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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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'm going to be in Tokyo for business and plan to spend at least one weekend day and maybe another day or evening visiting Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea (looks like I'll need separate tickets). Any advice or experiences visiting Tokyo Disneyland.
I've visited WDW and DL loads of times, so I'm a fanatic. I can't wait to see everything in Tokyo.
I'd love to hear any thoughts as well, as I'm hoping we'll be spending a couple of weeks in Japan in 2009 and as part of that, I'm aiming to spend at least two or three days in Tokyo Disney.
At the school where I work there is a Japanese exchange student and she is begging me to go to Japan and visit her when she goes back. She insists that she will take me to Tokyo disney and DisneySea. She has said that both are very crowded and people wait for up to 3 hours to get a picture with Mickey Mouse! When I showed her my pictures from our last Disney World Trip, and explained that we waited maybe 5 minutes to get a picture with Mickey, she was really jealous. Only wish we could have taken her with us.
I've read that about the characters being mobbed there as well. I also read that the biggest attraction is the Winnie the Pooh one - crowds apparently build early and the FastPasses go straight away. I remember reading that in a couple of trip reports, because people were surprised it was the biggest draw there.
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The Pooh ride at TDL is pretty cool. The vehicles aren't on a track and are free-roaming. I heard that during a part of the ride, you actually can take control of the vehicle and drive it around.
I've been to TDL once but that was 7 years ago so I can't tell you anything about Disney Sea. I liked the Disneyland Park there very much. It looked even "cleaner" than the other Disney parks (don't ask me why!), and the Japanese people are extremely friendly. I remember that Toontown was pretty crowded all day long (maybe because of all the picture opportunities). One thing to keep in mind though is that the weather in Tokyo isn't always as nice as in California or Florida. I was there in April, and it was cloudy and cold. It also rained a bit every now and then. Maybe that's why in my memory, the castle didn't look as pretty as the other Disney castles.
All in all, TDL is definitely worth visitin, IMO, especially now that they have the unique Disney Sea! I'd love to go back there just for that park!
I'm in there with Sabine, never been to Tokyo Sea, but have spent a LOT of time in the past at Tokyo Disneyland (lived in Japan -loved it!). It has the Disney flair, but in a much different way. You enter under a covered glass walkway and see the castle in the distance, but you'll be mobbed by Japanese school kids before you get more than 6 steps in. Their school actually assign them to have conversations with English speaking people and you often have to sign something for them to prove that they completed the "talk". Different.... The shops are under this arcade and there is usually an actual store that cuts silouhettes, which are wonderful souveniers (especiallyif they do your whole family in profile) as they actually say "Tokyo Disneyland on them. )The Japanese really get dressed up to go to Disney, so don't be surpised to see men in suits and "Harajuku Girls" tottering on their 6 inch high platform boots! The parks are amazingly clean-even more than the ones here- spotless, but you need to know about the bathroom situation,. so here goesand I can only speak for the Ladies Rooms, but it's important, so pay close attention!). Most of the toilets are "Asian" and there are usually two (sometimes only 1) "Western" stalls in each room, so don't worry if the people push you ahead to the "Westers" one, which is just the same as we have here. The "Japanese, or Asian" toilets are simply porcelain lined holes in the ground over which one squats and gets rid of all the Coke you drank in the opressive heat and humidity. How does one do this while wearing jeans or shorts, you wonder? YOU CAN'T! Not unless you want to strip down or end up wearing soggy clothing and that's a real no-no anywhere, but especially among the fastidious Japanese! You are forwarned, ladies! Wear a skirt and forget the pantihose!
Not only are the parks extra clean, but they seem to be a bit surreal, especially Frontier Land, which is like the Old West on a 1950's TV Show! The food is different, of course, try the Yakitori (ckicken or beef on a stick), but everything is Japan is much more expensive than here, so don't try to do the mental math to figure out how much that snack just cost!
Once, I placed my camera and video equipment in a locker near the front and tucked the key in my front pocket. After exiting the Haunted Mansion, I discovered it was missing as it had worn a hole in my pocket!! I was frantic and headed up front to Guest Services where, believe it or not, my key was waiting as a CM had found it in a Doombuggy and rushed up to turn it in!!
Enjoy and celebrate the differences but have a ball!
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Suzanne, in Rochester,NY
Remember the Magic!
Picture is of DD,Pam, as Constance, in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer
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She insists that she will take me to Tokyo disney and DisneySea. She has said that both are very crowded and people wait for up to 3 hours to get a picture with Mickey Mouse! 
When I showed her my pictures from our last Disney World Trip, and explained that we waited maybe 5 minutes to get a picture with Mickey, she was really jealous. Only wish we could have taken her with us. 
and I can only speak for the Ladies Rooms, but it's important, so pay close attention!). Most of the toilets are "Asian" and there are usually two (sometimes only 1) "Western" stalls in each room, so don't worry if the people push you ahead to the "Westers" one, which is just the same as we have here. The "Japanese, or Asian" toilets are simply porcelain lined holes in the ground over which one squats and gets rid of all the Coke you drank in the opressive heat and humidity. How does one do this while wearing jeans or shorts, you wonder? YOU CAN'T! Not unless you want to strip down or end up wearing soggy clothing and that's a real no-no anywhere, but especially among the fastidious Japanese! You are forwarned, ladies! Wear a skirt and forget the pantihose!
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