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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Quote:
Originally Posted by disneycast89
Thanks a Bunch for Everyone. From Michigan its only a 19 hour drive. There is just 2 of us going so. Would Driving be worth it????
If the prices are comparable (maybe $200 difference), fly if you can! Swap the travel time for time in the parks. Don't forget to compare costs for eating en route and a hotel room if necessary. If flying is clean out of your budget, then drive, if you have enough time. But with just 2 people traveling that far, you can often fly for not much more than driving would cost you.
The exceptions to my advice to fly: If you have unlimited time (for instance, school teachers traveling when school's out), or just flat-out love spending that much time in a car, or if having your own transportation while you're there is super-important to you. Added: Or if the cost to fly is so high that it cuts into important other things, like groceries (or getting Park Hopper tickets ).
I routinely make a 12-hour drive as the only driver, but I wouldn't want to go much beyond that (maybe 14-15 hours). With two drivers, you could go longer, as long as the driver allows the passenger to sleep (I had a friend whose husband insisted on chatting or doing other stuff that kept her awake when it was her turn to snooze, so driving in shifts was hard for them)!
We used to fly a lot more from GR to Orlando, but with four people we just cannot make the cost compair to driving. Figure out the tickets, the baggage costs, the airport parking and then renting a car if you need one. For two of you it could be valuable to fly, but with a family of four it is quite a bit more than driving. We drive from Holland, MI and we stay over somewhere in Georgia. So a long drive first day, shorter the second. We have two boys and they prefer to drive! They are good travelers and it is not a problem. Now our oldest has his permit so he can drive too. We tried to drive it straight from Michigan and it about killed us the parents! So we take the time to stop and enjoy the hotel on the road as part of the vacation. Price it out for the two of you both ways and see what the difference is!
With only 2 ppl it is better to fly, even with flights so pricey you have to factor in all of the money for gas,wear and tear on your car, lodging on your way there and back, food, plus the extra days you would take off of work for just travelling. I would much rather spend those extra days at WDW escpecially since the difference in cost would not be that significant. I am all for road trip vacations when you are going to the grand canyon or Mt. Rushmore where the sight seeing is the vacation, but we spend 9 days at WDW the last thing I want to do is have to take another 2 days to drive home after that.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
WI here too, I would love to see again all of the places from here to there, I hate admit my severe road rage problem! And driving through places like Chicago, and Atlanta, even bypassing which I have done only once, and vowed NEVER EVER to do again, I just can not see myself doing it ever again. I'll take the three to four hours in a tin can of a plane please!!! But there are wonderful educational spots along the way if your planning to do those things.
If you can afford it, I'd fly. I only live 8 hours away and when I go with just me I fly. The time savings alone is worth it for me.
When it's the 4 of us, it's cheaper to drive. I hate it but do it because of the cost savings and the fact that my husband doesn't like the buses so it's easier to have our own vehicle.
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DH and I drove (from Detroit) in 2010 and 2011. We enjoyed it. We like taking a road trip, signing and talking. We find it as our way to decompress and consider it part of the vacation. That being said, it can be a very long return trip when all you really want to do is get home. This year, I was pricing flights and DH said "we'll, you must really want to fly then". Our flight was $340 for both of us round trip. But we also had to pay for luggage +$100 and had to pay to get our seats together $20. Plus the time wasted just waiting to go to the airport, at the airport etc. and the inconvenience of being restricted on what we can bring, weight limits etc. Flying cost around $500. My car gets 34 mpg and we figured for gas for the trip and a hotel room on the way down would cost around $500. It's kind of a wash. Even if we take DH's Jeep, it's just a little bit more to drive but less stress. Needless to say, next year we are driving.
We like road trips, but we usually fly to Disney - as we are going to do in Jan. You just can't beat the convenience of the Magical Express! For us, a 1 and a half hour flight compared to a 13 hour drive isn't much of a decision - especially with a toddler! Plus, I had a $250 air credit, so for the DH, DD, Me (and the little one as a lap rider), it was only $400 total on Southwest (no luggage fees!). By the time, we factored in several tanks of gas for the minivan, breakfast and lunch on the road, snacks, etc - we figured it would probably be about the same price (or maybe even a little cheaper) just to fly. Can't argue with that!
My advice - Price it out and consider the needs of your family. Either way, you will be heading to Disney - so the trip there will be full of anticipation. It's the trip back that you have to worry about!
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Work out your math to find out which is more economical--if that matters to you. Also consider what time of year you are going. If in winter, the unpredictability could turn that 2 day road trip into much longer and you can't always anticipate that. On our last few trips, we have found flying to be a better option and have previously driven or flown. The distance from our home is just a little shorter than yours. If you drive also consider the cost of an overnight stay as part of the costs.
weather can play a part no matter what time of year. storms during the summer can halt air traffic and in this day of 'sold out' flights, travel can become a mess. we travel in winter by car, because it gives us more travel options as far as route, times to leave etc. bottom line--which do you feel the most comfortable with, and go with that
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Coming from Australia, it costs us $10K just for airfares and that's not including food/lounges at airports and transfers to/from hotels...so if I could drive there we would!!! Besides we need to see more of the US states!
I think it really depends on what your priorities are. It's funny because I'd prefer to drive when we don't have the children and fly when we do, lol! Now we only live 5 hours away so we only drive but before we moved this summer and were in Northern Indiana, we always flew except for 1 trip where Disney was a part of a larger 3 week road trip.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
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