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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Planning a 7 day Disney vacation in January 2009. Debating between 7 day Disney Cruise or 4 day Disney Cruise / 3 Day Disney World package. I'm leaning toward the 7 day cruise. My concern with the land/sea package is that we will be losing almost an entire day to packing up at our Disney Hotel, transferring to the cruise line, and getting settled in on the ship. Seems like a lot of wasted time but I'm not sure if my concerns are valid or not. I'd appreciate any advice or opinions. Thanks.
My vote is always for a longer cruise... the longer the better! But that doesn't always fit into someone's needs or schedule so the land/sea combo is a great idea.
When doing the land/sea package, I don't look at it as 'losing' an entire day, more of a 'transitition' day to the ship. It won't be a full park day, although with a little planning you can squeeze in a few hours at a theme park before you need to head down to the port. You'll be able to board the ship @noon and can have lunch and explore until the ship set sails. So it's really not a lost day.
The transfer time is minimal, and very seemless when using DCL transfers. We had our luggage ready inside our room (at AKL), had a wonderful breakfast at Boma then went to AK for a few hours. Came back to AKL and boarded the DCL bus to the port. As we had already checked in for cruise when we checked in at the resort, it couldn't have been any easier as just walked onto the ship.
As wonderful as the land/sea package is, I have to make the argument for the longer 7-night cruise. There is just SO MUCH to see and do (and EAT!) that it's hard to get your full appreciation of the ship during a 3-or-4 night cruise.
You'll enjoy the cruise no matter which one you choose!
__________________
Lynn
Yes, I am a Disney Addict... and I'd rather be cruising!.
I agree with Lynn, the longer the better, 3 or 4 days you would be just getting to know your way around the ship and making new friends and Boom got to go, with 7 days you can take more time to do the things you want plus relax!! Maybe a couple days at WDW than go on a 7 day Cruise!
Bryand
If you've cruised before, then you know the longer the better, but if you've never cruised before, 3 days is enough for you to know if you like cruising or not. Like Lynn said, don't think of it as a loss of time, think of it as going from one happy place to another. Either way enjoy.
I don't think I see anywhere how old your kids are or anything, but my experience with a 3 yr old in particular was that we should've just done the 7 day cruise instead of doing a land/sea. Ultimately because we ended up LOVING The cruise and wishing we had more time on the ship, and because the characters were her biggest thing and they were on the ship too. Don't get me wrong-- WDW was magical and wonderful too but in hindsight we should've done the longer cruise.
Don't feel like you can only do a 3/4 land sea thingy. We booked the 3 day cruise (not long enough!) and then separately booked a 5-night WDW stay. We did that b/c we wanted to stay at the contemporary and that was not one of the options for the land/sea pkg, and because we knew 4 days would not be long enough at the World for us. It was a little tricky on the transfers--we had to get ourselves and our luggage over to the Poly to catch the cruise transfer, and we had to really work to make sure our luggage got into the hands of someone at the Poly who knew what to do with them (they almost got stuck in the bellroom but fortunately I kept asking for the mgr who quickly got them to the luggage truck for the port). Other than that it was seamless and got us what we wanted-the amt of time at the parks we wanted, the hotel we wanted, and the cruise. I definately felt that the 3 day cruise was not long enough-- so if were going to go back and do it again I'd do a 7 day cruise or at least the 4 day cruise and create-my-own-land itinerary.
I agree with Angie. You can always book your own "package". But, given a choice, I'll either take seven days at the parks or seven days on a cruise. To me doing the Land/Sea feels like "a little dash of this, a sprinkle of that". Great for a sauce, but not for the entree.
Right now I don't have the time, but after I graduate we'll probably take a longer cruise. Either a 10/11 day Southern or a Med cruise. Of course, since I graduate in August 2009, I've got a bit of a wait.
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But that doesn't always fit into someone's needs or schedule so the land/sea combo is a great idea.
Brenda
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