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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My favorite European club, Ajax Amsterdam, is coming to the US to play a couple of friendlies at the end of May. One of the friendlies is against DC United at RFK Stadium. I really want to go to the game but I'm having a hard time figuring out which will be the most cost-effective way to get there.
I live about 7 hours drive from Washington, DC. I've got three options:
1) Take the train on Saturday, attend the game on Sunday, and take the train back on Monday...requires two nights in a hotel. The train ticket, two nights in hotel, plus a ticket to the game would cost about $425.
2) Use frequent flyer miles and fly down Sunday morning, attend the game Sunday evening, and fly back on Monday...requires only one night in a hotel. I would want to stay in hotel close to the airport so I don't have a lot of travel to the airport on Monday. A hotel near National Airport costs around $300 for just one night, add in the cost of a ticket to the game, and plane ticket fees costs around $400.
3) Get a rental car (to save wear and tear on my car) drive down on Saturday, attend the game on Sunday and drive back on Monday. The cost of the rental car, two nights in a hotel, ticket to the game, plus gas and tolls would cost around $425-450.
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Assuming, of course, that you're willing to take the opinion of an OSU fan
Personally, I'd go with option 1.
The frequent flyer option doesn't really save you much money; in fact it looks like it forces you into a more expensive hotel. Based on that, I'd save the miles for another use.
Driving a rental car doesn't seem to gain you anything either. You won't need the car once you're in DC (since options 1 and 2 are carless), so you'll be driving in the city ( a royal PITA IMHO) and paying to park only to take public transportation to the game.
Option 1 costs no more than the others, but seems to be the most relaxing of the options. You have the time on the train to read, do Sudoku, nap, memorize the team roster.... The essence of a vacation is paying money to do something you enjoy. So unless driving to and through DC is high on your list of favorite things to do, the train is the most leisure time for your buck.
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Carolyn
Last edited by Carousel96; 04-13-2011 at 10:21 PM..
Since they're all pretty similar in cost (give or take $25), I'd do 1 or 2. 3 sounds too exhausting!
I almost got tickets for the Ajax/DC United game for DH & DS, but got them tickets for the wuarterfinals of the Gold Cup Game (US National Team, we hope!).
The Man U/Barcelona game that's happening here went on sale but those are about $120/person, so they aren't going to that either!
Good luck deciding how to get down here to my fair city!
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If I drive, I would be staying at a hotel that is within walking distance of a metro stop outside of DC.
I would also take I-81 through Harrisburg, Scranton, and Binghamton instead taking the "more direct route" which would be I-95 to I-287 and finally I-87 which would take me through Baltimore (I-81 does as well), all of New Jersey and NYC. I-81 is much more leisurely drive. A lot less traffic.
Personally (and ok yes this is probably because I am impatient and prefer the quickest travel option), I'd fly. Could you try to look into some options that might get you a hotel discount? What about Priceline?
Enjoy the game!!!! I'm counting the minutes to the USMNT gold cup game in Tampa and then the gold cup final in L.A.!!!
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
Personally (and ok yes this is probably because I am impatient and prefer the quickest travel option), I'd fly. Could you try to look into some options that might get you a hotel discount? What about Priceline?
Enjoy the game!!!! I'm counting the minutes to the USMNT gold cup game in Tampa and then the gold cup final in L.A.!!!
Trying to talk my wife in letting me go to the Ajax game in Portland, OR instead. If I'm going to fly and fly on miles, I'm not going to waste them on a short flight to DC.
It will cost 25,000 miles to take the one hour, if that, flight from Albany, NY to DC. It will cost 40,000 miles to fly cross-country from Albany to Portland.
Trying to talk my wife in letting me go to the Ajax game in Portland, OR instead. If I'm going to fly and fly on miles, I'm not going to waste them on a short flight to DC.
It will cost 25,000 miles to take the one hour, if that, flight from Albany, NY to DC. It will cost 40,000 miles to fly cross-country from Albany to Portland.
Good plan, and you can probably find a more reasonable hotel price in Portland as well! Good luck!!
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
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and NYC. I-81 is much more leisurely drive. A lot less traffic.
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