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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Looking for help!! We are two Ladies planning our 2nd Disney Trip. We would like to hear if the food plans would benifit us (we are paying our own ways, not as two) The more we read about it the more confused we get.
You first need to decide how you will be eating. Will you eat all counter service? All table service? or a mix of both. Depending on which you decide will determine if you could benefit from the QSDP, DDP, or DxDDP.
I agree with looking at the menus. You need to have an idea of where you want to eat - table, counter or quick - and how many of each meals a day before you can work out whether the Dining Plan would work for you.
We have done the plan and it was nice if you wanted to eat as many meals as it provided. We ate great just more that we normally would of just to use the plan up and even then ended up with left over credits. We are not big eaters and some days just a coke and giant pretzel at Animal Kingdom was enough for us. So our next 2 planned trips we are not getting it.
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Love the Magic of Disney Thanks Dad for our first 5 trips.
We are big fans on the dining plan....works great for our family who ~love to eat~! Once you mock up an idea of how and where you would like to eat, you can determine, what, if any plan, is right for you.
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
The basic ddp has worked well for us. We like to do one table service per day then we'll use our counter service for lunch or dinner (depending on which meal we did a table service). We find we can make a light breakfast out of things available with snack credits, so we make good use of all our credits. DD is at the age where she loves character meals (for our next trip, 5 out of our 7 sit-downs are character meals), so for us we find the dining plan to be an especially good deal since those can get pricey!
When traveling with other people and, therefore, needing to split checks, I find the Dining Plan to be a godsend. You don't have to do any calculating or worrying -- you just hand them your Keys to the World Cards and they do the rest. The only thing you have to take care of is the tip. (What I like to do is to put that all onto the room charge and then, after the vacation, split the total tips.)
Generally, the DDP is about a "breakeven" -- meaning you'll probably spend that amount if you paid out of pocket. But it's biggest benefit for me is to have everything prepaid and the absence of math on vacation.
Eileen
The bottom line is that if you use the dining plan effectively, you will save money, but this requires attention to planning.
The ways that you would use it INEFFECTIVELY might include:
1) Not using all of your credits. (OUCH!)
2) Consistently eating at inexpensive restaurants (Trails End is a great value, but not necessarily on the dining plan)
3) Consistently ordering the least expensive items on the menu. (ie -- If you are a vegetarian, these entrees don't cost as much as the surf and turf)
Lastly, the dining plan is not a good deal if you would have spent less otherwise. If you would only have done 1-2 table service meals, you usually don't order dessert, you are perfectly happy at the less expensive restaurants, or you have access to alternative means of savings (ie Tables in Wonderland), DDP may not be a good deal for you.
When we did the dining plan, we utilized it well and it was GREAT. We are NOT using it on our next trip, because our plans and travelling party will not allow us to extract full value from the plan.
It is very confusing -- especially since Disney keeps tinkering with it. Per haps your CPA could help as well
we always go with the DDP its the best it gives you the chance to eat at places you usualy wouldnt choose if you were paying for example we went to the Coral Reef and our bill was 110$ yeaaaaa deff wouldnt have done that if we were paying . I you choose ddp make sure you choose places you wouldnt choose if you had to pay OOP. Its also great because thats less money you have to worry about carrying around, and you dont have to worry about the price of what our ordering...hope that helped
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), so for us we find the dining plan to be an especially good deal since those can get pricey!
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