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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I don't know if the hurricanes are affecting the parts of the caribbean that disney sails through, but if they are, does anyone know if any recent cruises have been canceled, delayed, or ended early. I know one of the ships is in Europe, but i wanted to know about the other.
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The Magic is in Europe and the Wonder goes to the Bahamas and castaway cay. I haven't heard of the ships being affected by this storm but i'm sure other cruise lines are having to modify their itineraries.
The best thing to do is check with DCL directly if you have a trip booked and are unsure of the status. or check with your TA.
Welcome to the boards!
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Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust! Studying Hard to Make a Difference!
Hurricane Dean tracked farther south than original forecasts indicated. So that's good for western Caribbean itineraries. But remember that hurricane season runs all the way through November. Anything can happen.
Certainly follow Amy's advice and call DCL if you have concerns about your cruise. Just know that no cruise ship captain will knowingly sail into dangerous situations. Ports may have to be replaced or just skipped ... but the master of the vessel will do everything humanly possible to keep everyone safe.
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Has anyone been on a Disney Cruise that was diverted from a port or cancelled due to bad weather? I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences....
Yes, we had to dodge a Pacific tropical storm on the eastbound Panama Canal repo. We had to skip Cabo, the ship did some high-speed dashing about to dodge the storm (although the seas were quite high for about 18 hours), and we visited Manzanillo as a replacement. With no time to come up with shore excursions, most folks stayed on the boat.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
It appears that Dean did a severe number on Costa Maya. I don't have all the details, but it seems that over half of the pier is missing and that much of shopping mall/pool area was seriously damaged. As far as I know, there were no significant injuries, thank goodness.
I've been on TWO Disney cruises that have been rerouted due to hurricanes. The first was in 2004, we were set to go on the Western 7 night...but because of all the hurricane action that year we were on the verge of having the WHOLE thing cancled...or so it seemed. It was BAD. We didn't know if we'd set sail...or even from where. At the time Port Canaveral was CLOSED. The huricanes brought up so much sand that the ships couldn't even get in. But we all know Disney...they worked hard and had the channel druged out so the ship could get into the port (YEA). Anyways..because of more hurricanes going through the Western Carbbeen we were rerouted to a modifyed Eastern (sorta)...we ended up going to San Juan Putero Rico, Nassau and Castaway. Disney TOTALLY took care of us the whole week. This was our first cruise ever...and we were HOOKED...even with the change in plans.
The following year (2005) we again booked the Western 7 night with Disney...and once again we were rerouted because of hurricanes. We ended up doing an Eastern (St. Thomas, St Martian and Castaway) But again...Disney took care of us....enough so that were setting sail again in a few weeks. Again....we've picked the Western 7 night (knock on wood).
Anyways...if a hurricane happens to be brewing or blowing while your on your cruise DCL will do what they have to to go around it....even if it means rerouting. They track the stormes and decide hour by hour at times as to what they'll do. Their top concern is the saftey of the ship and everyone on it.
In 2005 we were scheduled for Cozumel & Grand Cayman. Wilma took Cozumel out of commission & we knew ahead of time that we'd go to Costa Maya instead.
The morning we were to go to Grand Cayman, the weather was awful & around 6am an announcement was made that we couldn't stop there, so it became an at-sea day. DCL put out new Navigators within 40 minutes & provided a ship full of activities.
So, you may not get what you originally signed up for, but they will steer clear of any storms & you're guaranteed to have a good time either way. Even with the snags, we LOVED our cruise!
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
Cindy, you mention that they had Navigators out very quickly. I was told by one of my CDs that the ships have plans for each day in case the ship misses that port (which happens quite a bit at Grand Cayman) or for severe weather on sea days (can't do the belly flop contest when a 40 knot wind is blowing rain across the deck, they might not hit the pool). The ship's paper is pretty much laid out months in advance, with only minor changes (carry over bingo jackpot, winners of the slots tournament, sunrise/sunset, etc).
That makes sense. I figured they have a contingency at-sea day ready to go at a moment's notice. It was also a nice chance to catch some onboard activities we otherwise would have missed.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
We were on the 2005 DVC Member Cruise. The cruise went to Key West, and Castaway Cay. Weather in Key West was beautiful. Castaway Cay had nice weather but the seas were really churned up. When we got back on the ship we found out that due to Hurricane Ophelia being in the path of Port Canaveral we couldn't dock back there. Instead we disembarked in Ft. Lauderdale. DCL was great and even bussed all their porters down to Ft. Lauderdale. They gave out stickers that morning so that people could leave based on when they needed to. The first ones to leave were those who had flights that morning and DCL was great about letting people use the phones at guest services to change their flights.
Our car was back at Port Canaveral so we were put on a bus going there. Others who were going to the different WDW resorts had separate busses going straight there. When we got on the bus there was a snack pack waiting including a bottled water. We made one rest area stop and the entire trip took about 3 hours. We didn't have a DCL bus but there were many of them there. Our bus didn't play any videos but we had a nice driver with good taste in music.
Bottom line DCL will do what is in the best interest of everyone and will take care of you.
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