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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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For our trip in January, both of our parents will be joining us for a portion of the time. Our party when everyone is there together will be 9, and I was hoping we could do a Grand Gathering event. I was just wondering if it might cause an issue that we aren't all on the same reservation (we all booked seperately), and that our parents aren't staying the entire length of our trip? I would assume that so long as everyone is there for when we arrange the Grand Gathering, it shouldn't be an issue, but I thought best to ask some experts!
Since we are on the topic, have you done a Grand Gathering, and if so, which one? What did you think? Would you recommend one over the other (our party consists of 7 adults, 7 year old and 8 year old.) I think all 3 sounds like so much fun!
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i believe you call and get a GG # that can be used to link all the different reservations. you don't have to be all arriving or leaving at the same time or even in the same resort. we are trying the International/Illuminations dinner and special area for viewing this december.
Call the GG # and have them link your reservations. We did the Pirate Fireworks Voyage and loved it!!!! Patch the Pirate is great fun and there is a surprise waiting for you on the dock when you return!!!
Big hint: Go to the bathroom BEFORE you get on the boat. This is vital!!!!!! I was in excruciating discomfort for most of our voyage because I did not make it to the restroom before we boarded.
In April, we did both the Pirate Cruise (which as of July, is no longer a GG) and the Good Morning Breakfast at Tony's. We loved both of them. Since you could feasibly do the Pirate Cruise during another trip, I would do one of the other GGs that you may not get the chance to do again. With that said, we LOVED the breakfast at Tony's. Private character interaction, good food, fun games, and PP photographer at the end with family pictures with Mickey! Some of out best pictures came from this GG!
Only 80% of the group needs to be staying on-property, so it shouldn't matter even if they are staying off property for any portion of that.
They will link the on-property ressies together. If you're staying at the same resort, they will also try to arrange them so they are geographically close together (unless you request differently! )
Of the events themselves, I adored the Fireworks cruise, but that has now been opened up to non-GG guests.
The safari was wonderful and the food was excellent.
The fireworks dinner was good (although we had extenuating circumstances to our meal, so I don't blame Disney that it wasn't top-notch.) The fireworks location and the desserts were worth the whole cost of the event. Excellent!!
We haven't done the breakfast, but several PassPorters have and have given it high marks.
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