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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We will be taking my parents for their first trip to WDW in early December. I have previously read about the campers at Fort Wilderness decorating their camp sites. I think my parents would enjoy seeing these decorations. I am trying to figure out what may be the best way to view the lights. Wondering for those who have visited the camp sites, do you recommend sleigh ride, carriage ride or renting a golf cart? Thanks for your thoughts and recommendations.
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We took the carriage ride/sleigh ride - I don't remember which one and I thought they were one and the same thing. It's a lovely relaxing way to see the site - and what people do there is just amazing.
Believe Chezp is correct carriage is redone to look more like sleigh I have seen others put posts about this and plan on doing it with my DW one night during or stay. Unless you are actually planning on staying in the Campground then renting a golf cart from Disney would be extremely expensive $65 per night.
I find that the best way to enjoy the decorations is to walk.
If your parents can't handle the walk, you might consider renting scooters for them, since there is a lot of walking in the parks, as well.
Whenever I'm at WDW in December, I make a point of walking around FW to view the lights. Some of them are truly spectacular, rivaling the Osborne Lights.
How early do people start decorating? I'm going in mid November. I know WDW is decorated by then, but I wasn't sure if the campers were in the spirit yet.
I've been to WDW as early as Nov 28 (the Wednesday after Thanksgiving) and seen plenty of decorations at FW. In mid-Nov, the decorations will probably be a bit slim, but there will certainly be some Thanksgiving-style stuff, and maybe some of the Christmas-style stuff as well. The later in Nov you go, I'm sure the more you'll see. Some of the big displays I saw last year must have taken at least a full week to set up.
[QUOTE=WillCAD;4148575]I find that the best way to enjoy the decorations is to walk.
If your parents can't handle the walk, you might consider renting scooters for them, since there is a lot of walking in the parks, as well.
Whenever I'm at WDW in December, I make a point of walking around FW to view the lights. Some of them are truly spectacular, rivaling the Osborne Lights.
Thank you Will for the information. My parents are in great shape and very active, so walking is not an issue. The reason I had thought about the golf cart was that we could take our time viewing the decorations, but sounds like walking could be the way to go. I just was not sure how spread out the campground was and if that was feasible. Maybe we will do the sleigh/carriage ride and then decide if we want to walk parts of the campground. Thank you also for the pictures, looking forward to seeing the decorations.
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We took the carriage ride/sleigh ride - I don't remember which one and I thought they were one and the same thing. It's a lovely relaxing way to see the site - and what people do there is just amazing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
Believe Chezp is correct carriage is redone to look more like sleigh I have seen others put posts about this and plan on doing it with my DW one night during or stay. Unless you are actually planning on staying in the Campground then renting a golf cart from Disney would be extremely expensive $65 per night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldmom
we did the sleigh ride last december and indeed it was awesome. well worth the money!!
Thank you everyone for your input - looking forward to spend some time enjoying the campers lights and decorations.
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