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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are planning a trip to DC in July (I know hot hot hot) But my dd won a state poster contest and the national contest is in July. It is a partially paid trip but we decided to make a vacation out of it and plan on staying longer than the competion pays for.
I just need some advice. It has been close to 12 years since I've been to DC and that was only a quick trip. Do any of you wonderful people have any advice for me? We are flying, and plan on staying in Washington at least part of the time at the Hyatt Regency (this part is paid for 1 or 2 days we aren't sure yet). My dd10 will be with us this time and I want a big portion of our trip to be kid friendly. Any advice, secrets, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
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How long will you be there? The new capitol Visitor;s Center is very impressive. The tours are very interesting. The Smithsonian Museums are a must see, as are the monuments / memorials on the mall. The Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials still give me goosebumps
We are probably going to be there a 5-7 days, not real sure yet.
My dd likes hands on activities. We plan on visiting the monuments and parts of the Smithsonian, probably the zoo, Mt Vernon, and maybe the Baltimore Aquarium. I don't want to bore her too much with the historical things, but I really want to include them in our trip because I think we all need to appreciate our history. I know with the contest she is going to get to meet some of our state representatives and hopefully some others. I guess I really need to know tips and tricks on touring effectively and not just wondering in circles. I'm trying to get a game plan together. I want to make the most of our trip by being where we need to be without having to backtrack all over the place. I'm an over planner I suppose. Is it best to eat in the museums, etc for lunch? and where are some of the kid friendly resturants? We really want to tour the White House but there are only 3 of us going I have heard that you have to have a group of 10 and that you need to contact the St Rep. to get them, is there any advice on this issue?
Thanks for the quick responses.
I will plan on visiting the Websites that emtpej suggested. Thank you.
With some exceptions, mostly the museums are a real quality vs. convenience trade-off. I think if your youngest is a sharp 10 year old, then you might enough the International Spy Museum and the Newseum, in addition to the Smithsonians. Both are paid and probably require a lot of reading.
Some of the 'newer' attractions are the just re-opened American History museum (might be worth most of a day) and like jimmymac said, the brand-new Capitol Visitor's Center. There may be some hands-on activities at the American Folklife Festival, which may be open during your stay. I would work on the hotel reservations ASAP, that is usually a busy time, I think.
I would put the National Archives on the must-see list -- but go EARLY in the day. You might also consider getting tickets to the Washington Monument in advance.
If you are staying at the Hyatt that I am thinking of, then you have a lot going for you. It is close to the subway, hop-on-hop-off tourist busses go past there often, and there are usually plenty of cabs -- don't be afraid to take one as parking is horrible, pretty much everywhere...
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I think overall DC is a very kid friendly place, We have family nearby so my kids spent lots of time visiting the various Smithsonian museums. Like all kids their favorites were the Air and Space, Natural History and American History. They also always took a trip to the zoo.
Many of the Smithsonian Museums are on the mall, so if you decide you need to leave one, you can just walk to another. They are all free, so nothing is lost. My kids often enjoyed going to some of the less popular museums as a break from the crowds.
I would try to do most of my touring during the week, when the crowds are less.
We often ate in the museum cafeterias. They have your standard fare and I always thought they were reasonably priced. If you have a car and your child is fussy, it's a quick ride to Bethesda, where you can find all you chains.
I also think you should understand that you will not do it all in a week. I think many of the museums are worth a full day. If you go to Baltimore (close to an hour drive) you are probably also going to spend a full day.
I think the National History and Air & Space Museums would be great for all ages. I could spend days in just those 2!
I also read something recently about something being on display now at the Natural History museum that sounded interesting to me, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it is!
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We took the kids on a day trip to Mount Vernon last spring and they loved it. They were 10, 7, and 3 at the time. It was a neat walk through history and to know that you are walking the same paths and halls that George Washington walked through was amazing. Check out National Treasure 2 before you go. DS7 was amazed that this was really from the movie! Also, as a preteen, I remember taking a dinner cruise down the Potomac. It was dinner and site seeing. I can remember the view of the monuments all lit up. It was a great way to see the city without the crowds. I really wish I could remember the name of the company we used, but it's long gone from my memory.
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Our favourite by far in Washington is the Air and Space Museum. We also love touring all the various monuments and have taken a night-time tour in the past, which was wonderful.
You have gotten so much great advice!! Our DD's are 13 and 7 and honestly could go to DC every weekend. They love just walking around and going to the museums etc... Since you have not been in a while I honestly would do the Tourmobile hop on and off bus ( begins at Union Station) the first day to see Arlington and the other memorials/monuments. It lessens the walking considerably and after you see them you can then concetrate on one museum as you last stop for the day. Since you will be staying in DC you do not have to end your tourmobile trip back at Union Station you can end it wherever you want! We take this tour whenever we have family visit that has never been to DC. It is a great way to get most of it in without the hiking LOL Here's the link http://www.tourmobile.com/
For food we LOVE The Stars and Stripes Cafe at American History and the Cascade Cafe at National Art Gallery. Our favs in DC ( and surrounding) are: American History: We had not been since the renovation ( moved here in 2007) so when it was completed we made the trek in January and ended up going back 2 weeks later! We still have not seen it all, But we are pretty laid back types and do not rush. LOL Natural History Archives Lincoln Memorial FDR ( lots of shade opportunities here to cool off ) WWII Ft. Washington this is a little drive south of the city, BUT they have latern tours of the casemates ( our kids LOVED this0 and the view of the DC skyline at night from here is AWESOME! It is in the middle of a park , great for a picnic! HAPPY PLANNING!
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) But my dd won a state poster contest and the national contest is in July. It is a partially paid trip but we decided to make a vacation out of it and plan on staying longer than the competion pays for.
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. Is it best to eat in the museums, etc for lunch? and where are some of the kid friendly resturants? We really want to tour the White House but there are only 3 of us going I have heard that you have to have a group of 10 and that you need to contact the St Rep. to get them, is there any advice on this issue?
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