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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are planning on taking our Spring Break trip ( yes we are out the week before Easter ) to Philly for a couple of days. We will arrive on the 16th or 17th and leave on the 18th. it is only a short drive (3.5 hours) but we may stay so we can see more. We have never been here so gimme the scoop on must sees and things to avoid (if there are any). It will be me DH and DDs 6 and 12. We live close to DC so we are not strangers to walking to tour a place IF we stay we will be staying at NAS Willow Grove. It looks like that is not too far removed from the "action" A couple of questions: Are there any fees to tour cetain exhibits? The NPS site says there is parking at 6th and market, what is the fee for this? Can we do the national park area in a day? or should we plan on two? Is there parking at the Mint? Approx. cost? We will be eating lunch out. Are there food choices in the NPS area? Is there a place we can walk to from there to have a Philly cheese steak? Anything special happen in Philly on St. Patricks day? Thank you in advance for any information and tips!!
The St. Patrick's Parade is held in Philadelphia this year on Sunday, March 9th.
There are no other special events planned for St. Patrick's Day. Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) this is the link to the Independence National Historical Park's official website.....
You should be able to tour the big three (National Constitution Center, Independence Hall and Liberty Bell) in a full day.
Don't know much about historic landmarks BUT malls are another thing lol. If you're staying in Willow Grove, I'd make sure to make a stop in the Willow Grove Park Mall. They have a beautiful antique carousel that you can ride. Its at the third level entrance to the mall near Ruby Tuesday's.
Don't know much about historic landmarks BUT malls are another thing lol. If you're staying in Willow Grove, I'd make sure to make a stop in the Willow Grove Park Mall. They have a beautiful antique carousel that you can ride. Its at the third level entrance to the mall near Ruby Tuesday's.
I second Crystal's suggestion. I live fairly close by and the carousel is one my my kids' favorites! They also have some (not a lot) historical photos/info about the amusement park that used to stand on the land that now houses the mall...Willow Grove Park! Pssst...they also just opened a Cheesecake Factory a few months ago in the mall too!
Other than some decent parks, there isn't a ton to do around Willow Grove. I can HIGHLY recommend the Lancer diner for breakfast though. It is right across from the Air Base and has been there FOREVER! Yummy!
Check out the Lights of Liberty tour in the historic section of Philly...a walking tour at night w/ projections on the buildings and they have Duck tours that are said to be lots of fun. There is also a special Star Wars exhibit at the Franklin Institute which is supposed to be very cool.
I second Crystal's suggestion. I live fairly close by and the carousel is one my my kids' favorites! They also have some (not a lot) historical photos/info about the amusement park that used to stand on the land that now houses the mall...Willow Grove Park! Pssst...they also just opened a Cheesecake Factory a few months ago in the mall too!
Other than some decent parks, there isn't a ton to do around Willow Grove. I can HIGHLY recommend the Lancer diner for breakfast though. It is right across from the Air Base and has been there FOREVER! Yummy!
Check out the Lights of Liberty tour in the historic section of Philly...a walking tour at night w/ projections on the buildings and they have Duck tours that are said to be lots of fun. There is also a special Star Wars exhibit at the Franklin Institute which is supposed to be very cool.
You had me at Cheesecake factory (LOL) and my 6 yr old will LOVE the carosel. My 12 yr old has already scoped out King of Prussia but Willow Grove sounds better ( to me anyway ) We are planning on driving into the city to tour everything we can. Would SEPTA be better than trying to park? TIA!
Thank you so much for the replies! Keep em coming. Any info on parking at the NPS?
I'm sorry we never park down in Philly. It is easier to take SEPTA (the Philly area train system) down there than deal w/ paying for parking. Willow Grove has a train station not far from the airbase, but the parking is abysmal. You could look into either a bus/taxi from the air station or drive just a little ways (I can give you specific directions if you are interested) and go to the Fort Washington station. They have a HUGE parking lot and are on a line that runs more often than the Willow Grove trains.
The SEPTA regional rail trains are cheaper and quite convenient. Driving into the city is a bit of a hassle, and parking rates downtown can run about $20 for the day.
The Market East Station will let you off at 12th and Market, and Independence Mall is on Market Street between 6th and 5th, so you'll have a 6-block walk between the train and the historical stuff. The bonus about taking the train is it is located at the Reading Terminal, which has the Reading Terminal Market, a great place with eating establishments fresh grocery merchants.
The US Mint is about a 2-block walk from Independence Mall.
Thank you all so much! We are used to taking the Metro into DC so SEPTA sounds like it is right up our alley! WoooHoo! I really appreciate everyones information! Thank you again
My Dd and I took a quick trip to Philly last winter. I did the driving as DH couldn't get off from work. I thought it was a great city to drive in. I parked on the street near the mint with no problem. I used a parking garage near the Franklin Institute. We went to see the Tut exhibit and it was packed. For Independence Hall we parked in the garage under ground over the Visitor's center.
My DD and I did a carriage ride of the historic area and we loved it. We did all the historical stuff, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, The Constitution Museum, Betsy Ross's house, the Mint. We ate at the Hard Rock, walked through China town and the Market (I forgot what it's called) and we stopped at the art museum so my DD could run up the steps like Rocky.
I thought ity was easy to drive around and navigate. We had a great time and I can't wait to go back.
If you're staying in Willow Grove, and want pasta/pizza type meal - I highly recommend Roman Delight on 611. It's our favorite local pizza joint.
I think you're much better off using SEPTA than parking in the city. Parking fees can add up really quickly. Check out Welcome to gophila.com -- the Official Visitor Site for Greater Philadelphia for details on all the touristy and historic things. When I first moved here, I really enjoyed the trolley tours of the city. The type were you can hop off and on the trolley at different interesting locations.
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Philly on St. Pattys day??
) to Philly for a couple of days. We will arrive on the 16th or 17th and leave on the 18th. it is only a short drive (3.5 hours) but we may stay so we can see more. We have never been here so gimme the scoop on must sees and things to avoid (if there are any). It will be me DH and DDs 6 and 12. We live close to DC so we are not strangers to walking to tour a place 
IF we stay we will be staying at NAS Willow Grove. It looks like that is not too far removed from the "action"
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) We are planning on driving into the city to tour everything we can. Would SEPTA be better than trying to park? TIA! 
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