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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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sounds like a great holiday! Can't wait to hear what the surprise is. MNSSHP at DL that's fantastic can't wait to hear all about it. My daughter loves the Nightmare before Christmas and is dying to check out HM at DL during Halloween.
sounds like a great holiday! Can't wait to hear what the surprise is. MNSSHP at DL that's fantastic can't wait to hear all about it. My daughter loves the Nightmare before Christmas and is dying to check out HM at DL during Halloween.
I'm looking forward to the HM, also! I can't wait to see!
So the trip is a little over 2 weeks away now!!! Jeannie and I have been fine-tuning our visit, and I've talked to Tammy about our day in Houston, also, though not in much detail! I'm really excited about it all!
I switched my breakfast ADR from Storytellers to PCH Grill after reading about some of the characters typically present. I felt that Meri would get slightly more out of the PCH characters. I'm really excited! We're going to have great fun no matter what! I'm excited to explore the hotels and DTD and then get into the Halloween party at 3pm!!! Oh what fun we will have! What fun what fun!
I can't believe it's just two weeks and two days til that trip!!! WOO HOO! Beaches and stars and Disney, Oh My!
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Wherever at DLR you have a character meal, you know you'll see a TON of characters. They really go crazy there!
I noticed that! I read some recent reviews on TripAdvisor, because I was curious about the characters and food and just in general... since I know absolutely NOTHING about DLR restaurants, and when I read some of the character lists that people posted, I was flabbergasted! They really do pour it on!
I noticed that! I read some recent reviews on TripAdvisor, because I was curious about the characters and food and just in general... since I know absolutely NOTHING about DLR restaurants, and when I read some of the character lists that people posted, I was flabbergasted! They really do pour it on!
I can't wait for Meri to see! With this last trip to WDW being so whirlwind, we didn't get to say hi to Mickey and friends at ALL. Meri was really disappointed, saying that Mickey would be upset that he missed her, because he really was looking forward to seeing her (lol). So now she'll get to see him and say hi, and all will be right with the world again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
So close!
I know! It's weird to return from one trip and immediately begin packing for the next! Not complaining, though!
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Can't believe you have 2 weeks to go!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Wherever at DLR you have a character meal, you know you'll see a TON of characters. They really go crazy there!
This is so true!!! I couldn't believe all the characters we had at the Minnie and Friends breakfast. I knew Minnie had friends, but I think she invited all of them to breakfast
well, how in the world did I miss the begining of this PTR??? Oh........maybe I was busy reading your other one!!!
Great plans!!! Can't wait to hear all about this next adventure.........because it is always an adventure with the 2 of you!
It is definitely always an adventure! Hopefully this will be a calmer adventure, though, where we all just get on the exact flights we want with no headaches or terror or hours-long stays at an airport...
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Must be nice to be able to talk about this trip (except the DLR surprise part) with Meri, too, and not to have to hide the suitcase!
No joke! Stay tuned for the next update re: the surprise part...
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
This is so true!!! I couldn't believe all the characters we had at the Minnie and Friends breakfast. I knew Minnie had friends, but I think she invited all of them to breakfast
It's so hard to find out any info about the DLR meals... there's not much on allears and not much anywhere else that I can find... it's such a pain! I'm excited, though, to experience it for myself!
So I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but one of Meri's little friends who goes to California a lot to visit family told her that there's a Disney park out there... and Meri has a memory like an elephant about certain things. So she keeps asking me if we're going. I finally just said, "We will see." So I decided that, to make it a little easier, I'll tell her yes, we're going. I just won't mention the character breakfast or the MNSSHP. So those two things will still be surprises for her.
My plan for the park day is that Jeannie will drop us at the airport to pick up the rental car, after she takes the kids to school. I just checked with Jeannie, and it sounds like I'll be picking up the rental around 8:30am. That will get us to DLR somewhere around 9:45-10am if you factor in traffic. Earlier if we luck out.
I'm glad to get there a little earlier, so we have the possibility of being seated earlier. I'm a little nervous about the 1030am seating, It's the very last available seating for breakfast, and I'm just a little nervous that we'll be kind of rushed or whatever. Anyone have any experience with that sort of thing? I want Meri to really really be able to enjoy it, and not miss anything, and not feel like we have to hurry and get out of there. Thoughts?
Anyway, Meri will be nice and surprised by the breakfast, and then I'm guessing we'll be done by 11:30am (or even earlier perhaps). That will give us 3.5 hours to kill before we can get into DisneyLand, since with party tickets you can get in at 3pm. I'm figuring we can easily kill 3.5 hours between investigating all 3 hotels (Paradise Pier, Disneyland Hotel and the Grand Californian) and then messing around Downtown Disney. There's a Rainforest Cafe, so we might have to go in there for a snack at 2pm, just to kill a little more time. Meri LOOOOOOOVES the Rainforest Cafe, and never passes up an opportunity! But we'll see. There's plenty to do at DTD I'm sure. Jeannie mentioned that she thinks there's a face painter there - and one of the absolute must-do things is getting Meri's face painted. Heck, I might even get mine done.
At 3pm, we'll head into MNSSHP... and then the fun will really begin! Jeannie and I are plotting out a course of action as I type this, lol!
Here's the list of must-do's for the party:
Space Mountain (Meri is tall enough for the one here)
Meet Jack Skellington
Haunted Mansion
Big Thunder Mtn RR
Mr Toad
Alice in Wonderland
Star Tours
POTC
Then if time allows, we'll do Dumbo, Snow White, Peter Pan, etc. but since those are all rides we can do in WDW (ok not Snow White but we've ridden it so many times...)
We've got a plan to sit down at 7:30pm to get a spot in the hub for the early parade (which starts at 8:30pm), and then we'll take turns holding the spot while someone takes Meri on a few rides during the wait. Maybe Sophia can take Meri on some rides, and then Jeannie and I can just sit with Evan and veg out. Wouldn't that be something?? Then we'll keep our spot for the fireworks at 9:30pm, and again, in between the parade and fireworks, someone can take Meri on a ride or to get some candy or meet someone or something. LOL!
I think Jeannie will take the kids home after the fireworks, because it's a school night and will already be past their bedtime. Meri and I will close the place down and then head back not long after. I'm super excited about all of this!
I canNOT believe you didn't mention special Halloween food on your must-do list! We're going to make sure we try at least one of the special Halloween goodies they're offering this year. I just have to figure out what those are and which one(s) we want to try!
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