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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Now that I've planned our days at WDW, I'm looking at Seaworld to finish off our vacation. Does anybody know if Seaworld still offers additional days for free? Last time we were there (2 years ago) we could come back for 7 days for no additional cost.
And has anybody "Dined with Shamo"? Tell me how it was, please!!!
I can't speak to the free days as that wasn't a priority last trip. We did, however, go to Dining with Shamu. It does offer a closer view of the whales but we felt the experience was rushed. The food was okay but in our opinion it wasn't worth the money. Hopefully several people can comment back to you so you get a balanced view. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/sorry.gif[/img]
I've dined w/Shamu. It was pretty neat, but I wouldn't do it again, I don't think. There were a lot of tables kind of crammed into a pretty small space... we were lucky enough to get one directly by the water though, and had a great vantage point. The trainers had Shamu come out and he swam around and the trainers talked about how they work w/him. The food wasn't that great. It was OK -- not fabulous. I did get some good photos though [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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Re: Seaworld and Shamu
We went to SeaWorld at the end of March. At that time they had a message on the webpage that told about the Buy One Day tickets exchange for 6 more days when you arrive. We went to Seaworld our first day in Orlando and then went again on our last day to finish up the things we missed the first day. Worked out great. Check out their webpages to see if the offer is still there.
We did "Dine with Shamu" and were a little disappointed that there wasn't more close-up time. The trainers were across the pool the whole time (not up next to the tables like the picture on the website shows). Shamu came by the tables a few times and did a few jumps which was fun to see so close, but spent more time across the pool with the trainers. We thought the food was good. While we probably wouldn't do it again, we had fun even though we were a little disappointed.
They were still giving you the extra day offer on 21 December when we were there. Generally, the reviews I have heard about Dine with Shamu were fair- and that's the reason we decided against it. I might try it one day though!
We just returned on Monday. We purchased a one day pass last Saturday. When I looked at the back of the tickets- it read Three Day Pass. I guess we got 2 free days-unfortunately we didn't have time to use more than one day. They don't expire until Dec 07 so I guess we'll go back on our next trip.
Ditto to the extra days, but doublecheck the website.
We've done dinner with Shamu, and loved it. The food was a little better than most of the food at Seaworld; we got seats directly next to the pool -- definately cool sitting by and having this fabulous creature swim by. But I think i'd agree that there isn't a lot of "quality" time for the price. But I would probably do it again.
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