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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, as you saw on my last update, we finally bought our tickets. Yippee! And as you know, our vacation is 12 days long but our tickets are only for 8 days. There's a reason for this. It's called Arben.
You see, Arben doesn't want to spend every living moment at the parks. Shocking, I know! He actually wants some non-park days. In fact, I know for sure that on some of those park days he'll sleeping in and joining in the afternoon plans. There'll be only 3 days where he's required to be at park opening. 2 of those days we have breakfast adrs and the 3rd day we'll be spending it with his sister. Other than that, he can sleep in all he wants. I'll happily go on my own or with whoever wants to come with me.
Congrats on getting the tickets! I think you'll be fine with FP+ a few days after it's available. Really there were plenty of options day of when we were there. And I didn't make my FP+ reservations right away and I changed them 100 times before the trip too without problem.
Sounds like you'll have fun at the parks one way or the other.
Yes I will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Congrats on getting the tickets! I think you'll be fine with FP+ a few days after it's available. Really there were plenty of options day of when we were there. And I didn't make my FP+ reservations right away and I changed them 100 times before the trip too without problem.
I hope so. If not, I'll go nuts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Nothing wrong with your alone time!!! Leave them all behind to catch up with you
You bet I will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
You go and enjoy the parks!
That's exactly what I plan on doing. No sleepy husband is gonna get in my way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
good luck getting your tickets and making your FP+ ressies
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by patclairesmom
I think you'll get your tickets before that date. Disney has so much to offer that having some non park days will be wonderful.
True. And we will be visiting the waterparks. Maybe I'll tour some of the other resorts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexiemom
I am happy to hear Disneyland is a possibility again. Your family will love it and 6 days is perfect!
Congrats on purchasing your tickets. I would feel the same about scheduling FP+ I like to get things done as soon as I can.
I'm really hoping we can wing it next year. The major obstacle is flights. If we can't do it next year well it will be moved to my original plans for 2017. So far away but I really want to cruise in 2016. Anyways, time flies by quickly.
So, let me address the elephant in the room - Fastpass Plus. So much to learn, so much to plan...
The 3 FP a day has me a bit disappointed. On past trips I've done more than that amount of fastpasses in a day. With 3 fp a day, it means that we'll spend some time in the stand-by line. Problem is I can't really do very long lines. My back is giving me some troubles, I can't stand still for more than 20 minutes. My lower back gets very stiff. If I'm walking continuously I'm good but if I'm in a very slow moving line or just standing in place for long time, it starts bothering me a lot.
I've already spoken to my kids regarding this. And I've explained FP+ to them and how different touring will be because of it. There will be rides that if the wait is long we'll skip it or come back later. They're ok with it, for now.
The other problem is that I have a couple of scaredy cats in my group. I'm not gonna say it's Arben and Adriel. The most thrilling ride Arben will do is Splash Mountain. He says he's too old for that. Whatever dude! Adriel started out as being a little daredevil. On our trip in 2011, he went on every ride in Disney, loving every bit of them. Last trip, although he rode those same rides I noticed he was a little freaked out. This time he says he'll only do Splash Mountain, BTMRR and maybe EE.
On the other hand, Abniel started out as a scaredy cat. In 2011 he refused to ride any thrill ride. Only rode Splash Mountain and BTMRR. He went all the way to the loading area at RnRC only to chicken out as we were about to board the limo. And guess who had to take him out... this girl. On our last trip, he tried TOT. I think he was traumatized. The ride picture was priceless (it's in my TR). He had this shocked almost blank look on his face. Like this - I found it hilarious . Well that ruined him for the rest of the trip as he wasn't willing to try RnRC, EE or Space Mountain. Of course Arben had to "sacrifice" himself and stay with him while the others rode. This year he's saying he'll ride all of them. The problem is (and I've told him so) that once you scan your MB, the FP is used. So there's no turning back. He says he's fine with that. We'll see... If things come to worse I'll just send him out the chicken exit and have him wait for us at the gift shop. He'll be almost 11 so I think he'll be fine. I'll just have Arben be at the exit just in case.
Anyways, this brings us to the real issue. Selecting the fastpasses for us. It's obvious we'll have to split up and we'll have different FP. The thing is, do I trust Arben enough to be able to find his way around the parks. He doesn't take directions too well and he doesn't speak English either. So I'm afraid he'll get lost and not be able to talk to a CM. Adriel (who most likely will be his partner) speaks English but will he understand the direction they give him.
With all this in mind, I've already told my family that we need to sit down and talk about this. We need to figure out how we're going to make it work. I plan on going through the rides and see who will ride what. And then we'll go from there.
So much planning is kind of stressful. I mean I like to have a plan but not that detailed. Of course I can't form an opinion on FP+ until I use it. I'll go in with an open mind.
I think you all will be okay - it seems that many are saying to book your FP+ for later morning! rather than "waste" it for first thing in am. I don't think I ever realized that Arben did not speak English......interesting so you and the kiddos can "talk about" him and he won't even realize it? Lol.
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I think you all will be okay - it seems that many are saying to book your FP+ for later morning! rather than "waste" it for first thing in am. I don't think I ever realized that Arben did not speak English......interesting so you and the kiddos can "talk about" him and he won't even realize it? Lol.
Yes. We live in Puerto Rico and our main language is Spanish. Arben is born and raised in PR so the only English he knows (not much at all) is what he learned in school. I mean he knows some basic words but he can't form a sentence much less start a conversation.
On the other hand, I was born in NJ and lived there till' I was 10. Thankfully, the language stayed with me and I can speak it fluently. My three boys are in a private bilingual school. AJ has all his classes in English except history and Spanish. Abniel and Adriel have all except Spanish. They only watch tv programs and movies in English. And I often speak to them in English.
So yes, we can talk about him in English and he won't understand.
You have quite a few variables to consider when making FP+ selections. Luke and I will ride the same things so that made it easier. figuring out FP+ for everyone!
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Shocking, I know! He actually wants some non-park days. In fact, I know for sure that on some of those park days he'll sleeping in and joining in the afternoon plans. There'll be only 3 days where he's required to be at park opening. 2 of those days we have breakfast adrs and the 3rd day we'll be spending it with his sister. Other than that, he can sleep in all he wants. I'll happily go on my own or with whoever wants to come with me. 
Holly: 
So far away but I really want to cruise in 2016. Anyways, time flies by quickly.
in the room - Fastpass Plus. So much to learn, so much to plan... 
I found it hilarious 
. Well that ruined him for the rest of the trip as he wasn't willing to try RnRC, EE or Space Mountain. Of course Arben had to "sacrifice" himself and stay with him while the others rode. 
figuring out FP+ for everyone! 
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