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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip here. Our main focus is Orca watching (whales would also be a bonus). Is it an easy drive from Seattle (which we can fly into pretty reasonably)? Any particularly good places to stay or dine (two adults)? What else should we plan on doing? Thanks in advance for any help!
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I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip here. Our main focus is Orca watching (whales would also be a bonus). Is it an easy drive from Seattle (which we can fly into pretty reasonably)? Any particularly good places to stay or dine (two adults)? What else should we plan on doing? Thanks in advance for any help!
Seattle is about 150 miles from Vancouver. The big time element is border crossing.
1 ) Canada to US and vice versa now require passport or passport card.
2) If going into Canada make sure there are NO weapons in your vehicle (including knives).
3) The border can get slow..depending on those in front of you. US to Canada is more restrictive. (They check all US citizens against the US computers. You need a CLEAN record to enter the country--some us offences can semi permanently disqualify one from entry, or subject one to apply in advance for admittance.)
There are lots of hotel/restaurants. Prices for Vancouver tend to be fairly high, unless you are staying on the outskirts.
Thanks Don! I'd rather fly directly into Vancouver, but it's $300 more per person. We'd be good with the passports, etc. We're frequent international travelers.
We spent a few days in Vancouver before our AK cruise. One of our top priorities was to see orcas -and we did! We did travel back to Washington State to see them, but they are wild animals after all and go where they want . We used Wild Whales Vancouver and were happy with them. They leave from Granville Island. Leave yourself time to explore Granville Island btw....we wish we had more time there. Stanley Park is a must do! Again, leave yourself time to explore. The park is HUGE. We used the interior shuttle to move from place to place within the park. We also really enjoyed the Capilano Suspension Bridge -go early before it gets too crowded.
We stayed at the Pan Pacific which is a bit pricey (we got a pretty good deal on two rooms) but it is a gorgeous hotel and it was well located, especially as our cruise left from there.
We drove the other way from Vancouver to Seattle and it was a pleasant enough drive and we didn't find the border crossing that bad. We stayed at the Pan Pacific, which wasn't exactly cheap, but it was convenient for our cruise, as it was right on top of the cruise terminal.
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. We used Wild Whales Vancouver and were happy with them. They leave from Granville Island. Leave yourself time to explore Granville Island btw....we wish we had more time there. Stanley Park is a must do! Again, leave yourself time to explore. The park is HUGE. We used the interior shuttle to move from place to place within the park. We also really enjoyed the Capilano Suspension Bridge -go early before it gets too crowded. 
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