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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are considering a Nov WDW trip. This would be to celebrate my DD 12th b-day & my 40th b-day. There will be parties on the night of each of our b-days (11/15 & 11/18). I thought the Tuesday night party would be the least crowded and a little cheaper than Fridays. I'm just not really sure that it's worth the expense. We will have 4 "adults" in our group. We have done the Halloween Party & my DH hated it. How did my fellow Disney Addicts feel about the value of the Christmas party? What did you do to make the most of it ?
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I went last year on my birthday (11/13, we're practically twins) and enjoyed it. The cookies were awful, in my opinion. The parade was fun, as were the fireworks, and the shorter lines.
That said, it was only worth it to me because it was just DH and me (and DB & DSiL, but they paid for their own tickets), and because we were able to buy military tickets, which were either $50 or $55 apiece, I forget which.
What did your husband hate about the Halloween party? I've done that only once, too, and that was plenty, really. But if he hated that, he might hate the Christmas one, too, depends on what it was he disliked.
However, if it's your birthday present, you may find it worth it. Paying for 4 Disney adults is a LOT of money...but divided by two, for two birthdays, might make the cost okay.
As we've said before on the boards, it's really an individual thing on whether something is "worth" the money. If all four of us were going and had to pay full price, I would say that it wasn't worth close to $400 (I could technically afford it, but would rather save the money toward my next visit). Others who are all about Christmas and also have the disposable income might find it was well worth the money.
We are going for the first time on December 22. Purchased 6 tickets - OUCH!! I'll be curious what others have to say. We decided to splurge as it will be my birthday and we are not doing any of the parks. Just the party and resort decoration tour. We are spending Christmas at my in-laws who live in Venice - about 2 hours from Disney.
We did enjoy the Halloween party (went two years in a row) but wanted to try something different.
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It's a "do at least once" thing, IMO. Since you've done the Halloween party, how well that worked is probably a decent measure of "worth it" for you. I'd decide on that basis.
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We have yet to do the Halloween party but the Christmas party we greatly enjoyed this past December. We too are a family of four "adults" and the cost is high, but we treated it as our park ticket for the day. We did not go to a park earlier in the day but entered the party as early as possible (4 pm) to maximize our "value" we did not have the cookies but the parade was wonderful as were the fireworks and we were able to get an ADR at BOG for the evening. This was our DD's 17th bday and it was worth it for us.
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I preferred the Halloween Party to the Christmas myself ( I did Christmas first and Halloween years later). If your DH didn't like MNSSHP, he may not like MVMCP either. Do you know exactly what he didn't like about it?
If you do decide to do the party, I suggest staying away from Main Street and the Hub until after the first parade at 8:15. Circle back there in time for Wishes if you want to see the projections onto the Castle walls, but until then, stay in the outer realms doing rides.
We've ridden HM back-to-back while most partygoers are staying put in a "prime" parade/Wishes viewing spot. You can do several of the classic attractions as many times as you like as a result. The current hot ones like 7DMT will still have lines but not as horribly long as on regular park nights.
Shopping is great since you may be the only guests in shops well off Main Street. We had Memento Mori to ourselves for a good while during the last MVMCP we went to.
Then, head back to Main Street around 10:00. You should have little trouble getting a good spot to see the second parade.
That's been our experience, anyway.
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Thanks to everyone! I think the reason my DH didn't like the Halloween Party was because it was so much more crowded than we anticipated. Also he wore flip flops so he was very cranky about sore feet.
I really like the plan to see the 2nd parade. I'm not for camping out to watch parades. The extra cost isn't too big of a factor, it just seems very expensive when there are still so many people in the park for the event.
Unfortunately for us BOG is totally booked for our trip so that won't be an option
If he disliked the crowds at MNSSHP, your DH is not going to like MVMCP any better. It can be a crazymaker, too, which is why we developed the "outer limits" strategy I detailed above.
We had a bunch of fun doing the party that way the second time we tried MVMCP.
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Is the Christmas Party worth the cost?
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) and enjoyed it. The cookies were awful, in my opinion. The parade was fun, as were the fireworks, and the shorter lines.
one, too, depends on what it was he disliked.
Thanks!! Yay November birthdays
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