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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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hi
I am currently planning a trip for january 2013 but noticed we would be there during marathon weekend which is scheduled for january 10-13 2013. I was hoping January would be a good time to go due to lower crowds. How much larger should i expect the crowds to be due to the marathon. Also are crowds heavy on Martin Luther King day? Im still in the planning stage so i would appreciate any help you could give me.
thanks!
Marathon weekend (Friday - Monday) will bring higher than usual crowds for that time of year, but it will still be very manageable and won't come anywhere close to the summertime crowds, for example.
When DH ran the Goofy Challenge in 2006, we asked the concierge at WL about the impact of the marathon on crowd levels. He told us that the hotel was around 80% or maybe 85% occupancy for the weekend and to check back with him on Tuesday (many people stay through Monday since the full marathon is on Sunday). We asked again on Tuesday and he said the hotel was around 40% occupancy.
If you're truly concerned about the impact of crowds, then you'll likely want to avoid Epcot on Saturday and Sunday, as both the half- and full marathons start and finish there. The half-marathon on Saturday should be over by the time the park day gets into full swing, so it shouldn't cause too big of a disruption. But I don't know how many people decide to hang out at Epcot immediately afterward.
We also have found crowds during marathon weekend to be very manageable. The folks coming in for the races aren't in the parks during their whole trip so while there are more people than a usual January, they aren't in the parks the whole time. We love marathon weekend and all of the fesitivites. If you do end up booking that weekend, they have a family 5k that I've heard wonderful things about.
I've heard Martin Luther King weekend is very busy (locals I think is what I've heard) and I'd opt for marathon weekend over that.
You're biggest inconvenience is going to be in bus transportation and/or driving throughout WDW on that Saturday morning, and especially on Sunday. As mentioned, the Half on Saturday should be all said and done by 10am, at Epcot. FWIW, the Half also goes through MK, but usually the last runners are through shortly after the park opens at 9.
But Sunday is the Full, and Disney allows 7 hours for runners to finish, with the last people to cross the start line around.... say about.... 6:20 ish AM. So, you figure Sunday should be all said and done by 1pm, again at Epcot. However, the Full runs through all 4 parks. Most people should be out of MK by roughly 9:30 am at the latest, but you will encounter runners at the other 3 parks, even if you're there before park openings!
Just allow for extra driving time (via your own car, or Disney bus) to get wherever you are headed. And allow for extra time walking within the parks too as they have areas roped off for the runners. Meaning - parkgoers must wait at certain areas to "cross the path" so they don't get in the way of the runners.
If you find yourself waiting for runners (and you will), please clap and cheer and call out their names on their bibs for encouragement!! Believe me, we need all the help we can get at that point in the Full! For us, AK starts about mile 16, and we still have 10 more to go through DHS and Epcot!!
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Believe me, we need all the help we can get at that point in the Full! For us, AK starts about mile 16, and we still have 10 more to go through DHS and Epcot!! 
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