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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'll be heading there tomorrow. I am surprised about the limited reviews for the event. I figured since it had been going on since July people would be rushing to the boards to spill the beans. However, from what I have been able to find out, it doesn't seem to be that impressive.
We booked a suite at AoA and invited our neighbors, so for locals, it was neat because we got to bring our friends for free. However, I didn't like the fact that I had to book a room in order to attend this event. It didn't make me feel appreciated, it just made me feel like I had to spend more money. I would have appreciate it more if they had allowed me to attend with my guests at no charge without having to make a reservation.
We decided to go because the summer got a little crazy with me working and my husband in school and we didn't really get to hang out with our son very much, so this seemed like a unique way to end our summer. Regardless of the bad taste in my mouth over having to make the reservation, I probably would have anyway since the party doesn't end until after midnight and we wouldn't want to drive 2.5 hours back home that late so I guess it's a wash.
I was disappointed in the lack of knowledge by the cast members booking this event. It took me 15 minutes to convince the cast member that I did NOT have to have a DVC reservation to attend this event, I just had to have a reservation on property with a reservation number. Disney really needs to do a better job at educating the staff they have answering the phone booking special events.
No matter what, I am sure we'll have fun. I've never been at a Disney water park this late at night before, so it will definitely be a unique experience and I am so glad it's at my favorite water park. I am also trying to figure out how many Mickey Bars I can consume in 4 hours.
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We got there just after 7pm and the parking lot was PACKED. I've never seen it so full. Typhoon Lagoon was really busy from all of the day guests and then you had the arriving DVC guests who decided to drive. After some searching, we finally found a parking spot close to the front. Checking in was really simple. Just be sure you have all of your party together when you do that so everyone gets their wrist band. I was in the potty because I misjudged how long it would take for hubby to get to the front of the line and it was a bit of a hassle getting my wrist band from a cast member, but I got it and all was well.
We went into the park which was still open to its day guests until 8pm and found ourselves a spot for base camp near the wave pool. We then immediately headed to Crush N Gusher because I heard rumors this would be closed for the party. The rumor turned out to be true. Shark Reef and Crush N Gusher are not open for the party. We all rode Crush N Gusher, which had a minor wait, and then headed back toward base camp. The park was getting really crowded by this point so we decided to go into the lazy river and wait out the day guests. It seems everyone else had this idea too making the lazy river a bit populated. We floated around while the park closed and the wave pool was shut down. After just feeling a bit too close for comfort, we went back to camp and waited. Lifeguards were keeping everyone out of the water, including those with a wrist band until the park was cleared. I was actually amazed how smoothly they were able to get out anyone who didn't have a wrist band. Eventually everyone was out and the wave pool was restarted which was the signal of the start to our party.
All merchandise/food locations were closed with the exception of Typhoon Tilly's and I am not sure how late that stayed open. However, there was absolutely no snacks served until 9:30pm - and they meant it. Snacks were only served over by the Shark Reef area where there was also a Minnie and Mickey meet and greet with photopass photographers. Snacks were full size bags of chips, cookies, pre-packaged ice cream, water, and lemonade. You were allowed to have as much as you wanted and we took advantage of that. We'd get two at a time and then go back later. I wish they would have had another snack outpost on the other side of the park, but it wasn't too terribly inconvenient.
The DJ was good and was playing music that could be heard throughout the park. Hearing the music while in the wave pool was really cool. My hubby and I shared a few "dances". He'd stop the music to play some games, but we noticed there was a really long period of no music and we didn't enjoy that. I'd say there was about an hour or more of just games and when you're not on the beach that isn't really fun. When the DJ wasn't playing music, the park was quiet. There were a lot of people dancing on the beach, including our son, but there were people of all ages just dancing the night away when he played the music. Mostly kids participated in the games.
There was absolutely no wait for any of the attractions. I think our neighbors did the storm slides as fast as they could run up the steps. They'd get to the top and slide right back down. Once the wave pool opened, the lazy river cleared out and that was very pleasant and the normally crowded wave pool was actually very tolerable. The usual crowd was in the shallow end, but I had the deep end all to myself. Hubby and I played a lot in the water since we had the freedom to roam.
At the end of the night, there were buses that were dedicated to returning to the DVC resorts, but we drove so we hopped in the car and headed back to AoA. There merchandise store was closed and that was disappointing because I would have liked to have shopped on the way out. Lilo and Stitch had also disappeared from the front, so no pics with them on the way out either.
Overall, we all had an excellent time. It was our neighbors first trip to Typhoon Lagoon and I can see the Disney bug is biting them very hard. Hubby and I had a great time with each other and our son had a good time mingling with the other DVC kids. If they offered this event as a paid hard ticket event, I would book it. If you have the chance to attend this now or in the future, definitely go. It was a well rounded event for the whole family to enjoy. Disney did good on this one. While we made having to have a reservation work to our advantage, I maintain the position that it shouldn't be a requirement for this event. Local DVC members without a reservation should be able to attend, just like they could attend any Welcome Home Wednesday.
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
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