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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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're thinking of adding a few nights at AKLV after our cruise next summer. We will skip the parks this trip, and just enjoy the resort. For those of you who have done resort only days/stays, what did you do that you really enjoyed. We're thinking of DTD shopping, and maybe a resort meal or two. Thanks for the help!
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
There's so much to do outside the parks including tour the other resort, activities at Fort Wilderness and as you already said, Downtown Disney. There's golf and miniature golf, fishing, boat rentals, or just hanging out at the resort.
We're staying 3 nights for our next trip and we only bought 1 day of park tickets. So, I understand your question.
Have a great trip!
We did a resort only trip at SSR when my DD was a baby. we loved the pool during the day,the spa, and dining at DTD. Love the World of Disney store and Ghiradelli for icre cream dessert so yummy. In the summer at DTD they always have alot going on,music playing,people doing shows on the stage. My DH and stepdad did some golfing and if you are traveling w/ little ones pony rides at Ft Wilderness are always fun. Also dont forget about the Boardwalk shops and restaurants there and at night you can get a peek at the Illuminations fireworks. Have fun we are planning to take at least 2 days on our october trip to enjoy the VWL since we havent stayed there before. Good idea to wind down from the DCL.
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I haven't done a resort only stay, but there are lots of things to do. Last Jan we enjoyed the FW segway tour. Rent SeaRaycers, DTD, Mini Golf, resort dining. GF Tea?
Spa. And there are many things to do at AKL. Culinary Tour, Storytelling by the fire pit, evening cultural exchange talk, night vision viewing to name some things.
But I don't think I could not go to the parks staying on site, even though I go 2x a year Def couldn't if I hadn't been in a couple of years!!
We did exactly what you are planning on doing last February. We took a 4 day cruise and then had 2 days until our flight home so we stayed at the Poly (our favorite home away from home ).
We had no problem with what to do with our time as we were interested in visiting and/or viewing other resorts so instead of Park hopping........we resort hopped. We would planned our dining around the resorts we visited (lunch at WL, breakfast at GF, icecream at Beaches & Cream, dinner at the Poly). We did a few hours at DTD (lunch at Earl of Sandwich).......ect ect ect. Lots of boat trips, monorail riding and buses (I teased my family that we were in the Disney Transportation 101 class ). Actually, there is so much to see that we never get to see because we are always in the parks.......don't miss the magic of the resorts!
Anyway, there is always the mini golf near the Swan or Disney Quest at DTD, or just relax at the pool (AKL has a great pool) that can fill a few hours of fun too.
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I'd opt for POR or POFQ simply because there's so much to do at them....surrey bikes, boat rentals, horse drawn carraige ride, fishing, a cariety of swimmings pools, Scat Cats, the ferry to DTD.
Our next trip will likely be a resort only with maybe a day at a waterpark. I like the parks but they do get old after a while. There are a lot of other things to see and do at WDW. Besides park tickets are very expensive and the kids are not as interested in the parks as they once were.
We just went in May and spent 2 days there w/o parks. We went to all the monorail resorts and went to their shops. We spent 1 full day doing all the shops at DTD that we never seem to have the time to do. We ate at RFC, T-Rex, Ohana's, Earls of S and breakfast at Trails End during those 2 days. We also spent some time walking around Fort Wilderness which has lots of stuff to do there. We watched the fireworks from Top of the World at Bay Lake and watched the water pageant twice. We also watched fireworks from the beach at Poly. As you can see we fit a lot in but still felt relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.
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Laura
1989-off property, 2000-All Star Movies, 2008-Pop Century
2010-Caribbean Beach Resort, 2011- First Disney Cruise (Oct), May 2012-First stay at DVC Vero Beach resort. May 2013 POP & Fantasy Cruise, Oct 2015 Saratoga Springs
Staying at the AKL, there is so much to enjoy! I'd spend time at the pool for certain. DTD would be a must, too. And a bus to DHS to catch the boat to the EPCOT area hotels to resort hop and the Boardwalk area. So relaxing just to be there!
Thanks for the ideas! We're thinking that we'll splurge and get the savannah view room, so we can do some animal watching too! After the cost of the cruise it's hard to drop $1000 on park tickets. it'll be nice just to relax and do whatever we feel like doing that day!
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Looking forward to another Christmas with The Mouse!!
Animal Kingdom Lodge sounds like a great place to stay for a resort only stay - it's far out from the parks (except Animal Kingdom ) and there's so much to see and do there.
We were so exhausted after the cruise, especially considering how early you have to get off the cruise, that having a resort to just crash for a few hours was great. You have some great restaurants to chose from at DAK and the Animal Watching alone would be worth it. Between Downtown Disney and the pool you should have a great time
We've done that after a cruise too. AKL is great, and there are a lot to do. In our resort stay we enjoyed the pool and restaurants without the pressure of leaving or returning to/from parks.
I love to shop, and sometimes I shop outside the parks themselves-because I go right past those shops when I have park passes. My favs are EPCOT and AK (inside Rainforest Cafe). Love shopping at the Poly, and told the guard at the gate- I am just going to shop-that was fine, AKL my second fav - but if you want to buy Spa products you MUST hit the GF shops-especialy if you are sunburned from the cruise-I LOVED their aloe stuff. Oh and it sounds silly, but I got a Public Bus schedule and rode through Celebration from the TTC (while I was on the DCP). I found this truly fascinating!!! Wishes from the beach between the GF and the Poly too! ENJOY!
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so yummy. In the summer at DTD they always have alot going on,music playing,people doing shows on the stage. My DH and stepdad did some golfing and if you are traveling w/ little ones pony rides at Ft Wilderness are always fun. Also dont forget about the Boardwalk shops and restaurants there and at night you can get a peek at the Illuminations fireworks. Have fun we are planning to take at least 2 days on our october trip to enjoy the VWL since we havent stayed there before. Good idea to wind down from the DCL.
Def couldn't if I hadn't been in a couple of years!!
). Actually, there is so much to see that we never get to see because we are always in the parks.......don't miss the magic of the resorts!
Sandy
PassPorter Guide Author
) and there's so much to see and do there. 
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