From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 81 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sounds like the issues that we have with the runDisney events. rD is a different entity than the rest of Disney. And they don't communicate very well together. For established races, each department seems to know what to do and it goes off smoothly. But when there are any issues such as a new race, weather delays, construction re-routes, crowding like you just saw.... yep - same thing. Different departments with different sets of instructions and confusing the participants!!
That would be very strange to see the shops all closed! Cute pictures!
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Sounds like the issues that we have with the runDisney events. rD is a different entity than the rest of Disney. And they don't communicate very well together. For established races, each department seems to know what to do and it goes off smoothly. But when there are any issues such as a new race, weather delays, construction re-routes, crowding like you just saw.... yep - same thing. Different departments with different sets of instructions and confusing the participants!!
Whoa, that is a shame to hear that happens at new events. I'd only heard good things about Run Disney events. I guess those are the established ones then...
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That would be very strange to see the shops all closed! Cute pictures!
I never heard of the Moonlight Magic...but of course I am not DVC either....but it sounds neat. Did you have to pay extra for the event?
I have to admit that your dinner plates didn't even look super appetizing either so I can see why you say it was like they just plopped a bunch of stuff on there. Too bad.
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I never heard of the Moonlight Magic...but of course I am not DVC either....but it sounds neat. Did you have to pay extra for the event?
Don't worry, I wouldn't expect anyone outside of DVC Members to have heard about it, as obviously it was only advertised for Members. It was one in a serious of free events the DVC held for Members last year and into this year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of DVC. We were due to go to the free event at Animal Kingdom last September, but we were too exhausted to make it.
Friday 3 March – part fourteen: I’ll get at least one ride in….
Once we were done with Abu and the Genie, we wandered over to Fantasyland. On the way, we stopped off at one of the counter service places offering free snacks. Oh my goodness, that was a mistake! The lines were out of the door for the snacks.
I wanted to see Clarice, as I mistakenly thought she was the cow. When we got there, I realised my mistake, as we were told Clarice is the female chipmunk, and Clarabelle is the cow. Oh no! There really weren’t any other characters I wanted to see, as some were stupidly obscure. To give you an idea… Dr. Facilier, Bowler Hat Guy, Foulfellow. Ok, so there were some I knew – I’ve already mentioned Terk and Timon, then there were Wendell and Big Al from the Country Bear Jamboree, Max (Goofy’s son), Pinocchio, but sadly I remember getting our photos done with all of these from about a decade or so ago, so they didn’t hold that much attraction for me. They had quite a few princesses and their beaus, but again, we didn’t fancy waiting in line for them either.
A bit disappointed by now, as the waits for the rides were still long, albeit not as long as during the day (40 minutes for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train), and the lines for the characters were insane, we decided to head out. We liked the idea of staying for the fireworks at midnight, but we had over an hour to go, and being realistic, we just were not going to make it. Sometimes you have to know when to admit defeat.
However, as we happened to be in the area, I figured why not get at least one ride in…. Can you guess which one?
My goodness, the line you have to walk through here is insane. I get why they did it, as they expected long waits, but on a night like tonight, when it was a walk-on, it was just crazy. It was cool to ride Dumbo in his new location, and he looks very swish, but honestly? I preferred him where he was, as I thought the views were better from over there, and here he seems to be a bit removed from the rest of Fantasyland, if that makes sense?
We made our way out and back towards the castle, and got lots of Photopass shots done, as at least that was one bonus – no waits for any of them.
I also scored a very neat shot of the moon:
We made our way out of the park, and thankfully it was a lot easier to get out, than the entrance.
There was a boat waiting for us, and it was literally just us and four other people, which was rather nice, as we felt like VIPs.
When we got back to the resort, I took some night-time shots on the way back to the room…
… and when we got back, we crashed, although we did hear the midnight fireworks, and they did sound amazing.
The weather today was a lot cooler with a strong breeze, but still warm and sunny with temperatures in the low 70s. The best thing today was seeing my donkey! The worst thing today was how disappointing Artist Point was. The funniest thing today was Mark with Piglet! Today we tried going to the DVC Moonlight Magic event at the Magic Kingdom And the result was it was fun, but I’m not sure I’d do it again. The most magical moment today was watching Wishes from our boat from the Wilderness Lodge.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Sorry you didn't make it to the fireworks, but I agree. There's no sense just milling about waiting for them. Glad you got to ride Dumbo at least!. I love the MK at night. Main St. looks so pretty all lit up!!
Wow, those are some really obscure characters. I once got a picture with Clarice during a runDisney race in California and had no idea who she was! Sounds like it had potential to be an interesting late night event - but I sure would have had to taken a nap during the day to stay awake for it! Glad you at least got one ride in for the night.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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I think I would've had some not so nice words to say as well. 
Great pictures of the park at night!
PassPorter Guide Author
You should organise things like this! 
Love when they bring out the rare characters. 
Oh no! There really weren’t any other characters I wanted to see, as some were stupidly obscure. To give you an idea… Dr. Facilier, Bowler Hat Guy, Foulfellow. Ok, so there were some I knew – I’ve already mentioned Terk and Timon, then there were Wendell and Big Al from the Country Bear Jamboree, Max (Goofy’s son), Pinocchio, but sadly I remember getting our photos done with all of these from about a decade or so ago, so they didn’t hold that much attraction for me. 
Can you guess which one? 
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