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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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If you're going on the 4 day cruise, I too recommend skipping Nassau. While there are a couple of things to see, as a whole it seemed a little "seedy". On Castaway Cay we enjoyed the bike ride and snorkeling. We're taking recommendations from the boards here and will do the sting ray excursion on our next cruise. We tried the banana boat ride on Castaway Cay and while it seems like fun, ours tipped as we were heading out and a fair distance from shore sending everyone in the water. That was enough for our kids and we headed in. We didn't do any of the spa treatments. They seem a little over priced to me but we may do something next time we cruise. We did the late dinner seating which I would recommend. It gave us plenty of time to enjoy the day and not be rushed to get to dinner. We saw the early show, enjoyed some time at Studio Sea and then headed to dinner. To tide us over, we'd grab something up on deck 9 around 4:30. You can also enjoy some room service. If you choose the late seating be sure to do a little packing before heading out the final night. We returned a little late that night and were rushed to get packed and have our bags ready.
Touch it! You want to read all about what you can do before finalizing your plans. The book will help you get ideas and decide what to do. There are recommendations on ages, etc.
I was limited on excursions because the cutoff for many things is either 8 or 5 and my DS was 3 at the time. If you have younger kids, IMO, either skip Nassau or check them into Oceaneers and you go without them (unless you do Atlantis). It's not a great place for kids - both entertainment-wise and safety-wise (having to walk on narrow streets with traffic).
If you let us know which cruise (Wonder or Magic - Western or Eastern), people will be able to fill in more.
Your PassPorter or the DCL website. If you haven't registered at DCL - do so. You can start a wishlist, which makes booking excursions easier. They also list all of the excursion offered through them for each cruise (you can go through direct companies, but that takes more research).
My Dear Wife (DW) booked our cruise (land / sea package) and she did not know anything about a lot of stuff -- free room service, all meals included, what excursions are available, etc. and then I showed her the PP for DCL!
BTW -- I think a lot of spouses don't want to even think about the trip until it is MUCH closer to the date, but you have to work out what you want to do so you can book them as soon as you are allowed to, usually 75 days out.
When I ordered my PP, I got a PDF that was more of a "tips" format - suggestions on everything. But it didn't have the explainations that the main PP has. If I'm wrong, then I understand using the PDF for the beginning - however, you may want to take a quick peek at your PP to make sure you aren't missing info at this crucial planning time. (Am I fixating on the "read your PP" thing? I think I might be...)
Yep I have that one too!! This is the PDF version of the PP. When I bought the book it gave me the option to download the PDF so I did! I have used this copy to make all of my notes in.. I think this is the best for me because I like to take notes on any and everything I can and I don't think I would have room in my PP for that. (I use the back of each page to make my notes on) I'm obsessive I guess!!!
Yep I have that one too!! This is the PDF version of the PP. When I bought the book it gave me the option to download the PDF so I did! I have used this copy to make all of my notes in.. I think this is the best for me because I like to take notes on any and everything I can and I don't think I would have room in my PP for that. (I use the back of each page to make my notes on) I'm obsessive I guess!!!
That's right! I forgot Jennifer and Co. offered to do that when you buy online or register your copy. Yes, the passholder level allows access to MANY more downloads for DCL and WDW stuff... Very helpful, even in addition to the print version.
I used my Passporter religiously when planning our family's cruise last year. It was our first cruise and it was wonderful!!! (we did the 7 day Western Caribbean on the Magic). I used A LOT of tips I found on these boards and in the book - like the one about bringing your own case of H2O on board (our friends who went with us must have skipped that part and ordered a case of water when they first got on board for $35 compared to the $5 that we spent in Cape Canaveral). We are going again this upcoming December (the one over Christmas) and we can't WAIT! :-)
I used A LOT of tips I found on these boards and in the book - like the one about bringing your own case of H2O on board (our friends who went with us must have skipped that part and ordered a case of water when they first got on board for $35 compared to the $5 that we spent in Cape Canaveral). We are going again this upcoming December (the one over Christmas) and we can't WAIT! :-)
I will be getting water too! I am big on water and I don't want to spend a bunch of $$ on-board for it. I plan on stopping in Cape Canaveral to get it also.. Are there grocery stores there?
We went on our first DC in March of this year. (DD-7, DS-13, DH and myself). I was so glad I took the advice of the Passporter Cruise Clues and took an over the door shoe holder. We hung our shoe holder on the back of one of the bathroom doors and put all of our toiletries into it. It kept our bathroom so organized! I would also tell you to take fun magnets to decorate the outside of your cabin door. We went to Home Depot and acquired some of the Disney paint sample (in the shape of a Mickey Head) and I put them on self-stick magnets I purchased at Michael's Craft Store. Each member of my family also selected a "picture" from the web (DD picked Tink, DS picked Donald...etc). We found a picture on the web, I printed it and put those on magnets also. It was fun and the best benefit was even my 7 year old could locate the room.
Last, if you like cheese and fruit, order the All Hands on Deck from room service. It is yummy and a nice snack to hold kids in between lunch and dinner. Besides, how cool is it to order room service and to only have to pay the tip!
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