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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Who has cruised out of Galveston? We have only been on 2 cruises - both from Port Canaveral. We are doing a 7 day out of Galveston next November. We are thinking about driving from Michigan (taking a couple days both ways to do so - maybe with a stop in Memphis ) I think flying will be too costly because it's over Thanksgiving. Any advice? Where to stay near the port for the night before? Or would you drive in on the day of?
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I would not drive in the day of. I've read stories of the ice storm a couple of years ago when people were stuck in their cars on the highway for hours and missed their cruise.
__________________
Kim
1984 WDW off-site, 2003 WDW ASS, Poly, Wonder, 2006 WDW PC, 2011 Wonder to Alaska,
2012 Wonder EBPC, 2014 Magic WBTA, 2016 WDW CSR
I would not drive in the day of. I've read stories of the ice storm a couple of years ago when people were stuck in their cars on the highway for hours and missed their cruise.
Thanks! I don't think we will be driving in the day of. I think we will be doing a couple of days on the way down. I don't remember that ice storm though. Weird!
I actually live less than an hour from Galveston so feel free to ask me anything. Staying at the two hotels from the article put you right on the beach. There is a wide sidewalk atop the seawall that goes for miles on the ocean side of Galveston that you can stroll down or gain access to the beach. If you are going to have your own car, it would be a good spot. Lot of eateries along the seawall. As mentioned in the article, Moody Gardens is very nice - we visit several times a year and starting in mid-Nov they have a Christmas Light display that is very enjoyable. There is also the Strand basically right across from the cruise terminals. It is the old downtown and has shops and restaurants plus a Railroad Museum. There are also lots of beautiful historic houses and churches on the island. If you are interested in NASA, it is a short drive to the Space Center. As I said feel free to pick my brain!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
We cruised out of Galveston in the Spring of 2013 and will be cruising out of it again in early 2016, so we enjoyed it enough to do it again. We drove down the last trip and we won't do that again, as we drove two days each way for a four day cruise. Duh--what was I thinking? We will fly SWA into Hobby for our next trip. The hotel we ended up staying at (a different, long and unrelated story) was the Hotel Galvez, which was under renovation at the time. A very old and beautiful hotel with a fantastic history. Our room was very small VERY SMALL, but pleasantly appointed and had a beautiful view. The hotel is on the sea wall and though it was a blustery evening, we had a pleasant walk around, eating at a restaurant on the sea wall and a gorgeous view of the gulf. The hotel provided a complimentary shuttle service to port and allowed us to park our car on property for a nominal fee.
The terminal is VERY understated and at that time really not prepared for Disney travel. I'm looking forward to seeing if there are any upgrades to the terminal. Even with the lack of typical Disney aesthetics, the crew at the terminal were well trained and we were pleasantly surprised at the efficiency. (Somewhere I have pictures). Getting off the ship was a little more interesting as the local transportation was not prepared for the masses wanting to get off, out and on the road--for us, so the wait getting off terminal property was longer than our check-in.
I actually live less than an hour from Galveston so feel free to ask me anything. Staying at the two hotels from the article put you right on the beach. There is a wide sidewalk atop the seawall that goes for miles on the ocean side of Galveston that you can stroll down or gain access to the beach. If you are going to have your own car, it would be a good spot. Lot of eateries along the seawall. As mentioned in the article, Moody Gardens is very nice - we visit several times a year and starting in mid-Nov they have a Christmas Light display that is very enjoyable. There is also the Strand basically right across from the cruise terminals. It is the old downtown and has shops and restaurants plus a Railroad Museum. There are also lots of beautiful historic houses and churches on the island. If you are interested in NASA, it is a short drive to the Space Center. As I said feel free to pick my brain!
Thanks so much! I probably will as questions arise. Sounds like there's a lot to do!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beautiful Mother
We cruised out of Galveston in the Spring of 2013 and will be cruising out of it again in early 2016, so we enjoyed it enough to do it again. We drove down the last trip and we won't do that again, as we drove two days each way for a four day cruise. Duh--what was I thinking? We will fly SWA into Hobby for our next trip. The hotel we ended up staying at (a different, long and unrelated story) was the Hotel Galvez, which was under renovation at the time. A very old and beautiful hotel with a fantastic history. Our room was very small VERY SMALL, but pleasantly appointed and had a beautiful view. The hotel is on the sea wall and though it was a blustery evening, we had a pleasant walk around, eating at a restaurant on the sea wall and a gorgeous view of the gulf. The hotel provided a complimentary shuttle service to port and allowed us to park our car on property for a nominal fee.
The terminal is VERY understated and at that time really not prepared for Disney travel. I'm looking forward to seeing if there are any upgrades to the terminal. Even with the lack of typical Disney aesthetics, the crew at the terminal were well trained and we were pleasantly surprised at the efficiency. (Somewhere I have pictures). Getting off the ship was a little more interesting as the local transportation was not prepared for the masses wanting to get off, out and on the road--for us, so the wait getting off terminal property was longer than our check-in.
Thanks for the review! The hotel sounds beautiful! I was kind of curious about the port and how that was too!
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) I think flying will be too costly because it's over Thanksgiving. Any advice? Where to stay near the port for the night before? Or would you drive in on the day of?
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