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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just curious if anyone has any experience with Disney cruises to nowhere? We're actually doing this as a back-to-back with the 7 day cruise, so that family can join us for the two nights before to "sample" cruising.
What can we expect? We did the Magic, so know in general what to expect. However, I'm unclear what might not be available (e.g., Animator's Palate show). Also, will the LA cruise terminal be anything like the one in Port Canaveral? Has anyone heard if they're dressing it up?
We were fortunate to get the same cabin (secret veranda room) for both cruises, so no packing between cruises (yeah!!!).
As far as I know, this is the first DCL cruise to nowhere that's open to the general public. If I recall correctly, they had a media/travel industry cruise to nowhere the first time the Magic visited LA. (No, we were not invited.)
Since chances are this is also intended to be a Media and Travel Industry cruise, I can only guess they didn't want to fill the whole ship with comped guests. I'd expect there will be an Animators Palate show (they'll want the media to experience it), but with only two nights, you have one chance in three of missing out (and if 2/3 of the passengers are invited guests, I fear your chances may go to zero). The Wonder may have a new show, so under the circumstances it's likely you'll see the new show plus Disney Dreams. Even if they don't serve the Pirates in the Caribbean menu in the dining rooms, I think it's likely they'll hold the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party and the fireworks.
Since it'll be the first cruise from the Wonder's new permanent home port, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a commemorative stateroom gift waiting for you, too (litho, pin, or some such).
Other than that, I have no guesses. If the ship is carrying a load of invited guests, it's likely that Disney will be "plussing" the cruise in as many ways as it can - the best of its entertainment, the best of its food, etc.
But if I'm wrong about the media/travel industry guests... how bad could a "regular" cruise be?
I haven't seen anything about upgrades to the cruise terminal. Since it is a shared facility, I'm not sure the other cruise lines would be warm to the idea of Disney-specific modifications. Who wants the competition to be promoted when your own passengers are boarding? It's more likely that there will be hidden, infrastructrure modifications to support any special needs Disney may have, although after the previous visits to San Pedro, that's probably already been addressed. Note also that there's probably a conservative attitude about any significant investment at the current cruise terminal. Plans are moving ahead for a new cruise terminal at the west end of the shipping channel, large enough to acommodate ships the size of the Dream and Fantasy (and larger). That may be only five years down the road.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Thanks for the reply; the information is very useful.
I hadn't considered that it is a shared-use terminal. I've cruised out of there maybe 4 or 5 times, but always on RCI, so never considered that other ships might use the space on "off" days. Definitely explains why the terminal isn't as nice as others that are dedicated to a single cruise line.
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