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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I've looked through the older posts and couldn't find anything on this....which do you'all prefer? I like the idea of a backpack, in order to carry all the neccessities, but I don't know how it would work with the rides. But then again, a fanny pack sound so much more convenient, but will it fit everything I need? Hmmmmmm, decisions, decisions! I'm also thinking of buying each of my DSs a Camelbak to keep hydrated, but I don't know how difficult it would be to refill. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I love fannypacks! They are roomier then they appear to be, too! A backpack is just too large for me, although, my kids have used them with no problems.
Signed,
That was real helpful wasn't it?! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
In the past I have used both. However this year I am going with a backpack and then also using the Passporter Passpocket for my license, ticket and money. I like the backpack for jackets, waterbottles, camera, souvenirs etc. When I go on rides I just loop it through my legs--even on Tower of Terror. It beats carrying everything around separately. The fanny pack sometimes gets kind of bulky and hot, so that is why I've decided to forego it this time around. I think it is mostly a matter of personal preference, though. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Each of us carries a fannypack (including our 3 yr old) - the kids each carry a $5 electronic game to keep them busy in lines or at sit-down dinners as well as a hand held fan. We also carry a backpack on our stroller with raingear, snacks, wipes, crayons & index cards for long waits, and we stash anything we buy at the parks in there as well.
Hey there, we've had no problems with the backpack, and it's what we prefer. Holds everything we need and we can take turns carrying it. The only rides I really encounted a concern about it were Rock-n-Roller Coaster and TOT but no worries - I slipped my leg through the strap and secured it on the floor of the car with my foot.
Your boys are probably old enough that you don't need to carry much. The camelback might be over the top (and expensive) as there are drinking fountains all over the place and they could easily refill bottles or even just drink out of all of the fountains. In May you won't need jackets, just sunscreen, camera, money and tickets. Maybe a few snacks if you don't want to by park food. Maybe They could carry their own fanny pack with their own stuff and let you off the hook too.
I've toured with both waist (fanny) packs and backpacks, and occasionally both at the same time. Here are my thoughts:
Waist packs are best when you don't have much to carry and want to keep your hands as free as possible. The downside to waist packs are that you often have to take them off (or slide them around) to sit down, and if you put a lot of weight in them they can give you a sore lower back. Also, while both Dave and I are comfortable with waist packs, some people aren't -- we've heard them complain that they just don't feel right on them.
Backpacks carry a lot more, including jackets, food, and camcorders, which you can't generally fit in a waist pack. Of course, this means they're almost always heavier than waist packs, and they can seem WAY too heavy by the end of the day, resulting in sore shoulders and more fatigue. So they way I look at it is I take the backpack if I absolutely must to carry certain things.
The best thing to do is go as light as possible. If you can get away with the waist pack, I recommend it. Either way, I also wear the PassHolder Pouch because then I don't have to fish in my pack for passes, pens, and money.
Well, to be honest, the fanny pack makes my.....fanny....look even bigger than it is. Carried in the front....people are congratulating me on my "Blessed event". Which I'm not having!!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
I came up with something really cool. I went to a discount leather store and purchased a back pack/purse combo. It has the two thin straps to hook over each shoulder, but when used like a purse, simply zip the two straps together, and toss over one shoulder. On rides, I do like the above poster said, I hook it around my leg.
We use a backpack that way we can fit everything in there that we will need for the day like our ponchos/umbrellas, jackets/sweatshirts and whatever else we need for the day. I feel we have more room in a backpack than a fanny pack. I try to pack it the night before that way I don’t have to worry about it that morning and get an earlier start at the parks. That reminds me I have to go look on e-bay for the right size one for this trip (my last one bit the dust).
We do both. The backpack we rent a locker for, and stow it in there, since it usually has lunch (or dinner)in it. We can also leave jackets/sweatshirts, etc. in a locker. For the price of the locker rental, we feel its well worth it to save the backache.
One note, though, is that my camera will not fit in my fanny pack. If I were to buy another fanny pack, I would buy one big enough to hold my camera. So I usually have my fanny pack AND my camera bag (even though its small), which can be a pain.
Hope this helps. Happy planning!!! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]
We have never brought a backpack to the parks- just too much stuff for us. My girls all have small fanny packs - enough to fit some Disney Dollars, pins, and a M&M minis tube with quarters and pennies for the machines. They can also fit their autograph books in there, although Amanda doesn't use them anymore.
John & I both use fanny packs for the parks - both fairly sizable models - his is a Mountain Smith (I LOVE his) and mine is an Eddie Bauer - both of these have a strap that you can use to sling it over your shoulder if you don't want the hassle of moving it to sit down!
I agree with Jennifer 100% on the Passporter Pouch - this is AWESOME! I use it all the time now - not just when I'm in Disney - I stick cash in the zippered section, and my debit card & license in the other covered section. When at Disney - I use the clear see through section for my AP and any Fastpasses I may be holding!
On our last trip - we had only the 2 older girls - no Sarah. We definitely traveled light! John wore cargo shorts - put the camera in one pocket, and his wallet & poncho in the other, and he was good to go. I wore my Passporter Pouch, used my water bottle strap to hold my Brita bottle, and had a clip on travel size bottle of Coppertone Sport to reapply my sunscreen. NO BAG CHECKS! Disney doesn't care how much stuff you hang off you, as long as it isn't in a "BAG."
I was determined not to be one of those "fanny pack people" on our recent trip. I bought a lightweight backpack & only took in the essentials. After about 2 hours my shoulders hurt so bad, I was begging my five year old to wear the backpack for awhile. That night we went to Maestro Mickey's at ASMu where we were staying & bought the biggest fanny pack they had! Of course, I spent twice as much as I would have if I had gotten one at Wal-Mart before I left! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
A word to the wise - take both so you can have a backup if one plan doesn't work out for you! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
The first few times I went, I used a fanny pack, but then I still needed to carry things like a guide book, a poncho, and my camera, which were too big. After I bought something, I could put those things in the bag, but then I had to carry the bag around in my hand, which I would quickly get tired of doing. So the last couple of times I've gone, I've used a backpack, and I think that works much better. Everything fits in it (plus I can bring a few more things that I wouldn't have considered otherwise), I can keep my hands free, and I don't have to take off a fanny pack every time I sit down. (Well, of course, I have to take off the backpack, but I think it's a lot easier to slip off a backpack than it is to unhook a fanny pack.)
Big, oversized, day-hike waist pack. Keeps the arms free, and doesn't stick to your whole back in that Florida heat.
Also a PassHolder Pouch for passes, charge cards, cash, FastPasses, licenses, etc. Great for keeping all that stuff in one place. Wouldn't leave home without it [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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