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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our dd is graduating from high school in May 2010. We told her that she could choose the vacay this year, sort of a grad present and vacay in one. She wants to go to Washington DC. She will be entering college next fall and major in political science/history with the intentions to go to law school. All things historical and political is what she loves. We are memembers of RCI and Holiday Inn Resorts/Orange Lakes. Can anyone give me any advice as to where to stay, must sees, etc. This will be a first trip to DC for all of us. It will just be the 3 of us, and we will drive. To me, that is part of the adventure.
We took our first trip to DC last summer. We stayed at the Marriott at Metro Center, and I highly recommend it. I found a great rate on the Mariott website. I think we paid around $169/night which was about $200 less than the rack rate during the week! I also learned that the cheapest nights to stay in DC are Thursday through Sunday nights because the work week is typically Monday-Thursday. This Marriott is at the Metro station, and this is critical - you need to stay somewhere that has easy access to the Metro - don't count on driving anywhere downtown.
Our first night we stayed in Alexandria after attending a Nationals Game. We got up the next morning, drove to Arlington and Iwo Jima memorial, then arrived at the Marriott. They parked our car and we didn't see it again until we checked out. Lots of walking, but the Metro was so convenient.
You can stay in one of the suburbs of DC at a cheaper rate, but then you've got to deal with the daily commute into DC. It was well worth it to stay downtown.
My favorite thing was probably the Capitol. We arranged a tour with our congressman - do that way ahead of time. We didn't plan soon enough to get a White House tour, so the earlier the better. I also loved the Holocaust Museum, the National Archives, the Jefferson Memorial, and the FDR Memorial. Of course you must see the Lincoln, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam memorials and the Smithsonians - Museum of Natural History, American History, Air & Space to name a few.
We only scratched the surface of all that DC has to offer in 3 days, so there's plenty to choose from!
All of the Smithsonian museums are not to be missed, of course. She'll probably most enjoy the American History and the Natural History museums.
Another favorite experience is seeing the actual Declaration of Independence at the National Archives. They also have an interesting film there about preserving the document & all the changes it has been through.
We went last summer and learned the hard way that lines start about 1.5 hours before opening to see the Capital and the Washington Memorial.
Whereever you end up staying, just make sure you are within quick access to the Metro. While I have driven in DC many times, for a pleasure trip, I always take the Metro in.
I would highly recommend getting ticktes for the Trolley Tour Washington DC Tours | Old Town Trolley Tours® covering Washington DC metro, memorials, Union Station, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Washington Monument, The White House, National Archives, Museums. This makes it much easier to get your bearings, and is the easiest way to tour the monuments, as they are rather spread out. Still, you cannot possibly see everything in a day, so you need to try to choose ahead of time which stops you will get off at. The FDR monument is particularly large and fascinating.
I'd allow 2 days for the museums, and a day for the monuments, minimum.
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I agree about easy access to the Metro. To us, that's a must in DC. We love the various museums, but for us, one of the main reasons for visiting DC is to see all the memorials - they are all stunning. If you can, visit them in the daytime and at night, as they're very beautiful at both times.
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One thing to remember - the Washington Monument requires a pre-timed ticket - you can't just walk up and go inside. If you want to be guaranteed a certain time to go - get your tickets in advance online. While the tickets are free - they do charge a convenience fee ... of a couple of dollars if I remember correctly.
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Thanks everyone. With the exception of the Metro, I didn't know any of the other information! It sounds like I really do need to do planning way ahead of tiime.
The new Capitol Visitor's Center is pretty cool. Nothing can match the grandeur of the monuments on the Mall - they still bring tears to my eyes when I read the words
Hi!
We live in the area, so we usually drive downtown, but I take Metro for part of my daily commute. There are also many tour bus lines and one called the Circulator that goes many places and is inexpensive.
Also, take a look at this thread where I have posted other threads on the subject: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post2614317
The Tourmobile tour of the monuments is a must. Just take the metro to Union Station ( which has a great food court to grab breakfast at) and get you tickets there. It is the only tour that does Arlington National Cemetary, as well as the other DC memorials/monuments. Like the Trolley tour it is hop on/ hop off all day. You can just take the metro to Arlington and do tourmobiles Arlington tour without the other monuments attached. But I would suggest doing the whole sha bang This is a great first day activity to get yourself oriented and do Arlington. Welcome to Tourmobile Sightseeing I also second the National Archives AWESOME!
We live an hour from DC and still visit frequently; there is sooo much to see and do. With the Smithsonian museums rotating exhibits it is endless! All the Smithsonian museums have a Cafe inside for food BUT can be pricey. Although, we have not had a bad meal in any of the museums so far and make it a point to plan our lunch or dinner in one during a visit. There are street vendors too selling pizza/ hot dogs etc...as well as the National Park Service kiosks with fast food fare.
You can also do a few day trip type things in the area. Mt. Vernon is very close and worth the drive. Dr. Mudds house ( dr. who treated J. W.Booth) and the Gearge Washington birthplace are also neat side trips. If you are going to do Dr. Mudds house do the Ford Theatre first.
Do not miss the Zoo! This is a nice 1/2 day freebie with many places to picnic. HAPPY PLANNING!!
Like everyone else has said the Metro is essential. You can buy reloadable Smartrip cards online at http://www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/store/ These are great for fare and parking fees if you do decide to stay in the suburbs and park at a metro station then take the train in.
We went to DC for 2 days in July. We did a Hop-On, Hop-Off double decker bus tour (2 days - unlimited riding), Air & Space Museum, American History Museum, a small portion of the Natural History Museum (the butterfly experience was cool), but the absolute best part of our time there was the Tourmobile Twilight Tour. Not only did they get us to all of the monuments in a short amount of time, we had a fabulous tour guide, who taught us so much more!
DD graduates on May 28 - when would be better to go early June or a little later? I thought if we went around the 6th of June and stay for a week/10 days we might get there before it's extremely hot or crowded. Any thoughts on this?
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We love the various museums, but for us, one of the main reasons for visiting DC is to see all the memorials - they are all stunning. If you can, visit them in the daytime and at night, as they're very beautiful at both times.
Kimberly
This is a great first day activity to get yourself oriented and do Arlington. 
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