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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I know this is a controversial topic (especially between my DH and I) but I'd love to hear some other opinions. We went to WDW last year, 2007 the first week of September since my DD's school didn't begin until 9/11/2007. It was wonderful! Not too crowded and we all had a great time. I'd love to go that week again BUT her school year starts earlier this year. She'd end up missing the first three days of school. She'll be in third grade. Any thoughts??
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I am taking my kids out of school after their second week this year. We have taken them out in October as well but that was when they had only two and a half days. I don't feel great about it but at the same time I know this is the only time we can go because my job and my husbands job are both too busy for us to go during the Summer months. We get their work as far ahead as possible and have time every day for homework while on vacation. I think it should be a personal choice and that you should be as up front with the school as possible about taking your kids out.
I am taking my kids out of school after their second week this year. We have taken them out in October as well but that was when they had only two and a half days. I don't feel great about it but at the same time I know this is the only time we can go because my job and my husbands job are both too busy for us to go during the Summer months. We get their work as far ahead as possible and have time every day for homework while on vacation. I think it should be a personal choice and that you should be as up front with the school as possible about taking your kids out.
If we did that, we would do the same and take them out during a short week, anyway, too. I would get the homework ahead of time and something to share on our return... Now that our DS(15) is in high school, we would not want to mess anything up for him (he was in honors and was on honor roll all year -- something that I never could do..). The other thing to check on is when the large, eastern states have school holidays...
We've taken DD out of school for a week in Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. I'm sure we could have gotten away with it in 3rd grade as well, but at least here, the workload is definitely increasing so I'm not sure I'd do it anymore (she's now going into 4th grade)!
We took my DS in Nov. 2006 when he was in Kindergarten and we'll be going this year again when he's in 2nd grade and DD is in Pre-K. I think it's a personal choice and it also depends on the child, how they are doing in school, how much work they will miss and have to catch up on. Obviously the older they get the more work they will need to do to catch up. HTH
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Yeah this is a hot topic, and there will always be people firmly in either camp. I personally will always take DD out of school to go on vacation. I don't like to vacation during the hot summer months (unless I'm going north). And (especially when it comes to Disney) I absolutely despise crowds. LOL! Besides, everything is cheaper in Feb and Sept / Oct.
I fortunately don't have to worry about this for a few years (DD is only 2) but thank heavens, the district we currently live in doesn't hassle parents about vacations, and I'm hoping that doesn't change for another 10 years.
I plan on pulling DS (kindergarten) and DD (2nd gr.) out for a week in Nov. for our trip. The first few days of school are mostly "settling in" days so I think if DD is comfortable "missing out" on the excitement of the first days I say go for it.
School starts in mid August here so it is a given we take our kids out of school as we don't care for the hot/busy months in Florida. This year the kids will miss about seven days of school; however, we give the teachers advance notice, reminders, and ask for any homework to be sent home prior to the trip. If the teacher would like a report on the vacation, we are happy to oblige.
Something to take into consideration is the amount your children miss during a regular school year; for instance, if they have tendencies to get sick a lot or there are other trips planned during that school year. Since we go to DW every other year, we feel it is reasonable to miss a week of school since family time is just as important to us!
My daugher is in 4th grade, and she will be missing a week. At first I was stressed about it, but I figured she can always bring the work with her. We don't go on alot of vacations, and she misses very few days usually, so 1 week out to have fun with her family is not something I'm going to sweat about.
It's funny, I missed quite a bit of school when I was younger, yet I graduated, have a college education and now work as a Travel Agent. One of my co-workers was an excellent student, they type that hardly ever missed school, she was one of the smartest students in her graduating class at UNH, but here she is doing the same job that I'm doing.
I don't think it matters in the long run. I will say however that it was the traveling experiences that my parents gave me that stirred up the interest in travel, which has been my chosen career path since I was in my early 20's...I'm in my 40's now. I've met people throughout my whole life who have never gone on a vacation, and I think I've been to Disney Land, Disney World, all around the Caribbean and to Scotland. We had gone across the country from Massachusetts to California on old route 66 many times when I was little...those life experiences were just something that could not have been taught in a book, and that has to count for something doesn't it?
By the way, Epcot is my dd favorite park, she just loves traveling around the world exploring new cultures...
I think if the days being missed aren't during an "important" time of the year, and they won't really be missing something that can't be made up, then it may be okay.
But for my DD's school, each and every day they cover so much material, its hard to make it up. My DD was in 1st grade last year and missed one day due to being sick, and had a hard time getting back on track. Therefore, I will NOT pull my kids out of school. I had considered it the week before Christmas holiday only b/c there isn't any work being done that week, only parties, etc. But I had to change our trip and I chose to go in May after school is out for summer.
To each his own, And in your situation she shouldn't miss homework due to it being the first 3 days of school.
I know my DD would NEVER want to miss the first days of school. haha. She is so excited for school to start. She is counting down, only 2 weeks left till school starts here!
We are going to WDW the end of Sept. This was also an issue for me but we will NOT go to WDW in the hot, humid summer months so we decided to take him out of school. He will be going to 1st grade & will miss 6 days of school when we go. Like others have posted, spending quality time with family is just as important to me & going to Epcot he will learn all about the different cultures, etc which will be a great learning experience for him. Unfortunately, when I spoke with the school, they will not give the homework & make-up work until AFTER vacation! I am going to see if I can at least take some of his textbooks with us so we can review the next few things on the plane ride which will make making up missed work much easier!
We are taking DBF's DS out for 5 days to go the beginning of December. He'll be in third grade this year. I can't really take that much time off work during the summer since that's our busy time. For us going during value season makes it easier on our budget. We told DS already he'll have to do extra work before or after we go. I don't really know if we'd do it again since the work will be getting harder, but we decided we had to do what's right for us as a family.
We're taking our DD's out for a week in Oct. Oldest DD is going into 4th grade, youngest is entering Pre-K. I'm also a teacher, so I'll be missing a week as well.
I despise extemely hot weather and crowds, so summer at WDW is not a great choice for our family. My DH and I went once in Aug when it was just us. Though it was magical, I vowed to never do summer again. We love the non-peak times of Sept/Oct, so I bank my max five personal days and we plan to go to WDW every two years during the school year.
That said, I feel as a parent/teacher that if you feel your child can handle making up the work, go for it. She is your child and you know her best. I obviously would not plan a vacation around any important testing dates at school, but most everything else can be made up or if your child's teacher can get the work to you before you leave, it can be done while on vacation.
I wouldn't worry, she'll probably miss very little the first three days. Good luck!!!
I have a Senior this year and one in 4th grade. We had booked for Oct during their 2 week Fall Break. Then Free Dining came along. They start school Aug 1, so we are going during Labor Day. They will miss 8/29, 9/3-5. They have a teacher inservice the day after LD. I'm going to have their weekly tests done on Thursday before we go. Then the next week is only 3 days, so I think it will be ok.
It's really a personal decision, but cost and crowds played a big part in our decision.
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