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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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We are thinking about taking a road trip west, including a stop at the Grand Canyon for 2 days. We'll have a 9yo and 5yo that will have been cooped up in a car for 2 days, so we'd like to know about some fun activities that do not risk losing any children off scary cliffs. DH will be happy to just sit at the side of the Canyon for 2 days and soak it all in. And me, well, not being a big outdoorsy person, I'll appreciate it all for a couple of hours, be grateful that I can say I was there, then get antsy to something else (like find a spa!).
So, given our eclectic little group -- any suggestions for activities we can plan for the 2 days there? It's a big space -- what is your favorite area to visit? Any not-to-miss places I should be looking at? Am I crazy to think that we can do the Grand Canyon in just 2 days?
I don't think you're crazy to do it in two days. We've been twice before in a day trip from Vegas and got a good glimpse of the Grand Canyon. We really enjoyed the Skywalk and the boat trip we took as well.
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We just did a week long trip to AZ including an overnight at the Grand Canyon - what time of year are you planning on traveling? Which side of the canyon will you be on?
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We just did a week long trip to AZ including an overnight at the Grand Canyon - what time of year are you planning on traveling? Which side of the canyon will you be on?
We're looking at the week immediately following Memorial Day 2012...we would leave after school gets out with the intention of arriving at the Grand Canyon on Wednesday or so after the holiday. (We are hoping that will allow holiday crowds to disperse a bit.) Honestly, I am at such an early point in the planning stages that I don't know which side we would stay on. We will be coming from Nebraska (driving) and going on to Disneyland.
Since you are coming from the north and it will be early summer, I would highly recommend a stop on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It is closed due to weatther much of the year, but is really beautiful and different than the south rim. Then you could go to the south rim .... it's a long drive between the two... then go into the south rim via the east entrance.
On the south rim you can stop at many of the lookouts using your own car on the east side all the way to the main lodges. If you want to go further west, you will need to take the tram that runs in the summer/tourist season. You cannot take your car on
that section in May/early June. We went in February last year and the Grand Canyon in winter is absolutely amazing and very different from summertime. We were allowed to drive our car all the way out to Hermit's West (on the summer tram road) and the scenery is really sspectacular on that end of the road and well worth it.
To go to Grand Canyon West and/or Skywalk, it is a VERY long drive from the Grand Canyon proper. Skywalk is also very expensive, IMHO, for what you get and you can't even take a camera with you on it.
Good luck and have fun! It sounds like a great trip.
To me, with outdoorsy, naturalist children, the North Rim is my preferred side. There is lots of wildlife to look at and each overlook presents a new and different view. Most national parks have Ranger programs for kids yours age (at least they did before the economy tanked). At the north rim, the park is huge and uncrowded so your kids will have plenty of opportunities to run off steam.
If you go to the North Rim, you need to stay in the park because there are no other alternatives within an hour of the entrance. The accommodations book early (some within days of booking opening) so you need to book soon.
When we went a couple of years ago, the South Rim and we based in Sedona. It was a bit of a drive to get to the Canyon but we were so taken with it after the first day we went back again. Our experience was that you could drive most of the South Rim say from the Grand Village east, stopping at the various vantage points along the way. It was from the Grand Canyon Village west that was by bus. Most of the vantage points don't have guard rails etc. There is a low rock wall in the Village area. We didn't do the western route so I don't know about that in terms of railings. The Village area has a couple of hotels and shops with authentic crafts and souvenirs. We had a wonderful lunch at the El Tovar. I'd visit their website as well as getting a couple of guide books to read and plan your visit. Sedona was a bit of a drive to get there. You can also base yourselves in Flagstaff which is closer. Another option is to take the Grand Canyon RR from Williams up to the Canyon. If you're going later in the summer, the do have "monsoons" every afternoon (thunderstorms). We were there in early August and it did storm every afternoon for an hour or so. Most resorts in Sedona have spas which are wonderful. While in Sedona we drove to some authentic cliff dwellings and did a pink jeep tour. Both were worth our time. We took the AZ Snowbowl ski lift outside of Flagstaff to the top of the mountain which would have been great but it started raining while we were en route to the top. There's also the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff which is where Pluto was discovered. It's a great part of the country, have a great trip.
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DH will be happy to just sit at the side of the Canyon for 2 days and soak it all in. And me, well, not being a big outdoorsy person, I'll appreciate it all for a couple of hours, be grateful that I can say I was there, then get antsy to something else (like find a spa!).
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