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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 could arguably go in the "health" category, but I know it'll get more traffic here.
Who has Transitions lenses? Do you like them?
I was at the eye dr. this morning. I left without ordering anything because my head is swimming. I found out that our vision plan covers Transitions lenses (won't cover the progressive feature in my bifocals, but...). I wish we'd known that when we ordered DD's new lenses last week....but I digress!
The gal at the lens shoppe said that they don't darken in a car because the UV coating on the windshield tricks them. Driving is when I most notice the need for sunglasses. But I don't wear any now, so I wouldn't be worse off -- and something is better than what I'm doing now.
So know I'm torn -- order the frames I really like with transitions, or the frames I like almost as much with magnetic sunglass lenses (what I have now, but I forget to carry the clip on lenses). Or the 2d choice frames with transitions and the clip-ons to be covered for anything.
I guess I'm afraid that I'll dislike the transitions lenses, and want to buy new ones without. But I have to pay out of pocket for the bifocals and the thinner lenses the first time around, so I only want to do that once.
__________________
Carolyn
Last edited by Carousel96; 09-27-2011 at 12:43 PM..
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
My son wears Transitions. He hasn't mentioned the car problem, but I bet it is for him. He mentioned this summer that they didn't get dark enough for him while working at the pool and he often wore DDs aviator sunglasses over his glasses.
My DH did one those buy one get one free things at a eyeglass place years ago and had the second pair made into sunglasses. So he uses them when driving or outdoors in the sun. (He has to carry both when at WDW).
I like my transitions lenses. They're especially useful for (you guessed it!) places like WDW where you go from dark ride to bright sunlight. Last time we went, I had my transitions lenses while DH had his regular glasses & sunglasses. It was a pain for him to constantly stop before each ride, switch the glasses, then after the ride, switch back. Meanwhile, I was able to continue on my merry way & not miss a beat!
I notice the convenience mostly at places like amusement parks (we also live near Kings' Dominion) and at the regular ol' park when my kids go tearing off to the playsets. It's nice to not have to take my eyes off them to switch out my glasses.
Like you, I don't use sunglasses while I'm driving --- or at least, not often. I keep my Rx sunglasses in the car for when the sun really bothers me.
As for getting dark enough or not, I remember being told that one of the colors (you get a choice of gray or brown) gets darker than the other, but I don't remember which. In any case, I'm not anywhere that's so bright, I need super dark glasses. I imagine it might make a difference, depending on where you live or if you are near the water.
Good luck with your decision!
Carol
__________________
DS-almost 3 & DD-6 with Meeko & Pocahontas in 2012
DH, "Commando" (Let's get a move on, folks!) ~ Me, "Pokey" (Just a moment...Look at this cool trinket!) ~ DD, born 4/2005, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" (Roller coaster! Cars! Dumbo!) ~ DS, born 3/2009, "Charge!" (I wanna goooooo!)
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I had them (with my progressive lenses) and they were ok. They do not get dark in the car because of the UV coatings on the glass, so that wasn't great for me, since my eyes are sensitive to glare. They are fine if you are in & out & don't want to bother switching to sunglasses, but if you are at the beach, pool, or anywhere you would want good sunglasses, not so much. I opted not to get them the last time I ordered glasses. The extra expense wasn't worth it to me...it was cheaper to just get new lenses in a pair of sunglasses.
__________________
First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
DH and I both have transition lenses and I really like them for the most part. I have super sensitive eyes so I don't feel like they get dark enough (DH tells me they look like they do so it really might be my imagination! ) but I really haven't had any problems. It's 100% true about them not changing in the car. I just have a pair of sunglasses that I put over my glasses whenever I'm driving and it works great. It seems a little strange but I really would rather just leave a pair in the car and not have to carry sunglasses with me where ever I go.
I've had transition lenses for about 5 years. If you get them, make sure they are actual transitions brand lenses. The cheaper 'no brand' knockoffs (Lenscrafter brand) will peel off after a few years and you'll have to get new lenses. This happened to me twice before I finally got the real deal.
For the most part, I like them. They do work, especially when you're doing something that requires you to go in and out from sun to indoor lighting. As they get older, they don't seem to change as quickly, so places like the AKL are hard to navigate when you first enter the building. This is one of the reasons I didn't enjoy my trip to AKL, the inside of the resort was so dim, my lenses couldn't keep up.
I also purchased a pair of sunglasses-over-eyeglasses that I love. I use them in my car and in very, very bright light. I got mine online for about $12 including shipping. It certainly solved the car problem. And since I mostly just use them in the car, I leave them there, so I don't have to carry around a second pair of "sunglasses" in my purse.
Thanks. It's good to know that no one (so far) has had the "Hate-them-and-I'll-never-do-it-again" reaction. And I hadn't thought about oversized sunglasses for over the glasses in the car. That would be cheap and easy.
I have had transitions for a number of years now. They work just fine for me and I like them. I never notice the sun when I am outdoors. The only time I realize that I have transitions is right after I go back inside and everything is dim for a brief time as they go back to regular. It sometimes surprises me when I look in a mirror and see I have on sunglasses.
DD's lenses came in, and they were miscut. So we're going to see if we can get the do-overs done as Transitions. Since insurance has paid for the first (wrong) set they may kick back the upgrade on hers, but it's still cheaper than sunglasses for her.
We all have Transitions. As a PP said, they are great for WDW or Universal, horrid for driving. I finally buckled down and spent $100 on a pair of prescription sunglasses from Sam's last week b/c I NEED them in the car and wearing something over my cha-ching Fendis wasn't going to work. I'm happy now that I have the best of both worlds.
Have been wearing the Transitions photochromic glasses for two years. They were from Zenni Optical. Although they take one or two minutes to progressively darken, after wearing them, I don’t need to carry a separate pair of prescription sunglasses for the protection against harmful U.V. rays from the sun. It is very convenient.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Last time we went, I had my transitions lenses while DH had his regular glasses & sunglasses. It was a pain for him to constantly stop before each ride, switch the glasses, then after the ride, switch back. Meanwhile, I was able to continue on my merry way & not miss a beat!
) but I really haven't had any problems. It's 100% true about them not changing in the car. I just have a pair of sunglasses that I put over my glasses whenever I'm driving and it works great. It seems a little strange but I really would rather just leave a pair in the car and not have to carry sunglasses with me where ever I go.
Linear Mode
