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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 we've only gone to WDW during April (vacation week for Massachusetts), or one time we went in March. (That year our school system switched things up). One year we were there during Easter. We have NEVER been to WDW at a lower crowd level.
I'd love to know how much less crowded it will be May 15-May 20th. Now that I'm retired I picked a less crowded time and its when my daughter is done with the college year.
Has anyone been to both or either of these times and can give me a comparison? I'd love to get psyched!! Thanks
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Well, it will certainly be warmer in mid-may. It's difficult to say just how crowded it will be. Maybe you could check the crowd calendars on Touring Plans.com
I think you will find that a pretty low crowd time. Southern schools aren't generally out quite that early and Northern schools are still in full force. Colleges and universities are getting out though, so that might bump the crowds up a bit.
Also in May, there are grad weekends. These up the crowds a little (with high school seniors) and also have some early closings.
I am not sure there will be that much difference in crowds but it could be quite a bit hotter (although one year we were there for NH school vacation at the end of April into May and it was very cold.)
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We were just at WDW in Feb (and we already want to go back!) and I can tell you this: it doesn't seem to matter what month it is, The Magic Kingdom is always crowded on Mondays.
We have been later in May and crowds are usually manageable. We have noticed crowds increase around Memorial Day (when many Southern schools are closed for summer) and increases again mid-June (possibly Northern schools are closed).
I think mid-May should be a nice time to go!
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"Disneyland has that thing - the imagination and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid."
--Walt Disney
Traditionally mid-May is less busy but since Disney introduced flex pricing last year, we've noticed that the traditionally lower crowd seasons have been busier and then traditionally higher crowd seasons have been a bit less busy. It does seems like more than a few guests have adjusted when they time their trips to coincide with cheaper tickets, etc. The other factor at play is AP blackouts. Last year they changed AP's and there is a tier level (Silver) that blacks out the majority of the summer (they got on blackout as of June 5th.) We have many friends who went to this pass tier from their old pass level that did not black out summer and we notice a hike in local attendance in the weekends leading up to blackout periods (we went to Epcot this past Saturday and the parking lots were filled- but both Silver and Gold passes will be blacked out for 2 weeks as of this Saturday.) The new AP tiers started last year so there were people who had the old passes throughout 2016 who would have only recently had to convert- all of that is to say that I think averages based on last year's attendance patterns may be off.
Weather in May is generally pretty warm- we were in the 90s this weekend in fact! Definitely warmer than April, but not as oppressive as July/August.
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