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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Anyone been? I'm trying to figure out what "tour" we want to do.... Looks like there are 3 choices.... the "big" Hoover Dam tour is not an option for us as the youngest is not old enough.... This leaves us with two options- The powerplant tour or the self guided tour. The price difference is minimal; only a few bucks difference.... but as far as I can tell; it looks like you can pretty much see the same stuff doing the self guided tour as you can with the powerplant tour. This is what I was hoping someone with experience could fill me in on.... I actually prefer the idea of doing a self guided tour vs guided in this particular setting as we could just go at our own pace.... the main thing I want to make sure we don't miss out on is the observation deck- is this included in the "self guided tour"?
Any and all input is appreciated.... I want to go ahead and order our tickets online so that 1)we don't have to wait in line to purchase tix or worry about them selling out and 2) it looks like by ordering on-line we get a free parking garage pass
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We did the full tour a few years ago. We really liked it. It was interesting and informative. You go down into the dam in very crowded elevators though.
If you can only do the powerplant due to your child's age, I would. Otherwise, you are just in the visitor center looking at displays and reading. You may want to watch the first Transformers as the powerplant is in the movie.You can walk across the dam and look down There really isn't too much else to do and you should be done in about 2 hours tops. We went first thing in the morning during the week and the crowd wasn't too bad. Also, if you are going in the summer, beware the killer heat. You don't want to be anywhere near the dam after 12. 116 degrees is not fun.
I find the story of the dam just incredibly amazing. What was accomplished 80ish years ago without computers, fancy machinery and in the middle of the desert is just unbelievable.
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
How cool that they've brought many tours back. When we were there in 2004, they only had one tour option - part of the power plant (this was still during post-911 hieghtened security) which was no longer operating.
I remember the tour guide referencing a "Clarkism" from the movie "if you see any drips on the wall, Do NOT place gum on them, moving along now..."
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The Fun, Old-Fashioned Family Vacation, 3.0 http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4472933
Ch-Ch-Changes July 2015
[URL="http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-adventure-disney-world-trip-reports/288847-ch-ch-changes-ptr-july-16-24-a.html"]
I suspect we did the full tour when we went, but it was a few years ago now and I don't remember. I would definitely see the powerplant though. Wow, that thing is just massive and it gives you a good idea of the scale of the place.
We did the tour guide version, not the expensive one (pics should be in my SoCal trip report). We felt it was fine. There were lots of "dam" jokes! And we also walked across the dam. Parking pass wasn't included when I bought my tickets online. That would have been nice!
OMG you just made me think of Cousin Eddie in Vegas Vacation asking questions on the tour..."Where's the Dam bathroom?" lol
My cousin's husband is an engineer. A Dam engineer. He inspects the dam. He has a dam boat to go out to the dam in to look at the dam. He takes his animals with him; he has named them; Dam Dog and Dam Bitch (as in female dog). He says he loves his "Dam Job".
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