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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How do you prefer to get to Disney? We are taking our kids on their first trip to WDW in Sept. We originally thought we would rent a car and drive down. I really want to go the cheapest way possible.
So, what have been your experiences? We are driving from North Carolina, and our driving time would be about 8 hours (excluding any stops). Anyone ever taking the train? How to you get to WDW from the train station?
TIA for your help!
__________________
Michelle - Wife of one AWESOME hubby and
Mom of Three GREAT kids!!
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we live in missouri and have flown 3 times and driven 3 times. i enjoy the drive if we aren't rushed and can generally do the drive cheaper. i think we will be driving again in december.
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My family used to drive when i was lil. We started going when i was about 16mths old and drove til i was like 5. When we started flying we just prefer to fly. I personally prefer to fly 'cause the magic starts sooner. Driving from New orleans has alot of scenary and is quite gorgeous.
We r going in sept and we r gonna fly on SWA and got a good rate on a rental from ALAMO. We have a friend that if she goes, her and her DH will drive from Ark 'cause he will nto FLY!!
If u can get a good rate on flights and a RC then go for it.
We drive from Charlotte NC and it takes about 9 to 9.5 hours with a quick stop for breakfast (we leave about 3 am to get there around lunch) and potty breaks. We enjoy the drive because we have land marks that we love to see. It's really not a bad drive at all. Much better than sitting in an airport my DH always says.
We always drive except for once when we flew down. We will never do that again. I have always driven, even as a child with my parents. I just love the road trip, visiting other cities and showing the kids different places. We even travelled in the car with the kids when they were very little and have never had problems driving.
When I was young, my parents liked to drive. They were big on road trips! Now that I have my own kids, we fly. We're lucky that DH travels a lot for work, so we can usually use FF miles. If we had plenty of time, it might be fun to drive sometime. though!
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I'm like Marnie - the 20+ hour drive is TOO long! Plus the cost of gas, and a hotel room on the way down and the way back. We have done it (lots of times, in fact) but we prefer to fly. That said - if I lived within 8-10 hours, like you do, I would probably drive.
We prefer to fly, it's about 24 hours for us and the fact that we would have to take a day out at each end of our vcation (When we usually only have 7 days) just appealing.
Its too far for us to drive - it would take up too much vacation time. But since you are so close you might want to consider driving. I would price airfare v. a rental car and see what the cost difference would be. Good luck with your decision.
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