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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, this trip proved to be much better than the last one over all. (no bugs )
Travel -
We decided to fly this time. Cost wise - it was probably a wash. We got our tickets for $340 but had to pay $100 in luggage and we also had to pay (on the way down) to get seats together - another $20. We also ended up buying a new (carry on sized) luggage for our souvenirs etc (to the tune of $120). So for $580 - I think we could have driven. My Mini gets 34 mpg and we could have brought anything we wanted. Also, we had 2 days that were "hurry up and wait". People say that it's 2 extra "wasted" days of driving. But I think that waiting to go to the airport and waiting for boarding, etc is "wasted" time. Chuck and I truly enjoy our drives together. It's a way for us to decompress and brings us closer together. Next trip - we are driving. The only concern for that is - it's December and I'm worried about winter weather. (esp through the mountains and in Michigan and Ohio)
The buses were meh. I didn't like that we practically had to go to DTD every single time we wanted to get somewhere. And then every time we did a transfer at DTD, we ran into bus driver shift change.
Food -
Ah - the FOOD! Love eating at Disney! We did the DxDP again. We really love this because we enjoy our 2 TS places. We did a lot of character meals as well (we've never done character meals before). There were places that we could have been happy just eating appetizers, or shared an entree. I also enjoyed a lot of new foods - tuna tartar, lobster, a lot of new seafoods. We also found "new" places that we earmarked for next time. We only had one real snafu - Kouzzina. That was just completely handled wrong. We were looking forward to that breakfast but alas, it was not to be. We also had a lot of left over credits. We used up our snacks by "raiding" Goofy's Candy Co. So we do figure that next time, since the cost of the dining plan is going up, we will probably just put money aside on a gift or travel card and get a TIW card.
Lodging -
We loved OKW! Absolutely loved it! It had that summer resort feeling and everyone was so friendly. The room is huge! We had a studio which has 2 queen beds! We did a surrey bike ride around the resort once and enjoyed the pool/hot tub every day. The resort is very laid back. But it was kind of removed from everything. It's not like being on the monorail or within walking distance. So it's a give and take. But for us, for this trip, it was perfect!
Entertainment -
We packed in a lot. We did Cirque and loved it. (My second time, Chuck's first) I rode EE for the first time! We went to MNSSHP for the first time. We had a couple of great PP meets! It was great! Now, naturally, you can't do EVERYTHING at Disney but we sure like to try!
Overall -
What can I say? It was AWESOME!!! Thanks ya'll for reading along!
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Really does sound like a great trip! I agree with you about all the wasted time involved in air travel. Not only wasted, but uncomfortable. boring and anxiety-producing! I don't drive, but if the train were cheaper I'd do that instead of flying.
Glad you enjoyed OKW. I love the lay-out of the Studios there. I had a great time reading along-- thanks for taking the time to share your vacation!
Nice wrap up. Glad you had such a good time! OKW is a lovely resort - it's a different way to experience WDW, but I do think it's a nice change every now and then.
Great final thoughts. At least you tried flying so if you need to go somewhere you can't drive you know you can do it. I am so glad you liked OKW. We really did. They must have changed the bus routes though, because we never stopped at DTD unless that was our actual destination.
I wanted to try the DXDP for my 40 th bday trip, but the cost and I just don't think it would work for our touring style. I feel like all we would be doing is eating and would still waste credits.
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for your final thoughts! I am so happy for you all that this trip was awesome! 
Can't wait for your next trip! 
PassPorter Guide Author
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Liz 
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