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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Maybe they dropped it in anticipation of the new Disney hotel at National Harbor? Although we were there 3 weeks ago, and didn't look as though they'd broken ground yet. Wondering if that will be where they put folks up on Adventures by Disney DC trips? We live here, so probably won't stay there, but we are anxious to see it when it is done!
Maybe they dropped it in anticipation of the new Disney hotel at National Harbor? Although we were there 3 weeks ago, and didn't look as though they'd broken ground yet. Wondering if that will be where they put folks up on Adventures by Disney DC trips? We live here, so probably won't stay there, but we are anxious to see it when it is done!
Disney hasn't even announced plans for the National Harbor site, nor have they acknowledged that it will have a DVC component. Honestly I'll be surprised if they take any big steps forward before they see how the Hawaii resort is received in 2011 and beyond. If they have trouble attracting cash guests and selling points at a destination like Hawaii, it will have to give them second thoughts regarding DC.
Disney hasn't even announced plans for the National Harbor site, nor have they acknowledged that it will have a DVC component. Honestly I'll be surprised if they take any big steps forward before they see how the Hawaii resort is received in 2011 and beyond. If they have trouble attracting cash guests and selling points at a destination like Hawaii, it will have to give them second thoughts regarding DC.
If you go to National Harbor, there are signs everywhere either welcoming Disney, or indicating the location of the Disney hotel. I don't know that it will have a DVC component either - I had assumed it would simply be a hotel owned by Disney.
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If you go to National Harbor, there are signs everywhere either welcoming Disney, or indicating the location of the Disney hotel. I don't know that it will have a DVC component either - I had assumed it would simply be a hotel owned by Disney.
I realize the signs are up but that doesn't mean a whole lot. Off the top of my head I can think of 4 or 5 other locations where Disney has purchased land with the intention of building a resort or timeshare, only to later scrap those plans and sell the land.
Disney bought the Hawaii land in the fall of 2007. When the announcement was made they already had concept artwork to present and very specific details regarding their plans for the site. It was kept in the news fairly consistently until the public groundbreaking in the fall of 2008. Construction is now well under way.
By comparison, Disney hasn't presented any artwork, details or timelines for the land in DC. They made the purchase 8-9 months ago and have been mum ever since.
Disney paid $144 million just for the land in Hawaii. The National Harbor site cost $11 million.
I realize that these comparisons may all be meaningless, but until Disney comes forward with more concrete details I'm a bit skeptical about its future. Disney could very well decide that the market no longer fits into their plans. As of January 1st Tom Staggs took over as head of Disney's Parks & Resorts division. It was under Jay Rasulo that Disney made the land purchase. If Staggs doesn't share Rasulo's vision for expanding into the DC area, the project could easily die on the table.
They could sit on the land for a decade without building or simply decide to sell it off. $11 million isn't exactly a major risk and they could recoup most or all of that by selling the land to another developer.
Glad you found it! I was going to say it definitely was on the list. I stayed there 2 years ago on points. It is beautiful! And the location was great!
I'm going to the Mandarin Oriental in DC in March... need to find out tips. I found a blog and the reviews were 50 / 50 excellent or terrible nothing in the middle. I hope I get the excellent
I'm going to the Mandarin Oriental in DC in March... need to find out tips. I found a blog and the reviews were 50 / 50 excellent or terrible nothing in the middle. I hope I get the excellent
I hope you get the excellent as well. I'm surprised to hear that the reviews were 50/50, as the DVC tend to only have the best of the best in their Concierge Collection.
I loved staying at the Mandarin Oriental. I will give you a tip, if you take a taxi make sure you pay attention which way you come and go from the hotel. One night on my way back from dinner I noticed the taxi was going a different much longer route. I spoke up and asked why we were going this way and believe it or not he changed direction immediatly. The way he was taking me was much longer and would have cost me more.
The staff was great as was my room and I loved being centrally located to places. Also have you made your reservations at Old Town Trolley Tours? I did for the day time and night time tours. I would love to go back,
__________________
Jennifer
Taken April 24 - May 2, 2009 My mom Linda & I
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I loved staying at the Mandarin Oriental. I will give you a tip, if you take a taxi make sure you pay attention which way you come and go from the hotel. One night on my way back from dinner I noticed the taxi was going a different much longer route. I spoke up and asked why we were going this way and believe it or not he changed direction immediatly. The way he was taking me was much longer and would have cost me more.
The staff was great as was my room and I loved being centrally located to places. Also have you made your reservations at Old Town Trolley Tours? I did for the day time and night time tours. I would love to go back,
Thank you for the tip about the taxi and going to check out Old Town Trolley this evening. Little thing called work. But needed a Disney fix.
Here is another tip if you have not done so already. Contact you represenative about going on a tour of the Capitol and the White House. I did this and had a great time. Also a few blocks down from the White House is the White House visitor center (i think that is the name) that is really cool inside. Alot of nice information on past presidents and first lady's. Also if you want to go to the National Zoo instead of using going on the Old Town Trolley trip take a taxi this way you cna spend all the time you want. Plus yo ucan buy your Washington Momument tickets online as well.
__________________
Jennifer
Taken April 24 - May 2, 2009 My mom Linda & I
Here is another tip if you have not done so already. Contact you represenative about going on a tour of the Capitol and the White House. I did this and had a great time. Also a few blocks down from the White House is the White House visitor center (i think that is the name) that is really cool inside. Alot of nice information on past presidents and first lady's. Also if you want to go to the National Zoo instead of using going on the Old Town Trolley trip take a taxi this way you cna spend all the time you want. Plus yo ucan buy your Washington Momument tickets online as well.
I have heard that you need to contact your state rep. 6 months before you go to setup a tour of the White House.
The Smithsonian is several buildings so plan the place you would like to visit. We did a brunch in the Castle on one of our trips. Visit the Zoo if you have time. Smithsonian Institution
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I'm surprised to hear that the reviews were 50/50, as the DVC tend to only have the best of the best in their Concierge Collection.
Jennifer
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