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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DH won a 4-night cruise to Cozumel on RCCL's Radiance of the Seas! We sail out of Tampa with Cozumel as the only port and two full at sea days. We are part of a big group cruising with some country music stars including Darryl Worley and Jimmy Wayne.
If anyone has cruised this ship before I'd love to hear your opinions. Also, if you have any great ideas of shore excursions in Cozumel I'd love to hear them.
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My Happy Place
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"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." ~ Walt Disney
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Congrats! We swam with dolphins at Dolphinaris in Cozumel and absolutely loved it! It was the highlight of our cruise and even though it was expensive, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
Congrats! We swam with dolphins at Dolphinaris in Cozumel and absolutely loved it! It was the highlight of our cruise and even though it was expensive, I'd do it again in a heartbeat!
A dolphin experience is something we are very interested in doing. I know there's a couple places in Cozumel that have similar programs, why did you choose Dolphinaris? And what did your experience include?
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My Happy Place
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"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." ~ Walt Disney
We went with Dolphinaris because it's what Disney offered as an excursion. I have only good things to say about the place! It looked brand-new, everything was clean, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful, and our dolphin swim was fantastic! It's right by the ocean, and the "tanks" where the dolphins are are actually areas with sea water that look totally natural.
When we got to Dolphinaris, we got a briefing, were equipped with life vests to wear in the water, and then we were split up in groups of - I think - no more than 10 people. I think there were 7 people in our group (but I don't remember 100%). When we entered the water, we first stood on a submerged platform. We had 3 dolphins swim with us. First they swam by us, "dancing" and stuff. In the deep water, each of us got to get a kiss from a dolphin, got to dance with one, and also catch a 10 sec. ride on a dolphin's fins. Lastly, we had about 15-20 min. or so where we were in the deep water and the dolphins swam around us. They swam close to us so we could pet them. I think we were in the water about 45 min. total.
There were photographers taking pictures while we were in the water that you can buy afterwards. If you have a member in your party who doesn't want to swim with the dolphins, they can take pictures from a viewing area.
Like I said, it was a GREAT experience and I didn't have any complaints whatsoever. Our dolphin trainer was a sweet young lady who spoke excellent English and seemed to really like her job. Also, the dolphins seemed well taken care of (which I think is very important).
Congratulations!! We sailed to Cozumel in July with Royal Caribbean and we loved everything about our trip. We weren't on the Radiance but I would love to sail on that one, it sounds beautiful! We did a dolphin excursion at Chankanaab Park and it sounds very much the same as the one at Dolphinaris we also loved our excursion and highly recommend it. We booked the Dolphin Push, Pull, Swim Excurson through Royal Caribbean.
I'm anxious to hear about your trip and what you think about the Radiance!