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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Have you ever been to WDW for Thanksgiving week, Christmas or New Years? IF so, which is the best time? Do they have Christmas decorations up in NOvember? How are the crowds? I was thinking of planning our next trip during the holiday season but I don't want the heavy crowds. (BTW, we are supposed to be going for our one big family trip in a few weeks...supposed to be our one and only...but I am so hooked just on the planning of the trip - I can't imagine not going again!!!)
Any suggestions?
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"Disneyland has that thing - the imagination and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid."
--Walt Disney
I went the week of Thanksgiving in 2005 and there were decorations up. Gorgeous poinsettias everywhere and tall Christmas trees and decorations..ahhh I loved it! It wasn't too crowded or warm! But we didn't go to the parks on Thanksgiving so I'm not sure how they are on those days but the week of wasn't bad at all. Happy Planning!
We went during Christmas week of 2004. Surprisingly, it really wasn't all that crowded & we did go to the parks on Christmas day. I know a lot of people say it gets busy during this time but we didn't experience it that year.
The Christmas decorations begin going up around WDW property starting November 1st. They tend to do a single resort or park or shopping venue all in one night -- you leave the MK one evening and it's decorated for the fall and you come back the next morning and everything is Christmas!
They try to have all holiday decorations up by the week before the Thanksgiving week and they stay up through a day or two past New Years Day. (Again, they come down quickly and a single park will be transformed overnight.)
Eileen
We went the first week in December last year and I know it to be "least crowded" time of the year, however, we were very worried making our ADR's and booking hotel because they seemed very busy (as a matter of fact, we had to pay for a pool view room because all standards were booked at the Wilderness. Then I remembered reading that Disney Resorts hold only a fraction of theme park attendees. When we arrived, it didn't seem too crowded at all. We didn't even have to use fastpasses for anything (except Soarin')
we are planning a trip for next dec we will be their from dec 27 to jan 10th how crouded do you think it will be.
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Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
I think it will be nice Jan. 4th through the 10th. However, I would take advantage of EMH's during the previous week. I think it's pretty crowded that week after Christmas. Take advantage of all the "Overlooked" things at the resorts and Downtown Disney that week.
I am thinking that everything should be up by Thanksgiving because when I called to book our Thanksgiving 2009 package she said that the lights will be up by then because they started offering earlier dates on their Mickey's Very Merry Christmas parties. I am excited about that and hoping they also have those early dates for when we will be there next year.
We've been over Christmas week and into New Year and have always found the parks to be really crowded. We've been in Disney up to the Monday before Thanksgiving and from the Tuesday afterwards and found the crowds to be a lot lower, so if you can do a whole week, I'd go for Thanksgiving, as the crowds do die off pretty soon afterwards. All the Christmas decorations are up by then.
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