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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have to go with Judi on this one. It will not be the biggest ship out there, by far. And I trust Disney to accommodate their guests in such a way that it won't feel too crowded.
"Small" staterooms? Smaller by around 10-14 square feet than the Magic/Wonder for most categories, but it'll be hard to notice that in practice. They're also not offering the really big suites on the Dream (the biggest sleep 5 instead of 7), and the square area on those has gone down by a similar percentage. They're all still large by the standards of most ships, including the newest Cunard liners.
It seems that they're partially compensated for the reduced square footage in the "regular" staterooms by changing the furniture layout. I think they're picking up at least half of the lost square footage by replacing night tables with wall-mounted units, replacing the storage "trunk" with a taller cabinet next to the clothes closet and storage inside the coffee table/ottoman, and being able to trim back the desk/makeup area because it's designed from the start for flat screen TV. While I don't have measurements, the verandahs they're showing (which may or may not be representative of all verandahs) look about a foot deeper, or more.
Now, while the Royal Suites are smaller inside, they have huge verandahs, and hot tubs out on those verandahs - they're much better suited for entertaining than the verandahs for the Magic/Wonder's Walt and Roy Suites. "Suite Country" also now has a separate Concierge Lounge and a private sun deck up on Deck 13. I can understand DCL moving the Royal Suites down to 5 rather than 7 guests maximum and eliminating the second bedroom - I think the number of parties that actually had more than 5 guests in the room was fairly small. Why not get more suites into a smiliar amount of space? Meantime, the Wonder/Magic suites often do not connect to adjoining staterooms. On the Dream, all suites connect to at least one other room. If someone wanted to, they could take both Royal Suites, the one-bedroom suite sandwiched between them, and the concierge family staterooms that connect to the other side of the Royals - up to five staterooms, each sleeping up to five! You can't do that on the Magic or Wonder. Also, each of the one-bedroom suites has a connecting concierge family suite, so those can also effectively convert to two-bedroom suites (similar to the way DVC two-bedrooms are created out of a one-bedroom and a studio). One thing's for sure - the bedroom in the Royal Suite is totally awesome - beats the Walt/Roy Suites by a good distance.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I have been on bigger cruise ships and have not felt the crowd so to speak. I know they are adding to CC. But I do wonder if you will notice, with more children around. More children in the kids clubs. Granted I'm sure I will try the ship out at least once. I'm not going to pass my judgment until I get their myself. So at least 4 more years.
One of the things I love about the ships now is that it is so easy to get around and you really get the whole ocean experience. I wouldn't want to lose that.
One of the things I love about the ships now is that it is so easy to get around and you really get the whole ocean experience. I wouldn't want to lose that.
This is why I intend to stick with the current ships as long as they keep sailing. I enjoy roaming around the relatively uncrowded ship and spending time in my stateroom and on my verandah. I have no desire to book a smaller stateroom (the equivalent to the one I usually get is approximately 15 sq. ft. smaller), with a narrower verandah (I've heard 9 or 10 inches less across), and to share the ship with that many guests (especially at deck parties - I like being by the stage).
But I do think the Dream is a beautiful ship and will put DCL in a position to better compete with Royal Caribbean and Carnival since it is a big ship and will have the AquaDuck. This must be what the majority of guests want, but it's not my style. I hope the Magic and Wonder will sail for many years to come. If I ever decide to sail on the Dream, I'll want to be able to afford one of those downsized Royal Suites, so that could be a long time from now!
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