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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 are contemplating some parasailing this trip in July. Has anyone had an experiences with the Sammy Duvall watersports program there at the Contemporary? More importantly, what about the reservations? Is it possible to walk up and arrange an adventure or is it booked well in advance?
I'm in the Dining Reservation mindset so I'm thinking 180 days in advance to actually get a decent time. Is that also the case with something like parasailing?
Also, if you've done it, how was the experience? I can't imagine what it would be like soaring (or should that be Soarin') over the Magic Kingdom!
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PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
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Parasailing was great. Peaceful. I loved being able to see the World from up high. I don't think you need to reserve all that far in advance. I think our time was planned two weeks in advance. We missed our reservation due to a snafu, but they rescheduled for the next day. This was June 2003.
The sooner you arrange it, the better. You'll be able to plan everything else around that.
Reservations were easy.
I loved the initial uptake, and the initial feeling of being so far up, so peaceful, and able to see for so far away. My problem was that I did not take my camera. And I was bored stiff in just a bit, but they have a set time and keep you up there. There is no set signal for "I am done". I was so bored, I started contemplating what would really happen if I pulled the "DO NOT pull this D-Ring unless you want to fall to the earth" D-Ring!!
It was fun - and I did it again a few years later - also without a phone or camera. I was a little more prepared but had forgotten just how quickly I became bored. I was sitting up in that sling, singing to myself!
If you go, take a phone and a camera.
LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! we made reservations ahead of time. The guys were great and friendly. It was so much fun. It's an unbelievable feeling of peacefulness when your up in the sky!!!
My daughter and I did it together. She was a teenager. My husband refused to do it because 'there are alligators in that water' But we didn't even get our toes wet. We went right off the back of the boat and right back on flawlessly. Neither of us can remember if DH waited on the dock or rode on the boat. But I do believe that DH and i together would have exceeded the weight limit. I did take a disposable camera, and enjoyed taking the pics, but for the life of me I can't find them. I think I saw AK. I wish I had gotten my bearing better before I went up. I wish I knew which direction AK was and so forth. I do remember being worried about sunburn, but we didn't have any problems. We reserved it long ahead of time, and kind of expected to have more fun hanging around the Contemporary. It seems like we checked in early and had to wait around. We took off our shoes and stuck our feet in the swimming pool.
I feel like it was worth the experience and money once, but I am not planning to do it again. It certainly didn't take a large chunk out of the day either.
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