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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 am signing in to save all the great tips. DH suggested we save money and plan a trip to the Dellsthis summer. I started pricing things and was floored at the prices. Compared to wdw we would save money on airfare and trip length, but other than that seemed expensive. Id rather skip a vacay and put the $2000 toward an even better disney trip. Would love to hear thoughts on dells value...
I've been visiting the Dells since I was a kid. As a kid, it does offer fun...for us it's a "getaway" that's not too far away. We have stayed at Chula Vista and the Wilderness resort (and some others I can't remember). I have fantastic vacation memories of the Dells from when I was a kid.
I will say that I enjoyed it more before I began going to WDW for vacations (which was around age 21 or so...). I think the Dells are fun and all, but once I experienced WDW, I had a hard time not making comparisons (though I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it). As far as value is concerned...I definately feel like I get more for my money at WDW. That being said, if it's no getaway at all or a Dells getaway, I'd still go to the Dells. And like I said, for kids a vacation is a vacation and they're bound to have fun. I think that three nights is a solid amount of time to check it out...we even go for two-night getaways and still have fun...
We use the Dells as our winter getaway - we pick one of the indoor waterpark resorts and go when it's freezing outside and pretty much hang out at the resort most of the time.
Our favorite things to do in the Dells (aside from the resort's waterpark): Go to Knuckleheads for bowling - we go during the afternoon - it has never been crowded and has tons of bowling lanes, both regular and cosmic bowling. It's a newer place and totally smoke-free so it's nice and clean and we always have a ball. They also have some small rides and I think go-carts as well, but we always only bowl. Next to Knuckleheads is Tanger Outlets - nice open-air type shopping mall and they have a Disney Store!
We also hit the deer park, where you can pet and feed deer, and you can't go to the dells and not get some homemade fudge. Wandering around downtown is another way to pass the time, tons of touristy stores and pedestrian-friendly. A duck tour or boat tour is also fun and kids and adults enjoy it.
I haven't seen the Tommy Bartlett show in years, but a lot of people really enjoy that. And if it's warm enough, Noah's Ark is one of the best outdoor waterparks anywhere.
There are lots of mini-golf places and go-cart places as well.
I think the big difference in my mind that makes me compare the Dells to WDW is that in WDW I have my park ticket and can do anything I want. When we're at the Dells, we have to open our wallet for each and every "attraction" and it adds up pretty quickly.
And for the previous poster, yes, Paul Bunyan's is still open!
I will say that I enjoyed it more before I began going to WDW for vacations (which was around age 21 or so...). I think the Dells are fun and all, but once I experienced WDW, I had a hard time not making comparisons (though I know I shouldn't, but I couldn't help it). As far as value is concerned...I definately feel like I get more for my money at WDW. That being said, if it's no getaway at all or a Dells getaway, I'd still go to the Dells. And like I said, for kids a vacation is a vacation and they're bound to have fun. I think that three nights is a solid amount of time to check it out...we even go for two-night getaways and still have fun...
Next to Knuckleheads is Tanger Outlets - nice open-air type shopping mall and they have a Disney Store!
I haven't seen the Tommy Bartlett show in years, but a lot of people really enjoy that. And if it's warm enough, Noah's Ark is one of the best outdoor waterparks anywhere.
There are lots of mini-golf places and go-cart places as well.
I think the big difference in my mind that makes me compare the Dells to WDW is that in WDW I have my park ticket and can do anything I want. When we're at the Dells, we have to open our wallet for each and every "attraction" and it adds up pretty quickly. !
Thanks for all the feedback. I have been to the Dells twice...first time as a teenager on a camping trip with my youth group. We hit Noah's Ark. Second time DH and I camped before kids. That time we did many of the traditional But we are NOT the camping type anymore. I could blame it on my enviro allergy DS, food allergy DD or ASD DD....but the reality is I have grown too accustomed to running water and environmental controls! LOL.
Maybe I will keep looking into it...but my disney calculator tells me that skipping a trip this summer means we can have a WDW dream trip next year!
We will be visiting Wisconsin Dells this coming summer and we are staying in Wolf Lodge Waterpark.... I see some other things listed that are of interest to me that I wish I'd knew about sooner, but at this point I'm not sure I have the time to add anything to my itenerary.... I'll have to do a bit of research...
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