Pondering a visit to Discovery Cove in March - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Unless someone can talk me out of it, I'll probably visit Discovery Cove in March. I have to get over the sticker shock -- $199 with a Florida resident discount. Ouch! I'll have to check for a AP discount.
If you can swing the tickets, I recommend going. It was a dream come true for me. And I had always been afraid to snorkel, and now I'd go back just to snorkel!
__________________
Denise
Counting down to....
May 2017 - Poly (Grandma's 1st Trip to WDW)
Sept 2017 - DH's bday celebration
Aug 2018 - DCL Family cruise on the Dream
I'll probably go since that's the only Orlando park I haven't visited. I've never snorkled before and I have an irrational fear of breathing out of those tubes. I just hope there is a Snorkleing 101 class!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I'll probably go since that's the only Orlando park I haven't visited. I've never snorkled before and I have an irrational fear of breathing out of those tubes. I just hope there is a Snorkleing 101 class!
I had problems with that as well. It's just not a normal way to behave! I did eventually get used to it, but it took some work!
I'll probably go since that's the only Orlando park I haven't visited. I've never snorkled before and I have an irrational fear of breathing out of those tubes. I just hope there is a Snorkleing 101 class!
Are we twins?
I was a competitive swimmer for more years than I would like to remember, and snorkling freaks me out. Why? Because I can't exhale through my nose and mouth.
As for snorkling at DC, I got over my fear for a few hours and bit the bullet. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! You can basically just float with your face in the water, while kicking. I would take the snorkle out of my mouth of I wanted to dive deeper in the water. Since I am full of hot air, this was easier for me and I didn't panic.
You will love DC. It is probably the best $$ I have ever spent at a theme park.
Discovery cove is worth every penny in my opinion. The snorkeling presented no issues for us but I just more or less skim the top and enjoy the view and water life that way. Go and enjoy!
Discovery Cove is something you won't want to pass up. Try booking the afternoon session rather than the morning session. In the afternoon, they will serve a wonderful dinner with loads of food and desserts. Plus, there is live entertainment during your meal. It was definately worth every penny.
i enjoyed my day 3 years ago, paid extra to swim with dolphins. hi-lite of trip, rest of time just swimming. like anything though it is a business and they follow you around all day with acamera then put you in aroom with others to pick out pictures and picture item souvenirs ie snowglobes, keychains at ofcourse high prices. but thats life, it was worth the experience, but not something i would repeat often, once and youre done
I just read the note about the pictures and the photographer. I too felt the photographer was a little "in your face" but you not allowed to bring your own camera with you for the dolphin encounter. It's for the safety of your camera, the safety of the dolphins if the camera gets droppped and to give you time to focus on your encounter. It was recommended to me to purchase one of the photo cds giving you "ownership" over those pictures and the ability to download them to your computer. The base price, if I remember was around $100 and you add a certain number of photos at certain price levels. As with most situations like this I was a little put off with pricing then but now wish I would have bucked up a little more. You may also want to know that you're not really swimming with the animals. You have a hlaf hour session in groups of 8 to meet a dolphin. Each member of your group interacts with the dolphin, learning to give it a signal and watching it respond to you, for most of the time. You're standing on a "shelf" so to speak in the dolphin pool while doing this. At the end, you go to the end of that shelf so the dolphin is in deep water and you get a tow ride back. Some folks are disapointed with this type of encounter but we were thrilled. We really did have plenty of time to touch, hug and yes, kiss the dolphin. The tow ride was wonderful and we came away feeling as though we learned so much about the dolphins. My kids still talk about that day and our dolphin "Capricorn". Have a wonderful visit.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
discovery cove
Hybrid Mode
