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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I think it would be cool to splurge for a Wishes cruise or Illuminations cruise. Which would you recommend and why? Do you need to use a park ticket for that day? Thanks in advance.
Wishes and Illumination cruises typically depart the dock about 45 minutes or so before the show. To take the cruise you don't have to use park admission but if you enter a theme park during the day you would but to just do the cruise you would take transportation from your resort to the closest theme park then, a bus to the resort where your picking up your boat.
For example:
If i am staying at Pop Century and I was doing an illuminations cruise, I would take a bus from PC to hollywood studios. From HS I could either walk to the Yacht Club (where you take the boat from) or take the boat from DHS to the Yacht Club. Check in on the Marina Dock and go on my IC.
No Admission would be required to do that. But if in the morning I wanted to go to the theme park to ride rides etc then I'd have to use a ticket.
Which would I recommend. Illuminations Hands down, the view is spectacular, you can hear the music without having to pay for an upgraded boat like I had to do with the Wishes Cruise.
That being said now that the cruises are so $$ do I find it worth that much for just for that view : there are so many locations that provide great views, BUT for the relaxing and not having to wait for hours at some locations for prime seats, and to just enjoy a nice boat ride with the extra surprise of the fireworks then YES its worth it.
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DH nearly had a heart attack when he found out how much our Illuminations cruise cost, but besides that, he lists it as his favorite thing from our trip. We had a great boat driver who pointed out all kinds of things we hadn't seen before, told us different stories about the parks, etc. We cruised around for a while before the fireworks and really had a great time.
I really struggled with figuring out which one to do...Illuminations has some special memories for DH and I, but since he has asthma, I worried about the smoke from the fireworks (you are REALLY close to the action!). With Wishes, I'd heard that you cruise past the Electrical Water Pageant...so I *thought* I booked a Wishes cruise. When we got there, turned out it was Illuminations -- which was a great surprise, since they are harder to get...and my worries were completely unfounded...no smoke, great view, absolutely amazing!
Haven't done the Wishes cruise, but in hindsight, I'm glad we ended up with Illuminations. I think Wishes is best viewed from Main Street...I think it would seem far away in a boat and I would miss seeing Tink fly -- my favorite part! Plus, we booked it over to MK after the cruise and ended up seeing the Electrical Water Pageant as we entered the gates, AND got in the last SpectroMagic parade of the night...all kinds of wonderful packed into one evening.
Would I do it again? No, not unless I won the lottery because it is just SO much money! Was it a great experience that we'll remember forever? YES! If you can afford it -- do it!
I've done both the Illuminations and Wishes cruises. I personally like the Wishes cruises better because there was a certain magic to seeing the MK train station, the castle, Space Mountain and the fireworks all in my view. While I enjoyed Illuminations very much and the view was great... it was really just about the fireworks and there was a lot of ash falling all over us from the fireworks.
Eileen
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We've done both and you won't be disappointed with either. : We love the IllumiNations one, because that's our favourite display, so I would go with whichever of the two is your favourite.
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I did the Wishes cruise with my family in Sept. and it was great. MY DH says it was his favorite part of the trip. A complete view of the castle and the fireworks with no crowd. It was awesome.
We did the Wishes Cruise in June 2008 with my family of 9 and my sister's family of 6. We had a wonderful time!! My niece thought it was the best part of vacation. I agree it is very expensive, I worked 32 hours of overtime the last 2 weeks before we left, to pay for it but it is something our families will always remember and we considered it a special treat. If you can afford it this trip, why not go for the gusto and do it.
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: there are so many locations that provide great views, BUT for the relaxing and not having to wait for hours at some locations for prime seats, and to just enjoy a nice boat ride with the extra surprise of the fireworks then YES its worth it.
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