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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So we are going to Vegas at the end of March and are thinking about a day trip to the western rim of the Grand Canyon. I believe it is about 4 1/2 hours each way. Has anybody done this as a one day trip before? Can it be done?
Thanks!
Dave
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It can be done in a day and there are lots of companies that offer one day trips out to the Grand Canyon from Vegas. We've done it twice in a day, but both times we flew. The first time we took a helicopter trip over it and the second time, we flew out by plane, landed, took a helicopter down to the base of the canyon, then took a boat ride, helicopter back up to the rim, some time there, then back by plane.
I know if you drive, it's a very long day. A friend of mine did it, as she didn't want to fly and I think it was about a 12-14 hour for them.
We had looked into it when we were out there. We ended up just driving to Williams Ariz. and getting a hotel and staying the night. We went to the south rim though.
You can do it in one day, but it will be very long.
I agree, it is possible but it'd be a loooong day. We decided to fly there for the day. I liked the fact that we had quite a bit of time at the Grand Canyon. However, the flight itself was horrible. The tiny airplane didn't feel safe at all (I won't go into details ).
If you are going to try and do it in a day, I also suggest getting a helipcopter tour. We drove to Flagstaff and stayed the night there, then drove. You could do it in a day, but it would basically be getting there, taking a few pictures, then getting back in the car. Not worth 9 hours in the car.
I drove to the sotuhrim on my last LV trip. 4.5 hrs to the western rim seems a little long. I was thinking it was closer to 3-3.5 hrs. It was right at 275 miles to the south rim. I just googled west rim, and it says it's 120 miles from LV.
A day trip to the western rim is definitely doable if you leave LV in the AM. There's not a whole lot to do there. There's the Sky Bridge (seperate charge), some kind of Indian village, and you can go whitewater rafting. The price you pay to get in the park includes a on-off shuttle to the various lookouts and sites.
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We have also done the helicopter tour - it was WORTH every penny!!! We did one that took us over several other sites (Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, the Vegas Strip) and it included a champagne picnic lunch and transportation to/from hotel to heliport. Like I said - absolutely WORTH every penny!!! It was BREATHTAKING!!! And we left early am (maybe 9ish?) and were back at hotel in Vegas around 2-3ish? and that was with landing for lunch in canyon! Worth all the time saved!
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We did a tour out of Vegas. It was a very long day. 6am to about 10 pm. There and back. It was a fun trip and had a great time. just very tiring. Grand Canyon was worth seeing though. Beautiful!!!!!!!!!
I can't imagine just spending a few hours at the Grand Canyon. We spent four days at the North Rim and it wasn't nearly enough time. If you can manage to stay a night in the park, it is worth it. sunrise and sunset are beautiful. Every where you go to look out over the canyon gives yo a different picture.
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