From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 67 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We saw the Star Wars Fireworks last June...just a week after they started. My husband is a huge Star Wars fan but I've never seen any of the movies and have no desire to see them. I know a lot of the characters from the movies but don't really know their relationships/interactions. I know nothing about any of the plot lines of the movies. That being said, I absolutely loved the Star Wars Fireworks show at DHS!!! I wish we would have had time to go back and see it again before we left. It's currently my favorite nighttime show at Disney (though I haven't seen Happily Ever After yet). I thought the projections were amazing and I felt totally immersed in the show even though I didn't follow the story line (frankly, I wasn't really paying attention to that). And the heat from those pillars of flames was intense! I tell anyone who will listen that this show is absolutely worth seeing even if you've never seen any of the movies. And I agree that you need to position yourself so that you have a clear view of the projections. I felt like the fireworks were just a bonus and it's not critical to have a clear view of those as they're not the focal point of the show.
Oh that is so good to hear from someone who's not seen the films. I'm glad I was right in my assumption.
It certainly looked they had put out a good selection of foods for the Dessert Party! Glad you both enjoyed it so much and thought it was worth the price. I enjoyed seeing all your Star Wars Fireworks pictures since I still haven't seen this show with even with all the trips to Disney this past year.
No way!
Quote:
I love the walkway between the Boardwalk Resort and DHS. It's one of the reasons we so enjoy staying there!
I must admit I was very impressed with the BoardWalk, much more so than on our previous stays there and I did like the fact you could walk back there from the Studios.
Looks like a superb show! Do we know how long it's running? Right now the calendar doesn't show availability in October or November (when we'd want tickets)
I had assumed it was a permanent fixture, so that surprises me. I certainly hope it doesn't finish anytime soon, as I want to see it again in January.
I'm glad you enjoyed the Star Wars show. It's one of my favorites. I do think that it helps to know the story but they do tell enough that I think someone who didn't lnow the story could follow it.
Liz
Awesome spot for viewing! The one time we've seen it, Luke got us a spot right behind the dessert party reserved viewing. We too were surprised by how much heat can be felt from the flames.
Friday 3 March – part one: “red, pink, purple and what the heck?”
We were up early and got going, as it was Extra Magic Hour at the Magic Kingdom, and we were transferring over to the Wilderness Lodge today – or sorry Boulder Ridge Villas, as they’re calling it these days.
We gathered up all our stuff, and made a sort of attempt to pack it. Frankly, we didn’t do a very good job. At least that’s what I’m telling myself anyway, otherwise we may have a problem later on this vacation…
We called for bell services once everything was sort of packed away, and then made our way down to valet parking. Now we did tell bell that this was out plan, so I was expecting the car to be ready for us, but it wasn’t. What was the point of that? At least it gave me the opportunity to photograph a massive dragonfly in the eaves of the lobby entrance…
We set off just before 8:00am heading for the Wilderness Lodge, so I thought we might just make some of Extra Magic Hours… On the way, we saw where the Richard Petty speedway once stood – wow, you wouldn’t know it now.
When we arrived there, I asked Mark when we were last here, and neither of us could remember. We haven’t stayed here for at least eight years, and the last time I can see that we ate at either of the table service restaurants here was 2011.
We pulled in, and decided not to valet park, given it had cost us a fortune at the BoardWalk. I took some photos while I waited for Mark…
… then we headed in to check in.
We met Karyn, who was lovely, and we did explain that the last time we stayed here, we were in one of the rooms furthest from the lobby, and it overlooked the garbage. We also explained how it became a bit of a standing joke that all of our friends ended up in that same room, and if possible, we really didn’t want that one again. She was super sweet, and said we’d been assigned one just off the atrium of the DVC block, which sounded great. However, it wasn’t ready yet, so she gave us another option, but we decided to stick with the one we’d originally been allocated.
We got our Deluxe Dining Plan loaded on to our MagicBands, and headed into the Mercantile to pick up our refillable mugs. There seemed to be a massive transaction taking place, so I went around the corner to ask where we got them, and the woman said she could help, but she needed to know which colours we wanted. I asked her what the options were and she was literally like “red, pink, purple and what the heck?” She recovered very well, but I told her I’d take the “what the heck?” colour, as it sounded intriguing! It really was a classic moment.
We headed back through the lobby…
… and out through the resort…
… and down towards Geysir Point Grill, which is where you fill them up. Now I’d read that this is counter and table service, but the Cast Members on the front desk said it definitely wasn’t table service, which is interesting, and frankly what I’d thought, as combining the two would be very unusual for Disney. It certainly looks like a very neat place to hang out…
Wow, WL is such a beautiful resort! We haven't visited there since 2012, and then it was just to eat at WCC. Everyone was sick, so we didn't get a chance to really check things out.
I would love to see the refillable cup in the "what the heck" color as well. It sounds interesting.
Great pictures around Wilderness Lodge! Part of me is wishing our plans hadn't changed for October/November, as I was looking forward to staying there. But I know that since we'll be spending much of our time at MK, it will be much more convenient at BLT.
Great pictures around Wilderness Lodge! Part of me is wishing our plans hadn't changed for October/November, as I was looking forward to staying there. But I know that since we'll be spending much of our time at MK, it will be much more convenient at BLT.
Oh it will be. I think, beautiful as Wilderness Lodge is, Bay Lake Tower will work out much better for you.
Kind of defeats valet parking if your car isn't ready for you. Hmmm.....
How I love wandering around WL! Now that construction is nearly complete, it's looking a little different. But still good! They used to have a good selection of cupcakes at Roaring Fork. I wonder if the new place has the same yumminess?!
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I enjoyed seeing all your Star Wars Fireworks pictures since I still haven't seen this show with even with all the trips to Disney this past year.
What was the point of that? At least it gave me the opportunity to photograph a massive dragonfly in the eaves of the lobby entrance… 
We haven’t stayed here for at least eight years, and the last time I can see that we ate at either of the table service restaurants here was 2011. 
However, it wasn’t ready yet, so she gave us another option, but we decided to stick with the one we’d originally been allocated. 
It really was a classic moment. 
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