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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I was looking through Touring Plans for some possible dates and I noticed that in June, during the Star Wars weekend, they list the crowd levels as only a 6. I would think that it would be a lot busier during SWW. Any thoughts?
You mean, for the parks other than the Studios, the crowds are 6's?
I've been to SWW three times now and I'd say that was a good estimate. The Studios is packed, but other parks aren't terrible, at least for the first two weekends of June.
Those are the overall crowd levels. Subscription only information removed by a Guide. We'd like to plan a trip when the crowds are not bad but we don't have to take the kids out of school. We went last August and when we first got the it was fairly reasonable but half way through, the free dining period kicked in. The crowds were horrible and the level of rudeness was pretty bad too (by guests, not CMs). Thanks for the info.
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WNS528
Last edited by aliceinwdw; 01-17-2011 at 01:49 PM..
Reason: Edited to remove subscription only information
Those are the overall crowd levels. Subscription only information removed by a Guide. We'd like to plan a trip when the crowds are not bad but we don't have to take the kids out of school. We went last August and when we first got the it was fairly reasonable but half way through, the free dining period kicked in. The crowds were horrible and the level of rudeness was pretty bad too (by guests, not CMs). Thanks for the info.
Our experience exactly. I am nearly finished with My August TR. We arrive 8/13 and thigs were fine. I *think* free dining started 8/16 and parks--and food establishments--got progressively busier throughout the week. Friday at MK was rated a 6....but the crowds were out of control. It was especially frustrating since we were paying for our DDP OOP (although we had an awesome pin code, so all is relative in the end...).
Our experience exactly. I am nearly finished with My August TR. We arrive 8/13 and thigs were fine. I *think* free dining started 8/16 and parks--and food establishments--got progressively busier throughout the week. Friday at MK was rated a 6....but the crowds were out of control. It was especially frustrating since we were paying for our DDP OOP (although we had an awesome pin code, so all is relative in the end...).
That is exactly the same boat we were in. We got there the 11th (we were there at the same time, lol) and had to pay for our dining plan OOP. I could have ignored the crowds if it wasn't for the way they were acting. We have a 5 and 2y/o and they were being pushed out of the way by people trying to get on the trams and rides ahead of everyone else. One day it got to the point we left and went to KSC.
That is exactly the same boat we were in. We got there the 11th (we were there at the same time, lol) and had to pay for our dining plan OOP. I could have ignored the crowds if it wasn't for the way they were acting. We have a 5 and 2y/o and they were being pushed out of the way by people trying to get on the trams and rides ahead of everyone else. One day it got to the point we left and went to KSC.
Sorry you had to deal with so much rudeness. We did not notice a big jump in that, other than what would come with more people...unless we were the rude ones...sorry about that
I found this last years SWW much more crowded than in 2009. The key is get there when the parks opens, be ready to wait at least an hour beffore the parade to make sure you hit the shade!
Hey guys! Just a quick reminder, providing any subscription-based information, as well as requesting it, is prohibited here on the boards.
I know that everyone wants to help out their fellow PassPorter; however, providing this information; i.e. the per-park daily crowd predictions from Touring Plans, as well as any other subscription-based website, is a violation of the copyright Guidelines practiced here at PassPorter.
Therefore I have edited out any information posted in this thread that provides the subscription crowd predictions -- other than the free 30 days out data currently available on Touring Plans' site.
It's so great that we all want to share our research and hard work when discussing our mutual love for Disney planning (it's a sickness and I the fever! ), but out of respect for the authors of such information, let's keep things more generalized when trying to discuss specific "data," as hard as that may be!