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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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: Me (36), DW (36 "soccermomof2"), DS7, DS4 who turns 5 while we are there
WHAT: 5+2 DreamMaker package
WHERE: All Star Movies
WHEN: August 28 - September 4
WHY: Summer Vacation, 5th Birthday Celebration
Here's our plan: Sat Aug28 - Arrive in MCO from PHL at 1:30, get rental car, drive to WDW and check-in. Tell CM we have a birthday celebrant on 9/1. Eat late lunch/early dinner at All Star Movies food court then head to the Magic Kingdom.
Our main items of interest today would be to catch SpectroMagic at 8:30 (only running 8/28 and 8/31) and WISHES. Sun Aug29 - Animal Kingdom from 9 to 1, back to hotel for pool/rest then over to MGM Studios for 4pm FDP at H&V. Stay at MGM until closing. Mon Aug30 - 9-Noon:Pirate Cruise for boys, Kona Cafe for us. Ride up front in the monorail from TTC to EPCOT. Tour EPCOT from 1-9, staying for IllumiNations. Tue Aug31 - Early Entry at MGM Studios... Stay there and see/do anything we didn't see/do on Saturday. Go to EPCOT once we've done everything at MGM, to do anything we didn't do at EPCOT on Monday... stay for IllumiNations (AGAIN!!!). Wed Sep1 - Nicholas' 5th birthday!!- Go to Magic Kingdom; GET BIRTHDAY BUTTON; Tour Magic Kingdom, doing whatever the birthday boy wants (this will probably mean we will be riding Buzz all day long ).
Go to Contemporary for 6PM PS at Chef Mickeys. Tell CM it's a birthday celebration. Go Back to MK after dinner for WISHES. Thu Sep2 - Water Park (Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon??? - HELP!! ) Where should we go with a now-5-year old boy and a 7-year-old boy???....
Back to Hotel for rest, then over to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. Fri Sep3 - PS at Ohana breakfast, then over to Magic Kingdom. Possibly back to hotel for rest/packing, then over to another park OR stay at Magic Kingdom all day. Sat Sep4 - Checkout at 11am. Flight from MCO to PHL at 630pm... Any ideas what we should do between the time we checkout and 4pm (when the rental car is due back at MCO)??
Looks great Rob Can't help you on the water park, we liked both! As for your last day, maybe do some miniature golf, DisneyQuest, or more shopping at DTD
I agree, Disney Quest or DTD shopping would be good.
Your plan looks good! I think you'll be happy you have a few less active/rest times built in.
Have fun!
Stephanie
Thanks for the confirmations that we set up a manageable plan. My boys are pretty active, so I'm pretty sure it's not too hectic of a schedule.... My "little guy" is still on the cusp of needing a nap, so he might miss a few things in the later part of the night.... he slept through Fantasmic when we were there in May 2002; I'm hoping he'll be able to stay awake this time...
We were leaning on going to Blizzard Beach since it's closer to our resort, but Typhoon seems to be more family-friendly....
I think your plans look great and we personally prefer Typhoon. Also, your rental car should be back, whenever you agreed to hand it back. Usually they ask you for the time that you'll be returning it, so with any luck, you should have it with you to do whatever you want on your last day. What about some resort hopping?
WHO: Me (36), DW (36 "soccermomof2"), DS7, DS4 who turns 5 while we are there
WHAT: 5+2 DreamMaker package
WHERE: All Star Movies
WHEN: August 28 - September 4
WHY: Summer Vacation, 5th Birthday Celebration
Here's our plan:
Sat Aug28 - Arrive in MCO from PHL at 1:30, get rental car, drive to WDW and check-in. Tell CM we have a birthday celebrant on 9/1. Eat late lunch/early dinner at All Star Movies food court then head to the Magic Kingdom.
Our main items of interest today would be to catch SpectroMagic at 8:30 (only running 8/28 and 8/31) and WISHES.
Sun Aug29 - Animal Kingdom from 9 to 1, back to hotel for pool/rest then over to MGM Studios for 4pm FDP at H&V. Stay at MGM until closing.
Mon Aug30 - 9-Noon:Pirate Cruise for boys, Kona Cafe for us. Ride up front in the monorail from TTC to EPCOT. Tour EPCOT from 1-9, staying for IllumiNations.
Tue Aug31 - Early Entry at MGM Studios... Stay there and see/do anything we didn't see/do on Saturday. Go to EPCOT once we've done everything at MGM, to do anything we didn't do at EPCOT on Monday... stay for IllumiNations (AGAIN!!!).
Wed Sep1 - Nicholas' 5th birthday!! - Go to Magic Kingdom; GET BIRTHDAY BUTTON; Tour Magic Kingdom, doing whatever the birthday boy wants (this will probably mean we will be riding Buzz all day long ).
Go to Contemporary for 6PM PS at Chef Mickeys. Tell CM it's a birthday celebration. Go Back to MK after dinner for WISHES.
Thu Sep2 - Blizzard Beach . Back to Hotel for rest, then over to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping.
Fri Sep3 - PS at Crystal Palace . We couldn't resist the opportunity of having Main Street "to ourselves", so we made a PS for 8:05. Possibly back to hotel for rest/packing, then over to another park OR stay at Magic Kingdom all day.
Sat Sep4 - Checkout at 11am. Epcot in the AM and possibly a DVC presentation in the PM. Flight from MCO to PHL at 630pm...
Sounds like fun! I'm sure that you know to be flexible just in case a nap is needed here or there! My son is going to do the pirate cruise in November for the 1st time, so I'll be interested to hear how your boys liked it!
We'll definitely play things by ear with our park touring. We'll have enough time down there to see and do everything we want to do, so I'll make sure not to become ParkCommando.
I'll be sure to ask them all about the Pirate Cruise, and I'll post it in our TR.
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- Go to Magic Kingdom; GET BIRTHDAY BUTTON; Tour Magic Kingdom, doing whatever the birthday boy wants (this will probably mean we will be riding Buzz all day long 
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Can't help you on the water park, we liked both! As for your last day, maybe do some miniature golf, DisneyQuest, or more shopping at DTD 
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