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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Could someone tell me the dates of the race that is being held in January of 2018? I'd like to avoid that weekend if possible. Nothing against the runners. We just had a bad experience with bus transportation last year.
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.
It's on the runDisney site, but not on their main site. That would make too much sense.
And I totally don't blame you for avoiding race weekends. Traffic is a nightmare for those who don't know - or even for those who do their best to avoid the marathon nonsense!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
We are going Jan 2-10. Best week with college kids for us. Please tell me it's not that bad!!! ��
It's not terrible! You just need to plan around it. The worst day is marathon Sunday - traffic wise. If you are planning any "off" days to stay at the resort and relax, make it Sunday. Or - make Sunday a MK day, at least in the morning.
Runners are through MK by 9am or so. They will be going through AK until about 10:30, DHS until about 12:30, and Epcot potentially until about 1:30.
Roads will be closed until about 12-1pm or so as well, slowly opening back up again starting by MK first about 9-10am, then AK, and then DHS/Epcot area. Traffic on Buena Vista is the worst, as well as Osceola.
Parking at Epcot will be somewhat limited as that's where the race starts and ends.
Saturday is mostly only noticed at Epcot. The Half should be done around 10:30-11am ish there. Runners do go through MK first, but again they should be through by 9am or so. So traffic isn't as bad, but you will notice slight detours and road closures by MK and EP for the first hour+ of operation.
Thursday and Friday's races are done early enough that it won't affect much, but they are both also started and finished at Epcot.
The only other annoyance would potentially be in the food courts of the hotels, especially Friday and Saturday nights as runners will be eating. Early though. Expect lines for pasta starting from 4pm onwards!
You also may notice more runners in the parks on Sat/Sun nights. Potentially on Monday as well as they all want to celebrate. Along the same lines - they also like to celebrate at some of the restaurants too. So if you wanted a certain restaurant, grab that ADR as soon as you can.
Friendly tip - and if you do go into the parks on Sunday and you do have to wait for some runners before you can cross their pathway, please cheer us on! We're really tired by that point in the race. Names are on our bibs, so call out our names (Go Nancy!! You got this Steve!!). It's a huge boost to our tired minds when we hear our names!! High fives and free beers are always welcome too....
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Last edited by disney_duke; 05-22-2017 at 07:48 AM..
We were thinking of sleeping in on Sunday, making that day our character breakfast at 1900 Park Avenue and then setting up FP+ at MK later that afternoon??? your thoughts?
If you're making it a late breakfast, like 9:30am or later, that should be just fine! World Dr shuts down to one lane after TTC. So buses to MK and traffic to Contemporary have to wait their turn as it becomes a one way road traffic wise. If you're planning to bus to MK and then monorail/boat to GF, then still allow a little more time for that closed road - especially before 9am.
If you're driving, I think they re-route you all the way over to Vista Blvd (past Ft Wilderness and over by the new Four Seasons) because the runners are running on World Drive until about 8:30am-ish. Alternatively, you could park at Epcot and monorail over to avoid road closures too - if your ADR is closer to 9am.
All I know is the runners have to clear MK gates by 9am ish or they are swept (taken off the course). How this affects the road closures prior to that, I honestly don't know because I'm usually a runner!
All this to say - make the ADR for 9:30 or later and you'll be fine. If it's prior to that, you'll have a heck of a time trying to get there and may need upwards of 1 hour transport time.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Last edited by disney_duke; 05-23-2017 at 07:35 AM..
Reason: guide
It occurs to me though - where are you staying? If it's CSR, AKL, or All Stars, you will have traffic issues up to 12noon or so - bus or car! So if you're staying in that vicinity, I would plan on at least 1 1/2 to 2 hours transport time to get you to GF for breakfast.
There's pretty much only one road that can be used and it's Buena Vista. I've seen marathon Sunday traffic at a standstill heading towards the parks on that road when I was driving the other direction. I have no idea how long cars were sitting there, but it had to be a very long time!
Worst case scenario you get there early and ride the monorail for awhile or something. But I'd hate for you to miss it cuz the bus is stuck in traffic.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Oh, you'll be just fine then! That resort has much easier access to the alternate routes.
Yes, bus drivers know alternate routes. Will they actually use them is the question. When I saw the traffic back ups on Buena Vista, there were Disney buses in the mix. I don't know why though. Even in my rental car, I could find alternate routes, so I don't know why some rogue bus drivers chose to deal with the traffic!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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.
we made our Character Breakfast ADR at 1900 Park Fare at 10:05am and will spend the day at MK. Can't wait! Finally a picture with Mary Poppins!
SO excited! 179 days to go!
Sounds practically perfect! (I couldn't resist. )
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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