A 40th celebration to end the world! THREAD 1 COMPLETED 2/16 - Page 58 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Love all the pictures around Japan! The start to CP looks great too. Glad you got a few shots of Dawn, too. So neat to see a PassPorter among the choir members.
Love all the pictures around Japan! The start to CP looks great too. Glad you got a few shots of Dawn, too. So neat to see a PassPorter among the choir members.
Sunday 9 December – part six: they’re falling one by one!
The next one to arrive, after the choirs, was James Denton, famous for playing Mike the plumber in Desperate Housewives, and he started with a great joke about that, saying he could see the guys’ faces, and they were wondering where the Desperate Housewife was and how they’d ended up with the plumber guy! It set the tone, and was a good opening. He was a great narrator, and really brought the whole thing alive. I’d see him again in a heartbeat, plus of course, he was nice and easy on the eye as well!
The Candlelight Processional was just as magical as all the other times we’ve seen, although even more so this time, as we had someone we knew in the choir. I just love the combination of the singing, the orchestra, and the readings. On hot days in Florida, like today, it’s easy to forget that it’s actually Christmas time, and this just brings back to you the real meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate it. It’s beautifully put together and a definite must for us every time we visit at Christmas.
Mark found another source of great enjoyment… watching how many people fainted – seriously! I think he counted up to about eight or nine in the end. When I saw the first one leave, I thought they’d done something wrong and been ordered off the stage but – we just watched them fall one by one, including one very close to Dawn. Thank goodness it wasn’t her! We saw a couple back on, but many of them didn’t. Dawn told us later how hot it is up there, and how the Cast Members either sign up for the first show or to do the last two of the night, because the first is so hot.
One other thing I will mention here is that I was a bit disappointed with the programme this year. Sure, it listed all the choirs participating during the whole thing, but there was nothing to tell you who was performing on which night – and they never announced it at the start of the performance either, which I thought was a huge shame, as they never got the credit for their sterling work.
All too soon, it was over, and we just sat there, taking everything in, until we heard the warning that we actually needed to leave, so they could get the theatre ready for the next session. Ok… We started to make our way out of the American Adventure and into Italy…
… but got sidetracked when Clare spotted a sign for the restrooms. I went with her and Andy, and we carried on walking down a side street past the main American Adventure building which I’d never seen before. We carried on, and I thought to myself “I’m sure we’re going backstage” and sure enough, we were! They’d put out shrubs on rollers to stop you seeing backstage, but of course that didn’t stop me…
The restrooms themselves were essentially portable ones… and quite nice too – I knew you wouldn’t believe me about this, so I had to get some photos of them!
A behind the scenes sneak peek
When we came back, Clare and Andy both thought we weren’t supposed to have used them, and everyone else assumed they were for the cast of the Candlelight Processional, but Dawn later confirmed they were for guests, and got put in because the restrooms they have there can’t handle the demand every time a show ends.
Talking of Dawn, we headed over to Italy to meet up with her…
… and it wasn’t long before she arrived. I think it was only Sheri and I who’d met her before, so introductions were exchanged, and then I suggested going to the Tutto Gusto wine cellar.
Wow - I can't believe how many people fainted.....how embarrassing for them - but glad they are okay.
How great that you got to see Dawn sing! I was hoping that we would have - I knew she was doing it as she was at reversal the night her Dd and Em met back in Oct.
Can't wait to see pics from wine cellar!
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That's crazy how it's so hot that people faint like that. You'd think they'd fix that problem! Mike the plumber is easy on the eye, but he has a great narrative voice too.
Your pics from CP are great and make us want to do it even more now. But instead of Mike the Plumber I would really prefer my hero Tim The Tool Man Taylor
Great update, Cheryl. I'm glad that you enjoyed the CP performance. I the character Mike, and he does have a great narrator's voice. I'm glad that everyone was okay; they should do something for those poor people!! The pictures around Italy are beautiful. It's so festive at EPCOT in the evening!!
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Disney Trips: BLT & Poly Bungalow 2016, VGF 2015, Fantasy 2015, Saratoga Springs Resort 2014, Grand Villa at VGF 2013, Fantasy 2013, BWV and Kidani Village 2011, BWV and Kidani Village 2010, BWV and Saratoga Springs Resort 2008,Beach Club Villas 2008,Villas at Wilderness Lodge 2006, BWV 2006, BCV 2005, HHI 2004,Polynesian 2003,Grand Floridian 2000/concierge, Honeymoon at Polynesian 1994,Polynesian 1980,Polynesian 1978
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It set the tone, and was a good opening. He was a great narrator, and really brought the whole thing alive. I’d see him again in a heartbeat, plus of course, he was nice and easy on the eye as well! 
I just love the combination of the singing, the orchestra, and the readings. On hot days in Florida, like today, it’s easy to forget that it’s actually Christmas time, and this just brings back to you the real meaning of Christmas, and why we celebrate it. It’s beautifully put together and a definite must for us every time we visit at Christmas. 
– we just watched them fall one by one, including one very close to Dawn. Thank goodness it wasn’t her! We saw a couple back on, but many of them didn’t. Dawn told us later how hot it is up there, and how the Cast Members either sign up for the first show or to do the last two of the night, because the first is so hot. 
We started to make our way out of the American Adventure and into Italy…
the character Mike, and he does have a great narrator's voice. I'm glad that everyone was okay; they should do something for those poor people!! The pictures around Italy are beautiful. It's so festive at EPCOT in the evening!!
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