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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 usually travel in Sept, Oct, or Nov. If you stay away from Halloween and Thanksgiving you should be fine. The crowd levels are definitly lower at those times. We have gone the first or second week of Nov. and it's been great. We stay away from the parks on Sat and any holidays (veterans day or election day). We usually go at night because by then people are leaving to return home. We have gone the week after labor day and walked on everything but that was before the kids. Next year we are going to try the first two weeks in Oct.
Good luck with your planning!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I'm glad to hear that, I've been getting worried about our trip. We'll be there the first week of November and all of the Disney hotels are sold out so I've been wondering what the crowd levels would be like.
We have gone in October twice around the second week and the day after Thanksgiving once and once in late April. We haven't had a problem with any of the times except the April there were some Spring breaks and Highschool kids there to have singing competition So that was a little cramped. When we went in November it was great cause they had the christmas decorations out "BEAUTIFUL". Some of the more popular rides in October there was a little bit of a wait I don't think we waited past 30-45 minutes.
Its going to be packed from Veterans weekend until the week after Thanksgiving. I say this because we tried to book our upcoming trip between Veterans weekend and Thankgiving and could not get anything under conceirge level. So, we moved our dates up to the end of Oct.
We were at DL in 2005 the week leading up to Thanksgiving and it was a NIGHTMARE! We were only there on Monday and Tuesday but the wait times for most of the rides were at least 60 minutes long. The restaurants weren't much better including the walk up ones. However over at DCA, it wasn't as bad. Funny but I had thought that it wouldn't be so busy then because school was still in session and not out for the holiday yet.
I would not go back around a holiday ever again. We were so turned off by the crowds that it will be awhile before we go back to DL.
and look at the park hours, you can get a good idea about how high Disneyland expects crowd levels to be...the more crowded the park is, the later it's opened.
My family and I have traditionally, gone every October, but with the addition of the Halloween Time activities, each year over the past 3 years or so, the park has gotten more and more crowded. Since more decorations will be added this year, and eventually a fireworks show at the Halloween Treat party, I expect that the rise in crowd levels for October will continue...In fact, this year, the Christmas displays are being put off for an additional week in order to keep the Halloween decorations up longer.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
We had originally planned to head down the first week of November, and found very little availability at the Disney hotels (only GC, only certain views) and little at the surrounding hotels either. However, park hours were 10-8 for each day we wanted to be in the park (typical off-season hours), so I'm guessing some sort of convention or something. We once were at the GC during a convention, and while the hotel was sold out and hoppin', the parks were quite manageable.
We bumped our trip up to right before Halloween, so we could see the decor, and there's a lot more hotel availability. Park hours are 9-9 and 10-8 on our days of attendance, so I'm not too worried about crowds. As long as you stay away from holidays (Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving particulary) and weekends, you should be fine. It's a great time of year to go!
I just wanted to pipe in that Disney is still offering their stay 3 get the 4th for free offer at some of their resorts as well as some good neighbor resorts. So, if you can get in on that in October, that may be a good savings to you if you haven't booked yet.
As with WDW, the key is getting to the parks at opening to relaly enjoy low crowds and that ability to see the attractions that you favor. Also, grab fast passes early on in the morning as the return times are not so far off and you can get on more of the more popular rides faster.
DW and I visited last October 18-21 and the crowds were not bad. The crowds were even rather small on the weekends, other than Main Street at parade time but that wasn't that big of a deal. The weather that time of year is nice in Anaheim. Either way you choose you'll have a great trip
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