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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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hi guys, I need some help from anybody who lives in or near Penn. we will be going to H/P again this summer, and was wondering what else is there to do besides the park??? we've been to chocolate world and the car museum. went to indian echo cavens and lancanster amish country, been to strasburg railraod, and stopped at roadside america, been to the river for the music and craft fair, we usually spend two days in hershey, and like to stop somewhere on the way home as we only live a couple hrs from Penn. we will have 6- yes 6 kids with us between the ages of 5 and 20. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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What about Sesame Place? It is mostly Water Park - and great for all ages! We started going there when DD was 2, and she still loves it at 8.....
I have heard that the Philly Zoo is good too.
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Philadelphia. Ther's always something going on there for everyone. We had a blast when we went there. The US Mint was free and the tour was interesting, Independence Hall, The Franklin Institue for the little ones, chinatown, the Reading Market, we ate at The Hard Rock. All age groups can find something.
Ooohhh, Boyds Bears is a good one. I've heard wonderful things about it. The Hershey Gardens are lovely. There's a family oriented park in Lancaster - DutchWonderland. there are outlets in Hershey, Lancaster and Reading (the Reading ones are the original Vanity Fair ones - which are usually really good). OH, what about the Crayola Factory (which is close to Allentown).
Dorney Park/Wildwater Kingdom is near Allentown, not too far off of I-78.
Valley Forge is about mid-way between Lancaster and Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has LOTS to do.
I work about 15 mins from Hershey. There are many great attractions depending on your needs and interests. I will list them according to free and with a cost.
Cost
Dorney Park (allentown pa)-can get quite costly and crowded on weekends
Gettysburg (can be done for free if you want to tour it on your own)
Valley Forge
Outlet Shopping in Hershey and Lancaster (good for school shopping and there is no tax on clothes in PA)
Whitaker Center in Harrisburg (science and arts museum) www.whitakerenter.org
Free
Pennsylvania State Museum (Welcome to The State Museum of Pennsylvania)
Pennsylvania Capitol (very nice architecture and can schedule free tours) If you would like to see pictures I can send you some
Strawberry Square (business district of Harrisburg that offers some great shopping, dining and other events) Strawberry Square
If I can think of more I will update you on this list
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thanks for the input everyone,, I was thinking aabout sesame place or dorney park but Dh might be a little tried of parks after two days in hershey,, I might look into gettysburg and philly, but I just found Kitchen Kettle Village has anyone been there? and give me info- is it worth looking into? tia
Kitchen Kettle Village has some great shopping and the Jam/Jelly shop is awesome. However, it is very expensive and crowded during this time of year. You will find that you might have difficulty getting in initially or trouble finding a parking spot. But if you go you will not be disappointed. The jam shop is all homemade by Amish and in the fudge shop you can watch them make it right there. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
KNOEBELS!!! It's a park, but nothing at all like Hershey. I live for vacations to Knoebels. I live minutes from Dorney Park, the Crayola Factory, Sesame Place, Shawnee Place, the Poconos, Gettysburg, and Philly and I would skip every single one for an afternoon at Knoebels.
Free parking, free admission, free entertainment. You buy tickets and pay by the ride (and the rides are dirt cheap) or you can get an all day wrist band Monday - Friday if you're just going to pound out rides. There's a pool and water slides (they use a kind of ticket system too - rubber arm bands instead of tickets) if you're burnt out on rides and Knoebels has won the Golden Ticket for Amusement Park Food in Amusement Today for the last 8 or 9 years. They're known for their awesome food, wooden coasters, and for rescuing rides from other amusement parks that have a lot of nostalgic value. You won't see these rides at Hershey, Dorney, or Disney.
They also have one of the few remaining grand carousels in the country where you can still catch the brass ring and win a free ride. There are actually two carousels (three if you count the Spanish Bambini) and three band organs.
You can get a decent discount on tickets at AAA in advance or get 10% off Monday - Friday at any ticket booth in the park. Some of the local bakeries run coupons on bread bags for $4.00/person discounts mid-week on all day ride wrist bands. The thing to be careful of is that some rides aren't covered by all day ride passes - coasters, the haunted house, the ski lift-thingy, Sklooosh!, or the Flume. The tickets are a better deal IMO. Oh, and the tickets never expire.
BTW - Knoebels is pronounced "kuh-NO-bullz" in case you have to ask for tickets at a local AAA office. If you call it "NO-bullz", they'll have no idea what you're talking about.
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I live minutes from Dorney Park, the Crayola Factory, Sesame Place, Shawnee Place, the Poconos, Gettysburg, and Philly and I would skip every single one for an afternoon at Knoebels. 
They're known for their awesome food, wooden coasters, and for rescuing rides from other amusement parks that have a lot of nostalgic value. You won't see these rides at Hershey, Dorney, or Disney. 
The tickets are a better deal IMO. 
Oh, and the tickets never expire. 
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