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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
We are headed to WDW June 3-8 next year! We just booked Bay Lake Towers and I am too excited! Far too excited because there is nothing to plan now until ADR's in December! So i am obsessing about which park to go to. We are going to have 4 day park hoppers because we are getting the military salute tickets and that is the only option. We will be driving in Monday...it is 11 hours from home so with a 4 and 6 yr old we are thinking about stopping in tampa then driving in monday...so hit the park around 11? We are early risers. We do 7 am Saturday morning pancakes. We get three full days so which park should we shorten for the first day? We skipped Epcot 2 years ago, but I'd like to go this time....
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
AK is a good park to do for a partial day and the other option would be HS. Being so close to MK, it would be hard for me not to do a part of everyday there.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I agree with the others, AK would be a good park for just a few hours. You will spend a day easy at Epcot and being right at the MK you could go in and out all day. We are doing a shorter day at HS next month. We have been before but DD(4) wants to hit TSM,Ariel,Disney Junior,Beauty and the Beast and Indiana Jones. I hope we can get in early and be done by 12 happy planning !!!
We really love AK and spend lots of time looking at the animals so I would suggest a partial day at DHS since there isn't as much for little ones there.
I think DHS is good for a full day with kids. There are lots of character greetings they would probably enjoy, as well as several kid-friendly rides/attractions including the Pixar parade. AK is wonderful, but we get awfully hot there for a full day, and with little ones I think the sheer size of AK is an issue. We always visit it to see the two amazing shows and several rides that we love, and then we might wander through one of the animal trails.
I suppose if we're voting, mine would be to do a partial day at AK.
We have never spent more than half a day in AK even when our kids were young. We hit the Safari early then a few more things and usually on the way out around lunch time.
My kiddos love AK, and if we had to pick a 1/2 day park, it woul probably be DHS. Guess you just have to decide what your kiddos would enjoy more...animals, and shows like Nemo and FOTLK, etc or TOT, R&R, beauty and Beast, Star tours, etc. it's a hard choice, but it would between AK and DHS and I think DHS would have to be our 1/2 day park. Good luck choosing!
When we do a short trip, we always shorten AK as we can see most of what we want in 1/2 the day. We then head to the park of choice for the afternoon. We have found MK and Epcot to be our favorites.
Thanks guys! I'll ponder your suggestions. Our trip will be mostly kiddy rides because my 3 turning 4 year old daredevil is currently only 36 inches. She would totally do a roller coaster. My son is plenty tall enough but would never try it...and my husband is scared of heights! They loved HS last go around, but my parents took them to AK so i have never been. Getting there before lunch, if the crowd isn't too bad we can still do a lot! I'm tempted to go a spare day to MK, but i know I'd have to skip a park again.
Look at the hours that the parks close. AK sometimes closes at 7 pm while the studios stay open until 9 or 11 pm depending on various factors and EMH. You could easily get 2 or more hours at the Studio on that short day. There is less walking at the Studios as well. You have to walk to Tower of Terror but can rest at the shows along the way back. You meander through the back streets and stop at the stunt show and muppets for a rest. My scooter runs out of steam a lot faster at AK because of the hills and rutted roads. There are more air conditioned places at the Studios as well in the afternoon. I prefer doing the AK early on in the morning in the cool of the day.
AK has more for the kids in the way of the conservation center, petting zoo, animals, and shows. The tram ride and the Safari ride are the only rides the kids would be on so I would go with the safari ride. I would do Studios on the short day as they are open later and most stuff can be done later in the night like Toy Story Mania, Great Movie Ride, and shows.
__________________
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Oh 11 hours sounds heavenly and personally I would do it in one day but then again our drive is 23
I would cut short the park that does not require rope drop. For us that would be AK. For us it is our slow day. We eat and drink and look at the animals and watch some shows and let the kids go nuts in the boneyard.
It is so great that people will be there when we are! What do you do 9 months out to satisfy the planning craving?
I'm thinking either Epcot or AK. Hollywood Studios was my kids favorite after MK...maybe before because it has the Disney Jr and Pixar stuff and that is what they know best. If we do Epcot we can explore and eat a nice dinner. If we do AK we can go to MK for fireworks after AK closes.
11 hours isn't so bad. We went to Santa Fe to see the in-laws this summer (14 hrs) and did one 9 hour day. My daughter starts complaining at hour 2 her stomach hurts (seatbelt) and she needs to stop and "pee in the grass"...her favorite part about west Texas roadtrips is no bathrooms. My patience tops out around 9 hours and we need to have playground stops to reduce the tears (mine and hers). .
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
happy planning !!!
Linear Mode
