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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wow! It's possible they're already adding discounts for a large chunk of next year Not too happy to hear about the summer blackouts.....not surprised either though. I'll still cross my fingers
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Offsite May 2005, POR September 2006, POR August 2007, POFQ December 2008, POR February 2010,
Pop Century April 2011,
Oh I was hoping the Free Dining next summer would be like this summer. My DD is graduating in June and taking a trip with 5 friends and the Free Dining would be a huge help for them.
It will be very interesting to see when all these speculated discounts actually turn into factual and true discounts..I already am looking at taking a trip next year and the free dining would really excite me..but as with the way it has always been with Disney..only time will tell
It's about time Disney started doing discounts a bit earlier for the American market. Over here, in the UK, we've had our details of the free dining dates for 2011 for some months now.... and usually that then gets extended to America, but not until the following spring, so it's nice to see them speeding the process up a bit.
It's about time Disney started doing discounts a bit earlier for the American market. Over here, in the UK, we've had our details of the free dining dates for 2011 for some months now.... and usually that then gets extended to America, but not until the following spring, so it's nice to see them speeding the process up a bit.
Agreed, and I'm not unhappy about it...goodness knows that I'd appreciate some of the sting getting taken out of the price of our trip next year. (It means I'll have more money to spend in the parks...the Star Tours / Star Wars gift shop will never know what hit them!) I did the math last night (because I'm a dork and I had nothing else to do on a Friday night). A 9 day stay can save over $800 for two people...that's a very significant amount!
I've seen a lot of Stateside folks complain, "Why do people OUTSIDE the US get to know about their discounts earlier than we do?" I think many people in the US don't understand all the things which go into international travel. I have been to Europe several times, and I know traveling that far requires a different planning process. In the States, the country is so large that you can travel DAYS and still stay within our borders, not having to worry about Visas, or language barriers, or international laws.For example, Living near Washington DC, I could travel 25 hours by car in almost any direction and still stay within the border of our country. Ok...I can't go east because the Atlantic Ocean is 15 minutes from my house and I don't own a submarine. But all other directions, it's the same. In Europe, traveling from country to country can take a matter of hours.
I think it's important to remember that the lucky people in England/Europe (lucky, I say...because the UK is a place I would love to visit!) are less apt to make a spur of the moment trip. I would think a trip across the Atlantic is less a "OMG we're going to Disney next month!", than a "We're planning a trip to Disney in 18-24 months." There's passports, additional packing, and customs to consider - not to mention the anxiety of being 6000 miles from home. I can see why Disney provides UK/Australia/Europe their discounts earlier.
With that being said, as someone with only a 2 hour flight to Florida...bring on the discounts!