Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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.
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03-05-2003, 08:15 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: SE Texas!
Posts: 4,882
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Planning a European vacation for \'04...
And where to begin?!!
DH and I are in the very early planning stages of a trip to Europe for '04. It will most likely be in May, June, or July. Right now, we are looking at England, Germany, and a daytrip to DLP. We would likely be gone 7-10 days...
For all of you savvy travelers, what advice can you share? I am *so* new to this, in fact, I am in the process of applying for my 1st ever Passport!
Any tips you can share re: airfare, best month(s) to travel, etc. will be much, much appreciated. I don't know where to begin with this planning. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Thanks, friends!
Michelle
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03-05-2003, 11:52 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 1,138
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
It sounds like you'll have a great trip planned. My first bit of advice would be to pick one place that you really want to go, and stick just with that, instead of trying to bounce around to different countries. Technically they're close, but travelling is exhausting in and of itself. Also, a week is really only enough time to get a cursory overview of a particular area...believe me, you won't get bored. Our first trip to London was for 11 days, and we spent the entire time either in the city or on daytrips...there was so much we hadn't seen, and so much that we still want to get to 6 trips later!! On one trip we split our time between Paris & London...we had a good time, but felt a lot more tired and like we "did less" if that doesn't sound like a ridiculous description.
If you're trying to narrow down where you really want to go my advice would be to take a Sunday afternoon and head to your nearest Barnes & Noble...get a cup of coffee & spend a couple of hours browsing travel books. Some are definitely better than others and it can give you a good idea of what type of vacation you'll enjoy most.
Good luck & happy planning. Feel free to email me with any questions.
September
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03-05-2003, 11:56 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Michelle,
We are also in the midst of planning a trip overseas- we are going to London in November. So far, we plan one day in Paris via the Eurostar train. For the England portion of your trip- you might contact the British Tourist Authority at http: www.visitbritain.com.
Thanks to a post on the boards here in the Budgeting forum- we got a fantastic deal on airfare to London from Dallas on British Airways. I have noticed that alot of carriers are offering great deals.
Hope this was of some help. Happy travels!! |
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03-05-2003, 01:49 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Longfellow's "Jewel by the Sea"
Posts: 14,165
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
www.go-today.com is my favorite website for Eurodeals. IMHO, Paris is *not* to be missed...it holds as much magic as the World itself. Go-today.com has excursions to DLP.
HAVE FUN!!!!!
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03-05-2003, 10:07 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Chicago
Posts: 4,812
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Why don't you rent National Lampoon's European Vacation? You can get a lot of tips from that! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Just kidding. I have no tips for you, but let me say that I am extremely jealous.
Maggie
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03-06-2003, 12:39 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Michelle check the Travel Channel's website they have ALOT of information and tips particularly on London that we've found very useful in planning our future trip to London and Paris.
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03-06-2003, 02:38 AM
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#7
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Quote:
Originally posted by Bert & Sully:
Michelle check the Travel Channel's website they have ALOT of information and tips particularly on London that we've found very useful in planning our future trip to London and Paris.
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<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Hey, when are you coming over? I feel a Passporter meet coming up! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
I would go for London and Paris, including DLP, for a 7 - 10 day trip. I've been to Germany and wasn't that impressed, but Paris is very beautiful with lots to see. If you can, you might want to think about tagging some extra days on to your trip. The jetlag when you fly from the States to the UK is awful! You usually get in around 6 a.m. - 8 a.m. and if you haven't slept on the plane, you'll be knocked out for your first day over here.
I would suggest 6 - 7 nights in London, with 1 - 2 nights in Paris and maybe another night at DLP (there are two parks there now, so it's a lot to see in a day). The Eurostar is a very relaxing and easy way to get to Paris - it's a direct train from London Waterloo.
I would suggest May or June are better bets than July, as by mid July, all the schools have broken up over here, so the tourist attractions are likely to be a lot busier.
Send me a PM if you want any more advice! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Cheryl |
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03-06-2003, 08:24 AM
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#8
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: SE Texas!
Posts: 4,882
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
September, Statelady, Elaine, Simba, Maggie, and Cheryl --
Wow! Thanks so much for the great links, replies, tips, etc. You are all the best! [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I went to the library and gathered a whole mess of travel books -- Frommer's this, and Frommer's that to help plan.
Maggie --
Too funny! That is one of our favorite movies, though. It makes me laugh everytime.
Cheryl --
A Passporter meet sounds like a blast! No set dates yet... as we are still in the planning stages.
I, too, am concerned about the trip being too exhausting -- but then I feel like I want to see and do as much as humanly possible while there... But we will likely have to "narrow" it all down a bit.
We will have to make Germany a priority as my DH needs to do some research while there. (that is the purpose of this trip, as he is writing his dissertation for his PhD) Also, we have a very good friend who lives in Koln, so a visit with him is a MUST.
I also feel DLP is a "must." I mean, if I am traveling all that way, I can't not go, right? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Thanks again, everyone, for the tips, etc. I am sure I will be back asking loads of ?'s as I delve deeper into the plans.
Michelle
[ 03-06-2003, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: All Ears ]
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03-06-2003, 05:43 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Cheryl we are hoping for next spring.
Michelle, DLP Guidebook is an excellent source for information on DLP. |
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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03-11-2003, 01:15 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Sightseer 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 92
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
If you make it into Bavaria, you should try to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, build by the famous "Mad King", Ludwig II. It's obviously one of the real castles that served as inspiration for some of Walt's.
Here's a picture of the castle, along with links to info:
Neuschwanstein Castle
To top it off, Ludwig elaborately themed his castle, with one room resembling a cave with stalactites and his throne room styled in 10th century Byzantine fashion. His bed has all the spires of the great cathedrals of Europe carved into it. The tapestries all illustrate the operas of his favorite composer, Richard Wagner.
I spent 4 months traveling around Europe in 1992 and Neuschwanstein was one of my favorites from the whole trip. |
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03-13-2003, 08:27 AM
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#11
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: SE Texas!
Posts: 4,882
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Re: Planning a European vacation for \'04...
Smee,
Thanks for the information on that castle. Wow! I would love to see that.
4 months traveling Europe, I bet you had an AMAZING time, eh?
Thanks, again.
Michelle [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
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