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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 will always remember the first time I went to Animal Kingdom several years ago. I wasn't sure what to expect, but as I first walked into the park and saw how many trees and plants there were and all the animals, I fell in love! Does anyone remember how it was advertised as "Nahtazu"? This was before Expedition Everest and Finding Nemo the Musical. I don't quite remember when they stopped using Nahtazu, but I always thought it was clever...
I do remember and it used to be on the AK Park maps too. I still say it once in awhile... but having been a child of TV jingles. I often find a song will trigger a commercial jingle. even ones from the 60's.
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In 2005, my first trip in 16 years. Nahtazu was in use...I remember our bus driver telling us about that, and seeing it at the park. I don't recall seeing it in 2009 when we went again.
I LOVED that ~remember the girl on the TV channel ever time you turn on the TV in your room. She would have that whole "Nahtazu" segment. I still think of that everytime someone says we are going to the zoo thing at Disney-NAHTAZU!!!!!!!
I LOVED that ~remember the girl on the TV channel ever time you turn on the TV in your room. She would have that whole "Nahtazu" segment. I still think of that everytime someone says we are going to the zoo thing at Disney-NAHTAZU!!!!!!!
Yes, I remember the girl on the TV channel. I don't remember her name but it's not the girl they have now. It is such a fun word - Nahtazu!
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Nahtazu doesn't go nearly as far back as '99, the park's second year of operation. The campaign came a little while after that (earliest reference I can find is during the 100 Years of Magic, which started in late 2001). I thought it was clever, though it's always a risk in advertising when you say what your product is not. The ads were very visual, and those images communicated a very positive message. But the audio... It was hard for me to think, "Not a zoo? Then what is it?" "What it is" wasn't clearly and succinctly communicated in the sound track. It's always risky to depend only upon visual, or only upon audio in a TV ad.
My biggest issue, though, was that I've always thought the park is a great zoo. I wasn't thrilled that Disney thought they had to market such a great park as being something other than it is. I think it also begged the question, for folks who aren't zoo-lovers, whether the parts that aren't zoo are enough for a day of fun. Those were the folks who kept insisting that AK was a "half-day park." All the Nahtazu in the world didn't change their minds. Only the opening of more non-zoo attractions did that.
Before the opening of Chester and Hesters and Expedition: Everest, the balance really did tip towards zoo. My own feeling was, find a way to embrace that.
Going back either farther, 7-UP was the "uncola" with great success. "Funny, it doesn't look like a cola nut!" Less successful was, "Not your father's Oldsmobile." First, they didn't manage to persuade the youth market that Olds was cool. And they alienated their loyal, core market. While we can't blame the end of Olds on that campaign, it sure didn't help.
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I sure remember Nahtazu. I thought it was clever; I still use it when I try to describe AK to people who have never been.
"Is it a zoo?"
"Nahtazu! That's the park's slogan."
"Then it doesn't have real animals? They're all animated?"
"No, not, it has lots of real animals, in real environments, like a game preserve or safari park. But it's not a zoo."
"Then what is it?"
"It's a THEME PARK. The theme is animals."
"Oh... okay. I don't know if we'd like that. We have a zoo at home and never go there."
Oy. Sometimes it takes five minutes of describing the rides and shows to really communicate what AK is and what it isn't. But it's worth it; it's a great park, and most people who go there really enjoy it.
It's funny you should ask this - I was just reading about it somewhere (I'll see if I can find it) but I'm pretty sure that Nahtazu was used before the park opening until 2006.
Shortly after the park opened, Disney advertised the park using the fictional word "nahtazu".[3] Pronounced "not a zoo," the word emphasized that the park was more than animal displays found in a typical city zoo. Disney stopped using the phrase in January 2006.
I always considered that advertising line to be more of a "methinks thou dost protest too much" type of thing...as AK was always to me, a zoo.... mind you done in the amazing style that only Disney could do. I thought it was kind of cute, but really didn't like it, because it made me think of a magician's misdirection... trying to sell us that it isn't a zoo...when, at it's heart, it is about the animals (gee, wonder if that's why it is called the Animal Kingdom???)
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
I LOVED that ~remember the girl on the TV channel ever time you turn on the TV in your room. She would have that whole "Nahtazu" segment. I still think of that everytime someone says we are going to the zoo thing at Disney-NAHTAZU!!!!!!!
Stacey. We haven't really arrived until we switch on the television and say "Hi, Stacey!"
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I always considered that advertising line to be more of a "methinks thou dost protest too much" type of thing...as AK was always to me, a zoo.... mind you done in the amazing style that only Disney could do. I thought it was kind of cute, but really didn't like it, because it made me think of a magician's misdirection... trying to sell us that it isn't a zoo...when, at it's heart, it is about the animals (gee, wonder if that's why it is called the Animal Kingdom???)
Totally agree, Tim. My husband used to get very irritated and say "Of course it's a zoo, a really good zoo." He didn't get that others found zoos boring, or that they had an out-dated idea of what zoos today are like. And I think Disney realized that many people dismiss zoos as a few animals in cages, not knowing that modern zoos educate and entertain people, conserve endangered species, and research animal's health and habitat needs and their place in the ecosystems of the world. But I also think that most people didn't get the slyness in "nahtazu" that was trying to make people laugh and come see the not-a-zoo.
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My biggest issue, though, was that I've always thought the park is a great zoo. I wasn't thrilled that Disney thought they had to market such a great park as being something other than it is. I think it also begged the question, for folks who aren't zoo-lovers, whether the parts that aren't zoo are enough for a day of fun. Those were the folks who kept insisting that AK was a "half-day park." All the Nahtazu in the world didn't change their minds. Only the opening of more non-zoo attractions did that.
Animal Kingdom is our favorite park (well, our son might say MK), and we spend at least one full day per visit there, and usually go back for another day. There is so much to explore, and the CMs are so knowledgeable and eager to talk with visitors. You can't say you have seen it all, since the fluid nature of the animals makes it a sure thing that something different will be going on whenever you visit. We have experienced something new each and every time we visit! Too many people rush through and miss out on what could be their most memorable experiences. I'd like to see more effort on Disney's part to persuade people that this park is most definitely worth a full day of its own.
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even ones from the 60's.
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I remember that clearly as well - I think it was being advertised that way when we were on our honeymoon in 1999.
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
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