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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So I just booked a 5 night stay at WDW for my hubby and I to end our three week Florida driving trip. We will be at WDW 1/29-2/3., it's the first trip we will make there in 15 years. I made all my dining reservations, fast pass selections, etc. only to then discover the crowd calendars. Now I am thinking about changing everything according to those calendars. These discussions are a blessing and a curse!
I am also hesitating purchasing the memory maker, thinking it's kind of silly for two adults to get all those pics without any children with us.
See? I really am driving myself nuts!
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Happily retired and ready to travel the country with my hubby!
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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I have never followed calendars and have had great visits. They are just predicitions based on the last year or last few years. There is no way to know if they'll be correct. I'd stick with all the plans you already have and be happy!
I find that the crowd calendars don't influence my plans. When I go, it is what it is related to crowds. I just go on and do what my dining and FP+ plans dictate.
I tend to "go with the flow" when it comes to crowd calendars, unless they tell me something I really wasn't expecting - i.e. it's a 10/10 and I thought it would be a 5.
As for Memory Maker, we always get it, as we love having photos of just the two of us, but in fairness, we haven't paid for it for our last trip or this one coming up, as it's been included in our ticket price.
I agree about ignoring the crowd calendars. You are not going at a busy time, so it shouldn't be all that significant a difference. You will be glad you got the memory maker. Knowing you have it, you will find yourself looking for the photographers and you will take a lot more pictures than you expected to. Then you can add borders and such to them before downloading. Have fun!!!
If you think Magic Shots would be fun, ask each photographer which they can do. It varies from one to another as well as what park you're in at the time.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
As to the crowd calendar, I don't worry too much about the dates. I have to travel during school vacations so I know there will be higher crowds. I do avoid the busiest dates if I can (i.e. Christmas and New Years, Easter, 4th of July....those dates likely to get close to 10/10). However, I ALWAYS consult Easy WDW for advice on which parks will be the least crowded during my dates and plan that way. If, for example, it says that AK will be the best park to visit on "my" Monday and that the MK will be the most crowded park on that day, I do consider that when making my plans. It has always worked out great for me.
Not wanting to bother checking crowd calendars is one reason for buying Park Hoppers, we think.
We just won't go without those because if we get into a park that seems too crowded, we can leave and go to another.
Lots of people plan in more detail than we and never get the PH, of course. We're big on easiest and most convenient which we think the PH does beautifully.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
So I just booked a 5 night stay at WDW for my hubby and I to end our three week Florida driving trip. We will be at WDW 1/29-2/3., it's the first trip we will make there in 15 years. I made all my dining reservations, fast pass selections, etc. only to then discover the crowd calendars. Now I am thinking about changing everything according to those calendars. These discussions are a blessing and a curse!
I am also hesitating purchasing the memory maker, thinking it's kind of silly for two adults to get all those pics without any children with us.
See? I really am driving myself nuts!
2 adults here and we always get the memory maker! How else will we be in any pictures together....I'm not comfortable handing over my iphone for someone else to take a picture with! We have never regretted it...we stop at almost every photographer we see, it only takes a few minutes and you will have lots of pictures!
We are going to be there the exact same dates. I used the crowd calendars in my plans but don't really think it's necessary at that time of the year. None of the days look like they will be that busy. Lets hope for some great weather!
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