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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We didn't rebook our upcoming cruise (next March) during our first cruise. I'm wondering how far out do they book, 1 year, 2 years and if we're sailing in '09 and want to book again for '11 what ship will they book us on? New one ? One of the current ones?
That would depend on the schedule. You can pre-book for any of the currently published sailings; right now that would be for the Magic or Wonder thru 2009.
Once the itineraries and dates are announced for 2010 - or 2011 or 2012 (gosh that seems so far away!) you'd be able to book those as well.
As far as the new ships... that remains to be seen! The Magic was initially delayed more than 6 months from it's expected start time to when it actually began sailing. Hopefully the new ships will be launched on time and I'm really curious as to their itineraries!
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Lynn
Yes, I am a Disney Addict... and I'd rather be cruising!.
I can't wait to see what the new itineraries are for the new ships as well - I just hope they're not delayed and I'm hoping one will make its way over to this side of the pond and will do European cruises.
As far as on-time delivery, ship yards have become much better in the last 5 years or so on delivering ships. And the new ships, although larger, don't really have any radically new technology to sort out.
As far as itineraries are concerned, I would expect them about 12-15 months prior to sailing. A year out, they should know exactly when the ship will be available, barring utter disaster. The QM 2 had two very serious problems (one involving a tragic loss of several dozen people, the other a door of a thruster during sea trials) and was still delivered on time.
With luck, I'll be on an agent's "cruise to nowhere" when they come in.
Hmmm with the new ships coming it will open up the opportunity for Disney to leave one out west full time to take advantage of the Alaska Cruise season and to do the Hawaiin Islands Cruises... hmmm is interesting that at the same time as the new ships that Disney will open a resort in Hawaii.... just wondering....
Alaska is a seasonal thing, and I wouldn't be surprised if DCL offered that once one of the older ships moves permanently to California - Mexican Riviera during the winter, spring, and fall, Alaska (based in Seattle, probably) in the summer. Hawaii would probably come sometime later as a special winter season repositioning. I don't see it happening until all four ships are in service, and after the older ships have been fully upgraded, a step I expect DCL to take so those ships reasonably measure-up to the new ships. It's a long way from Los Angeles to Hawaii - you will not see regular back-and-forth activity. And since Los Angeles is a much bigger cruise market than Hawaii, Disney isn't going to skip the big bucks in favor of the smaller bucks on a permanent basis. But yeah, the new Disney hotel in Hawaii has port facilities right next door, so it's pefect for whenever the Disney ships do show up.
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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'm kind of skeptical of a Hawai'i itinerary. Most of the major cruise lines only do one or two a year. And with the new proposal, most of those will probably have to use Ensenada.
More likely it would be Alaska summers and Mexican Riv the rest of the year. I've already staked my claim on a winter Southern and summer Med for one of the new ships and the other sailing Eastern/Western.
Not inside information. Sarah quit talking to me. Oh, we still chit chat and she'll say anything public, but she's gotten very tight lipped.
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