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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
This will be our first year too!! We are going 9/30! We are very excited!! I have been looking for costumes for over a month. I want something fun yet comfy, & cool. Oh & something you can wear on a ride!! Very important!! An extremely sweet lady on this board told me her family wears Halloween t-shirts. I believe she makes them. I think you buy iron on transfer for you printer & then just pick an image. I haven't tried it yet, but I will. I am also thinking about making Mickey tie dye shirts. I looked up a video on the internet on how to do it. I have a straw hat so I thought I might be a country girl. My son has an apron & chef hat so he wants to be a chef. My daughter isn't sure just yet. Well none of us are sure what we will end up wearing. I think we will make the shirts to wear while we are on our trip, but we may just end up wearing them for the party as well! Let us know what costumes you come up with. I hope you have a wonderful time at Mickey's Halloween Party!!
Generally, October is very hot in Orlando -- after sweating through a party in a costume meant for the weather in the Northeast, I've learned to make costumes that can be created from t-shirts. (Like the Incredible family, or simple shirts that say "Boo!")
September is still, unfortunately, very hot and humid and (IMO ) not dressing up weather; however, a lot of people do it and I've seen some pretty amazing costumes (and I've always wondered how they're not dying from the heat! ). So, personally, I prefer the T-shirt idea too!
DH and I went to our first parties last year and, having grown up in South Florida, I knew no costumes -- although it would have been fun! -- so we wore Halloween shirts and just some great accessories and make-up.
As far as masks, I have found conflicting information while searching. There is a Mom's Panel response that says masks are not allowed; however, on many of the different forums, as well as on the Disney MNSSHP page, nothing is explicitly prohibited as guests, adults included, are encouraged to dress up.
Therefore, I would think that you should just use your best judgment when it comes to deciding to wear any masks; i.e. remember it'll be hot and don't wear anything that obstructs your vision and/or is too frightening or obscene.
Masks that go over the eyes are not allowed. For example, DS wore a Batman costume one year, and he had to fold back the part of the hood that came down over his eyes so his face was clear.
If I were you I would plan on it being quite hot. Last year we were there the second weekend of Oct, and it was EXTREMELY hot - temps upper 90s the whole time, and it was very humid so it didn't cool off much at night. We've had slightly cooler temps other years (like low 90s), but plan for hot hot hot. We all always dress up, and I've never had a problem finding a costume for me. I tend to go with things that involve flowy dresses with short/no sleeves. It is more difficult for DH, because guys costumes tend to involve long pants/long sleeves. DS usualy ends up also wearing things with long sleeves/pants even though I try to encourage otherwise. He'd rather be hot and be dressed as something "cool" apparently. A lot of the kids costumes are pretty thin nylon type material (I'm thinking superhero type costumes) that I think is not ridiculously hot. I've been on DS's case to come up with what he wants to be soon, because we only have 6 wks and I need to order the costumes so we can get them, make sure they are the right size, exchange if necessary, etc. I usually get our costumes from buycostumes.com because there are usually lots of reviews for each costume (including pictures because there is usually a contest you can win and you get more points if you do a picture review so lots of people do) and it's nice to hear what real people think of the quality/sizing etc. Good luck on finding a great costume!!
__________________
MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I've been struggling with this too, I would love to dress up the family but I'm worried about the heat. I think we are going to t-shirt route as well (plus this trip is a surprise to DS so I'd have to choose his costume and at 9 he's old enough to have opinions on what he wants to wear and what he doesn't.) I found some really cute shirts on etsy, so I'm thinking of doing that or using my cricut and making my own.
Decisions, decisions! GL with whatever route you go!
Mel
We are going as the Mouseketeers...made out t-shirts today. All wearing black shorts or capris, buying our official Mouseketeer ears there. It's not very original, but it is functional and hopefully not too hot!