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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hey everybody! O.k. so I am going on my first ever Disney Cruise and first cruise EVER on 9/6/07.....I am looking forward to it but am starting to get a little nervous. My DD is 7 and I am starting to get paranoid about how safe she will be in the kid club. I know I am being a freak but is there any chance she can go overboard? I just need a little feedback and reassurance. I know, I know, I am a total weirdo!!!!
We always felt our kids were very safe For that age, most of the activities are inside the Club, or the Lab right across. DD's group did go up to the courts on Deck 10 once, but they are in the middle of the ship and not near the guardrails. I'm sure you're DD will be fine. I haven't heard of a child going overboard yet
Very safe, but I understand your concerns because I had them, too. My kids were 7 and 11 when we cruised DCL the first time. My 11 year old was old enough to check himself in and out of the clubs without us. Talk about paranoid mom!!!!!
My kids loved the clubs and didn't want to leave. They do a great job in the clubs, so relax and enjoy!
It's perfectly natural to be concerned about the safety of your child. The Disney ships are very carefully designed to maximize safety. There is plastic sheeting around nearly every "open" deck, so it would really take effort for someone to fall out. Also, as Marnie said, the kids' activities do not take the kids near the edges of the ship anyhow. On Castaway Cay, the kids' programming area is well inland away from the ocean.
When kids move to and from the Oceaneer's Club, they usually use a special passageway accessible only by the programming staff. They are counted before and after any change in location. Parents are not allowed to sign kids in and out during "transition" times to make sure counts are accurate.
When you do sign a child out, you need to present a room key that matches the room number on your child's wristband. (There may be a way to authorize others to pick your child up, but we haven't used it.) You will also need to give the password you chose at initial registration.
We felt completely safe with our kids in the kids' programming on the cruise. Enjoy!
We just got back from you first DCL. I have a 8 and 6 yo. The kids stuff was great. They are very careful about check in and out. Just an FYI, If you do want to get the kids out at a certian time, make sure you check the paper for the times that they are in transition, because once they get the count and start moving, you cannot get them until they reach their destination and have been counted and checked in. The CM always have a laptop with them, that has the info in it needed to check kids in/out, but they need time to get set up and make sure everyone is there, before they can start the process. I got caught a couple of times, where I didn't make it to the Lab before transition started and had to go to the destination and wait. Just as anything in Disney, if they say transition is from 12:10 to 12:20 you can depend on it starting at exactly that time.
We don't have any kids (except for out two Corgis), but I would say that a Disney cruise ship is probably one of the safest places for kids to be. When they're in the clubs, the counselors are very attentive and it's almost impossible for someone to escape.
As far as the fear of falling overboard, it's realistic to have fears of the unknown. But to "fall" overboard takes some real effort. The railings are above waist level for adults, so a kid isn't going to just lean over and fall. They're designed to make climbing difficult. Despite all the press you see, people just don't "fall" overboard. Most can be lumped into two categories. Deliberate and "hold my beer and watch this".
Yes, worry. That's a parent's right. But relax. You're real concern should be getting them off the ship at the end of the cruise.
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This has been a very informative thread. My question in this topic is around parent access into the club. Would there be parents in the clubs during activities? I'm very confident in the background checks and professionalism of the staff - its the unknown "adults" that could be in the room I'm concerned about. It's sad that in this day and age one has to worry about this but just need to know.
Parents are allowed to be in to observe their child. In our experience, everything is all out in the open. I can't envision someone being "up to something" without being conspicuous. The level of supervision was awesome. You can never be TOTALLY sure that your kids are safe -- even at school -- but I was as comfortable as could be with the arrangements.
This has been a very informative thread. My question in this topic is around parent access into the club. Would there be parents in the clubs during activities? I'm very confident in the background checks and professionalism of the staff - its the unknown "adults" that could be in the room I'm concerned about. It's sad that in this day and age one has to worry about this but just need to know.
I do not see this as a problem. The counselors did not let anyone in without propper identification as a parent of a child in the room at the time. Anytime we visited they checked to make sure one of our children was present. The room is also very open and not overly big. I also remember there being at least 3 to 4 counselors in the room at a time.
In essence I would not worry about my children while they are checked into the program.
One of the "trump cards" of cruising is that it's a closed community. Any "bad actors" have noplace to go as long as a ship isn't in port, and everyone on board has had his/her identity checked and documented. Altogether, that makes any kind of illegal/improper behavior that much more risky to the perpetrator. While that alone isn't enough to ensure 100% safety, it certainly reduces the chances of something of this sort happening by a dramatic margin.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Don't worry, kids are very, very safe. There is always a crew member in sight (well, except in your cabin). Ususally the kids will never want to leave the kids club and the kids club is probobly more safe than school and many other places.
I am a child care and day camp administrator by trade - and asked lots of questions and did research before leaving li'l 'ohana in the club in February. The Disney clubs go WAY BEYOND any licensing or accreditation standards and provide exemplary risk management procedures. The kids are well supervised and safe, and measures are in place to ensure their safety, as well as the sanity of parents and crew members. If you have any specific questions - feel free to drop me a pm!
also wanted to add/agree that the clubs are far more risk 'aware' and I felt the kiddos were at least as safe at school (if not more due to smaller ratios and limited access)
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For that age, most of the activities are inside the Club, or the Lab right across. DD's group did go up to the courts on Deck 10 once, but they are in the middle of the ship and not near the guardrails. I'm sure you're DD will be fine. I haven't heard of a child going overboard yet 
Michelle
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