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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 read the boards almost daily, study my PP until it's wrinkled and yet until those hours come out that we'll be there, it's hard to feel fully "prepared/planned". Does anyone else feel this way. I feel like I can't make any concrete PS because I don't know the exact hours. I've tried looking at last years, but I still won't know and what if the parks are open later due to the festivities and oh, do you think the restaurants are closed during EMH. I understand they'd probably keep some of the counter service open and food stands, but what about restaurants. Even trying to schedule the times to be at parades is hard in relation to not knowing when they'll happen and then working sit down meals around those parades. <SIGH> Guess I'm feeling overwhelmed and I know my TA needs my PS plans before the 90 days. Well thanks for letting me vent.
I know exactly what you mean. I was there just a few months ago - the frustration of having to make your PS's without the benefit of any park hours. Hang in there; it gets better!!! Before you know it your trip will be just days away!!!
I always change stuff around later anyway. I made my last one yesterday, and we go in less than 3 weeks! I've only kept 1 the same from 90 days out! It's not "set in stone." I just try and remember that. We're going with my daughter's softball team this time, and everyone else is so frustrated just trying to pick out what park tickets to buy, etc. There is just so much there and so much to do, so you have to do some research, but not overthink it. It's a hard balance!
I hear ya! Right now I'm trying to figure out which parks we'll be in, on which days, so that I can make some PS's. I'm past my 90 days, (76 now!) and have made only 2 so far. AND, I'm not even sure about those 2!
But, I know that when it's all settled, I can sit back and enjoy.
I don't really get to make many PS's(ADR now?)b/c my DH is a spontaneous kinda guy and I make him a little crazy if I start setting too much of our trip in concrete. I'm used to this now and really like the flexibility of eating when we're hungry, where ever we happen to be. Don't get me wrong, if it were up to me I would have the entire trip scheduled but have learned to mellow out. Good luck with the planning!
I know exactly how you feel. I'm going to be coming up on my 90 day mark real soon. I've picked just about all my restaurants and character meals but it's so hard to know if your going to feel hungry and ready to eat at a particular time. I've just decided that I'm going to make all the reservations at the 90 day mark and then when were there I can always change things around or cancel if we're not hungry.
Not knowing the park times or even how crowded it's going to be also adds to the frustration. I think Disney really needs to work on having their park hours out by the 90 day mark.
Yep, I went through the "what if we're not hungry at that time". And I know, certain places are notorious for not being able to get in the same day. Like we are doing CRT for our Anniversary Dinner. Well, that one would be a MAJOR disappointment if we didn't make it. Oh and Le Cellier. My husbands favorite food - RED MEAT. That's a must. <SIGH> OK, I'll try not to stress out too much. Thanks for the advice and "feeling my pain" with me. LOL
I feel the same way too - I had all my plans and PSs sorted and then they changed one of the EMH days on me so I had to change things round. Sending lots of planning and PS
Yeppers! I'm still over 100 days out and I'm starting to feel the planning pressure (mainly due to the changes in the AP policy ).. Now's the point when I have to force myself to let go and just let a few days pass without being Disney obsessive or I'll get major burnout. (I hate stressing about anything, and I'll essentially just shutdown on whatever the stressful subject is because NOTHING is worth me freaking out over.)
But yeah, I totally get where you're coming from.. had the same problem on my last trip.
I know exactly what you mean. I had all our restaurants pplanned out and set about 6 months ago! Then I kept changing them, and worrying about whether or not the EMH days and park hours would chanage (which would effect our PS's). However, when the 90-day point came I made our PS's and that was that, we were all set... so I thought. I would up changing our PS's SO many times throughout the last two months. Restaurants I was once PSYCHED about now aren't a big deal to me, and vice-versa. I have PS's and confirmation numbers under our name at all different restaurants at all different times! I think I finaly have it all set, and hopefully we'll stick with our schedule.
My mom and dad don't agree with the PS's at all, they're more go-with-the-flow. I'm SO not like that, I love to have every little thing planned out and know exactly what we're doing. Planning stuff like that makes the time before the trip go by faster, and the trip itself run smoother, in my opinion. We weren't going to make PS's at first, they think you can just walk up to any restaurant and get right in (and we're going in July! ) My dad's friend who goes down to Disney ever year and is a DVC member finally talked him into it, and things are finally set. It's very overwhelming though... who would have thought planning a vacation would be so stressful?!
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I know exactly what you mean. I was there just a few months ago - the frustration of having to make your PS's without the benefit of any park hours. Hang in there; it gets better!!! Before you know it your trip will be just days away!!! 
).. Now's the point when I have to force myself to let go and just let a few days pass without being Disney obsessive or I'll get major burnout. (I hate stressing about anything, and I'll essentially just shutdown on whatever the stressful subject is because NOTHING is worth me freaking out over.)
I think I finaly have it all set, and hopefully we'll stick with our schedule.
) My dad's friend who goes down to Disney ever year and is a DVC member finally talked him into it, and things are finally set. It's very overwhelming though... who would have thought planning a vacation would be so stressful?!
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At the moment, I'm busy changing around our plans for December!!!! 
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