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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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View Poll Results: 3 & 4 night back to back or a 7 night
Right now I am pondering doing a 3 & 4 night back to back with DH for our anniversary vs a 7 night Western. We did a 4 night 2 years ago and just got back from a 7 night last month. We would be cruising in March next year.
We decided that 4 nights just isn't long enough. After this recent cruise we've pretty much sealed that notion. It was excellent!!
I guess I just need opinions on what others would choose and why...here goes.
3 & 4 night: We don't like Nassau. We would just rather stay on the boat. However doing a back to back means 2 opportunities for Castaway Cay (although it's not guaranteed we know due to weather). There is only 1 opportunity to do Palo lunch on the 4 night correct? We would get closer faster to being Gold members. It would be easier on the kids--DD on school holiday.
7 night: We really enjoyed the Western Caribbean. We would do less excursions this time because there would only be 2 of us instead of 10. We could try for 2 Palo lunches (although not guaranteed). Only 1 possible Castaway Cay day. We wouldn't have the disruption of getting off the boat and checking back in from a back to back. We would be on vacation on our actual anniversary.
Either way DH wants to do a Palo lunch, possibly a Palo dinner and a Remy dinner.
That's a hard call, especially since you've done both the 4nt and a 7 nt already. We did back to backs, and had a great time. Our main reason for doing it was that we wanted to cruise more than 4nts, and we wanted to sail on the Dream (the Fantasy hadn't set sail yet). We aren't big fans of Nassau either, so we didn't get off on the second leg of our B2B, the 3 nt. Unfortunately, neither did a ton of other people. And on the 3 nt we hit bad weather, and couldn't dock at Castaway Cay, so we did only get the one day there. This next time we're doing the 7 nt on the Fantasy. I'm hoping it'll be a nice change of scenery for us, and a little more laid back. I don't know if this helped at all, but now I've shared our experience. Good luck, and either way happy planning and happy anniversary!!
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
I'd personally go for the seven night. We've never done back to back, but I don't like the idea of one cruise ending midway through the week and then starting again. Personally, I'd rather just stay on board.
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We would choose the 7-night for a number of reasons. Here are just a few...
Visiting 4 different ports opposed to just two
Prefer the Fantasy over the Dream (not that there is that huge of a difference!)
Art of Innovation series of talks
Art of Entertaining demonstrations
More variety of dining menus
I agree on the 7 night. Here are a few more reasons -
additional show in Animator's restaurant
additional day at sea (as opposed to docking in PC)
more opportunities for Palo brunch
opportunity to get to know more folks on board during 7 days vs 3/4
new shows in the theater (Wishes & Aladdin)
potential for 'better' opportunity for Remy / Palo dinners, as same number of people wanting dinner over 7 day period vs. number of people trying to get ressies in 3 or 4 nights
I know you've already decided but it's Disney - can you really go wrong with either decision? But here's my two cents anyway - I don't know how you pack but I'm a big time overpacker so I wouldn't want to get on board and have to unpack and repack twice.
I know you've already decided but it's Disney - can you really go wrong with either decision? But here's my two cents anyway - I don't know how you pack but I'm a big time overpacker so I wouldn't want to get on board and have to unpack and repack twice.
I'm a big time overpacker. DH is firm that we are going much lighter this time. If we would have stuck with the back to back we would have booked for the same stateroom so we wouldn't have to pack everything up.
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DH is firm that we are going much lighter this time. If we would have stuck with the back to back we would have booked for the same stateroom so we wouldn't have to pack everything up.
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