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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'll be looking forward to hearing what you think of it. I'm an Apple lover also but I have some reservations about this. It's lacking a few things that I'm not sure I can live without. No USB port and no SSD. I have a 16 GB iPhone and can only fit 6 movies. I'm not sure if I will be satisfied with that on the iPad.
Definitely looking forward to playing around on it in the store though!
I'm also looking forward to playing with it before deciding.
Yes, it's a bit clunky on USB and SSD (hey, my prime camera uses CF cards, and there's no way anyone would put that on a compact, portable device these days) - those can be done using the dock cable and/or the camera camera connection kit, but dangling cables is definitely not my first choice.
I'm waiting to try out the "full-size" virtual keyboard. As a writer, I need a full-size, touch typing-capable keyboard (hunt-and-peck drives me bonkers). I loved my old Palm with the folding Palm keyboard, and anything more compact than a laptop is a big help on aircraft tray tables. If the virtual keyboard works for me, it'll make a big difference in how I feel about the iPad. I don't really like the feel of the current crop of Apple "standard" keyboards (they say the Apple wireless will work with the iPad, but it doesn't fold....), so I may end up liking the virtual keyboard even better, you never know.
The Apple iPod protective case looks particularly nice, as they've included a keyboarding configuration. What I'm hoping for is a way to attach a tether of some sort - either hang it from neck/over shoulder for moving about my day, or just a safety wrist strap. If you've ever fallen asleep in a chair while reading a novel, you know what I mean.
The lack of a camera, which is understandable at some levels (it'd be a big thing to hold up and aim - like an old-fashioned Speed Grafix or 4x5 view camera), but it means I still need two devices when doing field research (reference photos). Well, I'd still have a prime camera with me, for illustration-quality photos, but I don't really need it for photos of signs, menus, etc. - it's nice to have that on the same device, with an easy way to link the photos to associated text notes. I wonder if someone's going to come up with a clamp-on camera module? Even better, I'll love to be able to use a full-size camera and iPad/iPhone in tandem, with a "live feed" of each shot via Bluetooth or WiFi. Kind of the best of both worlds.
And talking about carrying multiple things... no built-in phone, so I'd still have to carry a phone, camera, and iPad during field work. Gee, even though it makes no sense to hold a 9.5" x 7.5" iPad 3G up to my ear to make/answer a phone call, it could still be done quite nicely with a headset (Bluetooth, of course). Wanna bet they make a full-fledged phone an option by next year?
The iPhone has nearly everything, but isn't perfect (for me) because a full-size keyboard (like the Palm folding keyboard) isn't yet an option. If really, outrageously good voice-to-text was an option, then I'd be able to live with the iPhone for field research.... Maybe.
And then there's the e-book thing. Definitely ready for a real e-book reader, since I already read in bed using my old Mac Powerbook G4 (a hand-me-down from Jennifer, who always gets the good stuff first ). And color will be really nice, rather than a black and white Kindle or Nook. But... will I be happier with a Kindle plus an iPhone, an iPad plus iPhone, iPad plus garden-variety cell phone... Only time will tell.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I was excited to see the IPad announcement, will be even happier to see the actual IPad in use. We live kind of in the boonies (even though it is Metro Atlanta) and AT&T isn't a real option here...unless you don't really care about getting phone reception at home!
I like the look of the IPhone and would love to be able to play with one. I have a Blackberry with T mobile...I LOVE my IPod! I have never, ever used a Mac computer, have always used the PC...
I originally saw mo need for a Kindle, until my daughter got one for Christmas. I love hers...I said all that to say this, If Apple would make the IPhone and IPad work with other carriers, I would be first in line. But as it is, with AT&T having a 'monopoly' on the carrier service, it will never be an option for me...sadly!
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I personally feel it's going to be a bust. It's an oversized IPhone without the phone aspect. How would you really type on the thing fast? I use thumbs with my iPhone. The thing still doesn't support Flash. The $499 price only gets you 16 GBs.
The only way I'd use it is with the keyboard attachment and then I'd rather have a laptop. Terribly unimpressed by it. Apple is so good. They could have done better.
I will be looking into doing whatever it takes to get PassPorters into the proper format for use on the iPad.
You know, thinking about it ... I have a suggestion for either (a) a standalone app for iPods, iPads, and iPhones ... and/or (b) a feature for any iPad Edition of the PP guide. These all relate to the Park Maps:
GPS functionality, and ability to view either a satellite view (a la Google Maps) or the PP's own full-color map. Hyper-accuracy of the maps would become a must, of course, but I'll bet you could get some PP forumers to volunteer to beta test an iPhone app, and give you measurements with more than acceptible levels of accuracy.
Placemarks galore - every ride, attraction, show, and restaurant.
Restaurant placemarks have the latest known menu available at the touch of a button. Rides and attractions perhaps link to a real-time Wait Times calculator (perhaps let the user pick from several, and default to whichever wants to become a Sponsor of PP?). Shows include the schedule for the day.
Restaurant placemarks also include a "Make Reservations Now!" button, that takes you directly to the WDW online ADR system. (Requires 3G connectivity)
A "How do I get there, from here" system, that directs you to and through the WDW transportation system. (Requires GPS)
If possible with the Safari browser, access to these very forums! (Requires 3G connectivity)
I think it's going to flame out as well. The price is NOT as great as they are trying to market. The 3G version's price is the same as an HDTV, and you STILL have to pay for your 3G. I was excited about it because like the Kindle, I assumed it was going to be free 3G internet access. No. It's not. That would've sold me right there.
Those iPads are only about twice the cost of an iPod with the same memory. And that's the ones with 3G. And your typical laptop or notebook PC/MAC is going to run you twice what one of those iPads will.
Example: 64GB iPod, $399 plus S&H. 64GB iPad with 3G, $829. The baseline MacBook, $999. All those prices right from Apple's own website, in their own store.
So while they're certainly not an impulse-buy item ... I don't see how people are claling them "overpriced" ...
They have me interested. The ability to have color magazines is a big plus for me.
I also use my itouch at work. I can use it to control my lighting console. With the ipad I will have that ability along with the ability to take notes (not so easy on an itouch) and be able to carry pdf's of all the equipment manuals with me.
I also have seen an adapter that will allow the ipad to read flash memory. If I can use that flash memory to store movies, music, photos, etc then that will make it a bit more accessable for me.
The 3G does not have a subscription, it's a month to month deal. That's nice. Since I have the itouch I have discovered that 90% of the time I am able to connect thru a wifi point. Being able to use 3G only when I need it (say on vacation and it's cheaper than the $10/day room charge).
I'll still wait until it's out and I can get my hands on one and I hear the response from others who get one before I truly decide if I want one or not. (ok, I want one but I'll wait until I see if it can do what I think it will).
I saw something on this today! Looks really cool! I'm anxious to play around with it! I'm still figuring out my iPod so I guess I'm a few years behind! Hope to catch up one day...
I was REALLY skeptical of the iPhone when it came out. I was not an early adopter. Then I stopped by our local Apple Store after the first price drop and actually tried it out. Thought it was great then, fell in love with it when I started using it, and am STILL in love with it two and a half years alter. Sure, it doesn't do everything -- but I wouldn't want it to. The biggest thing I'd change about my iPhone is the size of the screen -- I get eye strain if I read on it too long. That makes the iPad perfect for me. I don't see the iPad as a replacement for my iPhone. It see it as an seriously awesome e-book reader and browser that I can carry around the house and take with me when I'm out.
Those iPads are only about twice the cost of an iPod with the same memory. And that's the ones with 3G. And your typical laptop or notebook PC/MAC is going to run you twice what one of those iPads will.
Example: 64GB iPod, $399 plus S&H. 64GB iPad with 3G, $829. The baseline MacBook, $999. All those prices right from Apple's own website, in their own store.
So while they're certainly not an impulse-buy item ... I don't see how people are claling them "overpriced" ...
About double the price of an iPhone right now, with the same memory. Am I correct on this? Usually, something technologically new always starts out high priced and eventually they come down to being fairly reasonably priced. Just give it time. Not usually a good idea to buy the first versions of anything as there are usually a few problems with them and they need to work the bugs out of them. Wait a bit for later versions as I'm sure they'll be better.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
LOVE the look of it and hope to play with it when it comes to the nearest Apple Store. I don't like the limited size harddrive...gee my husband's iPod Classic holds more! BUT it seems to be a step in the right direction for Apple. Isn't the prediction is that Apple will gain at least 3 Billion Dollars in sales because of this thing!?!?
I have been a long time fan of Macs and have been patiently waiting since the buzz a few months ago! I was excited to finally get the e-mail from Apple with the "order now" message!!!!!
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