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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, my military family once again wants to try a true Disney resort other than Shades of Green for our mid March spring break trip. Only thing available with our military Armed Forces Salute discount is a Pirate Room at Caribbean Beach. Anybody stay in one of these? What were your thoughts?
We were supposed to get a Royal Room at Port Orleans but waited about 30 minutes too long to make our decision - they were gone. All values and moderates are pretty much booked up March 11-18.
We are keeping our eyes and ears open for PO but as of now, we are at CB. Any feedback would be great. Thanks.
Michelle
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Goofing around at Tusker House Spring Break 2016
Michelle
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I've never stayed in a pirate room but be aware they are FAR from the food court and main pool. The furthest than any other rooms. I swear they put the pirate themed rooms in that particular set of buildings so people would actually want to stay all the way out there. They also have double beds, not queens like the rest of the resort.
The only moderates we've stayed in have been CBR and POFQ, both have pros and cons. We are going back to CBR next week for my 4th stay, DH's 3rd. It is a large resort but we've always found it to be very manageable (again, pirate rooms are pretty far out there so YMMV). It's very relaxing. There's just something about being able to lay in a hammock on a sand beach. We prefer CBR's pool over POFQ by far. The main pool is fantastic with two water slides and every 'island' has a quiet pool. You can see part of Illuminations from the resort. We also think the location is a huge plus. It's centrally located so trips to EP and DHS are very short and you're pretty much in the middle between AK and MK.
We stayed there for our first WDW trip as a family and LOVED it! Yes, the rooms are quite a distance from the food court, but the awesome pirate theme more than made up for it (in our opinion!).
Our children were 2 and 5 at the time, so one of us would walk to the food court to get breakfast and coffee while the other got the kids ready to go. By the time we got back with food, we would eat, then board the bus that stopped right outside of the room. There was also a bus that just did laps of the resort.
Walking aside, we LOVED the resort. The pirate ship beds, the pirate ship pools, the walkways, the lagoon...it was a magical first experience. My all-time favorite Disney memories are from that trip - waking up early with my son and watching the sun rise from the hammocks as we let DH and DD sleep, and a late night swim with my daughter while her daddy put DS to bed.
We have stayed twice at CBR in the Pirates room, we LOVE it.
I did not feel like it was far from anything, it has beautiful theming and an excellent quiet pool. The only problem is the beds are a little uncomfortable (they are not a standard size and are a little hard). However, I never sleep well on hotel beds anyway.
We really enjoyed CBR, and it honestly felt like being at a mini resort within a resort.