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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oh my gosh, I remember those switchbacks in Zion. I was so glad I wasn't driving!
Your place looks lovely. I did look up where we stayed, as I wasn't sure if it was the same place or not - I couldn't remember. I can't believe we were there just over six years ago now. Where does the time go?
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Oh my gosh, I remember those switchbacks in Zion. I was so glad I wasn't driving!
They made me very nervous!
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Your place looks lovely. I did look up where we stayed, as I wasn't sure if it was the same place or not - I couldn't remember. I can't believe we were there just over six years ago now. Where does the time go?
There aren't too many places to stay at Bryce Canyon, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same place! Yes, time certainly does fly!
What an exciting adventure you guys are on!! Your pictures are gorgeous and Bryce Canyon looks amazing!! I love your cottage!!
Yes, It really was an adventure!
Funny story about the cottage. When we checked in, we called it a cabin (because that's what the ones at the Grand Canyon are called). The woman at the desk said we call them cottages, because if we call them cabins people are disappointed when they see it and realize it's not a LOG cabin.
Not a nice start to the trip with Alamo and couldn't believe how atrocious the customer service was. The nerve of the one guy to ask for a tip to get you what you wanted. Glad it all worked out. Nice photos on the way of Vegas, Utah and Zion. I remember that tunnel in Zion. Hope you get to see more of Zion as it's so beautiful. Nice cottage near Bryce and looks like dinner was good!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Flying over the Rockies is so cool! Alamo Las Vegas might need some customer service instruction. Crazy with all the time differences. Beautiful scenery and your little cottage is so neat.
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Not a nice start to the trip with Alamo and couldn't believe how atrocious the customer service was. The nerve of the one guy to ask for a tip to get you what you wanted. Glad it all worked out. Nice photos on the way of Vegas, Utah and Zion. I remember that tunnel in Zion. Hope you get to see more of Zion as it's so beautiful. Nice cottage near Bryce and looks like dinner was good!
I was snapping pictures left and right on the drive!
Unfortunately, our travels did not take us back through Zion. If we'd had an additional night I would have liked to have more time there.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Flying over the Rockies is so cool! Alamo Las Vegas might need some customer service instruction. Crazy with all the time differences. Beautiful scenery and your little cottage is so neat.
Yes, the Alamo folks could definitely use a little refresher in customer service.
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Originally Posted by Pris
That was a long a busy first day with some awesome views. i can't believe all the closed bathrooms and welcome centers though.
The closed visitor centers was strange indeed. I thought those places were always open!
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Originally Posted by purplegal
Truly amazing scenery.
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Originally Posted by Poobah7206
Beautiful scenery pictures and what a cute little cottage to stay at.
It definitely was a cute place!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sorry about the issues with Alamo but great pictures so far from your trip! Sorry you didn't have more time in Zion!
I know. I wish we could have spent some additional time there. A drive through was nice but we really didn't get to see too much.
We both were awake at about 3:00 or 3:30, and then slept on and off until 4:30. We decided as long as we were awake we may as well get an early start to the day. We ended up sitting in bed for a while, had some coffee, and worked on one of the word puzzle games on my ipad. At one point I told Jeff I had noticed overnight that it was hard to catch my breath. He was glad to hear me say that because he was having breathing issues as well and was a little worried. But with the altitude of 8000 feet, it’s understandable!
It was a chilly 37 degrees outside this morning! There was frost on the roofs. So, we dressed for the weather and went down to the restaurant for breakfast at 7:00. Here are some not-so-crowded photos of the place.
Even with breakfast they bring a carafe of water for the table. Jeff had ham and eggs, hash browns and rye toast. I had oatmeal with brown sugar.
After breakfast, we changed into our hiking clothes and headed for Bryce Canyon National Park about 8:00. We parked in the parking lot for the shuttle bus and inquired as to how it worked. As long as you had a park pass, you could ride the shuttle into the park, get off at any stop and get on another bus whenever you were ready. We had purchased a National Parks annual pass online a few weeks before the trip so we were good to go for all of our park entrance fees.
Our first bus driver was George. He said he drove the “Happy Bus.” He was very informative, and thanked us for utilizing the shuttle rather than driving through the park. We understood this better once we got to the parking areas for each of the stops. They were very small lots and always full.
Our first stop was the Visitor’s Center where we got off, used the restroom, browsed the souvenir shop, bought a fridge magnet and took a few photos.
The views here are breathtaking! Too awesome for words! And, I know everyone says this but it is absolutely true…Photos do not do it justice. They just do not capture the immenseness!
We decided that instead of getting back on the bus, we’d hike the rim trail 1 1/2 miles to the next stop which was Inspiration Point.
The map said Inspiration Point had restrooms, so once we took in the view we headed to the parking area and the restrooms. They were really just glorified outhouses, which smelled really bad, but let’s just say we made the best of it and were in and out quickly.
Then we got back on the shuttle, took it to Sunset point and hiked the rim trail ½ mile to Sunrise Point.
The selection was sparse. I got a very expensive yogurt parfait, (I think $9) and some veggies with dip. Jeff got a BBQ beef sandwich. We took them back to our cottage at ate there, then rested for a bit.
Wow, they put a bus service into Bryce as well? I remember it from Zion, but when we were in Bryce, we just drove around and stopped where we wanted. I guess visitor numbers have increased dramatically in the last six years.
Isn't it a stunning park? One of my fondest memories is getting up at stupid o'clock and going out to see the sunrise. Oh my goodness, that was just amazing.
Great photos of Bryce and I remember it well. Those are the same areas I visited and it truly is breathtaking!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Your pictures are gorgeous and Bryce Canyon looks amazing!! I love your cottage!!
The nerve of the one guy to ask for a tip to get you what you wanted. 
Alamo Las Vegas might need some customer service instruction. 
Crazy with all the time differences. Beautiful scenery and your little cottage is so neat. 
They were very small lots and always full. 
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