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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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PassPorter Guide Author PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Navigator
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phoebec
We just booked a house for the Outer Banks in June of next year. Any good not to miss restaurants or activities?
We have a cottage and I'm here now, actually! The beaches are lovely and we have a great time here.
Which part of OBX is the house in? The Outer Banks island chain is really large, and the Corolla area is different from the Kittyhawk-Kill Devil Hills (where I am)-Nags Head area, which is TOTALLY different from Ocracoke, for example. And where are you coming from? How far do you want to travel? For instance, Colonial Williamsburg is about 2-2 1/2 hours away, if you're staying around Kittyhawk, but you might not be interested if you live nearby or don't want to stray that far. And what ages are the members of your party?
But for a preliminary answer, the Wright Brothers Memorial is a can't-miss, while the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and The Lost Colony (outdoor play) are perennial favorites.
My personal favorite activity, though, is walking on the beach at sunset!
We have a cottage and I'm here now, actually! The beaches are lovely and we have a great time here.
Which part of OBX is the house in? The Outer Banks island chain is really large, and the Corolla area is different from the Kittyhawk-Kill Devil Hills (where I am)-Nags Head area, which is TOTALLY different from Ocracoke, for example. And where are you coming from? How far do you want to travel? For instance, Colonial Williamsburg is about 2-2 1/2 hours away, if you're staying around Kittyhawk, but you might not be interested if you live nearby or don't want to stray that far. And what ages are the members of your party?
But for a preliminary answer, the Wright Brothers Memorial is a can't-miss, while the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and The Lost Colony (outdoor play) are perennial favorites.
My personal favorite activity, though, is walking on the beach at sunset!
Ginger
We are staying in Nags Head, and traveling from W PA. The kids will be 10, 8, and 5. Hope you are having great weather and have a great time at the beach
We're thinking about a trip there in June/July of 2013. Wondering how you picked out your rental, was it through a realtor? Also, does Nags Head have Life guarded beaches?
We're thinking about a trip there in June/July of 2013. Wondering how you picked out your rental, was it through a realtor? Also, does Nags Head have Life guarded beaches?
It was through a realtor. Based on my experience, some are lifeguarded but most are not. I think it depends on where the house is.
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I had a nice long answer typed out for you last night and it got lost! I'm starting all over now.
Pat--I know Kill Devil Hills has lifeguarded beaches, but I think Phoebe's right about Nags Head, not sure. Also, you can do an internet search for the rental companies in the Outer Banks, or if you know of a certain property you want, you can look that way. We used to rent before we bought our cottage--search "rental properties in outer banks NC". I think the very best properties are "between the highways"...a short walk to the beach, crossing no major highway, but not quite oceanside.
Phoebe,
It sounds as if your family would enjoy Roanoke Festival Park in Manteo (MAN-tee-oh), about 15 minutes south on Roanoke Island. It has a ship that's a replica of the one in which the earliest colonists (1587, long before the Pilgrims) sailed across the Atlantic, replica colonial and Native American villages, and a children's history museum, Roanoke Island Festival Park: Official Web site. Roanoke Island also hosts The Lost Colony, a well-known outdoor drama about those colonists, who disappeared and were never found again. Manteo also has a small but nice aquarium, nothing like a big-city facility, but nice for the age of your kids. And of course you mustn't miss a visit to the Wright Brothers Memorial!
There are two cool kite festivals many years, so you might want to look at that. When the winds are cooperative, it's just incredible. The July one is bigger, I think, but here's where you can read about the June 2012 festival: Rogallo Kite Festival | Kitty Hawk Kites.
Restaurants: Not a seafood lover, so I can't help you there, but Pigman's is a good place to try the local style of pork barbecue (not tomato-based), and we also enjoy Barefoot Bernie's for casual table-service dining.
Have fun, both of you, and be sure to let me know if you have other questions!
Ginger
PS: Here's a picture I took on the beach at sunset yesterday, just to get you in the mood for a beach vacation:
Most of the places you'll go (Roanoke Festival Park and Aquarium) have 'fossil' pits where your kids can sort/dig for sharks' teeth. Mine always have a great time doing that.
We like Mulligan's for seafood. It's right in Nags Head Village.
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