larry to the parking lot. They were right next to us, so after another round of hugs, we climbed into our separate vehicles (with one last giggle over the Incident). 
Even though we knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d see each other again, we all ended up crying. I was planning on getting DME, but since Karen was planning to get a cab (to maximize time before heading to the airport), I decided to skip DME and rode with her in the cab. 
Katie's graduation
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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