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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It feels to me as if Disney's announcement of a new DVC resort, to be located between Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness, has almost gone under the radar. I've seen very little comment on it on social media (maybe it's just the friendships and links I have ) but I've never seen so little comment about an announcement of a new resort...
You can find out more with details of what we know at present about the resort on DVC News.
Thoughts?
Personally, I'm intrigued by the fact that Disney have announced a new resort that isn't completely DVC, but will also contain standard hotel rooms - as the article says, the first time in a long time (since Art of Animation opened back in 2012) that Disney have gone down this route. Now bearing in mind the new resort won't open until 2022, that will be a whole decade in between opening up new hotel rooms. I guess that says something for how many more people Disney believe will be visiting the parks by then....
I'm also intrigued to know more about the "nature theming", as I think it could be quite interesting....
Interesting article, it sounds like a massive resort. I wish Disney would invest in a 5th park rather than more hotel rooms, that way maybe the crowds would have some place to go.
I agree there hasn't been a lot about it out there. Being such a big project I would have thought it would've received a lot of attention.
I know I'm in the minority but another resort on Bay Lake doesn't excite me. If they were able to extend the monorail to it or if it was built on a monorail line it might change my mind. If it were my choice I would prefer a new resort on the Fla. Gulf Coast similar to VB. I don't think the resorts outside the Disney park bubbles have sold as well so that will probably never happen.
Then there's the cost of DVC points direct from Disney and the number of points needed to stay in the new resorts. It cost a lot more to buy and its not the value it used to be. We bought DVC about 15 years ago resale and have gotten a great value out of it. At $170 to over $200 per point it will take a lot of trips to make it worth while. I don't know exactly how many DVC trips we have taken but it has more than paid for our membership. I could even sell our points today for about $40 more than what I paid them. Will that happen with today's prices? I think its doubtful but who knows.
Interesting article, it sounds like a massive resort. I wish Disney would invest in a 5th park rather than more hotel rooms, that way maybe the crowds would have some place to go.
That is a good point, although of course they're adding lots to the existing parks all the time. Mind you, it would be interesting to know whether they've actually added any space to the parks with all the expansion over the last decade or so or whether it's just replacements of things they got rid of.
I’m curious as to what’s meant by a “nature-inspired” resort. Isn’t that what AKL and AKV are?
What’s this one to be about? Watching plants grow?
I’m wondering if Disney isn’t overreaching the level of interest for this one unless their surveys have uncovered people more interested in hanging about their resort than touring. Seems odd to me, but I suppose there may be such people.
I’ve no idea why, if outdoorsy activities are one’s thing, you’d want to buy into a contrived “natural adventure” when there are plenty of actual sites for that all over this country.
Call me a skeptic—and another who thinks a fifth park makes far more sense.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 10-20-2018 at 10:47 AM..
I’m wondering if Disney isn’t overreaching the level of interest for this one unless their surveys have uncovered people more interested in hanging about their resort than touring. Seems odd to me, but I suppose there may be such people.
I don't know how many people go to WDW but don't go into the parks? I think most that do that are DVC owners. We go to WDW almost every year and rarely go into the park. I think it was at least three years ago that we bought park tickets and probably won't go again until the 50th anniversary.
I don't know how many people go to WDW but don't go into the parks? I think most that do that are DVC owners. We go to WDW almost every year and rarely go into the park. I think it was at least three years ago that we bought park tickets and probably won't go again until the 50th anniversary.
That is a good point. We always go into the parks, but we do it more to meet up with friends, wander around or enjoy a restaurant we like, rather than spending the whole day there, going on all the rides. Being DVC members has definitely changed how we tour...
Sounds interesting. It looks like a huge resort. I also wish Disney would invest money on a fifth park. With so many new rooms that are going to be added, that means more people visiting. What are they going to do to disperse the crowds at the parks?
Is it being DVC members as much as having been so often that the parks aren’t that enticing anymore?
I know if we lived closer, we’d likely parcel out DH’s vacation to go more than once a year. I could see getting a bit burnt out on the parks after a year or two of multiple trips.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Is it being DVC members as much as having been so often that the parks aren’t that enticing anymore?
I know if we lived closer, we’d likely parcel out DH’s vacation to go more than once a year. I could see getting a bit burnt out on the parks after a year or two of multiple trips.
We don't go into the parks every time because we had done everything. We have four kids so spending $2000 + for six passes every year didn't seem like it was worth it when they rather spend the day at the resort pool. When the kids were young we would be at the park for rope drop and spend all day in the park. After a few trips that changed a lot. The kids are grown now and still go with us. The only thing I miss about not having park passes are some of the park restaurants. When we have grand kids we will be back in the park every trip.
I wonder if there will be an incentive to the construction teams to finish it in time for the 50th Anniversary celebration. I love the idea of it being nature centered as that is a love of our family as well. I also really hope the name and some of the designs/art reflect the area in which it will be built (River Country & Discovery Island...I have such fond memories of family time spent at both of those closed locations).
There have been whispers about a resort going on that land for many years now. I'm surprised it took them so long! When I saw so many other DVC projects being announced and built I just figured they had given up on it. I'm intrigued with the concept. I'm sure there is a lot they can do with it and I can see it having a health spa vibe with yoga classes and healthy, sustainable dining options, a salt water pool, and cool arts and crafts opportunities.
Is it being DVC members as much as having been so often that the parks aren’t that enticing anymore?
I know if we lived closer, we’d likely parcel out DH’s vacation to go more than once a year. I could see getting a bit burnt out on the parks after a year or two of multiple trips.
I don't think it's a case of getting burnt out on the parks, for us anyway. It's that we've been fortunate to go so often and have had long vacations in Disney, so we've been able to do most of the rides and attractions and we don't need to race around the parks in the way we once did. We know what we like and can just go to do those and then head out after a few hours, especially if the parks get busy. It's great, as it allows you to take things more slowly and gives you the opportunity to stop and smell the roses as it were.
I wonder if there will be an incentive to the construction teams to finish it in time for the 50th Anniversary celebration.
I did wonder that. Maybe I'm a bit of a cynic, but I'm sure Disney will want any big construction work out of the way before they celebrate the 50th anniversary. It's not going to look good to be attracting the world's media and to still have a building site anywhere on property...
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I love the idea of it being nature centered as that is a love of our family as well. I also really hope the name and some of the designs/art reflect the area in which it will be built (River Country & Discovery Island...I have such fond memories of family time spent at both of those closed locations).
I hadn't thought of that, but that would be good....
There have been whispers about a resort going on that land for many years now. I'm surprised it took them so long! When I saw so many other DVC projects being announced and built I just figured they had given up on it.
I wonder if maybe they ran into issues before, perhaps with the land they were building on, as I know rumours have been doing the rounds for years about Disney building on that site...
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I'm intrigued with the concept. I'm sure there is a lot they can do with it and I can see it having a health spa vibe with yoga classes and healthy, sustainable dining options, a salt water pool, and cool arts and crafts opportunities.