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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 traveled mid Sept. last year. Crowds were a little heavy, but more than managable. Our longest wait was for Soarin as well. My only problem was with the FREAK tornado that passed across Disney Property (not into any park, but uncomfortably close). I took this up with the big guy (and I don't mean the mouse either) when we got home and will be praying for much nicer weather this Aug. when we return. It was just too wet for us. I don't mind a little rain in any given day, but it rained almost all day every day we were there. I am hoping it was the time of year or some weather thing. (We have traveled Aug. before and only had mild rain...a little each day, but mostly dry.)
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My 19 year old hero! Hurry home! (A.K.A. D_Stitch)
Uh oh!! This has me a little concerned. I made my reservations last week of Sept- first week of Oct thinking crowds would be low, and now hearing that since the fwf starts during our stay that it may be crowded!!! We were hoping that since the free dining would be ending the week prior we would miss the crowd but it sounds the opposite!!!!! Anyone have any info???
The crowds were heavier than mid September-but still manageable and nothing like Easter or Summer season. I didn't mean to scare you. You won't go from 5 minute wait in mid September to a 60 minute wait at the end of September, more like a 15-20 minute wait. It is still a great time to go- use your fast passes well and check the EMH schedule. And there will be rides you won't have to Fast Pass on still.
Also, this past year Columbus Day fell early- on the 8th- we saw the crowds pick up around the 4th of October(Thursday), assuming people taking advantage of the Holiday. This year Columbus Day is the 13th so it should remain lighter in that first week.
Go and have fun- it is a great time of year to go!
I've been to Disney during the Free DDP before and have never noticed an issue with crowds. I think you should be safe. Of course, major rides (Soarin', Mission Space....) those you may want to consider a Fast Pass for!
I'll be the dissenting opinion and say that I felt the free dining did add to the crowd level. I've been 3 times in September, twice during free dining. Each year the crowds were a little more than the previous time. It's not Christmas or 4th of July busy, but I don't think people should expect empty parks anymore. We had average wait times, from 15-60 minutes. Bigger attractions can be more some times.
Food and Wine festival occurs at just one park. If you want to avoid the FWF crowds, concentrate on the other parks.
Nobody can have a reasonable expectation of "empty" parks, no matter what time of year it is. Short of a major economic disaster, I don't think anyone can hope for that. The only question is, will they be huge crowds, or something more managable? The answer for September through mid-December is "managable."
October is no longer Value Season at Disney. They've worked hard to build the lodging business up during traditionally slow periods with conventions, meetings, and special events like F&WF. This means on-property rooms are heavily booked, but off-property lodging is barely touched. And the folks attending meetings and conventions put relatively little pressure on the parks - they're too busy meeting. Unless there are substantial off-property crowds, the parks cannot be crowded, even if every on-property room is filled. There are around 30,000 on-property rooms, so that would be about 90,000 on-property guests (assuming a 3-per-room average) if every Disney room was filled. If all were in the parks (and they usually aren't), you'd have about 22,000 guests per park, which is far below each park's maximum capacity.
Dave -
Don't take this the wrong way, but I LOVE YOU!! If you have seen my other post about this very question, you would know how obsessively worried I have become about this. Just reading this paragraph has made me feel so much better!!
As a matter of fact, I feel so much better I am going to go eat an ice cream sandwich and watch the rest of American Idol!! You are my savior!!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Uh oh!! This has me a little concerned. I made my reservations last week of Sept- first week of Oct thinking crowds would be low, and now hearing that since the fwf starts during our stay that it may be crowded!!! We were hoping that since the free dining would be ending the week prior we would miss the crowd but it sounds the opposite!!!!! Anyone have any info???
Free Dining works throughout yoru stay, as long as you check in no later than September 20th (as I recently confirmed with a call direct to Disney, in fact). Although work schedules for our merry band did not permit it, we were considering changing our plans to a trip from September 20th to the 28th - which would have given us Free dining, and, included the first few days of the F&WF. (Instead, we're sticking with January 3-11.)
I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!! I've never been this time of year ( my mom is a teacher) and looking forward to seeing the crowd levels. The second week of Dec. this past year was AMAZING. I'm not expecting the same low level but close would be good.
I live here - and September is definitely much less crowded. Even being so close to the parks, I spent 11 nights on property for free dine last year at the Pop Century. I have no complaints about wait times, and I still was able to walk into many restaurants (I'd made reservations at many places, but who knows where they want to eat 6 months ahead?) I stayed from 9/21 - 10/2 I believe.
WOW! What an informative thread. I am both informed and happy about the post. DH and I are going Sept. 20 - 28th to get in on the Free Dining, (which we quickly upgraded to the DDP) we are doing the MNSSHP and the F&WF. I was worried about the crowd levels, but now I can plan better, and FEEL better about the crowds. Call us crazy but we are going to EPCOT on opening day for the F&WF, but we have planned 2 days for EPCOT, so this should be enough, right? Well, I hope. Does anyone have any ideas for this crazy couple on their Anniversary trip?
Any thoughts on the first week? We are going the last week in August, first week of free dining. I figure it will be busier the end of the week because of possible labor day travelers, but hoping for the best. Our last day is Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Made my ADR's, but have to tweak them a bit. Hoping I will be able to!
Actually, I use TouringPlans.com - Plans which save you time and effort, and according to them, towards Labor Day will be slower. We will be there August 24 - September 1. They say the first two days will be busier (still fairly slow, though). Then it will drop, and for our last two days, it will drop again.
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