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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 can purchase these in the parks right? Or should I run down to Wal-Mart and get them? If the parks have them what do they look like and how much do they cost?
You can get them in the parks. Last time I bought them(a year or so ago) they were $5.00(I think the kid size panchos were $4.50). They are clear with a Mickey Mouse on the back.
<font color="red">If its not raining you will have to ask for them in the shops b/c they keep the ponchos behind the counter. . . until the rains come. </font>
You can purchase them at the parks. Think they are $7 Adult, & $6 Child. We usually purchase dollar store ones as they are light and take up very little space and once done, can be tossed or used to wrap up breakable items if needed for travel back to home.
I would purchase ponchos at a local store (such as Target or Wal-mart, usually in the camping section) - they will be much, much cheaper. I can usually find them for a buck a piece.
While the ones at local stores are much less expensive, they are very thin plastic, and stuck to our skin, and several leaked and didn't keep anyone dry. The ones that Disney sells are a little more expensive, but higher quality. We've used them for 4 years in a row now (even at places other than Disney), and they haven't torn. I'd have spent more buying the throw-away type. And they have Mickey on them...
I prefer the ones from Disney also. The first summer I went, I took the cheap ones from Kmart and they didn't keep us dry at all and would have giant holes in them within minutes. So we bought new ones at WDW and kept them for many trips!!
I have bought a bunch of the cheap kind - from walmart and some from Meijer, I hope they hold up ok - I hope I won't have to use them much! Fat chance eh?!
Hey Kris! The ponchos in the parks are $7.00 for adults and $6.00 for kids. They're bright yellow with Mickey's face on the back It's probably better to just buy cheap ones somewhere else - it'll be less expensive, and it'll be easier to keep track of your family if they're wearing a different color than the herds on people in yellow
I think when we went in May they were $7 something for kids and $8 something for adults. I think they were clearish with a mickey on the back of it. Much better quality than the ones I had purchased at wal-mart. Of course the one and only day it had rained we had forgotten to pack our poncho's in our backpack...and we didn't want to spend $50 on ponchos. We tried to wait out the storm, but after waiting an hour, we decided to get out in it and hope it stopped soon...it didn't. We were drenched, cold and miserable. A nice lady on the ferry boat ended up giving us her poncho for our littlest one. Disney sure does have a way of softening people up.
We've always gone to the Dollar Store and got those. They do the same thing and are much cheaper than buying them in the parks. We just used them and got rid of them right after. They are really compact and easy to travel with since they don't take up much room. This is a much better I would say. Hope that helps.
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While the ones at local stores are much less expensive, they are very thin plastic, and stuck to our skin, and several leaked and didn't keep anyone dry. The ones that Disney sells are a little more expensive, but higher quality. We've used them for 4 years in a row now (even at places other than Disney), and they haven't torn. I'd have spent more buying the throw-away type. And they have Mickey on them...
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~~except we've used ours 5 years. Also, if you're
going over to Universal they have the nicer ones too. My son
has one from the NBA store (CityWalk) everyone loves it.
I bought ours at the dollar store on our last big family trip. They were thick and kept us dry. there were 11 of us and not one rip. The disney ones are very cute but were just too expensive for us.
Amy
Just another vote for the cheap ones. I buy them at the dollar store (2/$1) and just stock up. They take up much less space and you can just throw them away when you are ready. The only problem I have had is that the hood doesn't stay up well. I solved that by putting my cap or visor on on top of the hood. That keeps the rain off of my glasses as well. I usually travel with a couple of cheap visors so if one gets soaked I can switch out for the next trip out after the rain.