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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We'll be honeymoon-ing on a Disney cruise (4-night) next April. Since that'll still be spring break time, I assume the ship will be booked solid. Now, those of you who have cruised with Disney during a peak-time before, has the ship ever felt crowded to you?
Neither DH2B nor I have ever been on a cruise so we can't picture what it'll be like to be "crammed" into a ship (a big one, granted) with, what, 3000 other people (no including the crew)?
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The only times we've really felt crowded are lining up at dinnertime (the line moves quickly once seating begins), some photo opportunities (primarily formal night and the Princess autograph session), and the deck parties (Sail Away and Pirate night). There is so much to do that the crowds spread out nicely most of the time.
I agree that the only time we felt "crowded" was at the Sailaway Party and Pirate Party (on deck). However, if you walked down to the other end of the deck, it was deserted so there was always a quick getaway
The only time I ever felt crowed was at the mandatorty safety drill at the beginning off the cruise. Something about a ton of people crammed in a small space wearing life jackets was no fun. But obviously it is something that must be done. Have a great time!
The only time I ever felt crowded on the ship was being at the very end of the very long pin line on the 1st westbound Pananma Canal trip. Line started at the bow and ended in Parrots Cay.
Walter
The only time I remember thinking "all these people are on this ship!?" was for the shows in the theater (and that wasn't even 1/2 the people) and while strolling by the family beach on Castaway Cay. Oh yeah, and I agree with Nicole, the safety drill stinks...but of course bearable because it is necessary. :-)
We're booked on the Freedom of the Seas for spring break next year. I'll let you know what crowded is like. HOWEVER, I've sent clients on that cruise and it's almost always "full ship" and nobody has complained. And if they aren't going to complain about that ship ...
We have cruised twice is Feb and once during Spring Break. The ship almost always sails with most cabins occupied. But occupied and "full" are very different. My observations:
The children on the Spring Break cruise are everywhere and under foot. In Feb, the club/lab look "full" and the Mickey pool is crowded but there are not groups of kids in other parts of the ship.
Spring Break cruises have more people at the shows. Try to see it during the day if they have a matinee showing.
I expected more kids during spring break but I didn't expect them to be as unruly. I guess with the Feb cruise there were more pre-schoolers and the Spring Break cruise had more older kids.
If you visit the adult only areas, I think it will be a great time and you won't notice all of the kids.
There are spots on the ship where it can feel very crowded: the kids' pool area, photos in the atrium around dinner times; waiting to get off the ship at Castaway Cay... but they don't last long and you can avoid them. The ship is large and we've sailed many times when it was full and it really doesn't feel overwhelmingly crowded.
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The ship seemed quite crowded to me when we went last December (20 - 24th), especially at the Mickey pool. That place was 'kid soup'! Everywhere there were people from the crowd at Shutters to those lining up for character meet & greets. Maybe because this was last 3-night cruise before Xmas but the only time I felt 'alone' on the ship was when we pulled into port at Nassau.
__________________
Trish (AKA Mum to 'Princess Avery')
Hittin' WDW since Space Mountain was 'Coming Soon'
We have been on 3 DCL cruises -- 10/03, 5/06, and 5/07. 10/03 -- it did not feel crowded at all. We barely even saw any kiddos -- just at the Mickey pool. As for 5/06 and 5/07 -- very crowded, lots of kiddos, and lots of peeps in general. Even the adult pool was FULL. IMHO, there were teens there, too, (at the adult pool) that were not 18+ ... which kinda annoyed me. But anywho...
With that said, did we have a great time? Yep. Even with crowds, you can still have a blast.
Happy cruising!
Certainly at times that people congregate -- ie meals, shows, parties, the crown is more noticeable. For instance, there can be a decent line at the buffet at peak lunch time. In general, though, we were treated like honored guests, not cattle, throughout.
P.S. -- Make sure you book activities that require a ticket as early as possible. These events did not feel crowded -- because they were full/sold out at times!!!!
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Feeling crowded
Everywhere there were people from the crowd at Shutters to those lining up for character meet & greets. Maybe because this was last 3-night cruise before Xmas but the only time I felt 'alone' on the ship was when we pulled into port at Nassau.
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