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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I hope that button is worn with pride! Sounds like a lovely birthday!! TBD is one of our favorite narrators for the CP as well...this year I think we have a choice of either Whoopie Goldberg or Neil Patrick Harris...I think. We aren't doing the dinner and I don't know yet who is on what date, so it might be we will see whomever from the top of the hill.
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.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Excellent plans and I sure do hope you wear a Birthday Button!!!
Thanks Tara. Lucille has assured me I WILL have that Button on not only that dsy twice more at her discretion to make up for the other 2 trips
Quote:
Originally Posted by NanaTink
I hope that button is worn with pride! Sounds like a lovely birthday!! TBD is one of our favorite narrators for the CP as well...this year I think we have a choice of either Whoopie Goldberg or Neil Patrick Harris...I think. We aren't doing the dinner and I don't know yet who is on what date, so it might be we will see whomever from the top of the hill.
Nana T I will wear it with pride. I earned it We considered running over from Lazy Days to get Lt. Dan but no dining packages were available . Without the dining option the wait is just too long for us besides we like Chefs De France
You guys got lucky. I am not sure we could get that lucky but I also remember Lisa and her Family by 3 in the afternoon being surrounded and harassed by groups of intoxicated people that leaving was the best option for them. Not exactly my idea of a fun day'
Not at all. We didn't see anything that bad, but to be honest, if it hadn't been for the rain, I can imagine it would have gone that way, as there were a lot of people drinking a lot even by the middle of the afternoon.
DAY 5 CHRISTMAS DAY
Today is a totally down day. We figure the parks will all be standing room only till late in the evening so no sense in even trying. Once the Girls have been taken care of we will do up a nice breakfast for ourselves. Pancakes, eggs Bacon and sausage, Thank you Cracker Barrel for your mixes and Maple Syrup.
After Breakfast we will likely go to tour the Monorail Hotels and see how they are decorated for the holidays, We'll take our time an just enjoy the offerings wandering around and exploring. Dinner will be at Trails End as they offer a dinner closer to what we would make here at home. We are still waiting for the December movie schedule to come out and if we like what we see we will likely go back to the Chip and Dale Campfire Sing Along and Movie. We may try to hit MK late in the evening depending on what we hear from those returning to Fort W and the hours of operation.
DAY 6
We are hoping that today and tomorrow will see a drop in crowd levels and EPCOT will be reasonable. We are hoping to go there and dedicate our touring to WS. The plans is to check out how each of the nations has been decorated and the specialty shows. As for dining we plan to sample from the food kiosks as we go.
If this proves to be un-doable due to at capacity crowd levels then we will likely either head for Disney Springs for their decorations.
Your plans for Christmas Day sound wonderful! I would not want to fight the crowds on that day to be sure!
Yay Cracker Barrel mixes and syrups! We love CB and it's our Disney drive must do!
Oh, please, send the link to me as well, I would dearly love to see the Ride of Shame! Sounds like great fun!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Your plans for birthday and the Holiday sound reasonable and just perfect.
The ride of shame...tell me more about what happens with CMs if they catch you? I didn't quite follow what you said.
Seeing the RV loop in it's holiday finery is a WDW bucket list of mine. I arrive on Jan 10th, so not much chance this year, I figure, though there may be a few hold outs, right?
Definitely a good plan for Christmas Day - I'm sure you're right and it will be standing room only in the parks all day!
We based it on past crowds and experiences related by others. How much fun would it be when you can't even walk down Main Street USA and enjoy the decorations. Better off spending the touring the hotels to enjoy them.
Your plans for Christmas Day sound wonderful! I would not want to fight the crowds on that day to be sure!
Yay Cracker Barrel mixes and syrups! We love CB and it's our Disney drive must do!
Oh, please, send the link to me as well, I would dearly love to see the Ride of Shame! Sounds like great fun!
NanaT have you on the PM list for once I know someone has posted it. CB is a must for us as well. In 2011 on the way down we stopped to eat at one off exit 49 in NC and have made it a point to stop there ever since. I even had a long distance haul from De. to SC. and stopped there on the way back. Their Pancake and Syrup is perfect on the road pick up for traditional camping breakfast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Your plans for birthday and the Holiday sound reasonable and just perfect.
The ride of shame...tell me more about what happens with CMs if they catch you? I didn't quite follow what you said.
Seeing the RV loop in it's holiday finery is a WDW bucket list of mine. I arrive on Jan 10th, so not much chance this year, I figure, though there may be a few hold outs, right?
KimmyAnn I suspect you will just miss them as they tend to pull prior to race weekend .
The Ride of Shame. Okay. This is a Fort Wilderness Specific Activity as it is the only resort that rents and allows personal Golf Carts. It does take place at other times of the year notably 4th of July, Halloween, and Thanksgiving in addition to Christmas. Due to the added time and expense Disney incurred cleaning and prepping their GC's for the next guest the instituted a policy forbidding people from adorning them, Originally this only applied to DISNEY owned GC's, privately owned and those from outside vendors were not affected. People being people soon began to complain about this ie "How come they can do it and I can't?". Those rrnting carts fro DISNEY began to once again ignore the rule and began decorating the carts again. In short order DISNEY soon developed a new policy banning the Decorating of ALL GC's on property. In order to enforce this rules they have authorized a select number CM's to cite violators of the policy. While they as a rule only go after the most flagrant violators even the slightest stepping over the line is apt to get you a summons. While initially the Reedy Creek Justice of the Peace's office was glad for the fines they were collecting they were soon being overrun when people started to hire lawyers and fight it . Long story short the court decided that, as this is a DISNEY policy violation DISNEY was told to handle it by the court.
The decision was made to have the violators ride through the CAMPGROUND enmass as a display to other campers DISNEY will not tolerate this sort of tomfoolery. So on select holidays the enforcers are deployed to select locations in Fort Wilderness and summonses are issued. Then on the predetermined date all those so cited are required to assemble be a part of the RIDE of SHAME.
The culmination is all carts are lined up near Pioneer Hall and the 3 worst violators in a variety of categories are announced and their punishment meted out.
This policy is likely to change in the near future as DISNEY has learned that withing the camping community participation in one or more of these events has become Badge of Honor. Great awe and reverence is bestowed on those who have Achieved the Grand Slam and been in all 4 or at least so I am told
This policy is likely to change in the near future as DISNEY has learned that withing the camping community participation in one or more of these events has become Badge of Honor. Great awe and reverence is bestowed on those who have Achieved the Grand Slam and been in all 4 or at least so I am told
Well, I'm not surprised - I'd see it as a badge of honour too!
About This Page: 
]
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
that all goes well this time. Your plans look wonderful so far!
PassPorter Guide Author
We didn't see anything that bad, but to be honest, if it hadn't been for the rain, I can imagine it would have gone that way, as there were a lot of people drinking a lot even by the middle of the afternoon. 
Linear Mode
