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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Last time we went we could take back packs etc. they didn't check or anything. Just wondering what the security is like at this time.
Can we take bottled water and snacks with us
We are going Apr. 2 - 9
If you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance
MickeySkate
Welcome MickeySkate! We were there during the Christmas holidays. They had several tables for those with fanny packs, backpacks, etc. We had fanny packs which we opened in line and they basically just glanced at. Some friends of ours bought clear (plastic?) backpacks as they had two kids still in diapers. We didn't see anyone turned away who had either food or bottled water in their packs.
The people checking your bags are only looking for weapons and such. I have never found them to care if you bring anything else in with you. They are checking so that everyone is safe.
Yes, you can take snacks and water and things in your pack. They just check for weapons and such. I have a funny story about getting our bags checked this past Dec. My son is 9 and is tall for his age- he is very capable of carrying a backpack or bag. Well, we were getting our bags checked- yes, I had a backpack and a fanny pack- and I think even a camera bag! Well, the security guard checked them all and then looked at me and then at my DS and took the backpack and put it on my son's arm and back and said, "Here, son, help your mother out." I thanked him and told my son he'd better keep carrying it all day so they wouldn't catch him without the bag! (Too bad it didn't work!)They were very nice.
Pretty much echoing what everyone else has said, but if there was a big crowd, the checks were not quite as thorough as when the security folks were just standing around. It also depended on the person doing the checks, but food, water, etc. were all okay to take in.
DS even offered a security guy a fig newton when he commented on how good it looked. He couldn't accept it, though.
We carried a lot of things in, including small round-tip scissors for moleskin, and lots of snacks and drinks. The only thing they questioned was glass. One day I packed the toasting glasses DH and I used at our wedding for Anniversary lunch at Garden Grill in Epcot and the man checking my bag said he wasn't supposed to allow glass inside the park, but when I explained what it was for he allowed me to take them in.
The only strange look we got was for the cowboy boots. DS is six and 43.5 inches tall with his tennis shoes. So... we brought the boots and carried them in the pack for those 44" rides (Space Mountain, especially).
I personally did not like the security checks. I do not like opening my purse in front of a line of people. It's not a deterrent-anyone wearing baggy pants with huge pockets could bring it all the stuff we had in fanny packs and more. I don't think these checks are making WDW any securer than it was before.
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