Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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04-29-2010, 02:51 PM
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#30
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 1,852
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Final Thoughts
This was an amazing trip of a lifetime. Looking back I still can’t believe that I did it all. Get out of your backyard! That is my message. Get out and travel. It makes your life so much richer. Is money an issue? Peru would be an excellent choice. If you can afford a trip to Walt Disney World or Disneyland, you can afford a trip to Peru.
If you can discover alternative ways to experience a destination, I say go for it. We could have taken a plane or a train from Puno to Cusco. But I feel I would have missed out. Just looking out my bus window provided insight into modern day Peru, never mind the learning gained from our guide.
The areas of Peru that are most visited by North Americans and Europeans is called the Gringo Trail. Craig and I stuck to the Gringo Trail and found it still to be a challenge. If you are a shopper, visit the sights we did. I have never seen so many opportunities for shopping!
Besides exploring the world, try something new and push yourself. I am so happy that I challenged myself with the Adventure Trek. I am not recommending that trek for everyone, but I do encourage you to experience things that push your envelope. It will reward your soul.
I highly recommend Llama Path as a tour operator in Peru. Even if you do not want to go on a hike, they can arrange all sorts of travel plans within Peru including internal flights. Using a Peruvian travel agent is a huge money saver. If you are creating your own plans, I highly recommend using tripadvisor.com. Receiving insights from previous hotel guests was incredibly helpful.
Peru is a beautiful country. I wish I had a camera crew with me documenting my trip. Amazing, amazing scenery everywhere we turned.
Carry toilet paper with you at all times. I used about 2 rolls over the 11 days. The vast majority of bathrooms do not stock toilet paper. Additionally, do not flush toilet paper down the toilet. Their plumbing can not handle this. There is always a waste basket available for the collection of used toilet paper.
Mate de coca was essential to surviving altitude sickness and was a constant in our diet through our time in Peru.
The Peruvian people are awesome. We consistently encountered the friendliest people. Taxi drivers, especially, tended to be wonderful ambassadors for their country. All of the people we met were very interested in us and our experiences. We were basically two English monoglots traveling among a sea of Spanish speakers. We didn’t let this interfere with our enjoyment. In fact, gestures and games of charades led to wonderful moments with the locals.
We just wished we had more time. We wanted more time in Lake Titicaca to experience a more authentic connection with the locals. We felt we needed more time to explore the Sacred Valley and Cusco. Give us more than just one day to explore Machu Picchu.
Now we want to visit the Amazon in Peru and see an incredible variety of wildlife. We love hiking so hiking through the Colca Canyon and around the volcano Mt. Misti is on our long list of travel destinations. Yep, definitely want to go back to Peru and go beyond the Gringo Trail.
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