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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow--it's been WAY too long since I've been on PP! I think I even failed to write TWO trip reports--a Disney report and a Globetrotting report. What is WRONG with me? Either way, I'm back, and I'm getting ready for my next trip--which is in less than a week. So--does anyone want to hear about my plans and/or follow along with me on my trip? If so, raise your hand! And I'll get started on a pre-trip report that will, undoubtedly, turn into a during and after trip report too.
And maybe I need to get started on my last two trips, too!
I was wondering where you went! Ok, bring it on, I'm ready for another TR!
yeah i don't know what happened! i didn't even finish my last disney TR! what the heck?!? it's like i dropped off the face of the earth! it's amazing how busy one can get--and i'm not even technically working right now!
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Ok...here it is...the official PTR portion of this PTR/TR! I'm leaving in a little over five days, so I'm going to have to do this speedily! But that's ok, because I PLANNED this trip speedily...so here it goes...
our story begins sixteen days ago, on April 10th, when i found a really great fare from NYC to san francisco...
i knew i needed/wanted to take a trip in may; i'm off from work this year and half of the reason is so that i can travel in the off season. i went to new orleans and on a caribbean cruise late january into early february, WDW late february into early march, DC in april...but i had nothing in may. poor me, right? and after planning--and then canceling--an epic west coast train trip from san diego to seattle, i thought may was approaching too quickly to plan anything. but behold, a low fare to san francisco!
why san francisco? because my oldest friend (not age old, long time old) has lived there for the past ten years and i've yet to visit her. when i took this year off i swore to her i'd make it out there...and then all of a sudden the year was almost over (i'm a teacher, so my years run september to june). after a bit of deliberation, a VERY brief conference with my husband about my trip plans, and a last second google image search of muir woods (go ahead, google image search it), i clicked 'submit' on the flight and was suddenly planning a seven day trip to san francisco.
the plan at that point was to have a relaxing, slow visit. i wouldn't need to rent a car, i'd take my time seeing the sites of the city, and maybe if i was lucky i'd get out to muir woods--only 20 minutes outside the city--for a nature break. nothing epic, nothing excessive, nothing rushed.
Muir woods was where we ran out of time to go. Alcatraz, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, San Jose and the Winchester Mystery House, San Luis Obispo and the Hearst Castle was a lot to do! Oh, and a trip to Palo Alto. I loved this city it's so pretty!! Take lots of pictures and have fun!!!!
Yeah! I always enjoy your TR's! and.........I have just returned to PP after quite a long time as well .............I know we found each other on another forum (which I will not mention here, because honestly........this is where the best people are.....right here on PP!!!) I look forward to hearing all about San Fran.............another place on my list!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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Muir woods was where we ran out of time to go. Alcatraz, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, San Jose and the Winchester Mystery House, San Luis Obispo and the Hearst Castle was a lot to do! Oh, and a trip to Palo Alto. I loved this city it's so pretty!! Take lots of pictures and have fun!!!!
wow--that WAS a lot. is your trip report the one i've been reading on here as research for my own? i think it might be...because i recall looking at the mystery house (and being confused thinking it was in santa cruz when it is in sacramento...?)
and of course i'll take lots of photos. that's half the reason i'm going! ha!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Yeah! I always enjoy your TR's! and.........I have just returned to PP after quite a long time as well .............I know we found each other on another forum (which I will not mention here, because honestly........this is where the best people are.....right here on PP!!!) I look forward to hearing all about San Fran.............another place on my list!!!
glad you enjoy my trip reports! yes, i agree--the best people ARE here. i've made actual, real life friends on PP. that's why i can't believe i've been away for almost two months! who does that?
so you all knew that there was no way i'd have a relaxing seven days in one place, right? because that's just so not like me. well, here's what happened. first, my local friend suggested we do a day trip up to napa. of course i jumped at that, because it's always been on my want-to-visit list of places and, well, it's ONLY an hour outside of san francisco (which i will refer to as sf from now on, because apparently that's the only acceptable abbreviation).
and then we thought about visiting WINE country and then DRIVING back. and we decided that was a BAD idea. so we booked a room using priceline, turning our day trip into a weekend getaway.
and THEN i was given the opportunity to visit yosemite for near-to-zero dollars. now, i've ALWAYS wanted to go to yosemite. but i ruled it out for this trip because i wanted it to be relaxing and car free (remember?) but i was already renting a car, and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? so i changed my return flight (by buying an additional one way ticket home because that was MUCH cheaper than changing my return flight--ironically.) and turned a seven day trip into a twelve day trip.
ooops.
and THEN i needed a bigger guide book. so i bought a california guide book and started thinking that a trip down the coast would be really nice too!
thus, a giant trip was born. here's the current plan...
wednesday, may 2nd--arrive sfo around 7pm, find hotel and sleep (because to me it will be after 10 and i will have been traveling for over 12 hours between the bus to nyc and the flight)
thursday, may 3rd-saturday, may 5th--san francisco, mostly solo. will meet up with my local friend one or two evenings, but i'm not staying with her (she has a very small apartment and a live in boyfriend so yeah...no.)
sunday may 6th--drive to napa, overnight napa
monday may 7th--still in napa until evening, overnight sf
tuesday may 8th--drive down coast to monterey. from here on out trip is entirely solo.
wednesday may 9th--drive to yosemite
thursday may 10th--yosemite
friday may 11th--yosemite
saturday may 12th--yosemite until mid-afternoon, drive back to sf for red eye flight back to nyc
sunday may 13th--arrive in nyc at 7 in the morning, long bus ride home
wow--that WAS a lot. is your trip report the one i've been reading on here as research for my own? i think it might be...because i recall looking at the mystery house (and being confused thinking it was in santa cruz when it is in sacramento...?)
and of course i'll take lots of photos. that's half the reason i'm going! ha!
glad you enjoy my trip reports! yes, i agree--the best people ARE here. i've made actual, real life friends on PP. that's why i can't believe i've been away for almost two months! who does that?
The Winchester Mystery House in downtown San Jose. My friend wanted to go see it I had no idea what it was or what it was about. It's huge!! The Cliff House has an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. I wish we went to Sacramento too. I have to say that the Hearst Castle was absolutely breathtaking!! Oh, Lombard Street is very fun driving down! Can't wait to see the pictures!
oh that's amazing! but sadly there's little to no way i'll be able to make it that far south in the time i have. boo! ah well--all the more reason to return. perhaps next time i'll fly into san diego and drive north. and stop at disneyland of course!
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Glad to see you back hear, and I'll pretend I didn't see that you and Lisa have been on OTHER BOARDS?!? Excuse me while I get over my vapors......
OK, trip sounds great, and since I love San Fran, Napa and Yosemite, will forgive you for not getting to join the PP meet in DC on May 6!
no! i'm not on any other disney boards. i swear! ok, i tried it once, but i didn't like it (seriously!) PP is my only disney board home, and my favorite board of all time.
thanks for the forgiveness! i hope you have a great meet up! i'll be being driven around napa valley that day so look for some interesting mobile uploads on facebook!
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Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Great start Trac! Let me know when you are thinking about Disneyland . . . I want to go back--maybe after the Carsland craziness dies down.
thanks! and will do--of course. i don't know when i'll have time again to do disneyland/southern california. maybe after i FULLY give up teaching this coming year? ugh...i can't believe i have to go back. boo. ok sorry. self-pity over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great trip you've got planned! I can't wait to hear all about it.
i'm excited too! and i PROMISE i'll post updates from the road as much as my wifi allows.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Colleen - oh no! That "board" was not for Disney and it was NOT nearly as welcoming as my PP family!!!
'not nearly as welcoming'. what a nice way to put it.
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.............I know we found each other on another forum (which I will not mention here, because honestly........this is where the best people are.....right here on PP!!!) I look forward to hearing all about San Fran.............another place on my list!!!
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I can't wait to hear all about it. 
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