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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DH said yes! I'm sooo happy this will make the rest of the planning so much easier because now I have more flexibility. Last night I had DH read this thread and what all of you had said and he was convinced. thank you so much
We got the park hopper last year when it was just Dh and I! I really do not recall using it! We are going back inDecember with our 3 kids and we have decided to get it again this time! Should we not use it again then we know net time to not get it again! I would say getting it would be the best idea so that you can go back nap or what ever and then hit up another park! We got ours for the same reason you said!
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DH said yes! I'm sooo happy this will make the rest of the planning so much easier because now I have more flexibility. Last night I had DH read this thread and what all of you had said and he was convinced. thank you so much
It does make planning easier. When my daughters were your children's ages we stayed off site and didn't use park hoppers But when you stay onsite and especially if you have the dining plan I think park hoppers are a must. Otherwise every second of every day has to be planned out and we (well really my DH) likes flexibility.
We always get the park hop option, but when we travel with children that young we mostly stay in one park all day unless it's to hop for EMH. I don't think you can really go wrong either way. It's more trouble to hop with children and it can be a bit time consuming. If you go back to the resort during the day, you'd be hopping twice (going and coming) and for me I think that's more trouble than it's worth; but you may not feel that way at all.
We never (and I mean never in 15 or more trips with & w/o babies, with & w/o toddlers, with older ones, with ECV needs) have gone back to the resort to rest or swim. We don't buy length of stay tickets, we buy 10 day, park hopping, no expiration tickets w/all the extra options of water parks and such. On park days we stay in parks and on other days we enjoy the resort and swim. We've saved tons of money this way and have taken about 5 trips thus far with our last big ticket purchase (to be fair some of them were 1 day in parks on way to weddings etc). We have at least another 1-2 in them before it is time for a re-purchase.
If we want a break we have sit down meal, do a show, or we go sit in a quiet area of the park. When the kids have needed naps, they have napped in snuggies, in strollers, and most commonly on the monorail. It is air conditioned, it is comfortable, and it is our most frequent napping location. However, you could use it as such with or without park hopping, we just usually use it in conjunction with hopping. Just let them sleep and then get off at the other park.
Hope you have an awesome time. As I am currently dreading a trip with my in-laws, I'm glad you're really looking forward to one
One other point, if you are doing the DDP (which we generally do not) I would probably be more inclined to hop because it increases your food options.
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Last edited by Courtney892; 05-02-2008 at 10:52 AM..
Glad your DH agreed to Park Hoppers. Whether or not we even use the feature, I feel so secure knowing I can move around freely. There are so many times when we wake up in the morning or from a midday rest/nap and just change our minds. It makes so much sense to have the option to change you mind if you want to. And planning is tons easier. We've found this especially helpful jumping on and off the monorail between MK and Epcot - one night we were headed back from Epcot on the monorail to get off at MK for the ferry to WL. I wanted an ice cream cone. We just popped into MK, walked down Main Street for my Butter Pecan Cone and hung out for the fireworks. We were in MK for under an hour, but it made my whole day!
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Gina Marie
Last edited by GinaButtrfly; 05-03-2008 at 12:35 PM..
We just popped into MK, walked down Main Street for my Butter Pecan Cone and hung out for the fireworks. We were in MK for under an hour, but it made my whole day!
That's awesome Gina!! It is so great to just be able to do whatever you want to do when the mood strikes you. I should really do more of that type of acting on the spur of the moment. A lot of times I think "Wow I sure would love to______, but nah it is too much trouble (or work, etc). I'm glad it was so fun for your and your family, and I will try to do more of the same myself!
I'm another vote for the park hopper. We didn't have it one my first trip to WDW but as far as I know it wasn't an option back then. When we went in 2003 it was included in our tickets and we used the heck out it. We knew we would never go again without having the park hopper option. This time we plan to split up some of our time at the park (one morning one park and the afternoon/evening at another park).
Another vote for Park Hopper! I think you'll both be glad you did it. At first I wasn't sure I wanted it but then realized we would need to rest in the afternoons, plus I figured out we might not want to go to the same park in the morning that our evening ADR is in...and you have to have a PH to do that!
Thanks everyone, I think the reason DH is against the Park hopper is because we went when DS was 3 and DD was 9mos and we had the park hopper but found that not only were they tired but we were exhausted (would do things differently this time), since then everytime we've gone we haven't gotten the park hopper and it's worked out well, but this time we are going with my inlaws and they haven't been to WDW in 15 or more years so I really want them to enjoy their time there kwim? And maybe I could work in more time at the hotel for resting in the middle of our day if I can take advantage of EMH, but how do I convince DH???
I totally understand his reasoning, but I'd still get the PH. Here's how it would play out in my house:
DH: I don't think we should get the park hopper, we didn't use it much the first time when Gabby was 8 months and now that she's 3, I don't think we will use it that much.....
Me: Sure honey, you stay with Gabby then and I'll take the other three to another park if we are wanting to hop.
See? compromise!
Actually, in all honestly, it will be kind of like that--we go with the flow with our younger set. If need be, one of us will stay back and hang out and we can always meet up later!!
There are a couple of factors that would determine if I was able to not get hoppers.
1) If I was going during a "low" season and didn't expect big crowds.
2) If I was only going for a short trip and planned on one park per day anyway.
3) The parks were open long hours or I had a party who could get up early and go-go-go all day.
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Pixie Dust
I'm sooo happy this will make the rest of the planning so much easier because now I have more flexibility. Last night I had DH read this thread and what all of you had said and he was convinced.
thank you so much
Sammi
I'm sooo happy this will make the rest of the planning so much easier
and hung out for the fireworks. We were in MK for under an hour, but it made my whole day!
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