A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 6/24 - Page 65 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm getting caught up again, since I've been in WDW. Love the Alice in Wonderland ride! We have great memories there. I was reading "Vault of Walt" last night, which I know you've read too. I was at the part where Walt had his 30th anniversary celebration on the Mark Twain, for part of it. There it was in your TR!
Thursday 27 December – part three: the waits would be how long by now?
Then we headed into the Enchanted Tiki Room to watch the show there. Thank goodness there are still some attractions in Disneyland that aren’t mobbed, even at the busiest times of the year.
I will be honest the last time I did this attraction here, I really didn’t like it that much. Then again, I always liked the new version at Disney World. I know, I know – not popular, but what can I say? I always thought Zazu and Iagu were fun, and I liked the way it took the Mickey out of the original as well. However, this time around, I enjoyed it so much more. Somehow, it didn’t seem as lame as when we last watched it a few years ago, or maybe I’ve just matured more… I certainly enjoyed watching all the different elements of it, and there was a sense of wonder at what they managed to do with all the birds, the plants, and even the Tiki Gods. If you haven’t seen it for a while, it’s worth a look. I think you may be pleasantly surprised.
As the park was mobbed, when we came out, we decided to head out, although we made a stop at the Disney Clothiers store on the way out. At breakfast, we’d got a voucher for 20% off from selected outlets, and this was one of them. As this was where Mark had seen the Grumpy sweatshirt he liked a couple of days ago, he asked if it was available in his size, and it was, which was interesting, as when I asked the same question in here yesterday, it wasn’t.
I also found a cardigan with subtle Mickey emblems on it, which I absolutely loved. I tried it on, and that was it – sold! I have to say that I really do adore the thing, it’s very warm, comfortable, and subtle, which means I could wear it to work if I wanted, and people wouldn’t even necessarily know it was Disney. As a footnote, I adore this cardigan, and it’s now my favourite to wear in my leisure time – I’m so glad I got it, and just wish I’d bought two at the time…
We browsed a couple of other shops….
… then I suggested heading over to Tomorrowland, so that we could get the monorail over to the LEGO store, as we wanted to see if they’d had anymore Cars LEGO in for older boys for our nephew.
We headed that way, and we were a bit surprised when we arrived that we weren’t let on the monorail that was in the station, as it left almost empty. The Cast Member explained that when they have period of high attendance, they do sometimes limit the people travelling the other way to most of the traffic, as it’s not that easy to get people off the thing. Personally, if they have high attendance levels, I’d just run it as one way, rather than giving people the option to do round trips, but that’s just me.
She also told us that, by now, the waits to get through security for the parks would probably be about 30-40 minutes. We got on to talking about other things, and we were asking why the tracks were still left in that weren’t used anymore, and she said that, now that they’d finished the work at the California Adventure, the next big problem would be a huge renovation of Tomorrowland. Interesting. I wonder what they’ll do as part of that…
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Oh wow! I love your Mickey sweater. I don't remember seeing that at WDW anywhere!
It is beautiful and I thought it was really unique. It's nice when occasionally they do have different items at different parks, as these days, so much is just the same at every park you visit.
I agree, that sweater is a real find! I always look for items like that, that are a bit more pulled-together than a t-shirt or sweatshirt, but lately a polo is the best I've been able to find. I keep adding things to my "must do" list for whenever I get out there again-- Tiki Room!
Haven't watched those Tiki birds in ages! I think it's time again.
Great deals shopping! What are the odds they'll have that sweater in September? Yeah, likely not! But I'll be looking for it for sure - it's a perfect sweater.
Interesting conversation about the monorail....
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Breakfast food always taste better when they're in the shape of a Mickey head. Looks like you've already gotten a lot done for as early as it is. And that sweater cardigan looks super comfy.
I agree, that sweater is a real find! I always look for items like that, that are a bit more pulled-together than a t-shirt or sweatshirt, but lately a polo is the best I've been able to find. I keep adding things to my "must do" list for whenever I get out there again-- Tiki Room!
That's one, although don't forget, the WDW one is now the same as the Disneyland one - at least I assume it is. I haven't done it since it went back to the "original" version, so I guess they're now the same?
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Haven't watched those Tiki birds in ages! I think it's time again.
Great deals shopping! What are the odds they'll have that sweater in September? Yeah, likely not! But I'll be looking for it for sure - it's a perfect sweater.
Interesting conversation about the monorail....
I doubt it very much. I asked Mari about two months ago to see if they still had it and she couldn't find it anywhere.
Breakfast food always taste better when they're in the shape of a Mickey head. Looks like you've already gotten a lot done for as early as it is. And that sweater cardigan looks super comfy.
By the way, I forgot to say this morning that there won't be an update tomorrow morning, it'll be later in the day, as I have to be on a train to a seminar at 6:45am tomorrow. I'll post an update when I get home later on...
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That poor family stuck on the Matterhorn!
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I certainly enjoyed watching all the different elements of it, and there was a sense of wonder at what they managed to do with all the birds, the plants, and even the Tiki Gods. If you haven’t seen it for a while, it’s worth a look. I think you may be pleasantly surprised. 
I want one! 
I'll post an update when I get home later on...
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