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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
We've had good and bad luck both with most of the resort transportation. I think I really disliked the boardwalk resort transportation because one bus handled several resorts and sometimes the bus would be full before it got to my resort. So, I'd prefer resorts that don't share busses.
I agree with Joanne as far as I know of bus use which we dislike so do as little as possible due to DH using a powerchair. Staying in a monorail resort is so much easier for us particularly when our fave parks are MK and EP.
When I hopped a bus to DS one afternoon last trip while DH napped, I found it much easier with the new digital board showing when the next bus will arrive. That eased the wait somewhat knowing how long it would be.
We found the time shown pretty accurate, too. Really a big improvement, IMO.
__________________
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
We had had equally good and bad luck in most of the resorts we have stayed at. We enjoy a nice walk and tend to spend most of our time in Epcot & HS so Boardwalk has worked out very well for us in busy seasons. My best advice is to stay at the resort closest to where you want to spend most of your time. Then if the transportation gets crowded you have the option to walk, take a boat, or at least have a short ride. During busy times we try to do our transitions during slower times of the day or be clever about our route. Example take the monorail to the Contemporary and take the boat from there to Wilderness Lodge or taking a bus to Disney Springs and walking back to Saratoga.
We've stayed in different resort, so my advise is the same as previous post - try to book a resort close to where you're going to spend most of your time. We usually visit during busy times so we plan accordingly.
We've loved our stays at BC once Epcot World showcase is a fav for us, and we enjoyed the walk / boat ride to both parks (Epcot and DHS). Also had a great time at Poly (monorail) and WL (boat ride to MK). AKL is great, but when we plan to spend most of our time in other parks it might be a long comute - DD slept in the bus many times when younger.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
My preferences are an Epcot resort or an All Star resort.
Staying near Epcot you get to walk to Epcot and DHS, and possibly walk through Epcot and monorail to MK. The downside is you share buses for MK and AK and DTD.
That's why I actually prefer the buses at the All Star resorts There I get a bus that takes me directly to the park of choice and back (unless it's midday when you may stop at the other two on your way to and from the parks...but we don't do that much).
We have reservations at Pop (I have never stayed there). My mom is going with us (party of 3, all the girls) and I thought that she may enjoy POR better. However, we stayed at POFQ once before and the buses stopped at many different stops before actually going to the parks. So I am wondering if we should just stay where we are. We didn't want to spend much on this trip because it was unexpected (my DD is dancing at DS) and we have already had a Disney trip in this year at YC $$$( back in Oct.). This current trip is scheduled near Easter and I was floored at resort prices during this time, even with 25% off deal. For example we are at POP in a Preferred room for $171/ per night! All Star Sports was $179 per night before discount and after discount the cheapest room there is, I think $152! I am still shocked, lol.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
Post Thanks / Like
Quote:
Originally Posted by aswaffer
We have reservations at Pop (I have never stayed there). My mom is going with us (party of 3, all the girls) and I thought that she may enjoy POR better. However, we stayed at POFQ once before and the buses stopped at many different stops before actually going to the parks. So I am wondering if we should just stay where we are. We didn't want to spend much on this trip because it was unexpected (my DD is dancing at DS) and we have already had a Disney trip in this year at YC $$$( back in Oct.). This current trip is scheduled near Easter and I was floored at resort prices during this time, even with 25% off deal. For example we are at POP in a Preferred room for $171/ per night! All Star Sports was $179 per night before discount and after discount the cheapest room there is, I think $152! I am still shocked, lol.
Prices are ridiculous. Our first time at ASMusic in 1999 we paid $62 a night for a room back when there was one price for all rooms using a small discount. Now folks are paying three times as much for the same room (Calypso).
Prices are ridiculous. Our first time at ASMusic in 1999 we paid $62 a night for a room back when there was one price for all rooms using a small discount. Now folks are paying three times as much for the same room (Calypso).
I know it seems like so much more than what we have paid in the past but we do a lot of hotel stays for sports and my husbands work. The prices for values and moderates are in line with what is out there if not cheaper considering the amenities/entertainment. You would be shocked at what we have paid for a simple outdated chain hotel in a small town never mind what we have to pay in major cities. There are bargains to be found but it can limit you as to where you go. To us Disney is still a great deal compared to other comparable vacation options.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
All the deluxe resorts have crappy bus transportation.
I disagree.
We had nothing but good experiences riding the bus from/to WL. Much as we usually dislike using the bus, we had to admit that the buses serving WL were really good. The drivers on that route handled boarding DH's powerchair efficiently and fairly speedily.
The GF bus has been good as well when we've used it to go to DHS or DS, not often because we use the monorail ordinarily to get to DHS. We enjoy walk/scooting through Epcot to the IG and boat to DHS.
Opinions vary for different reasons, but I think it too harsh to speak about buses from all Deluxes this way.
__________________
“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
We have reservations at Pop (I have never stayed there). My mom is going with us (party of 3, all the girls) and I thought that she may enjoy POR better. However, we stayed at POFQ once before and the buses stopped at many different stops before actually going to the parks. So I am wondering if we should just stay where we are. We didn't want to spend much on this trip because it was unexpected (my DD is dancing at DS) and we have already had a Disney trip in this year at YC $$$( back in Oct.). This current trip is scheduled near Easter and I was floored at resort prices during this time, even with 25% off deal. For example we are at POP in a Preferred room for $171/ per night! All Star Sports was $179 per night before discount and after discount the cheapest room there is, I think $152! I am still shocked, lol.
It is POR that has all the various stops....4 of them in fact. I think POFQ has just one stop and POFQ is much smaller. We usually stay at POR but due to the large size of that resort and we are getting older we have decided to start staying at POFQ.
__________________
Proud to be an American and a former Veterans Affairs employee!!
It is POR that has all the various stops....4 of them in fact. I think POFQ has just one stop and POFQ is much smaller. We usually stay at POR but due to the large size of that resort and we are getting older we have decided to start staying at POFQ.
Yes and no--sometimes POFQ has a designated bus and other times the 2 PO resorts share a bus. Generally at the busy times of day, they have their own separate busses. That being said, I would stick with POP because of the price point. It's a good resort and the bus service is basically as good as any other resort. You're in Disney and all is good.
Yes and no--sometimes POFQ has a designated bus and other times the 2 PO resorts share a bus. Generally at the busy times of day, they have their own separate busses. That being said, I would stick with POP because of the price point. It's a good resort and the bus service is basically as good as any other resort. You're in Disney and all is good.
I agree with you on both points. POP is a great resort and I think the transportation is good. As far as the sharing of the busses, between resorts, they will share or have dedicated busses depending upon the season. Disney is pretty good at adjusting where the crowds are and don't leave you stranded for too long.
I guess I don't mind waiting 15-20 minutes or even longer for a bus when i don't have to drive. I get to relax, chat with strangers and get dropped off at the front of the park. I don't get to do that outside of the Disney bubble
We have reservations at Pop (I have never stayed there). My mom is going with us (party of 3, all the girls) and I thought that she may enjoy POR better. However, we stayed at POFQ once before and the buses stopped at many different stops before actually going to the parks. So I am wondering if we should just stay where we are. We didn't want to spend much on this trip because it was unexpected (my DD is dancing at DS) and we have already had a Disney trip in this year at YC $$$( back in Oct.). This current trip is scheduled near Easter and I was floored at resort prices during this time, even with 25% off deal. For example we are at POP in a Preferred room for $171/ per night! All Star Sports was $179 per night before discount and after discount the cheapest room there is, I think $152! I am still shocked, lol.
I think you'll be fine at Pop. We've stayed at Pop or AoA a total of 6 times (always during June...busy time) and found the bus service to be very good at both resorts. Like others have said, during busy times (park opening and closing), the lines can get really long but they send multiple buses. You can also take the bus back to AoA if that line is shorter or that bus arrives sooner. It's a really pretty walk across the bridge between the resorts, especially at night.
I also agree with the others who have found the bus service at most Deluxe resorts to be very time consuming. We've had our longest waits by far at Deluxe resorts. Some highlights: GF - waited 35 minutes for a bus to DTD/DS; waited 30 minutes for a bus to DHs. Yacht Club - waited 40 minutes for a bus to DTD/DS; waited 35 minutes for a bus to AK. Animal Kingdom Lodge - waited 30 minutes for a bus to AK; 35 minutes for a bus to MK; and our "favorite" <eye roll> waited 50 minutes for a bus to DHS (while 2 or 3 buses arrived for each of the other parks during that time). Our longest wait at Pop or AoA was 20 minutes for a bus to MK. The vast majority of our waits at those resorts were under 10 minutes. There were a few long waits (20-25 minutes) at the end of a night at park closing, but nothing that I wouldn't expect when thousands of people are leaving at the same time. We tend to plan our departure from a park either 30 minutes before park closing or if we stay until closing, we take our time leaving -- browsing through gift shops, sitting on a bench enjoying a drink and people watching, -- so that by the time we get to the bus stop, the lines are short. I will say that one downside to the Pop & AoA buses is that the bus stops are almost always the furthest away from the park entrance when departing.
About This Page: 
Dancing in the ABC filming of the Disney parade!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Hybrid Mode
