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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Any recommendations for a clean, safe overnight stop. I'm thinking we will want to split the trip up driving 10 hours the fist day and 7 the next. Does anyone know of a website that you can put your starting address, put in how many hours your want to drive and see where it lands you?
We've driven to WDW a few times, and when we've stayed overnight, we've stayed in Brunswick, GA and Florence, SC.
10 hours of driving from Philadelphia puts us near the GA/SC border on our 15.5 hour trip.
You could figure on being somewhere in South Carolina at the 10-hour mark of your 17-hour trip.
We drove last August and stopped in Santee, South Carolina at the Hampton Inn (5 stories with all inside hall entries and free internet) at about the 10 hour drive mark. We have a family of 5 and always have to worry about where that 3rd child will sleep. We arrived late, to find our room ready and waiting with a rollaway. The room was clean and the beds were very comfortable, and the continental breakfast the next morning was decent. If I remember correctly the rate was about $83 (with the rollaway). We got the rate through the AAA website. If you go to AAA South Jersey - Maps & Directions and click on the Driving Directions, you can put in an end destination and find out about how long it would take you to get there. (you don't have to be a member of AAA to use the website, but you do in order to get the AAA room rate). We are planning on staying at the Santee Hampton this year as well. Have a great trip!
Rule #1: What time of the day you start out...will make a tremendous difference in where you'll end up at the end of the day. I learned that the hard way....the first time I drove to WDW 4 years ago...and left at 11am...on a Friday!! We ended up hitting the southbound DC Area afternoon rush...which starts about 3pm.....and stopped for the evening in Florence, SC. (stayed in a Hampton Inn there). It was another 8 hour drive the next day to WDW...which I said that I would never do again!
Since then, we've been leaving (East Brunswick....Exit 9)...at 6am each of the past 3 time we've gone to WDW. We cross the Delaware Memorial Bridge at about 7:30am...and it works like a charm with regards to traffic, since you will miss the DC Area rush hour.
I will generally drive 13 or 14 hours the first day (Friday)....and end up in Brunswick, Ga. for the evening at around 7pm. (there's a nice Hampton Inn at I-95, Exit 36A). This gives us time to get settled into our room...and then head out to one of the many restaurants in the area (there is a Cracker Barrel across the parking lot from the hotel!...but that's usually our next morning breakfast stop)....one exit north on I-95 has a large shopping area with several good table service restaurants (seafood, steakhouse, etc.).
From Brunswick, Ga., it's a 3.5 hour drive to WDW....which I prefer since we get to the hotel by 12 or 12:30...check in...hit the pool to get refreshed...then off to DownTownDisney for dinner and the required shopping!!
I started with Google Maps to help us plan out our trip.
Coming from southren Maryland, I wanted to break up the trip into 2 easy days.
I first looked up the lists of Cracker Barrels (there are none near us) by state for NC, SC, VA, GA, and FL.
Then, on google maps, looked around the areas of those CBs along I 95 that were around 8 hours apart from our house. Around Wilson, NC and Savannah, GA there are Best Westerns, so I can get the Gold Crown Club rate.
With google maps, it is easy to drag your destination loactions around to get the distance you want.
you also might find drivei95.com useful.
I will generally drive 13 or 14 hours the first day (Friday)....and end up in Brunswick, Ga. for the evening at around 7pm. (there's a nice Hampton Inn at I-95, Exit 36A). This gives us time to get settled into our room...and then head out to one of the many restaurants in the area (there is a Cracker Barrel across the parking lot from the hotel!...but that's usually our next morning breakfast stop)....one exit north on I-95 has a large shopping area with several good table service restaurants (seafood, steakhouse, etc.).
From Brunswick, Ga., it's a 3.5 hour drive to WDW....which I prefer since we get to the hotel by 12 or 12:30...check in...hit the pool to get refreshed...then off to DownTownDisney for dinner and the required shopping!!
This is a great idea. It saves one more hotel stay over in Kissimmee.
The husband and I are planning a trip in May 09. We live in South Jersey (Rte 70) and it looks to be about a 15-16 hr drive. Since I've done several cross country trips on my own, the distance doesn't scare me a bit (13 hrs is easy). Glad to know there are Hampton Inns along the way (love them). Good to know where the common "stop point" is. The husband would probably prefer to fly, but I love to drive and I use a power wheelchair, so having my car (modified minivan) in Orlando would be beneficial (we've gone before when we've had to get transportation to areas outside Disney - can be done but I like the convenience of my own vehicle).
my mom and step dad have taught me the cracker barrel philosophy that they use...they always stop at areas that advertise a cracker barrel because they feel there are usually better safer hotels and there are usually several places to eat and/or stay...they use a cracker barrel map that they picked up at a cracker barrel to plan their stops
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