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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We just got back from a week at DLR (9-5 through 9-11). Wow, I was NOT prepared for what we encountered. I was prepared for large crowds on Saturday and Sunday, as it was both the half marathon and Labor Day weekend. I wasn't prepared for continued crowds the rest of the week, which was something I just had to rework some plans. What I really wasn't prepared for was the HEAT!. Average temps were close to 100 degrees EVERY day! And Californians weren't really prepared for it as well. Rides were pulled off-line because of the heat, especially the monorail. I hear that the temps will be coming back down this week and I hope that they do.
We still had a good time, but, whew, it made the week much more exhausting.
I hear you about that heat - wasn't it horrendous? We thought the crowds dipped considerably as the week went on. We felt they were much lower on Thursday and Friday and unfortunately the ride closures are apparently, from talking to friends and Cast Members, a symptom of the summer. The monorail cannot run in high temperatures, and neither can some others. I was told that they expect them to be down in the height of summer, but not September, as it's never usually that hot then.
We went at this same time in 2013 for the DL Half Marathon and I remember intense heat then too. Temps hovering at 100 degrees. I vividly remember being on the monorail and feeling just awful as they are not air conditioned. Everyone kept telling us how "unusual" the heat was then too.
I was there in 2013 and 2014 in September and the heat was pretty intense both times; high 90's. But the crowds were low both trips, so that was a plus!
We noticed the ride closures as well. Yes, the crowd levels did go down toward the end of the week, but with DL closing at 5 on Thursday it impacted our travel plans. I know that I will not go to southern California again in September. In the future, we'll make our travel plans for October and April.
Our last day in the parks was Sunday the 6th. We had been watching the forecast and knowing it was going to be hot by midday, we took a break, having lunch at Ralph Brennan's and then went back to the hotel for a swim break. It was the perfect day for that! We stayed out of the parks until nearly 6pm, returning to find that it had cooled off and, feeling refreshed from our swim and break, enjoyed our last evening! But, I agree, I told DH that we would not be returning in September, nor any part of summer. And the marathon/runDisney crowds were more than I had expected, so I will check my calendar that any future trips don't coincide with such.
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We thought the crowds dipped considerably as the week went on. We felt they were much lower on Thursday and Friday and unfortunately the ride closures are apparently, from talking to friends and Cast Members, a symptom of the summer. The monorail cannot run in high temperatures, and neither can some others. I was told that they expect them to be down in the height of summer, but not September, as it's never usually that hot then.
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