When planning your Park schedule.... - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 usually do AK or HS first depending on which one has magic hours...especially if we want to ride something that we could not get a FP for. Those two seem to be the ones that are easier to get us into the swing of things. We always do MK last!
My / our pattern has consistently been to fly down in the morning, arriving at our resort shortly before noon. Allowing time to check in, get to our rooms (if they're ready), and do some initial unpacking, it's generally between noon and 1pm that we're finally ready to go somewhere.
With the day half over already, it seems a waste to burn an entire ticket-day on a park. So, we go to Downtown Disney / Disney Springs. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich perhaps, some shopping, and generally ease into the Disney vacation mood.
All three trips as an adult, I've done that. If I ever manage to go again (which looks doubtful right now, sadly) I'm sure I'll do it again.
My / our pattern has consistently been to fly down in the morning, arriving at our resort shortly before noon. Allowing time to check in, get to our rooms (if they're ready), and do some initial unpacking, it's generally between noon and 1pm that we're finally ready to go somewhere.
With the day half over already, it seems a waste to burn an entire ticket-day on a park. So, we go to Downtown Disney / Disney Springs. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich perhaps, some shopping, and generally ease into the Disney vacation mood.
All three trips as an adult, I've done that. If I ever manage to go again (which looks doubtful right now, sadly) I'm sure I'll do it again.
We don’t fly, but we arrive and settle during the same general time frame that you have, Sean, and we do the same thing. Settle, unpack or drop off luggage at bell services, and head to DS for a bit. We love that beginning to our trip.
...and I really hope you get to visit again in the foreseeable future
It used to change depending on the parks that were recommended. But at two or three trips ago I realized that I really like starting the trip at Animal Kingdom. So, I've been choosing to start there.
We arrive about noon usually at the Board Walk Villas, so Epcot is a short walk. If our room is not ready, we can go there for a bit and come back, and then go back again later. Plus, Epcot is our favorite park!
My / our pattern has consistently been to fly down in the morning, arriving at our resort shortly before noon. Allowing time to check in, get to our rooms (if they're ready), and do some initial unpacking, it's generally between noon and 1pm that we're finally ready to go somewhere.
With the day half over already, it seems a waste to burn an entire ticket-day on a park. So, we go to Downtown Disney / Disney Springs. Lunch at Earl of Sandwich perhaps, some shopping, and generally ease into the Disney vacation mood.
All three trips as an adult, I've done that. If I ever manage to go again (which looks doubtful right now, sadly) I'm sure I'll do it again.
That's what we used to do as well. Then we realized it's only about $10/person to add another day to our tickets. That seems like a bargain to us even if we only spend a few hours in a park, so now we always buy that extra day. We arrive by noon; have lunch at the resort; go to the room and unpack a bit; head to Epcot around 2 or 3:00 to use our 3 FPs and do some casual shopping/wandering; have dinner; and then we head back to the resort by about 8:00 (or earlier). We get to bed early and hit the ground running in the morning.
Just something to keep in mind for your next trip.
If you're only staying for 6 or 7 days, it's nice to be able to get in a few FPs rides that first day. It doesn't have to be a commando day -- just hit the 3 rides and maybe have dinner. With all the parks (other than MK) having FP tiers now, it's an easy way to be able to ride two tier 1 rides in one park without having to do standby, rope drop, or hope for a 4th FP. Now, if you stay for 8+ days, it's not as important to get a few hours in at a park that first day....
We typically arrive on a Saturday. After spending two days on the road, we do our grocery shopping before reaching Disney property and then chill at our resort on arrival day. Sunday morning finds us at Animal Kingdom for rope drop.
It used to be MK but over the years it has changed. Now I go where the crowds are predicted to be lower or closer to where I am staying. I still finish with MK
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