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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Very hot and humid and usually a thunderstorm every afternoon-for a short period, or at least that is what we have found every year. We just made it home on the last Auto Train out of FL last year before the first hurricane hit-that was August 11th.
We've only been once in August and probably will avoid that time if at all possible. It was so humid that I was already sweating profusely waiting the 5 minute for the bus to the park. Sometime I'd like to try going in the fall or winter to see what it's like at WDW when it's cooler.
We went from August 14-28 in 2003 and the weather was exceptionally hot and humid. Out of the entire fourteen days, there was only one day when it didn't rain. About half the other days there were afternoon showers but for the other half we had rain pretty much all day long. Couple that with the crowds and I swore I'd never go back in August again if I could help it. Now here it is 2005 and I'm going in August again, this time from August 4-18 as a birthday surprise for my son. The one nice thing about going that time of year is that you can pack a lot more lightly as the weather is very predictable: hot, hotter and even hotter. I had brought along a sweater and a sweatshirt for those cool evenings but I never needed to use them as I don't think it ever dropped below 80 degrees, even at night.
The weather really isn't that bad. I'm used to the heat and humidity since it gets up to the same point, if not worse, here in NYC, believe it or not. The rain is a pain, it rains for about a half-hour every afternoon, but it's not unbearable - the crowds thin out and you can just run into a store, restaurant or indoor attraction. The summer is Orlando really isn't that bad!
I think the difference between the heat and humidity in Florida in the summer and the northeast, is there is no break in the Florida heat. It is hot and humid every day and there isusually a good afternoon thunderstorm. I also found it to be more humid feeling-the humidity just clings to you.
That said, the end of August seems to be less crowded than most of the summer as schools go back into session. we've done August and it is doable as long as you go to the parks early in the morning and get out of the heat in the afternoon. We'd go at opening and leave after lunch and return after the afternoon storm. You also need to drink a lot of water and duck into some place cool as soon as you begin to feel too hot.
In the northeast there really isn't a break from it either... at least there hasn't been in the last 4 or 5 years. There IS more rain in Orlando, though, which cools things down a bit. The end of August is also less crowded than the rest of the summer so it shoulnd't be bad. Either plan on going back to your hotel in the afternoon, or do what we're doing... we'll get to the parks at opening, stop for lunch in the early afternoon somewhere indoors, switch to another park for the evening and stop somewhere indoors for dinner. It gives you some time out of the heat to relax!