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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This is going to sound probably a little crazy but while we have cruised before the only beach excursions we took were on Castaway Cay and we always had a little one with us so we mostly took turns getting in the water with the kids while one of us stayed back at our chairs with our stuff.
In just under 2 weeks (yay ) we will be on our first Eastern cruise and beaches are basically our only excursions. We are going to Orient Beach in St. Martin and to Emerald Beach on St. Thomas and then of course to CC. The kids are older and love the water and we want to enjoy it together as a family but I am a bit leery of leaving our stuff (most specifically our camera) while we enjoy the water. We have water tight boxes for our credit cards/money, etc.. to keep on us but we don't want someone to walk off with our camera (it is not a small digital but a rather large SLR type) and most importantly with the memory card full of pictures. Any suggestions or should we just plan on having one of us stay with our stuff at all times? We could use the disposables or take a smaller camera but the pictures are just not as great. I really want the big camera if possible.
Thanks and sorry for sounding so naive...we don't go to the beach often in Missouri and the pools all have lockers.
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Sorry, don't have anything to say to help you. In WDW people leave their bags in strollers and such and no one bothers it, or steals things. They have enough of their own stuff to lug with them all day.
Where it is expensive camera equipment, I would think better of leaving it unattended any place either at the beach or in WDW.
Castaway Cay is about as secure as a beach gets, since it's such a closed society. I wouldn't feel at all secure leaving valuables at "normal" beaches. Some beaches do provide rental lockers - keep your eyes open for those. Otherwise, the "buddy system" is a pretty good idea (one parent takes photos of the rest of the family in the water - there's even a reasonable reason to do it).
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
When anywhere other than CC you have to consider the environment... remember... you are in a foreign country and things do happen... so with that in mind... either keeps your goods with you or one of you stay with them at all times... now do keep in mind that if you are going on a disney excursion then there will be others from the ship with you and you can count on one another.... just beware...
When anywhere other than CC you have to consider the environment... remember... you are in a foreign country and things do happen... so with that in mind... either keep your goods with you or one of you stay with them at all times... now do keep in mind that if you are going on a disney excursion then there will be others from the ship with you and you can count on one another.... just beware...
I agree. You might consider a smaller, waterproof camera or camera / waterproof case set and keep it with you, if you don't want to take turns as guard.
Have you ever taken an SLR (or dSLR) to a beach before? There is so much grit and junk and even the toughest camera can easily fall prey to it. And make darned sure you don't try to change lenses on the beach!!!
Have you ever taken an SLR (or dSLR) to a beach before? There is so much grit and junk and even the toughest camera can easily fall prey to it. And make darned sure you don't try to change lenses on the beach!!!
We are very careful with it and we don't change lenses on the beach. It has always been fine and I do love the great pictures. I am not great with the camera but I do enjoy "pretending" to be a real photographer.
I figured it was probably a lost cause but was just hoping someone had some great ideas for me that we didn't think of. We will just have to decide if having one of us stand guard with the good camera is more important that being able to have all of us in the water at the same time and getting lesser pictures.
If you meet other DCL cruisers who are on your same excursion, you could probably ask them to watch it for you for a bit so you can all have some play time together. One of the other couples from our dining table was on the same excursion as us, and by the time the excursion rolled around, we knew them well enough to have asked them that kind of favor.
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) we will be on our first Eastern cruise and beaches are basically our only excursions. We are going to Orient Beach in St. Martin and to Emerald Beach on St. Thomas and then of course to CC. The kids are older and love the water and we want to enjoy it together as a family but I am a bit leery of leaving our stuff (most specifically our camera) while we enjoy the water. We have water tight boxes for our credit cards/money, etc.. to keep on us but we don't want someone to walk off with our camera (it is not a small digital but a rather large SLR type) and most importantly with the memory card full of pictures. Any suggestions or should we just plan on having one of us stay with our stuff at all times? We could use the disposables or take a smaller camera but the pictures are just not as great. I really want the big camera if possible.
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