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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 haven't been able to say that since 2004, but there, I just said it!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!
I just today put a hold on a vacation package through a Disney specializing travel agency. The plans are just a skeleton right now, waiting for some flesh to be put on it.
11/8-12 4 nights at Pop Century standard room, with 4-day park hopper pass, including the Dining Plan and Magical Express MCO-WDW
11/12-16 4 night Very Merrytime Bahamian Disney Cruise on The Dream in a deluxe inside stateroom with magical porthole, visiting Nassau and Castaway Cay
That's really it right now. A little background on me -- I'm pretty familiar with Disney World . . . as it existed in 2004. I know that's going to sound crazy to all of you guys here. No, I didn't abandon my love of all things Disney. I've been listening to podcasts and watching videos since then. I simply went through a long period, from 2006 until 2013, when I did not have full-time permanent employment, so I never had the ability to take a paid vacation anywhere nor the financial wherewithal to go to Disneyworld. Since then, I've used my vacations to visit family in the Philippines and to travel to Europe with my parents, having never been to Europe. But this year, I'm going to use some of the money I've been saving the past several years to finally reintroduce myself to the most magical place on earth and its associated boats. I've read and heard on podcasts how wonderful Disney cruises are, and have always wanted to go on one. I'm also susceptible to illness so have been hesitant to go on other companies' cruises due to all the stories of illnesses on them (Disney has never seemed to have these problems, which I chalk up to their heightened attention to cleanliness).
So my focus for the land portion of the trip, since I have only one day per park, plus maybe a few extra hours if I finish one of them early, will be on rides/attractions that were not there (or were there but have been totally changed) in 2004. I do not do thrill rides. (Part of my medical situation is that my endocrine system basically doesn't work. One aspect of that is that my pituitary gland does not stimulate the adrenal glands to produce their hormones -- cortisone and adrenaline. The latter of those is what allows people to survive those. I once rode Tower of Terror and nearly passed out afterward. Since then I've decided thrill rides are simply not for me.) This is why Disney is the only theme parks I go to -- I simply don't see the point in paying $50+ to go to an amusement park where I will be unable to enjoy 40% of the offered attractions/rides. (I think the most "thrilling" attractions I am up for are things like Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom, Star Tours at Studios, or Stitch at Magic Kingdom, which don't really involve the kind of motions that require adrenaline.)
I intend to buy the live guides on this site and then print stuff out to put in my travel pouch (an 8.5 x 11 plastic document holder with snaps where I put travel stuff on trips I take, such as airline reservations, my TSA pre-check letter, etc.) or in a small binder.
So, I would love any suggestions for must-dos, must-experiences for this trip. I don't know whether the second weekend in November would be too early to expect the Christmas stuff to be going on (Mickey's Very Merry, Candlelight Processional, etc.), but would love to do them if they are. I saw the Candlelight Processional and loved it. (So much so that, as a cantor in my local church, I found sheet music for "Il est né," a French carol I heard at the Candlelight Processional and subsequently did it with my organist as an English/French duet prior to Mass on Christmas Eve)
I am buying the dining plan, and hope to do late character breakfasts as "brunch" for my daily table service meal. (My last trip, I did this even without the dining plan -- I would have a pastry at the hotel food court in the morning with some juice, then go ride some rides and then go to a late seating at Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey's for breakfast, finding them already putting out some lunch items so I could make it "brunch")
So, that's the outline of the trip -- send the suggestions please for how to make this a truly magical reintroduction to WDW! I can't wait! Between now and then, I hope to see the University of Connecticut women's basketball team win its twelfth national championship in Columbus this April!
sorry this is so long, but if you've stayed with me this far, I look forward to your advice.
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