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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well, I really should be packing and doing all of those other last minute things, but if I start a TR then I'll have to finish it, right?
I find this message board such a valuable resource for planning my Disney trips, but I always feel a little "out there on my own" when planning other trips. It's hard to find the details I want, or at least hard to find them in one place easily. It's also hard to find many people who can chime in with good advice. I crave that with my trips, and I hope I can help someone else with planning a DC trip by doing this TR.
So here we go..........
The Trip: July 12-15, 2014 (4 days, 3 nights)
The Cast: Me -Holly 47, DH -Ted 49, DS -Josh 12 (turning 13 on the 15th)
Transportation: JetBlue Hartford/Springfield to Reagan National Airport, the DC Metro
Hotel: The Quincy
Itinerary/Must Do: Smithsonian Natural History, Air and Space, & American History Museums, the National Zoo, Monuments and Memorials (all the biggies), the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Newseum.
How this trip came about: A Facebook friend posted a link back in March -Jet Blue was opening a new route from BDL to Reagan National and to promote it they were offering $30 one way fares booked that day only. $30!!!! We couldn't drive for that!!! I went to Jet Blue's site and discovered that the $30 was only on Tues and Wed. travel but that's still doable. DH didn't want to take a full week off so we decided on Sat to Tues. Full price one way was only $60. With gas prices and tolls, (and parking in DC) we still couldn't drive for less. The airfare was booked and a trip was born!
I started a hotel search right away. One of the biggest problems I was having was finding a room that could take 3. Some hotels were already completely booked for our dates, some were too far out from the Mall area, some looked a little sketchy (and the reviews weren't great), some were just too darn expensive! I finally found a good deal at a hotel called the Quincy. It had good reviews, was close to 3 metro stops (important as that's our in-DC transportation), not far from the White House and National Mall and I got it for $179 a night. Well, an average of $179 a night -Sat night was much cheaper than Sun. and Mon. With all taxes, the total came to something like $201 a night. Not bad given the location. I hope we'll be pleased.
I did a bit of research as to what we would like to see but I haven't started planning in earnest until this week. One thing to note, DS will be going on a school trip to DC next year so we decided to pass on some of the things that we know will be a part of his trip (like Arlington). We know he'll go to the museums but we figure we'll be able to see more and see what we prefer if we go on our own.
Well, I should get packing . And firm up my itinerary , and probably clean my house If I have time later today, I'll post my day-by-day plans. Hopefully they will be firmed up by then.......
What an incredible deal on the flights! I'm excited you are doing this as we've not been to DC since 1990 something. My sister wants us to go some time with them, and I have a feeling if any planning is to be done, I'll be doing it.
Wow, $30. round trip is too good to be true. When SWA had $29.00 fares to Baltimore from MHT, I did several weekends and even a few one night trips (and two day trips for work).
With such a short flight it is a great quick trip.
Congrats on the great flights. Hope you guys have a great time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
What an incredible deal on the flights! I'm excited you are doing this as we've not been to DC since 1990 something. My sister wants us to go some time with them, and I have a feeling if any planning is to be done, I'll be doing it.
I hope I can give you a few ideas for your plans (we are going to the zoo and I know that, as a fellow AK fan, you might be interested in that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Sounds like it'll be a great trip. Great deals on flights and hotel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Holly! Great job on the airfare!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
Great start! We have been researching for a trip there as well. That is an awesome price on the flights and the Quincy!
I'll be sure to pass on any tips and helpful hints I come across. I am so used to Passporters always having tips for WDW. I really miss that when I go other places.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntermom
Wow, $30. round trip is too good to be true. When SWA had $29.00 fares to Baltimore from MHT, I did several weekends and even a few one night trips (and two day trips for work).
With such a short flight it is a great quick trip.
Well, $30 RT would be too good to be true! It was actually $30 one-way but as we decided not to stay a whole week, our RT cost is about $90 per person. Still cheaper than driving. The flight is only a little over an hour, and we have an early flight in and a late flight home so we'll have almost a full 4 days to explore.
Well, we're here! Just a few quick notes. I promise to do a more detailed write up when we're home (a full TR).
-Flight was great! We arrived early (total flying time about 50 minutes )
-Use the Metro in DC and get the Smartcard (which we bought at the airport station) saves you $1 per trip!
-The Quincy: Several pleasant surprises with our hotel. First, our room was ready when we arrived around 8:30 am!! The room is big (and pretty "hip" as DS says), we have what I would call a full kitchen, 2 big closets, and a sitting area.
-Went on an Old Town Trolley hop-on-hop-off tour, saw some sights. Hopped off twice.
-Saw the Air and Space Museum today and the American History Museum, Ate at the Native American Museum.
Well, we're headed to the zoo today and we have a Monuments by Moonlight tour booked for tonight. And I got a notice from JetBlue saying they are "preparing for bad weather along the east coast and if I want, I can change my upcoming flight with no change fees". I've heard there may be thunderstorms but I didn't know they would be that bad. Maybe I'll have more than 4 days in DC....
Sounds like a great start! I have a friend who lives near there and she said they were supposed to have "extremely dangerous storms" per the news link she posted. I think I might move my flight. Be safe!
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. One thing to note, DS will be going on a school trip to DC next year so we decided to pass on some of the things that we know will be a part of his trip (like Arlington). We know he'll go to the museums but we figure we'll be able to see more and see what we prefer if we go on our own.
. And firm up my itinerary 
, and probably clean my house 
If I have time later today, I'll post my day-by-day plans. Hopefully they will be firmed up by then.......
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I'm excited you are doing this as we've not been to DC since 1990 something. My sister wants us to go some time with them, and I have a feeling if any planning is to be done, I'll be doing it. 
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