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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine what it was like for you and Mark on that drive to the airport. The picture of the tank makes me cringe. Thank you for telling your story as I am sure it will be very interesting to read about and it may be therapeutic for you to get it out.
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What a start. I didn't know that there was so much happening in Luxor at the beginning of the civil unrest. Looking forward to more.
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How scary to see a tank on the street like that! Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I know everyone was worried about you, and we want to know the details, but I don't think I'd be able to relive it. I hope you start feeling better soon! Looking forward to more!
I'm actually surprised that it was still so quiet in Luxor on the morning of your departure. I'd been watching the news and holding my breath for days already at this point. I had to have several long discussions at work with both other employees and customers who had no idea why any of this was going on, what caused it, and why it was important.
I'm so glad you are home safe and sound. Make sure you get plenty of rest and we'll be waiting when you update!
How scary to see a tank on the street like that! Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I know everyone was worried about you, and we want to know the details, but I don't think I'd be able to relive it. I hope you start feeling better soon! Looking forward to more!
I hear you about not reliving it, but I think it is good for me as well. Once I've done it, then I can move on and (hopefully!) forget about it...
Our escape from Egypt – part two: where’s our flight to Cairo?
Saturday 29 January – c. 12pm – c. 2pm:
The first sign that something might be wrong was the fact that our flight wasn’t showing up on the board. There were flights to Cairo still up there from 8am and 6am that hadn’t left yet and it was now 12pm. That wasn’t looking good.... The waiting area was pretty busy:
Time went on and on and I started to wonder what was going on. As we neared our departure time, I decided to try and find out what was going on.... I found a member of airport staff and he sent me to see the person at the gate. He couldn’t help me, but put me through to someone who couldn’t help me either. This was becoming a familiar story....
I was put through to someone at EgyptAir, which is who we were flying with, who I was told could help me, but I couldn’t get through to them, so I was no further forward.
While I was on the phone, I met up with a couple of people who were on the same flight as us, and who were also trying to find out what the heck was going on. One of them was an American, who was a journalist called Alex. He was about as “get up and go” as me, so we set off to try and find out what was happening. I followed him back out into the check-in area, apparently meeting someone from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence on the way. I was blown away when he told me who the guy was whose hand I had just shaken. This guy knows a lot of people!
After looking for an EgyptAir office and not finding one, we asked at the counter about our flight and the guy told us that it was on its way, as all flights had now left Cairo. I turned round to see the board with the details of all the flights and it said that our flight was now due to leave at 5.30pm. I couldn’t believe my eyes and showed Alex. We both turned back to the counter guy, who said “no, it will be earlier than that.” It didn’t inspire me with any confidence... :
I headed back into the secure waiting area to tell all those on our flight. We had found quite a lot of people by now and we were already becoming like a little family, sharing the pain. Elsewhere, in the airport, a group of Americans, who we assume were supposed to be on either the 6am or 8am flight to Cairo were getting very bored. They kept the whole airport entertained with an improvised game of skittles, using bottles as targets. They had airport staff and kids taking part in their games at various points, which was good to see.
Elsewhere, a group of Brits, who were on the same flight as us, had decided to buy a pack of playing cards and were playing “cheat”. I played this once many, many years ago, but couldn’t remember the rules, so I just enjoyed watching them play.
I asked another airport employee and he told me that the flight would be arriving in the next 10 minutes and we would be leaving between 2.30pm and 3.00pm. Well, that sounded a lot better than 5.30pm.
By this time, most flights had gone and there was pretty much only our flight left
Saturday 29 January – c. 2pm – c. 3pm:
He was right, as the flight did indeed come in at that time and was called a few minutes after 2.15pm. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, by then, I had just bought a slice of veggie pizza, so that had to be thrown down in a hurry. Just as well we grabbed that, as our next food would be some time....
We were taken out on a bus to the plane and it was funny to see all the people that we had already got to know were also on the bus with us. Finally, we reached the plane and I don’t think I’ve ever been so glad to see a plane.
Our plane! This is how quickly they were turning the plane round – when the bus arrived, they were still cleaning the plane
We were sat in the plane for a while, so I got some photos before we took off:
We headed off for Cairo just before 3pm, blissfully unaware of the events that were already unfolding internationally around us that were to impact on us so much over the next couple of days.....
Next: how can the flight be cancelled, when it left London?
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Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I can only imagine how it must feel reliving it again, but I hope that it does help you feel better in the long run!
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I can imagine how frustrating it is to try to get any information and running into deadends over and over. At least you got out of Luxor. I know there's more to come though.
I'm a bundle of nerves reading your report just knowing where you're headed next. At least you're with a bunch of nice people so you can all stick together in this mess.
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Thank you for sharing your experience with us! 
I know everyone was worried about you, and we want to know the details, but I don't think I'd be able to relive it. 
I hope you start feeling better soon! 
Looking forward to more!
PassPorter Guide Author
Once I've done it, then I can move on and (hopefully!) forget about it... 
That wasn’t looking good.... 
This was becoming a familiar story.... 
I was blown away when he told me who the guy was whose hand I had just shaken. This guy knows a lot of people! 
Well, that sounded a lot better than 5.30pm. 
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