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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Mackinac Island is Gorgeous (yes, with a capital G)! It's where they filmed Somewhere in Time. The Grand Hotel is wonderful to explore. There is an old military fort, horseback riding, parasailing, boat tours and rentals, bike rentals (including bicycles built for two). I believe there is swimming at some points on the island. Also a very nice miniture golf course that is right by the water and looks like a real golf course (but smaller ). Lots of nice BnB's on the island, their world famous fudge and some of the best pizza anywhere. They also have a cheap scare haunted house type attraction if you want some cheesey fun, and sometimes have comedians do shows in certain venues. Lots of shopping on the island and in Mackinac City.
If you do go to Mackinac and have the time, there is also a town called Frankenmuth, MI that is about 200 miles south. They have a huge Christmas store called Bronner's and alot of little shops. We spent a week up in that area last summer and had a great time. We also did the Agawa train ride in Canada (not too far from Mackinac) but I would not recommend it. It was very long and the whole family started getting motion sickness on the return trip.
Location: Physically stuck in Michigan while my heart and soul reside in Disney.....
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I live very near Frankenmuth. It is a nice small german town... we go there regularly....a must is the Chicken dinner served family style the traditional german way. I frequented it as child since my father was from Germany and felt it was very homey! If you have kids there is a wonderful hotel there with an indoor water park. Fabulous! The horse drawn carriage rides are beautiful too, especially at night!
As far as the Mackinac Bridge....the bridge itself was....well a bridge. A way to get from point A to point B without getting wet. Make sure you stay on the island one night, the hotel there is gorgeous! Also there are several casinos around the area, be sure to see them, even if you are not a gambler, they are beautiful and provide alot of entertainment in the shows etc.
If I can help in any way please feel free to PM me! Enjoy your trip and welcome to Michigan....its home!
I Mackinac Island! If you go try to stay at least one night on the island. It is so peaceful after the last ferry leaves for the day. We enjoy renting bikes to ride around the island. The path is fairly level and is just over 8 miles all the way around. I recommend staying in town. We like a hotel called the Lilac Tree. We pay a little more and get a room with a balcony overlooking Main Street. It's a great place to spend some time watching people and horses go by. I also recommend the Village Inn to eat. It's a casual tavern type restaurant, but has great Planked Whitefish surrounded by piped mashed potatoes.
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My sister lives in Michigan and spent a weekend at the Grand Hotel two years ago. Loved it!
And BTW, we stop in Frankenmuth every August when we come up to go to Caseville for the Cheeseburger in Paradise Festival. Love it! Love the chicken dinner, love Bronners, and love the whole town.
Oops- I accidentally hit the post button. There are some fun places to tour too...The Mystery Spot in St Ignace Michigan and Fort Michilimackinac, which is across the Mackinac Bridge from St Ignace. Of course, Mackinac Island is great. Lots to see and the amzaing thing is that there are no cars on the island.
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How funny my DH and I were just talking about making another family trek up to Mackinac Island! This year there is a celebration for the bridge . If you are driving there are lots of stops on the way up! There are many places to shop but lots of beautiful places to stop and take a picture too. We like to go up and walk around downtown Mackinaw City, they have built an outdoor mall with lots of shopping places, but at night is more fun. They have a laser show and lots of fun things to see. They have also built a new hotel in the past couple of years, that has a water park attached to it too. We like to cross the bridge and go into St. Ignace. If you want there is gambling, but the coolest thing by far is the unesed beaches off of Highway 2 I think. There are so beautiful and my kids love to take a picnic and spend the day there. The island is beautiful, but there is not really much there for kids. My DH and I went for our first vacay there and that is more fun than with littler kids. Okay I could go on and on but I will stop hi-jacking your post!! PM if you want more information.
Okay one more thing you might want to consider attending the Cherry Festival in Traverse City.
I have only been up there twice. Unlike most Michigander I don't really enjoy the 5 hour drive to the Upper Lower and the UP. That being said. Mackinac Island is a MUST see. It is beautiful and very peaceful. If you don't want to stay on the Island you can stay in Mackinaw City or St. Ignace and take a boat to the Island. The Shipwreak Museum is in Whitefish Point and looks kinda neat. Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, A maritime museum in upper peninsula Michigan on Whitefish Point
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Robin Twitter name: @NKsDogwalker Find me on FB: robinkay6573@yahoo.com 38th Birthday with Mom, Dad and friends 2011 Next Trip: Cruise on Jewel of the Seas for Christmas 2012
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I do want to clarify one thing - while Macinac Island is a must-visit, the bridge doesn't go there. You reach the island by ferry from either Mackinaw City on the Lower Penninsula (LP) or from St. Ignace across the water on the Upper Penninsula (UP, or "Yoop").
There's really no shortage of potential places to visit, both on the upper part of the Lower Penninsula, or on the UP, from upscale resorts to great campgrounds.
We happen to like Wilderness State Campground, which is just a couple of miles west of the southern end of the bridge. If you're lucky you can get a waterfront campsite with a great view of the bridge and the ships that pass by.
On the UP you can take a jaunt up I-75 to Sault Ste. Marie, and watch freighters pass through the "Soo" Locks. There's a fine exhibit, up-close-and-personal ship viewing facilities, and interestingly, the biggest Soo Locks are longer than the Panama Canal locks (this quirk has encouraged the long-and-skinny design of Great Lakes ore freighters, most of which wouldn't fit through the Panama locks). The Army Corps of Engineers got the job to build the Panama Canal based on the revolutionary design and construction work they did for the Soo. If you've always wanted to see the locks in Panama, this is your next, best choice (I've seen them both, so trust me on this).
If you drive west in the UP you'll eventually find yourself in Wisconsin. If you follow the north (Lake Superior) shoreline of the UP, around Ironwood, you're as far west in the Eastern time zone as you can possibly be - the sun sets here about an hour and a half later than it does on the far eastern end of the time zone, in Maine.
While on the UP you can find all sorts of recreation opportunities, including the only "serious" skiing and whitewater boating in the state (if you're there in the appropriate season, of course). There are also mining museums, lighthouses, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, Pictured Rocks National Seashore, Isle Royale National Park, Grand Island National Recreation Area...
If you're concentrating on the LP and head west to Traverse City (whether the cherries are ripe, or not), don't forget Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, just a short drive west of Traverse City. It's not every day you can scale a 400-foot high sand dune.
Don't forget, Michigan's economy is in the tank, so spend generously.
(This message is not brought to you by the Michigan Department of Tourism)
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Over Memorial weekend, Mike Rowe from Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs was there filming an upcoming episode for Dirty Jobs. It is supposed to be about maintenance that needs to be done on the bridge.
Speaking of holiday weekends, on Labor Day, they open the bridge to runners and walkers to make the 5 mile trek from the U.P. to the L.P. This is the only day the bridge is accessible to pedestrians. My sister, mother and I walked the bridge in '04. It was really cool.
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Michelle - with my step sisters!
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). Lots of nice BnB's on the island, their world famous fudge and some of the best pizza anywhere. They also have a cheap scare haunted house type attraction if you want some cheesey fun, and sometimes have comedians do shows in certain venues. Lots of shopping on the island and in Mackinac City.
Mackinac Island! If you go try to stay at least one night on the island. It is so peaceful after the last ferry leaves for the day. We enjoy renting bikes to ride around the island. The path is fairly level and is just over 8 miles all the way around. I recommend staying in town. We like a hotel called the Lilac Tree. We pay a little more and get a room with a balcony overlooking Main Street. It's a great place to spend some time watching people and horses go by. I also recommend the Village Inn to eat. It's a casual tavern type restaurant, but has great Planked Whitefish surrounded by piped mashed potatoes. 
Judy and Kenzie
Oh too funny Dave!!
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