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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
I think we are going to Branson next week. As usual, we will have no reservations and will fly by the seat of our pants. DH will probably tell me on Monday that we can leave on Tuesday.
Have you been there and what would you do with kids ages 9, 13, and 15? I am NOT a roller coaster type, but wondered if it's worth it to see Silver Dollar City, Celebration City (?), etc. and if there are other things to do besides ride rides.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Check out the Titanic Museum, it is awesome!!! The outside of the building is shaped like a boat so you can't miss it!
There are several mini-golf courses that are lots of fun for the family.
Not been to Silver Dollar City, but would like to go there someday. Also haven't been to the Dixie Stampede but have been to Medieval Times and it looks similar.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
They have a great variety of things to check out. Here are some of our favorites:
The Branson Landing mall
Branson Scenic Railways
Tanger Factory Outlets
IMAX movies
Titanic Museum (lots of interactive exhibits)
lots of mini-golf and go-kart tracks
Silver Dollar City
Celebration City
Table Rock Dam Visitor Center
Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery
Scenic Overlook (has short trail to observation tower and longer hiking trails)
Ride the Ducks
drive to Springfield (35 miles), check out Bass Pro Shops, Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Fantastic Caverns
They also have a wax museum, Ripley's Museum, Butterfly Palace, Veterans Museum, Presidential Museum, and other shops and tons of great restaurants!
Definately do the Titanic Museum and go down to the Riverfront in what is downtown Branson. Silver Dollar City and Celebration City are fun and there is plenty to do for the non-coaster type. Silver Dollar City has some cute shows. I'm not a big fan of the whole Dixie Stampede thing. Something about mixing food with animals running around in an enclosed environment just makes me queezy. Ick. There are some interesting shows and tickets can always be had if you are interested in seeing them. The Ducks are fun too. Dorky but fun. You could also rent a boat and go boating for the day on the lake.
If you're going check out the Wyndam (formerly Fairfield) Meadows resort for accomodation openings. Sometimes you can get a 1 or 2 bedroom condo for the same price as a hotel room. We go with a group of friends every fall and usually stay there.
If you go. Have fun.
You could always just come to St. Louis and see all the cool things here! Free zoo, Science Center, Art Museum, History Museum, Shakespeare in the Park - all free!
There are many things to do in Branson. Silver Dollar City is great-it is a theme park not an amusement park, there's plenty to see and do. Celebration City is more an amusement park but has some good rides. If you like to play mini golf they have some great places. The go-carts are fun, the shopping is great. They have many, many motels and condos the cost varies--check out their website. Lots of good places to eat, many very well themed. A great outdoor show is Shepard of the Hills-excellent drama. Have a good time, it's different from Disney but a lot of fun.
I live in Branson and we welcome you to our great little town! Your kids are the perfect age for a great vacation here. Must Do's: Silver Dollar City (go after 3:00 and the next day is free), Ride the Ducks, Titanic, a show or two of your choice (Presley's, Jim Stafford, SIX, Dick Clark's American Bandstand highly recommended). If you can, rent a pontoon or ski boat and spend a day on Table Rock Lake. Be sure & get tubes to pull the kids. Rentals available at State Park Marina about 2 miles south of Table Rock Dam. Go to Branson Landing at night and have dinner on the patio at any of the restaurants there. Drive around and see the sights - beautiful Ozark Mountain scenery. What NOT to do: do not stop at any of the booths offering discount, 2-for-1 tickets or any other 'special' offers. They are ALL time-share sales come-ons. Pick up your maps and get information only at the Chamber of Commerce office on Hwy 248 just west of Hwy 65. Also check out the Chamber web site - Branson Missouri vacation lodging, hotels, shows, Chamber of Commerce. You should go down Hwy 76 when you first get into town to get the flavor of many of the things there are to do. To save time and avoid traffic (unless you really like traffic) use the color-coded side streets to get around. The Chamber map will have the best maps in town. Hope you have a great vacation - we think you're going to be surprised about all there is to do here.
I was wondering about all the "special" offers. Thanks for the heads up. I found several good maps (the color coded ones) and can see that it is one of those places that has way more to do than we will have time for. I was also pleasantly surprised to see it isn't as far as I thought so a one day drive will work perfectly.
Is there a "high season" or is all summer considered a "high season"? I'm wondering how hard it will be to find a hotel room (DH likes to SEE the hotel in person- no reserving ahead for us..)
I had to laugh Lori- I had mentioned a stop in St. Louis to my DH already. (I was born there and have an aunt/uncle/cousins there still.) I need to check and see if my beloved Cardinals are in town near the beginning or end of our trip..
I was excited to see it's only 519 miles/8 hrs., 5 mins. to Branson. For some reason I thought it was about 100 miles further. Now if I can just pin DH down to a leaving day, I'll be set.
We going to Branson....lots of fun. We enjoy going to Silver Dollar City and we are NOT big roller coaster fans, we also love going to shows, playing putt-putt golf, riding go-carts. We have done the Titanic exhibit and we loved that...we also like to Ride the Ducks, this is tons of fun. The shopping is excellent and if you like quilting, they have tons of quilt shops! We have enjoyed doing Dixie Stampede and the Branson Belle (dinner show).
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Silver Dollar City and Celebration City are both lots of fun!!!! We go to Branson twice a year and love it there. The Branson Landing is also a great place to shop and they have a laser light show at night. The shows at Silver Dollar City are really good. We always go during Kids fest so my DD can see the American Kids. There is also a water Park there we have not been but are going this summer. The Dixie Stampede is OK but I was a little turned off because there was no silverware and eating around animals. My DD loved it though. Oh yeah and the fish hatchery is really neat also.
Also if you are going through St. Louis I think you are going to pass by Merrimac Caverns on your way to Branson and that is definitely worth a stop. It is about an hour to an hour and half tour!!!!
As far as lodging goes, there are lots of places to stay w/ lots of price ranges. Since you've got 5 in your group you might consider a condo rental. Recommended would be 1000 Hills or Stonebridge Condos. Regular hotels I'd recommend Comfort Inn & Suites, Clarion (extra $$), Best Western behind the Grand Palace. If price is no object consider Chateau on the Lake. Many others too numerous to mention. Middle of June is beginning of the high season but you should be OK. July is the busiest month. It would be best to have your hotel reservations before you got here, but if you arrive on a week-day it should be no problem. Good luck and hope you have a great time.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
going to Branson....lots of fun. We enjoy going to Silver Dollar City and we are NOT big roller coaster fans, we also love going to shows, playing putt-putt golf, riding go-carts. We have done the Titanic exhibit and we loved that...we also like to Ride the Ducks, this is tons of fun. The shopping is excellent and if you like quilting, they have tons of quilt shops! We have enjoyed doing Dixie Stampede and the Branson Belle (dinner show).
Kris
Linear Mode
