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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Who has cruised to Alaska? Which excursions have you done and would recommend for kids (ages 13 and 9)? I'm torn between Disney excursions vs. other tour companies. Any advice is appreciated.
We did Alaska this summer. I have a 19 & 15 year old. There's a link to my TR in my signature if you want to check out what we did. We did our own excursions in 2 of the 3 ports, and a DCL excursion in the third.
We don't have kids, so I don't know that our choices would help you. We've always gone with Disney. We've done two Alaskan cruises - one this year and one in 2011. In Skagway, the railway is amazing and I'd recommend that for a first time cruiser, while the Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching are the main draws in Juneau. On both our excursions to date in Ketchikan, we've done the crab feast and if you like crab, you'll love that.
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Location: South Dakota - not too far from Mt Rushmore!
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I did an Alaskan cruise this summer with my 9 year old daughter. Here are the excursions we did:
In Skagway - two excursions through the same company. There is a scenic ride of about 1/2 hour to a base camp. Then you ride a unimog straight up the hill - fun! Dogsledding (on a dirt track) with a talk from a dog sledding racer and time to snuggle puppies! At the same place, we also did ziplining. I would HIGHLY recommend this for anyone. It was super fun and the guides were awesome (and did all the braking for you).
Juneau - private whale watching through Rum Runner Charters. We enjoyed this too. Saw whales and other wildlife. We also ate lunch at Tracy's crab shack - super yummy and took the Mt Roberts Tramway to the top. This was a little pricy but the views were awesome.
Ketchikan - did the lumberjack show which we enjoyed. Then took a helicopter tour with Ketchikan Helicopters. This was the highlight of our trip but they can only take 2 people at a time.
All the tours, etc... were booked on our own and not through DCL. I did a lot of research online and feel like we made good choices for us. There wasn't one that we didn't enjoy but be prepared - a lot of them are pretty expensive!
We've cruised Alaska twice and going again in 2016. The first was with DCL and all of our excursions were booked through them. The second was with Celebrity. I booked excursions privately that time. Next summer is DCL and I haven't decided exactly what to do this time. In Juneau we did a whale watch both times. Our privately booked tour was with Harv and Marv and I loved them. The smaller boat was so much better than the larger ones used by the ships. I highly recommend H&M. In Skagway, both times, we did a round trip up into Canada and back. The first 1/2 of each tour was by bus, with the second 1/2 by train. This is an all day excursion and might be more than young children would enjoy (we are all adult), but I definitely recommend the train. Our privately booked tour here was through Chilkoot Tours and they are wonderful as well.
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