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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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A while back, I posted about a WDW trip opportunity we had to go on with a few groups of our friends. It was a great deal because our “hosts” are DVC members and were willing to offer us rooms at a deeply discounted rate. Anyway, everyone was getting all psyched to go in late Oct 2005. Just recently, news came in that changed everything. It's the best possible news one can get. Our host DVC friends just found out that they are expecting their second child in October.
Obviously, a trip to WDW at this time wasn't in the works. However, it's hard to be bummed when your friends have such great news. (They are such good friends that they even suggested we go without them. We'd NEVER do that.) So, they've suggested some new dates to all have fun together at Disney. The choices are late Aug 2005, early Jan 2006 and early May 2006.
I first have to say how brave they are trying to accommodate so many busy schedules. (I think 5 couples plan to go on this trip - each with two kids under 5) If it were up to me, I'd just set a date and say who ever can make it, come and enjoy the fun. Most dilemmas seem to stem around the swimming issue. I'd say all of our kids love the water so swimming would be a big part of the trip. My knee jerk reaction is to nix Jan. but is that a wise move?
Let me know what you all think would be a great time to go (besides the obvious - anytime), Aug 2005, Jan. 2006 or May 2006.
I would go with May 2006 the weather is usally very nice and the crowds tend to be not as bad as the summer months and its after the school breaks. I have gone May 2004 and I am going May 2005. You will be able to swim more often as I have heard that January can get chilly and no much swimming done. The mom who will be preggers will be miserable in August.
If you can hang in there, I'd wait until May. First of all, the baby of this family will be a little older and that will be nice for them. Secondly, it's a beautiful time of year to go! What awesome friends!!
I would go for May 2006 since January will be to cold to swim and August will be so humid the pregnant mom will melt. It will give you all time to plan and enjoy discussing your upcoming trip even though it is over a year away. Her baby won't be a newborn either so it might be easier for her travel also.
I'd say May 2006. August would be too hot for me and I'm opting for May, as the Flower and Garden Festival is on then and it's a great time of the year to visit Disney. Add to that, the weather's usually hot and sunny (but not too hot) and the crowds aren't too bad.
May 2006 would be my choice too if the kids definitely need to swim (and I know my kids do!) The only reason I would say January would be the total lack of crowds (we were there in late January this year and crowds were non-existent, we almost had MGM to ourselves) but it definitely was too chilly to swim, at least for me, my kids might have braved the water if they were there. August, 2005 would definitely be too much for the pregnant mom, I can't stand the heat when I am pregnant here in Philly much less a Florida summer? no way!!!
Personally, I would opt for January for a variety of reasons. First off, it gets you away from the yukky winter weather up north for a few precious days. As for swimming, the pools at WDW are all heated so the kids would probably still be able to get some swimming in. Except for the coldest of the days we were there last December, I usually managed a daily swim during our stay. I love the total lack of crowds in January which enables you to get a lot more done in a lot less time due to the total lack of line-ups.
I'm another May vote! The weather is great, crowds are light, parks are open later than in January, days are longer, and the baby will be a little older and easier to travel with.
Thanks for all your input everyone! An impromptu poll among our travel group shows that the trip date might be in January. I'm not sure how I feel about that date. I want the kids to be able to swim – but the minimal lines would save many nerves from fraying.
I see that most of you suggested May, and it's a hard time to disagree with. The down side is that it's 14 months away. The late August time would be nice (sooo much closer) but I'd have to agree with you all that an August Florida and 7 months pregnant don't sound too good together...or so I've heard. So by default, I guess that's how January is emerging as a front runner among our group.
I'll let you all know what happens when I find out. Maybe I can throw in a quick suggestion for THIS May.
Here's another vote for January! While swimming is important - you did say that these are LITTLE kids! The Disney pools are heated - and there are often great swimming days in January, just not every day! The cooler weather will make touring with little ones SOO much nicer, and the empty parks are awesome!
We went this past January and while we (2 adults) did not swim there were lots of kids swimming. I would go again in January. I did find it a lot more enjoyable to hit the parks in January than September-October because it was so much cooler and no humidity. But September must not have been too bad because I'm planning to go again this September!
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What awesome friends!! 
It will give you all time to plan and enjoy discussing your upcoming trip even though it is over a year away. Her baby won't be a newborn either so it might be easier for her travel also.
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With the flower and garden festival going on, the weather is also usually great, warm and little rain! It's a great time to go 
away. The late August time would be nice (sooo much closer) but I'd have to agree with you all that an August Florida and 7 months pregnant don't sound too good together...or so I've heard. So by default, I guess that's how January is emerging as a front runner among our group.
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