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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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're going to Maine in August for a week to celebrate my parents' 50th Anniversary. Our party includes: DM and DF (both in their late 70's), DH 49, me 47, DS 13, DSis 41, DBiL 39. We're renting this fabulous house in Rockland, ME thru VRBO......right on the water/harbor, 4000 sf, 4 br 3 bath, 2 kitchens, 3 living room spaces, fabulous outdoor decks with grill, in-ground pool, etc. We'll be able to enjoy most of our meals there.
I'm looking for suggestions for things to do/see in the area. It doesn't have to be something for the whole party -we'll likely split up now and again. I'm looking for interesting sites and activities. We will take a day trip to Acadia one day (and I know that will be a long drive and a very full day). Some of our group interests are trains, wine, nature, fishing, factory tours, craft beer, thrift shopping, rock collecting, mining, sports. We'll likely eat in most of the time, but if you know of any really fabulous places we should consider, feel free to mention those too (especially if it's an ice cream place ).
A visit to Camden should be on your list - shopping / walking around the harbor / getting an ice cream cone. Also a drive or hike to the top of Mt. Battie in Camden State Park.
Owls Head Transportation Museum is worth a visit. Also the Farnsworth Art Museum is home to the Wyeth Collection, and is in downtown Rockland.
Schooner rides out of Rockland, Rockport, or Camden Harbors ...
A visit to Hope Elephants to meet Rosie and Opal - retired circus elephants now being cared for in Hope, Maine (this is an educational tour).
I was going to suggest Acadia NP, as that is where we are visiting this summer as well.... but it looks like that is already in your plans... I have no other suggestions, since I haven't been there (yet)- but will look to see what others suggest...
It sounds like a wonderful trip, Holly. I'll echo everything Sharon (Shazza) said. If any of your party enjoys art, the Farnsworth Museum right in Rockland is a very good small museum-- Homers and Wyeths!
A visit to Camden should be on your list - shopping / walking around the harbor / getting an ice cream cone. Also a drive or hike to the top of Mt. Battie in Camden State Park.
Owls Head Transportation Museum is worth a visit. Also the Farnsworth Art Museum is home to the Wyeth Collection, and is in downtown Rockland.
Schooner rides out of Rockland, Rockport, or Camden Harbors ...
A visit to Hope Elephants to meet Rosie and Opal - retired circus elephants now being cared for in Hope, Maine (this is an educational tour).
Thanks for this! I was looking at some of the schooner rides. Is there a company you could suggest? Camden State Park looks great. and the Hope Elephants do too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
I was going to suggest Acadia NP, as that is where we are visiting this summer as well.... but it looks like that is already in your plans... I have no other suggestions, since I haven't been there (yet)- but will look to see what others suggest...
I have been before, but it's been a long. long time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
It sounds like a wonderful trip, Holly. I'll echo everything Sharon (Shazza) said. If any of your party enjoys art, the Farnsworth Museum right in Rockland is a very good small museum-- Homers and Wyeths!
Thanks Laurie. Sounds like some of us would really like that museum!
I think you've gotten great advise. I would spend lot of time looking our at the ocean/harbor. I also would suggest a rocking chair-best way to watch the water.
My son, the wildlife biologist and birdwatcher loves the Camden area. I know you can see puffins off the coast but it may be a little too late in the season.
As for a specific company for the Schooner trip, I'd suggest a boat called the Olad that sails out of Camden Harbor.
I think you'll enjoy hanging out at the rental house - it sounds perfect. If you do make a day trip to Acadia, consider taking a picnic lunch. There aren't a lot of dining options in the park, and Bar Harbor can be a zoo. There is always Jordan Pond Tea house for popovers, but that may be difficult to time with a day trip (it will be a looonnnng day - we've done Acadia up and back in a day once).
Since you're considering the drive to Acadia, I'd suggest a slightly shorter one in the other direction to the LL Bean Store in Freeport. An outdoorsy person's wonderland, it's open 24/7.
I still have and use things I bought there almost 30 years ago, one of which is a flannel nightshirt. It's looking worn but still quite wearable, their products are so sturdy. And if anything of theirs ever breaks in normal use, return it. Which reminds me, I must send back my ergo-bag with the broken zipper. Glad I looked into this thread for the memory jog.
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I think you've gotten great advise. I would spend lot of time looking our at the ocean/harbor. I also would suggest a rocking chair-best way to watch the water.
My son, the wildlife biologist and birdwatcher loves the Camden area. I know you can see puffins off the coast but it may be a little too late in the season.
Relax and enjoy.
I was wondering about the Puffins. I know there is a Project Puffin Center in Rockland. Thought we might check that out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
As for a specific company for the Schooner trip, I'd suggest a boat called the Olad that sails out of Camden Harbor.
I think you'll enjoy hanging out at the rental house - it sounds perfect. If you do make a day trip to Acadia, consider taking a picnic lunch. There aren't a lot of dining options in the park, and Bar Harbor can be a zoo. There is always Jordan Pond Tea house for popovers, but that may be difficult to time with a day trip (it will be a looonnnng day - we've done Acadia up and back in a day once).
Thanks, I'll check out that Schooner Company.
The house is great! We plan on spending a bit of time there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Her Dotness
Since you're considering the drive to Acadia, I'd suggest a slightly shorter one in the other direction to the LL Bean Store in Freeport. An outdoorsy person's wonderland, it's open 24/7.
I still have and use things I bought there almost 30 years ago, one of which is a flannel nightshirt. It's looking worn but still quite wearable, their products are so sturdy. And if anything of theirs ever breaks in normal use, return it. Which reminds me, I must send back my ergo-bag with the broken zipper. Glad I looked into this thread for the memory jog.
We're New Englanders so we're pretty familiar with LL Bean. Great company! We're driving up from CT/MA so Freeport might be a stop on our way up or back -as you said, they're open 24/7 so we would be able to stop no matter what time we drive through.
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wish I could offer more than what's already been said, given that Maine is our home away from home : ) we live 1.5 hours from the border and about 3 hours from Bar Harbor. since you're from CT, I assume you are familiar with Friendlys? best ice cream!
just drove right by Freeport exit on Monday after a weekend in Boston for Disney on Ice : )
I'll second Friendly's. Back in the day when my kids were young, we always had at least one Friendly's meal on vacation. There kids meals were great and reasonably priced. My kids loved clownhead sundaes.
wish I could offer more than what's already been said, given that Maine is our home away from home : ) we live 1.5 hours from the border and about 3 hours from Bar Harbor. since you're from CT, I assume you are familiar with Friendlys? best ice cream!
just drove right by Freeport exit on Monday after a weekend in Boston for Disney on Ice : )
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huntermom
I'll second Friendly's. Back in the day when my kids were young, we always had at least one Friendly's meal on vacation. There kids meals were great and reasonably priced. My kids loved clownhead sundaes.
Yes. we're very familiar with Friendly's. There are several pretty close to our home in CT (although they are disappearing at a pretty fast rate).
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yes, we got stuck driving around in a snowstorm looking for one in Braintree / Boston area last weekend, only to later learn that it no longer exists! we finally found one the next night, though it was quite the hole in the wall. the ones in Portland, Maine and Waterville, Maine are both really nice. we did the Waterville one on the drive home and it was all remodeled last year, so I think it's there to stay!
heading to Bangor, ME next week for Beauty and the Beast : )
Depending on timing and where you are, Beal's Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor near Acadia is incredibly fresh and prices much lower than any restaurant - at least they were about a decade ago. It's next to a US Coast Guard base and near the Bass Harbor lighthouse if my memory is correct. I'm not a big lobster roll fan, but if you are, Red's Eats in Wiscasset is very popular.
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Hudson River view from promenade at Liberty State Park in NJ - Disney Magic in Hudson River, passing the new One World Trade Center
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Depending on timing and where you are, Beal's Lobster Pier in Southwest Harbor near Acadia is incredibly fresh and prices much lower than any restaurant - at least they were about a decade ago. It's next to a US Coast Guard base and near the Bass Harbor lighthouse if my memory is correct. I'm not a big lobster roll fan, but if you are, Red's Eats in Wiscasset is very popular.
Thanks for the recommendation. I, myself, do not really like lobster (or any seafood actually -okay, you can kick me out of New England now) but most of my traveling companions really enjoy it so they will appreciate the information.
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Hudson River view from promenade at Liberty State Park in NJ - Disney Magic in Hudson River, passing the new One World Trade Center
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