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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 planning our next trip to the World for 2007. Since I will be teaching, I can't take off from school. Would you recommend traveling in April (week before Easter) or December (week b/w Christmas and New Years) and why? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Carole, which would you prefer?? Do you want to see the parks and resorts in all their decorated glory? Have you been during that time??
Either time would be busy, but also great! Our December trip(18-23)saw us having colder temps than our April trips have. Good luck!
As the others stated, they are both busy times of the year, but I, personally, think April is a little less crowded than the week b/w Christmas and New Years... although the Dec trip would mean you would get to enjoy all the holiday festivities.
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/luck.gif[/img] on deciding
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Re: Crowds worse in April or December
I have been at both times of the year and prefer April by far. First of all it is warmer in April - and I love to use the resort pool. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] I also found that even though in April it is usually many people's spring break, it is not everyone's! During the week between Christmas and New Year's Day - EVERYONE is on vacation! The parks are extremely crowded during that week! So - my opinion....unless you just have to see the Christmas decorations, I would go in April! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
We went the week before Easter 2001 and it was so crowded you could not even turn around!! My husband had such a bad time he never wants to go again. I am glad to be a nurse and not a teacher so I can take the kids and go while school is in session.
I [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] going during the Christmas Holiday. It is busy but you can manage your touring. We hit the parks at opening...most people don't want to get up early on vacation.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/noway.gif[/img] So we breeze through & hit our favorite rides. When it starts getting crowded we stop & have a nice sit down lunch. Then tour a bit more & head back to the hotel to rest or swim. The decorations are unbelievable also during this time, Christmas music everywhere & snow or Main Street! (you're gonna make me book another trip) [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img]
I've never been during Spring Break. We have family & friends that said "NEVER Again" [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shameonyou.gif[/img] so I guess that scared us off. I also teach & try to work around the schedule. One year we didn't return to school until Jan. 10 so we visited Dec. 27-Jan.6 & it was great. We enjoyed New Years at MGM & after the 2nd could see the crowds thinning out in the parks. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
Make use of the EMH...very important to seeing what you want. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]
Whatever you decide it will still be Magical in Disney! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/fairy2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/fairy2.gif[/img]
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/luck.gif[/img]
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