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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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OK, our cruise sets sail on 2/12/12 and we are 1st timers to cruising. We will be on the DREAM with only 32 days away so we are doing the final countdown.
We (DD -14 and Self) have booked the Stingray adventure on Castaway Cay at 1:00. I am hoping the water won't be to cold and that I won't freak out with the stingrays swimming around me!! The boys (DH and DS-10) don't want anything to do with the Stingrays and will be renting water bikes during this time.
If you have done this excursion, please give me your opinion of the experience! Is it worth it and would you do it again??
The water temperature will be in the low 70s. It's certainly not bathtub temp., but still warm compared to summertime ocean and lake temperatures in places up north. The main interaction zone is in water that's around knee deep, so it's not nearly as hard to take as total immersion (snorkeling) would be.
Disney's stingray experience is still unique, as far as I know. It's in very controlled conditions, where the rays swim up onto a platform where you can touch them but they won't be able to approach you. There are also rays in the surrounding waters, and you can go snorkeling off to find them, but you don't have to - if you'd rather stay in the shallow water, you're not going to see alot of them, 'cause they have more privacy in deeper water.
And, by the way, they rays have had their spines (stingers) clipped.
I think it's the best value of any other stingray experience, because there's no time lost traveling, and no transportation cost (bus and/or boat). You can accomplish in one hour what could take 3-4 hours on some other islands.
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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 Dave for the information. It helps a bit to calm my nerves. I am really excited for the experience but just a bit "jittery". I am sure I will really enjoy it once I am in the water!!
I have done it twice and really enjoyed it both times. I defintiely think it is worth the money and is a unique experience. I am sure you and your daughter will love it.
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I have done it twice and really enjoyed it both times. I defintiely think it is worth the money and is a unique experience. I am sure you and your daughter will love it.
Thanks for the reassurance! I'm sure that once we are there, I will be fine but it is nice to know other people enjoyed it.
We did the stingray adventure just a few weeks ago. It was so much fun! When you feed them - it just feels like a vacuum cleaner coming across the top of your hand. And there are stingrays that are swimming around you while you are doing the feeding adventure in shallow water. They really are fun!!! The water was supposedly around 72 degrees when we were there (29 Dec 11) and it was okay for the feeding part but my daughter and I just couldn't get all the way in!! Hubby and son did just fine though and spent all the time they could snorkeling out in the deeper water checking out the rays!! And - we would absolutely do it again!!!
Glad to hear it! Did you do the snorkling part of it too? Do stingrays swim toward the bottom by the sand or anywhere?
Thanks!
Yes, we did the snorkeling. Yes, most of the stingrays stay closer to the bottom. We went out to the deeper water and were looking down on them (and other tropical fish), but there weren't interfering with our swimming/snorkeling.
We did the stingray adventure just a few weeks ago. It was so much fun! When you feed them - it just feels like a vacuum cleaner coming across the top of your hand. And there are stingrays that are swimming around you while you are doing the feeding adventure in shallow water. They really are fun!!! The water was supposedly around 72 degrees when we were there (29 Dec 11) and it was okay for the feeding part but my daughter and I just couldn't get all the way in!! Hubby and son did just fine though and spent all the time they could snorkeling out in the deeper water checking out the rays!! And - we would absolutely do it again!!!
Sounds amazing!! I am getting more excited all the time .........Thanks!
Yes, we did the snorkeling. Yes, most of the stingrays stay closer to the bottom. We went out to the deeper water and were looking down on them (and other tropical fish), but there weren't interfering with our swimming/snorkeling.
Do I have to be worried I may step on one? I don't want to hurt them!!
I have a few friends that say I am crazy to do this but I feel it is Disney and they would take every precaution to be sure it was safe..........I mean, when does a person ever get the opportunity to do something like this??
When you're in the shallow water, they tell you to "shuffle" your feet in the sand (drag your feet) so that they will know you are coming and get out of the way.
At Stingray City on Grand Cayman, a sand bar in the middle of a huge bay that is the original stingray experience, they call that the "Stingray Shuffle."
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
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with only 32 days away so we are doing the final countdown.
and that I won't freak out with the stingrays swimming around me!! The boys (DH and DS-10) don't want anything to do with the Stingrays and will be renting water bikes during this time.
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I am really excited for the experience but just a bit "jittery". I am sure I will really enjoy it once I am in the water!! 
I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
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