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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The ABD itineraries for 2012 were released at midnight and I've decided to go to South Africa!! There are a lot of new trips next year and I'd happily go on many of them, but ABD said that (surprisingly) the Africa trip is one of the most accessible. Since I'll be traveling with the scooter a lot of the European trips include site's I'd not be able to really explore. Also, I've travelled a lot in Europe but have never been to any country in the southern hemisphere. Africa has always been a dream of mine, for the animals as well as the culture. I've never wanted to tackle it alone, though, so ABD it is!
I haven't travelled internationally (except cruising) for MANY years, so here's the first of probably many questions for you pros: Adapters and converters. How do you handle this with all of the electronics we travel with these days? Back when I travelled all I needed to worry about was my tiny travel iron and that came with the adaptor. This time I'll need to plug in my scooter battery, laptop, camera battery charger, cell phone, e-reader. I purchased a Samsonite kit that says it's "all you'll ever need" and when I read the instructions it specified that you cannot use the plugs with any electronics! I'm pretty sure everything I'll be using will not require a converter, but I do need the proper adapter plugs. The scooter battery charger has a 3-prong plug, everything else two. The Samsonite kit did not include a 3-prong adapter. Do you all travel with multiple adapter plugs or rotate items? Do you have a brand or kit you'd recommend that DOES work with electronics?
Thanks for your help. I'm so excited I thought about starting a pre-trip report, but I don't leave until February, so it's a bit too pre!
Don't have any answers for your electronics question but just wanted to say I'll be eagerly awaiting your pre- and actual trip reports! I always enjoy your reports and I think this trip will be amazing. I'm so glad you're going and am excited for you. With your interest in animals, it sounds ideal for you.
It sounds like you are going to have great trip! I'm looking at an ABD trip for next year, but the $ is outrageous. I went on 3 tours of Europe with a school group through EF in high school and those trip included many of the ABD stops but cost about $1500 including airfare from NYC. I'm still working on the numbers, because I'd really like to do one for my birthday.
Congrats! An ABD trip to South Africa sounds A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
Ok, about the electronics: As far as I know, there are two acpects to consider: First, there's the actual plug. You basically need an adapter that has the "in" plug type your electronics have and the "out" plug type that's used in the destination country. Secondly, there's the voltage. In the U.S., you have 120V, while South Africa (like Europe) uses 230V. So your electronics need to be able to operate with that. Does that make sense?
That's all I know. Usually, my hubby takes care of that kind of stuff
Don't have any answers for your electronics question but just wanted to say I'll be eagerly awaiting your pre- and actual trip reports! I always enjoy your reports and I think this trip will be amazing. I'm so glad you're going and am excited for you. With your interest in animals, it sounds ideal for you.
Thank you so much! I'm hoping I'll be able to do a live report but am not sure that I'll have free (or cheap enough) internet for the whole trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
It sounds like you are going to have great trip! I'm looking at an ABD trip for next year, but the $ is outrageous. I went on 3 tours of Europe with a school group through EF in high school and those trip included many of the ABD stops but cost about $1500 including airfare from NYC. I'm still working on the numbers, because I'd really like to do one for my birthday.
I know.... This trip will almost cost more than all my previous travels put together! It's a splurge for sure. And I have to say I don't give up my own control of the trip easily. If it were a destination I could handle on my own, I'd definitely go that route. I don't drive anymore, though, and it would be pretty much impossible to get around SA without a private car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disneybine
Congrats! An ABD trip to South Africa sounds A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
Ok, about the electronics: As far as I know, there are two acpects to consider: First, there's the actual plug. You basically need an adapter that has the "in" plug type your electronics have and the "out" plug type that's used in the destination country. Secondly, there's the voltage. In the U.S., you have 120V, while South Africa (like Europe) uses 230V. So your electronics need to be able to operate with that. Does that make sense?
That's all I know. Usually, my hubby takes care of that kind of stuff
Thanks, Sabine! I've checked all my electronics and the voltage conversion is all set. It's just the plug adaptors that I'll need. I'll have to search the on-line travel stores, because the ones I'm finding in local stores only work with "electrical" appliances, not "electronics". Doesn't make sense to me!
It sounds like an amazing trip. We travel with a multi-gang adapter, i.e. it's got loads of our plugs for our items on it and then we just have the one adapter for the US or Europe, depending where we're going...
Thank you so much! I'm hoping I'll be able to do a live report but am not sure that I'll have free (or cheap enough) internet for the whole trip.
I obviously don't specifically know where you'll be staying, but all of the B&Bs we stayed at in SA had free internet. It's quite common there, as well as WiFi hotspots. Can't wait to read your TR!
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It's just the plug adaptors that I'll need. I'll have to search the on-line travel stores, because the ones I'm finding in local stores only work with "electrical" appliances, not "electronics". Doesn't make sense to me!
That's kinda weird. I've never had that problem. Our plugs are the cheapest kind available and they all work with every electrical and/or electronical item we've ever used, like a laptop. Our plugs are basically just a piece of plastic that have some metal inside, holes on one side and the needed type of metal "sticks" or whatever on the other side. This is the one we use when we travel to the U.S.:
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It sounds like an amazing trip. We travel with a multi-gang adapter, i.e. it's got loads of our plugs for our items on it and then we just have the one adapter for the US or Europe, depending where we're going...
Thanks, Cheryl. I'll check on line for "multi-gang adapter" and see if I can find a nice set like that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashli
I obviously don't specifically know where you'll be staying, but all of the B&Bs we stayed at in SA had free internet. It's quite common there, as well as WiFi hotspots. Can't wait to read your TR!
Good to hear! I'll be starting a PTR soon and will list the itinerary. We're staying in big hotel chains, and an amazing-looking safari lodge in Krueger.
I THINK I have the adaptor thing figured out. I went on the Magellan site, where you put in the country you're traveling to and the type of plug you have. It then pulls up a selection of appropriate adaptors for grounded and ungrounded plugs. Whew! Thanks everyone, for your input.
I'm sorry I don't have a clue how to answer your questions but I just wanted to say I really do hope you'll do a PTR, your trip sounds like it's going to be a blast!
I know I purchased an all in one sort of adaptor/coverter contraption. It works in every country in the world (and I've successfully used it in the UK, Europe, Australia, and the US). I've never had any trouble using it nor have I had any ruined appliances. I paid about $10 online. It's similar to this one, but not the same brand. Amazon.com: All-in-One Travel Power Plug Adapter for US, UK, EU, AU: Electronics It's small and light and takes up very little space. Mine also has two USB charging ports which is great for I pods even here at home.
Have a great trip! I'm seriously jealous! I hope you plan on writing a trip report!
I'm sorry I don't have a clue how to answer your questions but I just wanted to say I really do hope you'll do a PTR, your trip sounds like it's going to be a blast!
I'm going to start a PTR just as soon as I have the booking complete. I'm waiting on confirmation from ABD of my flights. They were swamped today with all the new itineraries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tink and co.
I know I purchased an all in one sort of adaptor/coverter contraption. It works in every country in the world (and I've successfully used it in the UK, Europe, Australia, and the US). I've never had any trouble using it nor have I had any ruined appliances. I paid about $10 online. It's similar to this one, but not the same brand. Amazon.com: All-in-One Travel Power Plug Adapter for US, UK, EU, AU: Electronics It's small and light and takes up very little space. Mine also has two USB charging ports which is great for I pods even here at home.
Have a great trip! I'm seriously jealous! I hope you plan on writing a trip report!
Wow, Thank you! That's an incredible price and it looks just right. Can I ask, did you have any grounded (3-prong) plugs to convert? Most of the sets I've seen don't come with a full selection of both grounded and ungrounded. My scooter has a 3-prong plug, but all the other items are 2-prong. I still can't believe I'm really going to do this trip!
Laurie, I just wanted to chime in to say congrats on booking this! Sounds like a trip of a lifetime. Sharon's Italy TR really has me wanting to do an ABD Trip!
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That's kinda weird. I've never had that problem. Our plugs are the cheapest kind available and they all work with every electrical and/or electronical item we've ever used, like a laptop. Our plugs are basically just a piece of plastic that have some metal inside, holes on one side and the needed type of metal "sticks" or whatever on the other side. This is the one we use when we travel to the U.S.:
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