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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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So we decided that each of us put 2 trips in a bucket to draw to see where we would go next year. I of course loaded mine with "Disney World" and "Disney Cruise" Anyway, my DH's got picked and his said "Alabama."
Need some vacation ideas, best time to visit, coast or mountains etc....
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What do you like to do? Where I live is Huntsville. Huntsville is awesome! There is the U.S. Space and Rocket Center which is a must see (Werhner Von Braun lived in Huntsville and he is the father of our US space program), across from the Space and Rocket Center is SciQuest. Burritt Museum located on Beautiful Monte Sano Mountain, also on Monte Sano Mt. is a beautiful park with loads of scenic views and hiking and biking trails. You can also rent cabins on the mountain.
If you like shopping then Bridge Street is our new upscale shopping center. Down by the river is Ditto Landing where you can put in a boat into the Tennessee River. (not sure about boat rentals) Near by is Cathedral Caverns it is a beautiful cave with guided tours. Downtown we have Early Works Museaum for kids. The museaum offers a history of Alabama. Also, downtown is Constitution Hall Village and the old depot.
Also, nearby is DeSoto State Park.
I sound like a tour guide. :-)
Down in south AL you will find gorgeous white sand beaches. The USS Alabama, Dauphin Island, Bellingrath Gardens and the Mobile area.
If you think of any questions about other places in Alabama just send me a pm. I will be glad to help you!
Danielle
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WDW Oct . 2012
Since Minnie's chair is gone, I had to find a new place to have our photo taken this past Oct. Not sure this will be the permanent place.
We lived in Alabama for 2 years.
Here a few things we did
Huntsville has the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.
We went to the zoo, I think it was in Birmingham...
I took my DD's girl scout troop to Dauphin Island..which was pretty cool
I live in Alabama. It's fun to hear that people want to visit our part of the world. It really depends what you like as to where you should go in the state.
Birmingham is probably the most centrally located if you want to see a lot of stuff. You could stay here and visit some other cities. Montgomery is only about an hour away. Both Montgomery and Birmingham have lots of historical stuff, and there's a neat science museum in Birmingham called the McWane Center. Birmingham also has the best shopping, restaurants, etc. in the state. There are two parts of town you could stay at that would put you near a lot of places to eat and stuff. One is the Galleria area and the other is on Highway 280. There are plenty of other good places, of course, but I always like to know when I'm traveling what the best areas of town to stay at are. There's definitely lots of traffic at both of these, but you're just in the middle of everything.
Huntsville is a neat place with the Space and Rocket Center, too. If you stay in Birmingham, you could make a day trip to it in about an hour and a half.
You could also get to DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg, a very popular spot, in less than an hour.
Gulf Shores/Orange Beach is a great place to visit, too, though it's nowhere near the other cities I've mentioned. It's a typical Gulf of Mexico beach town with lots of seafood restaurants and nice hotels on the beach. It's much more family oriented than some of the Florida panhandle beaches, though.
If you want to mainly relax and maybe do some outlet shopping, I would go to Orange Beach/Gulf Shores.
If you want to see lots of sights, I'd stay in Birmingham and tour the city, then take day trips to the neighboring cities.
Ave Maria Grotto-Cullman Alabama
University of Alabama Campus-Tuscaloosa Alabama
Tour of Montgomery Alabama
Lots of Civil War history and battlefields
I love Alabama
Alright, now you can't go tour the University of Alabama's campus and not tour Auburn's!
I tried to stay impartial on here and not mention my hometown and alma mater, but since somebody put in a suggestion to visit U of A, I've got to put in my two cents.
They don't call us the "loveliest village on the plains" for nothing!
In fact, if you come here, I don't mind giving you a campus tour myself. I was an orientation leader in college and have been trained to give tours with all of the history and fun stories from the campus. I just hope I can remember all of it! I'll go dig up my binder, but I remember most of it anyway--just don't want to tell you the wrong years or anything on stuff. We're about 45 minutes from Montgomery or an hour and a half from Birmingham.
I know you'll find plenty of other things to see and do on your vacation, but if you happen to make it over my way, I'd be honored.
Does your DH love golf? My DH has taken 3 trips to Alabama, all to golf the Robert Trent Jones Trail there. You've got to really love golf, IMO, because all you do is golf,sleep, drive to the next course, golf,sleep,repeat all week. DH thought he was in heaven. And in addition,he found a couple of non-trail golf courses that he loved. If this is your DH's idea of a vacation, feel free to PM me for more info.
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