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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The World Showcase is one of my FAVORITE parts of Disney... we went on a tour through the YES program with school back in 2001 and we got to see and do so much before the World Showcase even opened, yet we didn't get to see and do it all. I really want to take advantage of the area this time. We have 4 nights dedicated to the World Showcase alone. I looked on allearsnet.com and tried to take notes on what there is in each country... and I leaving anything out?? I'd love any tips and advice you may have on each country, thanks!!!
*Mexico
- El Rio del Tiempo
- Animales Fantisticos (the animals of Mexico or something)
- Casa Mexicana (the recreation of a Mexican home)
- Mariachi Cobre
- Flower Garden
*Norway
- Maelstrom
- Stave Church
- Spelmann's Gledje
- Greta Waitz Statue
*China
- Reflections of China
- Land of Many Faces
- Dragon Legend Acrobats
- Si Xian
- Experiencing the echo in the middle of the room in the pavilion
- Mulan Meet-N-Greet
*Germany
- St. George Statue
- Clock Tower
- Snow White Meet-N-Greet
- Toy Train and Village
*Japan
- Bijutsu-Kan Gallery
- Matsuriza (drum show)
- Miyuki (Candy artist)
- Samurai on horses statues on the bridge
- Shishinden Building
- Japanese Garden
*Morocco
- Koutoubia Minaret (Prayer tower)
- Gallery of Arts and History
- Fez House
- Bob Boujouloud Gate
- MoRockin'
- Aladdin Meet-N-Greet
*France
- Impressions de France
- Serveur Amusant (juggler)
- Vins de France (wine tasting)
- Beauty and the Beast Meet-N-Greet
- Eiffel Tower
*UK
- British Invasion
- World Showcase Players
- Butterfly Garden
- Red Phone Booths
- Mini Hyde Park
- Marry Poppins, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland Meet-N-Greets
*Canada
- Rocky Mountains
- Waterfall
- Off Kilter
- O'Canda
- Photo op in the front of the Pavilion
Mexico - of course it is most obvious to use the steps to enter and exit. But if you exit to the side, you will walk down a lush tropical trail. They used to have 2 red macaws on a perch where the trail meets back up to the promenade, but I don't know if they are still there or if they moved to Animal Kingdom.
Germany - You mentioned the clock, but also be aware that it chimes on the hour, a tune that was created specially for World Showcase, and two dolls come out to chime the hour. Try to time your visit to see it. Also the toy store windows usually have animated displays in them, and they used to custom-make dolls there. See if a Hummel (Goebel) artist is working in the glass and porcelain shop.
USA - There was a small garden to the side of the gift shop, unless it has been replaced with something else. Also remember the a capella singers that perform in the rotunda before the American Adventure show.
France - from the International Gateway side, you can see a fleur-de-lis on the riverbank.
Canada - in addition to the waterfall, there are also totem poles (which would be hard to miss) and a beautiful garden which leads to Le Cellier restaurant and is also the exit from the O Canada movie. Great photo op. Also, don't just walk straight up the steps going into the pavilion. If you take the time to go on the wheelchair ramps, which kind of zig-zag across the steps, you can get some good picture-taking locations. Do they still have the bagpipe player?
In addition to all these specific things, remember to explore and stick your nose into all the corners of each pavilion. Take time to smell the roses, so to speak, and notice all the great architecture. Morocco in particular is one of my favorites. Morocco and Norway offer guided tours of their pavilions. And you didn't mention the pastry shops on your list! How could you pass by those without buying a yummy treat?
i'd doublecheck the entertainment guide if you haven't already at http://pages.prodigy.net/stevesoares and just see if there are additional shows going on in epcot that might interest you.
Thanks so much for the tips! Morocco is definitely my favorite pavillion, it just really seems like you're in Africa while meandering those tiny streets I didn't include restaurants or shopping since those we'll hit as we come to them... of course I'm going tinto every store I see! An I left out Pooh and Friends only because we'll be having dinner at the Crystal Palace and I owuldn't want to wait on line in the heat for them Thanks again everyone!
Don't forget to take pictures trying on all of the sombreros (all sizes!) inside the Mexico pavilion...that is one of our family traditions & they always come out great!
Morocco is my favorite pavilion also, I really enjoy speaking with the CM's there. I always purchase something in the gift shop, then I ask one of them to write my name in Arabic, either on the item I chose, or in our autograph book. I think Arabic lettering is so pretty. Oh, don't forget to watch for the belly dancer, etc.
My dd is fascinated with China, so we usually have one of their CM's write something for her too. Maybe we'll have to do this in Japan this trip.
Speaking of Japan....don't forget to have a Kaki Gori! Does anyone know if you can still "pick a pearl" (select an oyster) in the main gift shop in Japan? This also used to be a favorite thing of mine to do....you would choose an oyster, then you could simply keep the pearl, or have a piece of jewelry made with it. Not fine jewelry, but still lots of fun to do.
I chose to "pick a pearl" in Japan. I thought it was more "authentic". And I have seen many different kinds of pearls, then the standard white color, I myself got a champagne one!
To meet some different characters, the character caravan comes daily in a courtyard by the two big shops in World Showcase (where Future World meets World Showcase)
Personally, I would rather wander the shops then watch the shows.
Yes, they do have the pick-a-pearl in Japan. My DD loved Japan, especially the department store ~ all the 'Anime' stuff! I thought Morocco was fantastic and of course being a transplanted Brit. the UK was very special to me! France had a musician troupe that were very good.
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I didn't include restaurants or shopping since those we'll hit as we come to them... of course I'm going tinto every store I see! 
An I left out Pooh and Friends only because we'll be having dinner at the Crystal Palace and I owuldn't want to wait on line in the heat for them 
Thanks again everyone!
again!
And I have seen many different kinds of pearls, then the standard white color, I myself got a champagne one!
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