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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
We planned for my 3 children to do the Jedi Training with their cousins at Hollywood Studios. They were excited and talked about it for months before our trip. Well it was quite disappointing in that our first attempt to sign up failed. We got there at opening, but there were already 50 people on a waiting list.
Our second attempt, we got to the parks a half hour before opening, and got in the second show of the day.....they were so pumped. They had there pre-training, made there way to the stage and it started to rain. The show was called off, not to be re-scheduled b/c of the other shows all being filled. Could not re-schedule for another day (would have to come early and try again).
Their compensation was a 'meet and greet' with Darth Vader and the storm troopers. They were so upset...a meet and greet is just a photo-op (they don't talk, therefore nothing but a RUSHED photo). And of course they try to give you the photopass card of your sad little guys with the characters. I was truly disappointed for them!
The only way they will improve this system which is not fair (you shouldn't be expected to leave your hotel and run through the gates to 'hope' your little one gets on 'the list'. And heaven forbid they get on the list, and it rains) is for people to march to guest relations and complain. All they need to do is put a cover of some sort over the stage so it doesn't get wet. The parents surely wouldn't mind standing in the rain to see their little Jedi's!!
We headed to guest relations b/c we didn't have time for a third attempt at getting on the 'Jedi Training List'. They asked "what can we do for you?" My husband said "I don't know a t-shirt or something?!" half joking...anyhoo, we got three vouchers for t-shirts. They got Jedi training t-shirts, although they never got to actually train.
My advice:
If the parks are busy and you have a little Jedi want to be:
#1 get there early (children participating have to be with you)
#2 don't go on a day that it may possibly rain
#3 If you think the system for the training camps doesn't work, tell guest relations...it's the only way they will make the process less of a let down (ie: be able to sign-up from hotel)
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Sorry, your show was rained out. I think this is something my two youngest will love and I plan to get to the parks super early to sign them up; but just in case something happens and we don't get in or we get rained out; I've made it a point not to mention it to the kids so that they are not hyped up about something I may have no control over.... This way if it all works out; it will just make for a nice suprise..... Hope your little ones get to participate next time!
I can feel your pain. It took us several attempts over several days before my son made it onto the stage for Jedi training. It was back when the first started it and what a nightmare. There was no lists, they were just picking kids out of the audience. Good to see they have made a slight improvement to the system. Sorry your kids didn't get the full experience.
I agree letting them know would have been nice. But I did tons of research, and never came across anything saying what a hassle to sign them up it is...or that the show is weather dependant....we just had too much working against us, I guess! The rest of our trip was pure joy!! And now I know for next time!!
Sorry it didn't work out for your little Jedi's, that's very disappointing.
Unfortunately even at Disney sometimes these things happen. The process they have now is much improved over what it was- at first just randomly picking kids from the crowd, and then the sign-ups were actually there at the stage. I don't think the current process is necessarily unfair (although I can certainly understand how it feels that way when the process doesn't work for you.)The demand is there that I think the spots fill up on daily basis pretty much year round (we try to travel during low peak times and I know they fill up even then.) The only other way I can think for them to do it is to do something similar to dinning reservations (so you don't have to rush to the park to try and get a spot) but they would have to figure out how to handle no-shows in a fair manner- maybe some sort of combo of partial "reservations" in advance and partial sign ups the day of in the park. It's a toughie. And the weather is for safety- I can completely understand why they have cancel shows due to inclement weather. It's really for the safety of the CM's and the guests.
I hope your Jedi's get to participate next time- it's such a great interaction! I wish I could participate!!
Mel
Sorry for the bad experience! We've had plenty of tears when the kids didn't get picked from the audience! Thankfully they are now at the age where they said they don't want to do it anymore!
My DS thought you had to win a competition to get to go on stage...So glad he still believes in disney magic...and we travelled in low season and got to the parks prior to opening - JEDI TRAINING IS FULL TODAY!
Sorry your kids were so disappointed, but I feel the new procedure is much better than the previous ones. There have been numerous threads on here about the new procedure (which has been in place for a while now) and I think most people agree that it is an improvement. Unfortunately, regardless of how they do it, somebody is always going to be left out.
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.
Wow, if it's an improvement, it must have been really bad before!! If it's such a popular attraction now, Disney should be putting money into making it a more co-hesive operation. Get an indoor stage (like Playhouse Disney), or put a canopy/ roof on the current stage (like Off Kilters); therefore it would not pose any hazard to guests or CM's.
As far as signing up, I don't know how they could improve. Possibly letting people sign-up at concierge in hotel and taking audience participants for those who don't show. Or signing up like they do now, but leaving last two shows of the day open for shows that were cancelled. My only point was it was a lot of rig-a-ma-roll to sign up and then hope there is no chance of rain. They love their tee's...it's all good!
Must be a lot of cancellations in the summer when it rains nearly every afternoon!
Wow, if it's an improvement, it must have been really bad before!!
In my honest opinion, it really was bad before they put this new method in place!
Several times in the first years of the show, we tried to get DD in the show and the procedure then was just . . . well, awful and, truly, unfair. It didn't matter when you showed up to the show, parents were pushing themselves and their kids from the back of the crowd, screaming and yelling (really, anything to get attention) and some were even going to far as to pushing other kids right out of the way.
After too many attempts at trying to get her in a show and too many parents pushing me AND her out of the way in an effort to get ahead, we just gave up!
Wow, if it's an improvement, it must have been really bad before!! If it's such a popular attraction now, Disney should be putting money into making it a more co-hesive operation. Get an indoor stage (like Playhouse Disney), or put a canopy/ roof on the current stage (like Off Kilters); therefore it would not pose any hazard to guests or CM's.
As far as signing up, I don't know how they could improve. Possibly letting people sign-up at concierge in hotel and taking audience participants for those who don't show. Or signing up like they do now, but leaving last two shows of the day open for shows that were cancelled. My only point was it was a lot of rig-a-ma-roll to sign up and then hope there is no chance of rain. They love their tee's...it's all good!
Must be a lot of cancellations in the summer when it rains nearly every afternoon!
Honestly, it was terrible before. CMs picked the most outgoing kids, but you never really knew what they wanted--although there were parents who literally made signs for their kids to get the CMs attention. My husband didn't know and told my then five-year old to be quiet and behaved, like he's supposed to do when he raises his hand for a question in school. Well obviously that was the wrong way to do it and in three tries, they didn't get picked. Talk about sad!
Get an indoor stage (like Playhouse Disney), or put a canopy/ roof on the current stage (like Off Kilters); therefore it would not pose any hazard to guests or CM's.
I wish they'd build a big bubble so that it could be sunny and mid-70's 365 days a year- how awesome would that be!!!!! I tell my husband that every single time I'm packing us for a trip to WDW
About This Page: 
Jedi Training
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
. I think this is something my two youngest will love and I plan to get to the parks super early to sign them up; but just in case something happens and we don't get in or we get rained out; I've made it a point not to mention it to the kids so that they are not hyped up about something I may have no control over.... This way if it all works out; it will just make for a nice suprise..... Hope your little ones get to participate next time!
There have been numerous threads on here about the new procedure (which has been in place for a while now) and I think most people agree that it is an improvement. Unfortunately, regardless of how they do it, somebody is always going to be left out. 
Linear Mode
