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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
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Make: Hitachi
Model: DZ-MV750MA
Digital: yes
CAn take stills: yes (but I don't plan to do so as I prefer my Canon Digital SLR Rebel for stills..(but you never know)
Optical Zoom: 16x Digital Zoom: 240x
Recording Media: Multiformat: DVD-RAM/-R/-RW, also can use SD card
What I like: Records straight to a usable 8cm(mini) DVD for instant playability on most players that accept 8cm(mini) which is most DVD players, size is good, weight is good too, also able to capture image to PC and edit on a PC..also love the fact that this camera records (if so desired) in the 16:9 Widescreen Format!
What I dislike...not anything really
How long owned: 3 months
What would I replace it with: Nothing
Make: Canon
Model: ZR 300
Digital (yes/no): Yes
Can it take still photos: Yes
If it can take still photos, does it write to another recording media or put the still on the video: Stills to Multimedia/SD Card or tape
Optical Zoom: 20x
Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): DV
What do you like about it: Almost everything
What do you dislike about it: poor resolution of still pictures
How long have you had it: 2years
Approximate cost when you bought it:can't remember
What would you replace it with Something that would record straight to dvd. (maybe a sony handycam?)
I just bought a new cell phone the other day that takes movies. It only doese 3 minutes at a time, but will hold a lot per stick. I am just planning on downloading at the photo stations on CD. I am not a big movie person anyway. I love photos.
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Just two days ago we purchased a JVC Everio GZ-MG27u. The coolest thing about it is there are no mini-DVs, DVDs or memory cards to deal with. It has an internal 20G hard drive and can take up to 14 hours of video, depending on quality. It's small, about 2.5" high, 3" wide and 4" long. Here's the best part, though: there is an optional dock, about half the size of a laptop, that will burn your movies onto a DVD when your memory is full. We're going to WDW in 13 days and I'll post when I return with the above format including all the details. Wish me luck!
Make: JVC
Model: Everio G-Z MG27U
Digital (yes/no): yes
Can it take still photos: yes
If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video: writes to hard drive
Optical Zoom: 32X
Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): hard disk drive 20GB
What do you like about it: it is very small and no tapes or disks to mess with
What do you dislike about it: Nothing yet
How long have you had it: 3 months
Approximate cost when you bought it: $600
What would you replace it with: Nothing
Make: SONY
Model: HC38
Digital (yes/no): Yes
Can it take still photos: No
If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video:
Optical Zoom: Yes, ?x
Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): mini DV (i chose it because i wanted to record longer than the 30 minutes of dvd)
What do you dislike about it: Nothing yet!
How long have you had it: month
Approximate cost when you bought it: $330
What would you replace it with: Nothing yet - I absolutely love it so far. I can hook it to my notebook computer with the firewire port and download the video so i can make my own movies with windows movie maker or other software. and it is so lightweight, you do not even know its in your bag. battery seems to have a good life too, though i did buy a second one for a spare. i haven't done much recording in low-light yet. that is to be determined.
Make: Sony
Model: Handycam DCR-SR100 HDD
Digital: Y
Can it take still photos: Yes, 3.2 megapixels
Where does it save stills to: It is a hard disk camcorder so everything saves to the hard disk.
Optical Zoom: Not Sure, but 120x Digital Zoom
Recording Media: Hard Disk
Like the Most: I love the hard disk. You can record for 7-12 hours, depending on the settings with out having to download.
It also takes the best night-time stills I have ever seem from a digital camera.
It's small easy to carry and fits in most digital camera backs or standard fanny packs.
Dislike: Not much. There is no media to buy or carry around. You need an extra battery, the battery does not last too long.
Also, you need to bring a laptop to download your video to, or a dvd burner.
How long: I've had this for 1.5 years or so.
Price: It was around $1200, but I love it.
Replacement: I would go with the Sony again but I would get the High Definition one this time.
Make: JVC
Model: Everio GZ-MF130U
Digital (yes/no): yes
Can it take still photos: yes
If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video: writes to hard drive or SD Card
Optical Zoom: 34X
Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): hard disk drive 30GB
What do you like about it: iI love the size-it's compact and no need for tapes or dvds. also, it is easy to use
What do you dislike about it:
How long have you had it: 1 year
Approximate cost when you bought it: $500
What would you replace it with: I can't think of anything I would rather have
My daughter and I both own a JVC -HD,The camera easily fitsi into ]a woman's palm. It takes both movies and still photos and came with a DVD/Burner. It just needs one cable to connect it to the DVD?Burner.
We enjoy the ease of taking movies, still photos with it and how easy it is to burn a DVd. . The results. satisfy us. There is a slot for a memory card. and movies can be down-loaded to a computer. The camcorder also has a docking station so it can be put on any DVD/Burner I think.
The only problem we have encountered when shooting movies of group activities in a large field is that if we get too far away from the action and use the digital zoom then we encounter wind noises.
In the past I used Sony camcorders and then copied them to VHS. tapes. I have lost all my movies now including great movies of the mountains here and movies of Disneyworld. but DVDs will be with us awhile and I don't plan to erase any movies that I down-load from my camcorder.
Make: Sony Model: HDR-HC3 Digital (yes/no): Yes Can it take still photos: Yes If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video: Memory Stick Optical Zoom: 80x Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): DV What do you like about it: Full HD!! and touch screen controls What do you dislike about it: Nothing How long have you had it: 1+ Approximate cost when you bought it: 1200.00 What would you replace it with:Same thing in the newer version that writes to a hard drive.
YAY! I can add something to this thread now! I have been putting off getting a camcorder until now . . .
Make: Sony Model: DCR-SX41 Digital (yes/no): Yes Can it take still photos: Yes If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video: It writes to the internal memory (unless, I assume, the memory stick is in there, then it will write to that.) Optical Zoom: 60X Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD):Digital video - 8gb internal memory with slot for Memory Pro Duo stick. What do you like about it: Small, SO easy to use, touch screen. What do you dislike about it: How long have you had it: It is brand new . . . just bought it this past weekend! Approximate cost when you bought it: $300 What would you replace it with:
Make: Canon Model: DC310 Digital (yes/no): Yes Can it take still photos: Yes If it can take still photos,
does it write to another
recording media or put
the still on the video: Separate SDHC card Optical Zoom: 41x Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): 8cm DVD-RW What do you like about it: smaller than I expected, very nice and lightweight, variable-angle LCD viewscreen What do you dislike about it: I didn't own it a year ago ...! How long have you had it: Since yesterday! ^_^ Approximate cost when you bought it: Received as a gift, but IIRC the MSRP is ~$260. What would you replace it with: Nothing, it's brand-new and my first ever.
Make:Sony Model: HDR-TD30V Digital (yes/no): yes Can it take still photos: yes Still image media:Same media Optical Zoom: 10x optical, plus additional 17x digital (in 2D modeonly) Recording media (8mm, DV, CD, DVD): SDXC memory card What do you like about it: 3D ...!! What do you dislike about it: Expensive!! How long have you had it: -3 days (it will ship tomorrow) Approximate cost when you bought it: $998 What would you replace it with: it is the replacement
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