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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Does everyone go from park opening to park closing? I've heard that there's very little sleeping going on. I won't have a car and am staying at Pop.
If I go back to room, I'll probably be too wired to relax/rest/sleep and I'd still waste, probably, 2 hours just coming and going. Do you try to just rest/relax/chill out in the parks?
I don't want to hit a wall of exhaustion, so any tips would help. I'm trying to build up my stamina by walking 4 miles a day. Any ideas on how I 'train' myself to not need sleep?
My DH looked over my schedule and he thought that I was going to constantly be checking my watch to see if I'm on schedule. Most days I have no more than 3-4 meets. There's so much that I want to do and see. Advice?
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
I am an early riser so I am there from opening until at least the fireworks. Evening EMH is a maybe (specially if I have a 7 or 8am ADR the next morning
This is my 1st solo MF so I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do. When traveling with others, we would usually take mid-day breaks (somedays it was a welcome thing but others I was so bored) This trip if bushed I'll probably go back to the resort but I doubt that will happen as I'm usually on a Disney High . More than likely if in need of a break, a cup of coffee & some people watching in whatever park I'm in will do just fine time it counting down
It is our (me and DH) first Mousefest. We are only planning on doing a few meets while we are there as we also want to enjoy the parks at the holiday time. We will most likely plan on returning to our hotel (SOG) for a midday break as we always do that anyway. We are looking forwar to meeting other Passporters.
Sleep in late and stay til closing every night. We use this strategy on every vacation. Even works with 5 year olds. Seriously, I wouldn't plan on doing meets before noon. I'd rather sleep in and stay up late.
We'll kind of be doing our own thing and just going to some of the bigger meets - Illuminations on the Saturday night and Adventurers' Club on the Sunday night. I would guess, because of the jetlag, we'll be up early during MouseFest and then earlier to bed, certainly on the Saturday night anyway!
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Ryan is a super early riser so we will definitely be at morning meets but do plan on trying to take breaks in the afternoon. Some times that is not possible so we try to have some down time wherever we are - take in one of the movies, grab a snack in a quiet spot, etc. MouseFest can be a bit overwhelming so don't be afraid to take some time for yourself. This will help avoid burnout!
I know I'm not one to talk (since under my special circumstances I do have to go, go, go around the clock), but it's really worth stopping to ask what you want out of any Disney vacation, not just MouseFest, and try to stick to your usual time budget.
My general advice is to try to spend no more time in the parks than you normally would, and substitute MouseFest meets for some of your regular activities, rather than trying to do everything you'd normally do plus MouseFest meets. I know that can lead to some very hard choices, but like at a glorious buffet meal, you do have to know when to stop refilling your plate.
Now, if there's no way that's going to happen... I just got back from a business conference that kept me going from sun-up 'til the wee hours - how can you be in Nashville and not go on the town for great live music after the conference events are done for the day? I sure didn't have the will-power to resist, and few of the rest of th folks I was with had it, either. At least we're all home now, and have the weekend to recover! You may have to work an R-and-R day into your schedule, either after you get home, or while you're at WDW.
But to directly answer your question - it may be better to take rest breaks in the park than to drag back and forth to the resort. You already know what can happen... you'll start your nap, oversleep, then be overstressed and rushed to get back for the next activity. At least if you start napping in the Hall of Presidents they don't let you oversleep. You might hide out on Tom Sawyer Island, sit on a bench in Pangani Forest Trail to watch the wildlife, explore One Man's Dream in depth, watch a fountain in Epcot while you nibble on a snack... A bit of "relax and refresh" time can go a long way.
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But to directly answer your question - it may be better to take rest breaks in the park than to drag back and forth to the resort. You already know what can happen... you'll start your nap, oversleep, then be overstressed and rushed to get back for the next activity. At least if you start napping in the Hall of Presidents they don't let you oversleep. You might hide out on Tom Sawyer Island, sit on a bench in Pangani Forest Trail to watch the wildlife, explore One Man's Dream in depth, watch a fountain in Epcot while you nibble on a snack... A bit of "relax and refresh" time can go a long way.
Thanks Dave! ... and everyone else. Your comments and suggestions have helped me make some decsions about how to spend my time and some down time. My main focus for my trip is to see and experience Christmas at WDW, sprinkle in a variety of meets, and ride my most favorite rides as many times as I can fit in. (Darn, I wish SE was going to be open)
So if you see me sitting on bench somewhere and I'm snoring loudly ~ please give me a nudge.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
I find it easier going at MouseFest it being a lot cooler and I'm not sweating buckets.
My feet are usually the first to complain......I bring moleskin, and body glide for my feet. Aahhhh that stuff is great!
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. More than likely if in need of a break, a cup of coffee & some people watching in whatever park I'm in will do just fine 
time it counting down 
Seriously, I wouldn't plan on doing meets before noon. I'd rather sleep in and stay up late. 
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