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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 may be able to leave earlier than expected so we may have an extra evening (without Disney tickets or tons of money to burn) but thought an evening stroll around the Boardwalk with dinner there might be a nice activity. Do you agree? Or would we be better off to go to DTD or just stay at our hotel and swim? I kind of want to keep "Disneyworld" a secret til we actually get there with DD and are entering to have breakfast with Cinderella in the castle! ~Katie
The Boardwalk's a lot of fun and we're planning to spend a night there on our next trip, but if I were you I'd hang out around the resort. There's SO much to do around the hotels, and they're all so beautiful, that doing activities around the hotel is half the fun of the vacation! If you get to explore tonight you won't have to worry about it for the rest of the week and can just fully enjoy the parks. Also, there are sometimes characters strolling along the Boardwalk, so if you want to keep "Disney" a secret until your daughter sees the castle I'd just stick to the resort!
I didn't state clearly that this will be an offsite highway motel we'll be in...not our resort! If we were in our resort, it would almost be a no-brainer! ~Katie
Hmm... I understand the "keeping it a secret" thing, but, knowing me, when I'm in Orlando, I want to be in the World -- no matter what! I'd have a hard time sitting at my motel on the highway and thinking, "just a few miles away is... ." But, that's my selfish, no-kids-yet opinion.
How old are your children? Mine love the little free play area at DTD Lego Store. It's a very pleasant spot for parents to relax too and there are lots of shopping opportunities if the grown ups get bored! (My children are 5 & 8 now but have loved the play area since the youngest was 2)
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How old are your children? Mine love the little free play area at DTD Lego Store. It's a very pleasant spot for parents to relax too and there are lots of shopping opportunities if the grown ups get bored! (My children are 5 & 8 now but have loved the play area since the youngest was 2)
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I agree. There is more for kids to do at DTD than at the Boardwalk. Besides the Lego shop, there is an outdoor seating area where they play either recorded music, have a kid-friendly DJ or have local school band/chorus performances. There is the Ghiradeli (?spelling) shop that sells chocolate and ice cream and a McDonalds with an outdoor play area. There are also several play fountains, meant for kids to walk in and play with the water. You could also go to the Rainforest Cafe, to eat or just to look around the shop.
Aside from the surrey bikes, a face painter and a few carnival games, the Boardwalk is mostly restaurants with a few shops. Some of the shops (an art gallery) are not very kid friendly.
But, whether you go to DTD or Boardwalk, there are signs all over that say "Disney" and chances are that even a 4 yr old who can't read, can "read" Disney. Also, the big Disney shop at at DTD is going kind of obviously not a regular store.
I'd recommend some time at the Boardwalk. I was amazed at how much fabulous entertainment was out and about at night and everything I saw was very child-friendly. In fact, a lot of it involved the kiddies in some way. In the span of fifteen minutes, we saw the Polish cowgirl, the sword juggler and a bicycling pianist. Throw in the carnival atmosphere and you've got a pretty unbeatable combination. Plus there's really nothing there that would scream Disney and give away where you really are to your daughter. Another option but one that would be more likely to give away your location would be an afternoon/evening at Fort Wilderness. There's the petting zoo and pony rides. And then in the evening you could do the hay ride or horse drawn carriage ride and even watch the electrical water pageant and/or do the free singalong campfire with Chip and Dale followed by free Disney movies.
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