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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have access to several of the Backstage Tours with the Gold plan and are willing to pay for Dolphins in Depth and Aqua Tours. Which do you recommend the most? We want to do the best ones because we don't want to do one every day! ~Katie
We've taken four backstage tours so far and haven't been disappointed by any. I agree with Lynn, in that you should do the ones that interest you. Our favourite, of the four we've done, was the Backstage Safari at Animal Kingdom. That was an amazing peek into the life of animals there and the experience of petting a rhino (although Disney don't guarantee that you will be able to do this) was worth the price of the tour.
We have done Dolphins in Depth and it was fantastic!! We are going to do the Family Magic Tour later this year and would like to do the Backstage Safari also.
But ultimately, you have to pick what interests you the most. Whatever you choose, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
I'll add another vote for Keys to the Kingdom and Backstage Safari. There's also the 7 hour tour (don't remember the name) that hits several parks which you might want to consider. I think it might combine several tours into one.
Here's a list of the WDW tours we've tried so far and my opinions of them:
Keys to the Kingdom - Informative and fun. Well worth doing.
Family Magic - Enchanting and much better than we had expected. Even fun for adults on their own (we were and loved it to bits) as long as you can put your inhibitions aside and get into the spirit of the magic.
Dolphins in Depth - A unique, one of a kind opportunity to spend some one on one time with dolphins plus learn a lot about them.
Backstage Safari - By far my favorite of the Disney tours I've taken to date. This tour takes you behind the scenes and gives you an upclose look at how they look after all the animals in the Animal Kingdom. On our tour, we got to get up close and personal with a giraffe and actually pet a white rhino. From beginning to end, this tour was FANTASTIC!
Yuletide Fantasy Tour - Although I realize this tour won't be possible for you on your next trip due to timing, it's still one you might want to consider for future trips. It's an amazing look at how Disney does all their holiday magic in the theme parks and at their resorts.
Undiscovered Future World - This is the only one of the Disney tours that I've tried that I was hugely disappointed in. We didn't really get to go backstage for anything at all and the long boring tour consisted mostly of traipsing all over Future World while our guide spouted off various facts and figures. It was sort of like having someone read a book to you while you walked all over the place. We didn't even get to ride any of the rides. This is one Disney tour that I would not recommend to anyone.
Thanks! I think we've decided on:
~Backstage Safari (weren't going to do it til all the raves!)
~Dolphins in Depth
~Keys to the Kingdom
~Epcot on a Segway
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