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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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've been looking for this info everyhere I could think of and honestly cannot find it. Has Disney anounced any plans on returning to the Med/Europe within the next few years? I'd love to go in 2010. Or will they be waiting for their new ships (2011)?
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To clarify, when Disney promised to "base" their new ships in Port Canaveral for 2011/2012, I really don't think that means they can't reposition the ships a couple of months for special itineraries. The real issue was whether Disney would permanently home port the ships elsewhere (like Tampa, where DCL management made an uncharacteristically public visit to "consider" placing their ships there). Since Disney wanted Port Canaveral to pay for an expansion of the terminal and parking facilities, the Port Canaveral authorities needed some assurance that it'd be worth their while. Retaining Port Canaveral as the regular home base is certainly enough to save face. If they insisted that they could only sail from Port Canaveral during that time, it probably would have been a deal breaker with Disney.
Port Canaveral will almost undoubtedly be losing one of the DCL ships to California. Since the Panama Canal expansion won't be completed before the end of 2012, Disney could safely promise the new ships would stay in Port Canaveral during that time. California will initially get the Magic or Wonder. Once the canal is finished, though... if West Coast demand grows high enough, I wouldn't be surpised to see one of the new ships moved there in 2013, 2014, or sometime after that.
I think DCL isn't likely to return to the Mediterranean soon, at least until (or unless) the exchange rate between the dollar and euro improves (for Americans). With the cost of airfare between the US and Europe as high as it is, DCL has to be reasonably confident that it can fill any European-based ship with Europeans, because too few US citizens are likely to go. And with the new ships half again as large as the Magic and Wonder, they have to be doubly-confident about European-based demand.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Ok, thanks Lynn. I didn't know if there was really no information out there or if I was just missing something. I'm crossing my fingers that they do another Med run- I'm not interested in Hawaii (live here). I would do an Alaska cruise in a heartbeat though.
I can see the point about the exchange rate - and trust me, I don't want that to change any time soon - but I wouldn't be surprised to see another Med cruise summer itinerary in the future sometime. The opening of the DCL London office is an interesting move and we were hearing very positive things about future Med cruises from Disney executives when we did the Med cruise last year. I could see them doing something similar, as it's limited number of cruises to fill. I hope so, as I'd love to do it again.
Wow- thanks for the additional details Dave and Cheryl. I'll just keep waiting to hear more from here and Disney I guess. I certainly hope they go back- we're going to Spain in 2010 whether they do or not though!
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I loved Minnie's Alaska outfit!
Last edited by ecuagoddess; 05-01-2008 at 03:56 PM..
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I've heard that the US based cruise lines have been having a hard time filling their Med cruises with Europeans. Europeans and Americans have two totally different styles of holiday making/vacationing (within the limits of generalities). Pulmantur has had good success selling to Europe, as has MSC. Costa has, to a lesser extent. But CCL, RCI, Celebrity, Princess and HAL have all had trouble. I guess this is because they are perceived as being "American" and not "suitable" for European consumption (???) Of course, this is exactly what happened to EuroDisneyland when it first opened. And Disney imposing its standards of attire and attitude to a workforce used to something different.
My main concern is that what looked like a good deal last year was because it was priced in 2006. This year doesn't look nearly as good for Americans. And the price will be essentially the same for Europeans because it's all priced in euros to begin with. In fact, the euro and pound are so bleedin' strong that it's almost cheaper to fly into Miami and cruise the Caribbean. If not for that obscene airfare.
I honestly don't see DCL going back to the Med any time soon. But I also said that OWRS and IRL wouldn't merge and that Ferrari would collapse after Schumacher retired.
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- but I wouldn't be surprised to see another Med cruise summer itinerary in the future sometime. The opening of the DCL London office is an interesting move and we were hearing very positive things about future Med cruises from Disney executives when we did the Med cruise last year. I could see them doing something similar, as it's limited number of cruises to fill. I hope so, as I'd love to do it again. 
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