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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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When trying to avoid the crowds and get out of the parks during a parade/fireworks, several sources say to use the connecting doors in the back of the shops on the right side of main street.....my question.....do they mean the right side of main street as you're looking at the castle, or the right side of main street as you're trying to exit the park? (Yes, this was the burning question that kept me up last night....I think I do my most inane thinking late at night!)
I think they mean the right side as you exit - in other words, so you end up in the Emporium at the end. This is my usual "escape route"...I try to take it about 10 minutes before fireworks so I can get on the boat back to WL just as the fireworks are going off. A "free" fireworks cruise!
Thanks...I haven't been since I was a teen, and couldn't remember how the stores were configured on Main Street...my intuition was telling me on the right as we tried to exit, but it never hurts to ask!!!
I would agree. The Emporium is one straight shot, though the other side of the street can be a little less congested. I stress the little here. Either can be a lot faster durring a parade or the fireworks as people a gawkers by nature and if there is something to see they will stop and look (and block the path you want to use). The only hazard to using these rotes as exits is that you end up shopping instead of leaving the parks before everyone else.
Just a hint. If you don't make it out of the park before the fireworks or parade are over and need to escape a sudden crowd (I'm a little claustrophobic. I don't always handel croweds well.) Town Hall is often pretty empty and you can duck inside untill the mass of peoples has passed.
Good luck and have loads of fun on your trip.
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My 19 year old hero! Hurry home! (A.K.A. D_Stitch)
The left side of Main Street (with the castle at your back) has that one alleyway where they do the silhouettes) and it can be mobbed with people. That said, I can still wend my way through it almost as easily as I can if I take the Caseys-to-Emporium side.
Eileen
I aim for the left hand side when looking down Main Street from the castle. This is the only way you'll be able to get out of the park if you've already seen the parade further up and it's heading down Main Street - as you'll be cut off when you get to the Emporium. I've been caught out before like that. With the left hand side, you have no such problems getting out of the park. :
I think they mean the right side as you exit - in other words, so you end up in the Emporium at the end. This is my usual "escape route"...I try to take it about 10 minutes before fireworks so I can get on the boat back to WL just as the fireworks are going off. A "free" fireworks cruise!
Just keep in mind that if the parade is in progress on Main Street, you will not be able to exit out of the park if you go through the Emporium shop, as that's where the parade floats enter the park. They usually do not let you cross the parade route in between the floats. However, if the parade has already passed Main Street, you can exit through either side of shops.
My notes: trying to exit through the Emporium is about as bad as trying to walk down Main Street, because that is the main gift shop and so many people are trying to pick out their souvenirs before they leave for the day. But if everybody is outside watching the fireworks it would be easier.
Trying to exit through the shops on the other side of the street can be tough also, it never fails you get stuck behind some other people who are not in as big a hurry as you are.
It's best, in my experience, to exit the park right before either the parade or the fireworks gets started. That gives you more of a jump on the crowds at the transportation areas.
I think they mean the right side as you exit - in other words, so you end up in the Emporium at the end. This is my usual "escape route"...I try to take it about 10 minutes before fireworks so I can get on the boat back to WL just as the fireworks are going off. A "free" fireworks cruise!
We happened to catch the ferry just at this time on the last night of our first trip with our boys in '06. The Captain slowed the boat down so we got to watch the whole thing from the water. It was an amazing treat and the perfect end to a magical vacation!
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Gina Marie
Last edited by GinaButtrfly; 04-16-2008 at 03:37 PM..
Reason: typo
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The left side of Main Street (with the castle at your back) has that one alleyway where they do the silhouettes) and it can be mobbed with people. That said, I can still wend my way through it almost as easily as I can if I take the Caseys-to-Emporium side.
PassPorter Guide Author
With the left hand side, you have no such problems getting out of the park. 
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