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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We got word that we will be transferring (DH is active duty US Coast Guard) to CA in May. We plan to stop and see family in Western NC on the way. It looks like we will be taking the I-40 route. 1.Anyone done this trip? 2.We were planning on 4 days ( about 6 to 7 hours driving each day). We want to stop early to give the animals a break from the car. 3.I need some good towns to stop in along the route so I can search for pet friendly hotels. 4.any can't miss stuff??? Specifics: who: ME DH DD's 14 and 8 one cat one dog How: driving oursevles moving truck with trailer Dh's suburban When: early May Where: western NC to San Diego Any infomation, suggestions, advice are greatly appreciated. TIA!
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I did this drive, in reverse, as a child. We moved from CA to VA. I remember we planned for 4 days, but it became 5+ as my parents underestimated how tired they'd be from driving so much. I have great memories of stopping at the Carslbad Caverns in NM.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
If you're not dead set on your route, you might want to consider I-20 to I-10 (connects in Texas) instead of going I-40. A friend of mine married a Navy guy and when they moved her out, that was the recommended way to go. They were driving a big Uhaul truck and pulling a pickup.
I have never driven that far, although I did help my son drive his car from New England to Texas. I really enjoyed the drive.
As far as pet friendly hotels, we often stay at Homewood Suites and Residence Inns. I think they all allow pets, although the fees vary. I have also stayed at a Clarion that was pet friendly.
I really like the suites hotels because they have kitchen facilities and it's nice to be able to eat in the room, cool some drinks for the next day and pack a cooler for lunch. It also gives you a little more room when you have not only a family, but pets.
Homewood Suites frequently have a happy hour in the evening and both chains have free breakfast, often with good hot selections.
I don't know how close you will be but if you haven't seen the Grand Canyon, it is a must do.
Here's one of the fastest ways to find a pet friendly hotels and/or motels. Plan you itinerary in advance by picking the city you plan on staying overnight in. Then go to the internet search engine and enter hotels and motels. Now continue, add PET FRIENDLY. Foe example: hotels and motels, pet friendly.
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Last edited by Papa Mouse; 02-04-2010 at 10:36 PM..
I've driven numerous times on I40 from Oklahoma to CA. Parts can be tedious but for a first time, interesting. When coming into the panhandle of TX, you have the huge cross and you'll start to see signs for the 18 oz steak or whatever it was. (You'll see, as you can't miss it). Once you start to get out of TX and into NM, make sure you make one of the rest stops to get out and explore the red bee hives (that's what my son called the rocks there ---for the life of me, I can't remember the names). MESA (is that it?) Going from NM to AZ, lots of Dinasour stuff on the way. Fake big dinasours on the sides of the road, the dinasour boneyard.
When you get to Flagstaff, you might want to go down south there and then head over to San Diego. We went south in NM and it was pretty bare in the southern area of NM/AZ.
Do you have Cracker Barrels in md? That was my favorite place to eat from OK to Flagstaff. We always stopped at Holiday INN expresses with the military discount/free breakfast. Would stop at Albequerque, Grants NM (anther one just on the NM/AZ line but can't remember the name)and Flagstaff (different ones, different trips). We had 2 cats with us. Our first trip ( we did round trip twice a year for 6 years0, we stopped at the nicer truckstops (red/yellow one ==can't remember their name and the TA truckstop) to collect magnets or pins from each state. Helped the kids get through the drive and they had a pizza hut.
I don't know if the other cell phone companies have built towers yet but AT&T were the only ones that had signals through a lot of the drive through NM/AZ where if you got stranded, you'd need to make a call.
Driving from Oklahoma City to Sacramento was a minimum 2-1/2 day drive at 10 hours a day driving.
You only gave western NC as your starting point so I used Asheville as a starting point. Yahoo maps gave the following route from there out to San Diego. Here is the link that they gave me.
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