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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have been reading ALOT of posts, and I see that many of you enjoy extras like massage/spa treatments, AKL safari and other adventures, fantasmic packages (what exactly is that?!) and many, many more. How do I find info about each of these... costs, how to book, when to book, etc... Thanks.
fantasmic dining package allows you to gain access to a reserved seating area (the right side) so you don't have to stand in line for an hour+ during busier seasons. i don't think it's all that necessary in off-peak seasons.
DAK has special safaris, but all of them require you're at least a concierge level guest (the sunrise/sunset ones require that you're a concierge level guest @ AKL and don't come cheap either)
there's a ton of other stuff, like pirate cruises, grand gatherings, parasailing, fishing, boat rentals, wishes/illumination cruises, tea parties of varying levels (and prices), etc. too many to even fathom really.
it never hurts to ask here. i have yet to see a guide book that even begins to explore all the options (i think tourguidemike.com comes closest) or call 407-WDW-INFO and they should be able to assist you with anything you want to know.
there's plenty of free stuff to do around the world too. mousesavers.com actually has a pretty neat page of free and inexpensive 'extra' things to do:
actually, it doesn't seem as great as it used to which is odd..
what i was hoping it'd mention is most (if not all) of the deluxe resorts offer scheduled tours. AKL (which offers a daily tour) also allows for night-time viewing of its resident animals, complete with night-vision goggles.
you'll also find a wealth of information on allearsnet.com.
If you haven't already I would purchase a Passporter a lot of the things I have learned about extras came from that book. and then also I would recommend reading www.allearsnet.com they have lots of information.
I couldn't agree more. With the passporter, I learned about a lot of different things that I hadn't really thought about and I've been to Disney World more times than I can count at this point. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
This year we're doing a couple of tours, like the Around the World on a Segway one at EPCOT.
Just keep in mind that some of these extras have to be paid for up front, like the tours, and some of the specialty meal/shows.
Have fun planning, there's a lot of fun extras to do!
Three great Disney sources (IMO) are these boards, the Passporter book, and allearsnet.com.
Remember that you can't do everything in one trip so pick the things you really want to do and then plan another trip for all of the other things you didn't get to do!
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