From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 72 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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That was great what you said to the daughter of that family for some encouragement on HM! The Stretching Room can get quite hot with so many people just packed in there like sardines! Quite funny with the HH Ghost and the UK sign! Nice photos from the River Belle boat ride. In all my trips, I've never done that one as it was either in rehab or the next ride was a ways off and didn't want to wait as always doing other things! Must do this in October!
You must - it's just a lovely, relaxing thing to do.
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Friday 3 March – part five: a Muppet moment in history!
When we came off the Liberty Belle riverboat, our Fastpasses for Pirates of the Caribbean, so we headed that way.
Once again, I tried my camera out, and again I got some shots I was really pleased with.
When we came out of there, we made our way back to Liberty Square…
I really wanted to see the Muppets enact their great moments in history, as I figured it would be quite a good laugh – and my goodness, it was! We got the one about Paul Revere, not that it was anything about Paul Revere frankly. A lot of us were sitting there just laughing at all their antics. It really took me back to my childhood watching these guys on the TV. It’s a really neat show, and definitely something worth finding time for in your schedule if you can, as it’s a lot of fun.
I will say I was very glad of my 63x optical zoom, as we were sitting down by the flowerbeds, some distance away, and I could just use that to capture everything. It’s a very neat function.
When that finished, we made our way over to Fantasyland, and as you can see, the park was getting really crowded…
Our third and final Fastpass was for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train, except there was a problem. It wasn’t running. It hadn’t been running when I checked at 9:30am, and now it was 11:10am. I asked if it was still the same problem, and apparently it was. This didn’t bode well. I asked the Cast Member what happened now, as this was our last Fastpass of the day, and although we could use it for the rest of the day, which was great, it now meant we couldn’t get anything else. She told me that was right, although I later found out from an email, that was wrong. We could actually use it for any other ride in the park, which was much better. It’s just annoying they email to tell you, rather than flashing it up on your My Disney Experience app. That would be much more useful.
Ok, now what to do? We have half an hour before lunch. We tried the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, but it was showing a 50 minute wait. I figured I’d try my Disability Access Card, as there’s no way I could stand in line that long, and I was immediately told we were good to ride it any time onwards after 11:50am, which was fair enough.
I totally forgot about The Muppets Show in Liberty Square on this last trip. When we go back in October, The Hall of Presidents will be open again which means that they will probably discontinue the Muppets Show there. I am looking forward to seeing the HOP though!!! Glad you were able to use your Disability Access card for Winnie the Pooh. The SDMTR was broken during out fastpass time in May also. They were certainly having their issues on that trip!
Great photos, both on the ride and the Muppets! I think I see the top of someone's head in one of the windows of the Muppets shots.
Yeah, that's the biggest negative with the FP+ is when a ride goes down. Yes, it's still good all day, but you can't do anything else! Frustrating. With paper FP, you could still get a new ride. Good thing you have the DAS thingy for Pooh!
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Great pictures of Pirates and the Muppets! What a fun show! Sorry about 7DMT being down! I agree with you on the notification. We got an email about EE being down, and being able to use it on any other ride. Not sure why they can't tell you that on the MDE app!
I totally forgot about The Muppets Show in Liberty Square on this last trip.
Oh no!
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When we go back in October, The Hall of Presidents will be open again which means that they will probably discontinue the Muppets Show there.
I hadn't even thought of that and that it might be temporary while that's closed. The way it was touted when it started, I assumed it was a permanent addition, but now you say that, if it was temporary, it would make sense...
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I am looking forward to seeing the HOP though!!! Glad you were able to use your Disability Access card for Winnie the Pooh. The SDMTR was broken during out fastpass time in May also. They were certainly having their issues on that trip!
Well, at least it seems more reliable than Frozen Ever After... we were just relieved to be able to finally ride in on this trip, after all its failures on our trip last September.
Great photos, both on the ride and the Muppets! I think I see the top of someone's head in one of the windows of the Muppets shots.
Dang it, not zoomed in enough obviously!
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Yeah, that's the biggest negative with the FP+ is when a ride goes down. Yes, it's still good all day, but you can't do anything else! Frustrating. With paper FP, you could still get a new ride. Good thing you have the DAS thingy for Pooh!
In some respects, I do think the paper Fastpass system worked better and that's one of the ways in which I preferred it.
Great pictures of Pirates and the Muppets! What a fun show! Sorry about 7DMT being down! I agree with you on the notification. We got an email about EE being down, and being able to use it on any other ride. Not sure why they can't tell you that on the MDE app!
That would make much more sense, but then again, we know what Disney and IT are like...
The Muppets show sounds fun. I loved that show on TV when I was younger (didn't like the new one they tried last year, though). I'll be hoping it is not just until HOP re-opens!
Ok, all caught up, finally. Every time I read one of your TRs, I always tell myself I need to visit more non-Disney parks. It usually doesn't happen because I never want to bother with a rental car!
I visited Busch Gardens in Tampa last year and did their Food & Wine Festival. I was actually surprised at how good it was, though admittedly, I wasn't expecting much.
Your pictures at WL are bringing back fond memories of my recent trip. I spent quite a lot of time at Geyser Point Lounge. That place is fantastic!
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