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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Has anyone ever gotten a DAS with an anxiety disorder?
I don't get them often but have and can get panic attacks. I'm concerned about being trapped in a long line that I can't get out of quickly should an attack hit since I never know what's going to trigger it.
Would this be something that would be covered by a DAS? This is a relatively new disorder for me and not something that I've had to deal with with a DAS and it's been a few years since I went to WDW.
It might but what will help the most is the FP system. With a DAS, you get a return time much like a FP but the time is open ended, not just one hour, so what you would do is go to a ride, tell the CM you need a return time and the time you will be given is typically 10 minutes less than the posted wait time (i.e you go to Peter Pan with a 75 minute wait time, you'll have to wait 65 minutes before coming back). You can only have ONE return time at a time however so like I said, you'd want to utlized the FP system too. When you want to use your DAS return time, you'll have to scan your MB and you'll be let into the FP. If something in the FP line is a trigger, I'm not sure what you could do as there are no other entrances to the rides with the exception of the wheelchair entrances at rides like BTM and SSE.
I’ve never utilized the DAS but I just wanted to say that I understand. Dd and I both have anxiety disorders, and it is no fun. I have panic attacks, and I seem to be getting worse as I get older. I’m not in any kind of meds, though, so that’s prob why. Luckily, dd is able to ride and do everything at DW that she wants to do (I can’t), so I hope you’re able to as well.
I've utilized DAS in the past for a back issue that is only made worse if I'm restricted to an ECV/wheelchair as I need the ability to remain mobile. The anxiety is a new issue I'm dealing with thanks to a severe concussion a number of years ago. I don't mind waiting for the attractions as long as I'm not confined in a line where I can't move around. I do well at DL because the lines are constantly moving even when they're long. It's been a while since I've been to WDW and don't have my old DAS cards anymore so can't use them to show that I've had one in the past. Just concerned about being denied one and we're going at a busy time of year and we can't change when we're going due to job circumstances, which is why we're doing WDW instead of DL like we originally planned.
I know it's going to be busy and I can usually handle crowds okay, as long as it's out in the open, it's when I'm confined in a indoor/enclosed space for an extended period of time, like waiting in line for an attraction that my anxiety can get the better of me as well as my back locking up and making it painful and difficult to move. It's why I was asking about the DAS. I'll be making my fastpass selections today anyway but was curious to know if the DAS had changed any since it's been a few years since I've been to WDW and I don't need one at DL as they don't have nearly the number of fastpass attractions. Also, most of their lines are outside and their attractions seem to load faster due to fewer fastpass attractions so I don't run into the same issues there.
When is your trip? If at one of the least busy seasons, you might be able to get by with carefully chosen FastPasses, particularly now that you aren't limited to three in one park.
We've gone mostly in the fall and find there are few long lines in confined areas for any but the extremely popular attractions. For those, we make sure to schedule FPs. Otherwise, we've often walked right onto Pirates and Haunted Mansion.
I would certainly apply for the DAS in case you would find you can't get an FP for something you especially want as well as having it as an emergency measure.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 10-24-2017 at 03:09 PM..
Will you have someone else with you? If so, you could build a buffer between you and other guests so that you could maybe pace or walk around a bit. That way, it won’t feel like people are squeezing up behind you either.
Will you have someone else with you? If so, you could build a buffer between you and other guests so that you could maybe pace or walk around a bit. That way, it won’t feel like people are squeezing up behind you either.
Just a thought.
It's just me and my mom going. I'm hoping that the abundance of dining options and fastpasses that seem to be available for what is typically a crazy busy time means that attendance won't be as crazy stupid as is typical of the time we're going. I know that attendance has been dropping due to the increase in park ticket pricing but I'll see how it goes. I'm just going to go and enjoy being back at WDW and MK in general and try not to worry too much. It will probably be the last visit to the Florida parks for a while. We've fallen in love with DL and that is now our park of choice, especially for longer trips. This is just a quick 4 day trip.
I wouldn’t expect crowds to be less than you estimate.
We’ve noticed that even in fall there seem to be just as many guests if not more than a few years ago when prices were lower. Maybe that’s just our “crowd allergy” due to DH using a powerchair, though. We probably regard a park as too crowded when others wouldn’t call it that at all.
Checking a crowd calendar may be a good idea if you don’t already. We rarely do because we always get ParkHoppers and can go to another if we think where we are too crowded.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh