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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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This one I've been dying to ask for sometime now. For everyone, what percentage of all your planning goes into the trash can once you get to WDW. Of all the countless days and nights of meticulously planning every detail of the trip, what percentage of it all did you either find was unnecessary to fret over or that spontaneity swept in and took control. For me, a hearty 90%, but of course I love to do it anyway.
I would say about 25% of my plans go out the window. I ususally just make very general plans so that there easy to moderate if needed. I usually visit the parks on the day that I planned and eat my meals at all the places I make PS times at. I think I've only missed 3 restraunts that I planned to visit because of time or because we decided on someplace different once we get down to Disney. Not too bad, I guess. But of course, there are only 2 of us and no children so I think it's a little easier to stick with your plans. And you always have to be flexible when you go to Disney!
I'd say no more than 20%. I've planned 5 trips in the last 2 years, so I've gotten pretty good at predicting what we'll want to do when, where we'll want to eat, when we'll feel like taking a break, so usually things go according to plan. Every now and then we won't feel like eating a particular meal or we'll feel like going to a different park in the morning instead of the one planned, but that's the beauty of having a plan...you can improvise all you want with confidence knowing you always have something to fall back on when you can't make up your mind!
i'd have to agree w/tara and say no more than 20% goes out the window. maybe even less. we, too, have been enough that i know what and where. and since we do not have children w/us(they are 19 and 24) we do pretty much what we want. halfday in MK, full day at MGM, etc. aahh, being older does have some priviledges!!
I can actually say we have been luck with sticking to general plans. Never really hit a rainy day and leaving enough play in our schedule makes it easier to stick to basic plans.
When I go with my friend, we usually go over ideas MANY times over lunch while out shopping. I have numerous times written down trip thoughts on napkins, receipts, placemats just so I wouldn't forget what we came up with that day.
Eventually we sit down and go over all ideas and then figure out which park we are planning to start each day. We only make a few PS leaving our options open for later.
We have been traveling without children (as all of ours are grown) making it easier to stick to plans.
Now if I were to make a strict time schedule, I bet half of what we planned would be tossed out!
------------------ "Remember the Magic!"
Happy Planning!
Take Care, debe-nj
If my Disney trip is just me and DD, then all goes as planned. I generally stick to the agenda.
The past two trips included members of my family who aren't so commando when it comes to seeing the World. This made planning a little more challenging. I basically went with a plan, and modified as we went through the week.
Personally, I prefer the trips with my daughter over the others. We are so much alike, that the whole vacation is wonderful.
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