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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Avoid caffeine for at least 24 hours before and during the flight, too, as well as drinking lots of water. That really seemed to help on the 9-hour flight from Hawaii we had at Easter time.
As others have suggested, have a light meal or snack if you're really hungry upon arrival but it's not a regular mealtime. Try to hold off eating a full meal until mealtime there so as to jolt your biological clock into awareness that it's on a different schedule.
If you're really sleepy upon arrival, try to make it a short nap unless local time then is close to your usual bedtime.
Our TA once suggested adding an extra week to your vacation if you can for recovery time after your return home when you have such a long flight. That gives your body more time to adjust since it generally takes two weeks to do so.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Avoid caffeine for at least 24 hours before and during the flight, too, as well as drinking lots of water. That really seemed to help on the 9-hour flight from Hawaii we had at Easter time.
As others have suggested, have a light meal or snack if you're really hungry upon arrival but it's not a regular mealtime. Try to hold off eating a full meal until mealtime there so as to jolt your biological clock into awareness that it's on a different schedule.
If you're really sleepy upon arrival, try to make it a short nap unless local time then is close to your usual bedtime.
Our TA once suggested adding an extra week to your vacation if you can for recovery time after your return home when you have such a long flight. That gives your body more time to adjust since it generally takes two weeks to do so.
More great advice. Thank you! I'm fortunate in that I'm retired, so there's no need to take an extra week off when I return, but will make sure I don't have a slew of appointments scheduled for that first week home.
The funniest thing we had happen timewise while in Hawaii was being awakened at 3:30 in the morning by a call from DH's office about selecting his new schedule. We knew before we left that they'd be calling him to ask what schedule he chose, so the call wasn't unexpected.
It was pretty funny, though, because the scheduler didn't realize we were in Hawaii. She was calling a little after 8:30 home time, and remarked when DH answered groggily, "Wow! You must be sleeping in since you're on vacation. Did I wake you?"
DH said, "Well, yeah, you did. It's 3:30 here. I'm generally 'sleeping in' at that time of night."
He explained that we were in Hawaii, and she apologized profusely having had no idea we were in a time zone that far away. He said that whenever he sees her now, she asks him jokingly if he's awake yet.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
More great advice. Thank you! I'm fortunate in that I'm retired, so there's no need to take an extra week off when I return, but will make sure I don't have a slew of appointments scheduled for that first week home.
Glad you thought my add-on advice helpful.
You may find that the flight home doesn't drain you nearly as much as the outbound one did, but it is fortunate that you don't have to rush right back to work and can be sure not to schedule anything much for the week after you return home.
Biologically speaking, I read somewhere, your body adjusts more readily to going west than east. Somehow, that several hours later messes up your internal clock more than going earlier does.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
I can confirm the part about the body adjusting more readily to going west than east! Usually, when we fly to the States, we arrive in the evening, and by the time we're checked-in at the hotel and had a quick bite to eat, it's time to go to bed. I'll be a little tired the next day but other than that, no signs of jet lag. Well, on the way back home, however, I'm battling jet lag for days! We always arrive in the morning, and since I can't sleep on the plane, I have to go to bed once we get home Totally messes up my biological clock.
So, tips... I agree with what others have said about drinking lots of water and setting your watch to the new time zone as soon as possible. Other than that, I find that if I have lots of stuff to keep me busy during the actual long-distance flight, my body doesn't seem to realize just how much of a time difference awaits it....
Since you'll arrive in the morning, here's what I'd do: Take a 2-3 hour nap right when you get to the hotel, then force yourself to get up, have lunch, go about your day, and return to bed early (around 8 pm or so). That way, your first day won't be as aweful but you should still not wake up in the middle of the night.
Last but not least, it doesn't sound like much but not thinking about what time it "should be" at any given moment makes a huge difference for me. If I keep thinking "It's 10pm at home right now, I should be tired and go to bed soon", it'll totally mess up my body.
I can confirm the part about the body adjusting more readily to going west than east! Usually, when we fly to the States, we arrive in the evening, and by the time we're checked-in at the hotel and had a quick bite to eat, it's time to go to bed. I'll be a little tired the next day but other than that, no signs of jet lag. Well, on the way back home, however, I'm battling jet lag for days! We always arrive in the morning, and since I can't sleep on the plane, I have to go to bed once we get home Totally messes up my biological clock.
So, tips... I agree with what others have said about drinking lots of water and setting your watch to the new time zone as soon as possible. Other than that, I find that if I have lots of stuff to keep me busy during the actual long-distance flight, my body doesn't seem to realize just how much of a time difference awaits it....
Since you'll arrive in the morning, here's what I'd do: Take a 2-3 hour nap right when you get to the hotel, then force yourself to get up, have lunch, go about your day, and return to bed early (around 8 pm or so). That way, your first day won't be as aweful but you should still not wake up in the middle of the night.
Last but not least, it doesn't sound like much but not thinking about what time it "should be" at any given moment makes a huge difference for me. If I keep thinking "It's 10pm at home right now, I should be tired and go to bed soon", it'll totally mess up my body.
That all makes sense! I've decided that I'm going to wear two watches on the journey to S.A. One will be set for Cape Town time and I'll try to go by that one for meals and sleeping. This will be the watch I wear for the whole trip. The other will be on Boston time and will be set to London time as soon as I board the plane. That way I won't miss my flight from Heathrow and will easily be able to follow how much time I have to kill on my layover in London. Once I'm safely on the flight to Cape Town I'll put the London-time watch away until my return flights.
If I get good sleep on the long flight to Africa (doubtful) then I'll just stay up the whole first day and go to bed early. If I'm really tired and haven't slept on the plane I'll take a very short nap after checking into the hotel. My guess is that I'll be so excited to be there that I won't want to stay in the hotel for long. I'm probably overthinking all this, but now that the whole trip is planned, I need something to fuss about!
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Totally messes up my biological clock.
I know that feeling well. Our trip to the States next May has been planned completely for months now so I'm in the same boat!
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