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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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My fiance and I are planning a DCL cruise to Alaska for our Honeymoon next June. We are spending two days in Disneyland before heading up to Vancouver to depart on the cruise.
Here's the thing....we both have NEVER been on a cruise at all!
We need some serious help! Anyone have any tips, tricks, suggestions for us.
We are big nature buffs, so naturally all of the excursions sound amazing to us. Any suggestions on those as well?
PLEASE HELP!!!!
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One half of a travel loving couple. We love Disney and the Disney Vacation Club! DVC owners at Aulani and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
You are in the right place and if you love nature you are going to flip for the Alaska cruise!!!!
There are a lot of Port Adventures but they will vary based on the season and the weather and of course the cost is a factor. Look them over carefully you can always mark them for later and after full payment add the one's you're interested in to your cruise shopping cart and edit from there. Here's a link to the cruise documents from my Alaskan cruise it might give you an idea of what each port has to offer, etc. The Practical Planner: Alaska Cruise Documents-Disney Wonder
Cruising is a lot of fun, it's my favorite kind of vacation. Once you get onboard everything is taken care of, no worrying about dining reservations or where you have to be when, etc. You will enjoy it! You will have a lot of questions, everyone does, but just relax and read along with everyone's experiences and you'll feel like a pro before you even get onboard!
Layers are key for Alaska and rain ponchos are a must!!!
First suggestion I have is to get the PassPorters Disney Cruise Line guidebook! It will answer a lot of your questions about cruising in general and cruising with Disney in particular. There's also a section on the Alaska ports of call as well as packing tips.
Next suggestion is to go to the Cruise Trip Report forum and read a few Alaska trip reports. There are a bunch from last year and this year. Included in the various trip reports will be their experiences on excursions, packing decisions, overall impressions of the cruise.
This may be your first cruise, but it probably won't be your last! I think an Alaska cruise is a perfect choice for a honeymoon for nature-lovers.
Let us know what has you worried. I have a feeling we'll be able to calm those nerves in short order.
The Alaska cruise is heaven for a nature lover, as is Vancouver. The tough part is whittling it down to what you can accomplish in three short days in your ports of call. The wonderful part is that during your full three days cruising the smooth waters of the Inside Passage, you'll be viewing magnificent forests and mountains, the occasional whale and other marine mammals, a glacier or two or three... Though there's nothing to be nervous about, chances are you'll be so captivated you'll forget what had you worried.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Definitely get a copy of the PassPorter Disney Cruise Line book - that will answer every question you have and probably loads that you didn't know you have!
You will love cruising Alaska with Disney - we did it last year and had an absolute ball. The only problem is picking excursions, there are just so many great ones. It's a bit like visiting a Disney park - you're only going to be able to sample a few, so you'll probably need a return cruise to sample some of the others, which is what we're planning to do.
We also went to Disneyland for a couple of days and flew up to Vancouver, same as you're planning. I don't know if you have flights booked yet, but if not, I can thoroughly recommend Air Canada - we found them to be the cheapest, once you added baggage fees in and they were a very good airline.
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The sights in Alaska are really astounding...it seems like all of those elements shouldn't be allowed to be in one place. Snow capped mountains, lush vegetation and rushing waterfalls along with water that looks like glass with gorgeous glaciers protruding out of the water it's amazing.
Definitely get a copy of the PassPorter Disney Cruise Line book - that will answer every question you have and probably loads that you didn't know you have!
You will love cruising Alaska with Disney - we did it last year and had an absolute ball. The only problem is picking excursions, there are just so many great ones. It's a bit like visiting a Disney park - you're only going to be able to sample a few, so you'll probably need a return cruise to sample some of the others, which is what we're planning to do.
We also went to Disneyland for a couple of days and flew up to Vancouver, same as you're planning. I don't know if you have flights booked yet, but if not, I can thoroughly recommend Air Canada - we found them to be the cheapest, once you added baggage fees in and they were a very good airline.
Thanks for this!! We are looking into Air lines and want to keep that cost as low as possible. We will def check out Air Canada.
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One half of a travel loving couple. We love Disney and the Disney Vacation Club! DVC owners at Aulani and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Grouse Mountain in Vancouver has a pretty extensive zip line setup (you could end up zipping through the clouds), and it'd leave your Alaskan ports open for other activities. However, if you'd rather do it in Alaska, my recommended strategy is to zip line in Ketchikan, as both Skagway and Juneau have more to offer than Ketchikan in the way of hiking, etc.
There's a hike/snowshoe excursion in Skagway that I'd love to do, but I can't recommend it from personal experience.
There's also an appealing hiking excursion in Juneau, but you might also consider going on your own up to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, and take advantage of the trail network there. There's a reasonably-priced shuttle bus that runs on an hourly schedule, so you won't be at the mercy of the guided tours (which never stop there long enough for a good walk, no less a hike).
Each port has a "major scenery" specialty. In Skagway, it's the White Pass & Yukon Railroad. The big deal in Juneau is helicopter flights up to the glaciers ($$$) and earth-based visits to Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center. Ketchikan is tops for sea plane flights out into Misty Fjords.
Then, of course, there is a pretty good book about all this (hint, hint)
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
We did the Mendenhall Glacier and Mount Roberts Tramway through the DCL tour and they gave us about 50-60minutes at the glacier and the "nugget run trail" (or something like that) is a 45 minute hike for brisk hikers (that's what the guide said). Just to give you an idea of how much you want to accomplish vs. tour excursion times for the glacier.
Do get a copy of Passporter. I read it twice before our 1st cruise and felt very prepared when we boarded. Read these boards non stop. Great tips and info. This might be overkill but I got a a sectioned spiral notebook and had headings like shipboard tips, excursion tips, port tips etc. It was easy for me to reference while planning and I could highlight things etc. One piece of advice that I think helps me stay organized in our stateroom is the over-the-door shoe organizer. We kept camera chargers there, KTTW cards/lanyards there, kept small electronics there. It really helped out. When we did AK in '11 we did one of the "hop on, hop off" tours of the city and enjoyed it. We spent lots of time at Granville Island and did the additional tour through Stanley Park and the Capillano Suspension Bridge. Enjoyed them all! In Skagway we did the Yukon & White Pass tour but through an independent tour company, Chilkoot Charter & Tours. They did an excellent job and I would recommend them. I choose them vs. DCL for that trip because of the smaller tour group size (there were 10 in our group) and they included several photo op stops along the way. Our tour was the bus up (small vehicle IE: the buses you ride to pick up your rental car) and the train ride back. In Juneau we did one of DCL's dog sledding tours. Pricey but so worth it. It was one of their more expensive options but not the dog musher for a day. We helicoptered to a glacier (OMG, the views!), spent time with the dogs, had our ride which was about 20 minutes, spent a little more time with the dogs then reboarded the helicopters. I'm so glad we did that. In Ketchikan we did the Rainforest Sanctuary Walk through DCL as I wanted our DDs (then 13 and 15) to learn about the temperate rainforest. We all enjoyed it. Learned quite a bit. Saw salmon and eagles on the tour, learned about eagles and owls at their raptor center and watched a totem carver at work (the cedar small in his shop was wonderful). I also read a few tour books for ideas for plan B while in each port in case our excursions didn't work out too. It's a wonderful cruise, the scenery is amazing. The fact that it's light out until close to bedtime is neat. Seeing a glacier, wow! We'll definitely do this one again. Enjoy and happy planning.
All of this information is great so far! Does anyone know if you can use the swimming pools on the ship? I mean Alaska is cold right? So are you able to swim or is it too cold?
Sounds silly, I know. I just want to get the most out of the trip.
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One half of a travel loving couple. We love Disney and the Disney Vacation Club! DVC owners at Aulani and Animal Kingdom Lodge.
The temps during the day vary a lot from cruise to cruise. The cruise the week before mine they had warm temps and sunshine. On my cruise it was mostly overcast and quite cold. People did swim, though! There were people in sweatshirts on deck, and one or two people in swimsuits in the pools and hottubs.
The pools are heated, and it's not particularly breezy on the pool deck, but only the hardy tend to hit the pools. I was on an Alaska cruise on another line, which had a retractable roof over the pool. Even with the air around the pool a steamy 80 degrees, the pool still didn't get a whole lot of use. I think most folks just don't think about swimming after looking at a pile of snow and ice. Hot tubs, though, are another story.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
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