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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok, this is the first thing we are going to be doing on our trip to Virginia. I'm wondering though, it seems like a huge place. I'm having a hard time grasping the size of it. Can you walk to most places that are inside? I don't think you can drive around, or can you? I know they have a parking area, which is something like $2 per hour or so. I thought I read something about a bus or tram service but could be wrong...
Ok, this is the first thing we are going to be doing on our trip to Virginia. I'm wondering though, it seems like a huge place. I'm having a hard time grasping the size of it. Can you walk to most places that are inside? I don't think you can drive around, or can you? I know they have a parking area, which is something like $2 per hour or so. I thought I read something about a bus or tram service but could be wrong...
we went in 2007. The place is huge so I would recommed the tour they have. It points out interesting points and its very informational. Its alot of curvy roads and uphill to walk if not.
To hit the highlights -- Kennedy Grave Sites, Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington house - and things you can walk over to from those places (like the Challenger memorial) . . . I would HIGHLY recommend you take the Tourmobile around.
It is definitely worth it, IMO, due to the size of the place and the distance between the stops. You can get on and off at the stops and spend time at each place. The tram drops off and picks up something like every, I think, 15 minutes.
First stop is the Kennedy gravesites, second stop is the Tomb of the Unknowns and the third stop is the Arlington House/Robert E. Lee Memorial . . . then you are taken back to the Visitor Center.
As far as the parking situation, you can certainly park there . . . but you can't drive in to the cemetary itself. It is $1.75 for the first three hours and $3.50 for each hour after that. We took the Metro from near our hotel, straight to the cemetary, though.
Here are a couple of maps of the grounds with some of the other better known gravesites, so you can kind of get an idea of where they are in relation to the Tourmobile stops:
ETA: In order to get the Tourmobile, you have to park in the lot (or walk in from the Metro) and go into the Visitor's Center in order to buy your Tourmobile tickets and get on.
I think you've already had some great advice. I've done the Tourmobile tour before and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've also walked around the place and it nearly killed me - it is so big.
My father's grave is in Arlington National, but I'm not 100% on where. I am sure it's well off the tour routes. Does anyone know where I could get information on how to find it, and then get there without a ten-mile hike?
I would be very, very sadly remiss if I were to be in the D.C. area (which we may be, this fall or next spring), and I didn't make an effort to go. Last time I was there was .... good lord, almost twenty years ago. I just don't get down to that area very often.
My father's grave is in Arlington National, but I'm not 100% on where. I am sure it's well off the tour routes. Does anyone know where I could get information on how to find it, and then get there without a ten-mile hike?
I would be very, very sadly remiss if I were to be in the D.C. area (which we may be, this fall or next spring), and I didn't make an effort to go. Last time I was there was .... good lord, almost twenty years ago. I just don't get down to that area very often.
Sean, I would suggest contacting the cemetary in writing:
Arlington National Cemetary
Administrative Building
Arlington, VA 22211
ATTN: Freedom of Information Request Officer
Tell them in the letter specifically why they should release the grave location info to you. If you want to be able to drive to the site, you will have to get special permission to do so, which, I believe you can do through the same address.
Another thing you can do is go to the cemetary and speak with the employees there in the visitors center as they are supposed to be able to give you information on specific gravesites and help you find the vicinity on the map. Then you can decide if it is within a decent walking distance of the visitors center or if it would be a better deal to buy the Tourmobile tickets and ride to the vicinity and walk to the location.
I believe it shows locations for some of the graves . . . then you can get help from the cemetary employees in finding the actual location on the map and figure out the best way to get to it.
We walked through the cemetery - we saw the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Challenger memorials, Robert E. Lee's house, and several other graves. It took us a good 1/2 day and wore us out! Lots of uphill walking!
I haven't been to ANC in a good 13 years, but I live close enough by there (actually I know it's off of the closest Metro Bus from where I live). It is ginormous(even when I came to DC to visit when I was 9 we hit a lot of the places on foot but not everything, didn't even know about the tourmobile of ANC). I think if you want to see all or the majority of it, the Tourmobile may be the best way of doing it. I'm sorry I can't help at this second on the pricing of parking(last time I was with a group and we had a chartered bus, and now we take the Metro into DC), but if prices change I can look into and post it.
My father's grave is in Arlington National, but I'm not 100% on where. I am sure it's well off the tour routes. Does anyone know where I could get information on how to find it, and then get there without a ten-mile hike?
I would be very, very sadly remiss if I were to be in the D.C. area (which we may be, this fall or next spring), and I didn't make an effort to go. Last time I was there was .... good lord, almost twenty years ago. I just don't get down to that area very often.
The staff can look it up for you. Or, that site that was linked will tell you. My grandmother is buried there as well, and she's in the system.
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Been to WDW a million times... was even a Cast Member! Next Trip: March '12
Still thinking of going to the F&W Festival again....
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My father's grave is in Arlington National, but I'm not 100% on where. I am sure it's well off the tour routes. Does anyone know where I could get information on how to find it, and then get there without a ten-mile hike?
I would be very, very sadly remiss if I were to be in the D.C. area (which we may be, this fall or next spring), and I didn't make an effort to go. Last time I was there was .... good lord, almost twenty years ago. I just don't get down to that area very often.
My Grandpa's grave is in Arlington and they have an information desk that you tell them the name of your family member and they highlight it and give you a pass for your car to drive back to see it. It really is an amazing place.
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