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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just thought I would share my views on DLP after a trip in December. We had a great time and the Magic Kingdom is a beautiful park but for some reason it just didn't scream Disney at me. I have been trying to put my finger on what was missing and honestly I just can't, all I can say is it seems to be missing the magic that the US parks have. I know that we toured off season and in Winter but I was very disappointed by how much was closed. We tour off season at WDW and apart from one or two rides down for rehab everything is open. In DLP at times it felt like a ghost town, particularly the Frontier & Adventureland areas. The other thing I found really disappointing was touring at night time. There simply were no lights on and quite frankly it was downright dangerous as in places you literally couldn't see where you were going. I love touring the parks at WDW at night and I love going on the rides late but at DLP everything shuts down, you can't even get dinner in the park as all the restaurants close before the fireworks, which in Winter is early. As for the night time show on the castle again I was disappointed. Before we left so many people raved about it, yes it was lovely but it just didn't bring a tear to my eye as the shows in the USA. I really don't like writing negative reviews but here it is. Lets hope that with the Disney Company takeover things will change at DLP and I can't wait to visit WDW in 2 years time.
I also totally agree. I wonder if the cast members are trained differently. I also agree with the closed rides. We went one Sunday and both Space Mountain and Big thunder were closed and tha parks just couldn't cope. Another part of the problem is that annual passes are very cheap so a lot of locals have them and use them all the time so it is never not busy.
I agree 100%. The CM are nothing like those in Floria. They barely acknowledge you. People smoke cigarettes in the queues. MK is untidy and worn out. Nothing like Florida
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2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
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I did not realize that some venues would be closed during winter. Anyone know when those closings begin? October :? November?
It largely depends on expected crowd levels. Most restaurants will be open when schools are on break, around Halloween etc. But lots of smaller places are closed in January, for example.
It is sad and a shame, but a lot of restaurants close early, even in summer when park is open till 11pm.
The problem with the CM is that they most of them have only short time contract for the i.e. The summer holidays and are not well trained.
Also the mentality of spanish or russian people is totaly different. They are loud and rude. You cant compare it with WDW.
But if you have this in mint, you will find a lot of magic when you look behind the scenes
It is sad and a shame, but a lot of restaurants close early, even in summer when park is open till 11pm.
The problem with the CM is that they most of them have only short time contract for the i.e. The summer holidays and are not well trained.
Also the mentality of spanish or russian people is totaly different. They are loud and rude. You cant compare it with WDW.
But if you have this in mint, you will find a lot of magic when you look behind the scenes
Basic manners shouldn't take much training really. For example: My FP machine wasn't working and I asked the CM if she could help and she glared at me and told me the machine was fine (clearly it wasn't and after 5 minutes of me trying and the que backing up she came over).
Also, the way they smoke in the park is disgusting- they were even smoking in the que with babies present.
The restaurants didn't close early for us they just didn't open at all. Some of their best signature restaurants were closed and we were so disappointed. The cost of going to Disney Paris isn't far off a trip to Florida so I think we'll stick with that in the future.
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2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
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