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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our trip info at-a-glance:
When: September 28-October 7
Where: Beach Club Villas/Animal Kingdom Lodge
Who: Just the two of us (we can make it if we try…) – DH and I
Brief Intros for those of you who don’t “know” us…
DH – David (41). We’ve been married for 13 years and love traveling to Disney together. The first 3 vacations we ever took together were to Disney World, which included our honeymoon. David loves rides and is more commando-style than I am. I am hoping to slow him down a bit on this trip!
Me – Shayne (39). I took my first trip to Disney in 1982 with my parents when there were still separate tickets for each ride and MK was the only park. We went back twice while I was in college, and that’s when my Disney obsession was really cemented. This will be my 12th trip to Disney World.
David and I at DHS -- Feb. 2011
And “here we go!”….
I am turning 40 on September 11. Yes, lucky me. When David asked what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday, a trip to Disney seemed like a no-brainer. We have always wanted to experience the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, so we started toying with the idea of a trip in late September (still my birthday month!).
We are also runners and decided that we'd like to give the Wine & Dine Half-Marathon a try. This half-marathon usually falls on the first weekend of F&WF, so we thought we'd arrive the day before the race and stay for 5 or 6 days.
We are DVC members and wanted to stay at BCV, our home resort, for its proximity to Epcot. Exactly 11 months from our desired check-in date, we got on the horn with Member Services and were able to score a 1BR villa for September 28 through October 4. David actually wanted to stay a whole week, but I didn’t want to borrow points from our 2013 use year to do so. :
I am the type of person that doesn't do anything without researching it to death first. Since we had never been to F&WF before, I jumped in with both feet trying to learn everything I could. Of course, the 2011 F&WF was still going on at the time we made our reservations, so I started trying to soak up all the information I could find. On the Disney Food Blog, I read a review of the Party for the Senses. It sounded awesome, and I called David and said, "This sounds like a great way to celebrate a 40th birthday, doesn't it?" (hint, hint)
As I researched more, I figured out that Party for the Senses would not occur on the first Saturday of the festival, but would likely occur the next Saturday. Darn, we were scheduled to leave on Thursday. So the wheels started turning in our heads , and David proposed that we do a split stay and take this opportunity to try a resort we’d never stayed at before.
He asked me where I’d like to go, and I immediately said AKL. I have always wanted to stay there, but we haven’t done it yet mostly because we are typically more focused on Epcot and MK and so we stay in those resorts. Because it was my birthday, he wanted to treat me to club level, and when we found out that there are safari experiences open only to club level guests, we were sold. David called and got us a club level room at Jambo House for Thursday, October 4 through Sunday, October 7.
And so we had the parameters of our trip set. We have never had a Disney trip this long, and I cannot wait!
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About This Page: 
When David asked what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday, a trip to Disney seemed like a no-brainer. We have always wanted to experience the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, so we started toying with the idea of a trip in late September (still my birthday month!). 
David actually wanted to stay a whole week, but I didn’t want to borrow points from our 2013 use year to do so. 
:
Since we had never been to F&WF before, I jumped in with both feet trying to learn everything I could. Of course, the 2011 F&WF was still going on at the time we made our reservations, so I started trying to soak up all the information I could find. On the Disney Food Blog, I read a review of the Party for the Senses. It sounded awesome, and I called David and said, "This sounds like a great way to celebrate a 40th birthday, doesn't it?" (hint, hint) 
Darn, we were scheduled to leave on Thursday. So the wheels started turning in our heads 
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