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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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TO DDP or Not to DDP...
Hi,
so it looks like we are going to go ahead book our x-mas trip in a few days. !!! so i've been crunching the numbers and trying to decide if we should get the basic dining, quick service dining, or skip it and pay our meals out of pocket like we usually do. to give a little background, it would be 5 of us, two adults and 3 kids who by then will be 16, 6 and 4. in the past we have not purchased the dining plan as it didn't make sense especially with the two younger ones who ate like birds. now that they are eating more wondering if it's worth it. we usually like to eat breakfast in the room most days and do counter service for lunch and dinner with a few character and/or table meals thrown in (and we always get the refillable mug). pls help me decide! is it worth it??? thanks for any suggestions.
Personally, I'm a big fan of the dining plans. Keep in mind, over the holidays some of the dining prices go up...so you won't have to worry about it. Plus you don't have to worry about paying for it as you go, it's already taken care of!
I think we are going to give the regular dining plan a chance this time.
I have 5 people traveling- DH & I, the kids will be 16,13 & 9 during the trip.
What I took into consideration is that we are staying 1/1-1/8 (8days)we already planned to eat at Chef Mickeys b-fast x2,Chef Mickey Dinner, Tepan edu, 1900 Park Fare,Crystal Palace, Hollywood & Vine, Garden Grill
And all but TepanEdu is a buffet, so it just makes sense to go with the reg DDP.
this trip is going to be very chill, so we are taking lots of time to sit and eat...
I think if you are only going to do 1 or 2 character meals, it may be worth it to just pay OOP for those and go with the QS... The 2 little ones can split credits and snacks and you could really stretch your credits that way. you also get the refillable mug with that plan..
I think that since you do mostly QS meals I would go w/that plan. You get the mugs which you said you get anyway and you won't feel like your kids are wasting too much as opposed to TS. Then just book a couple TS meals & pay OOP. That's what we're doing for our April trip. That way our food is already paid for before we go so we don't have to worry about it except out 2 ADRs.
The plan is definatly not for us, we have nevr used it. If you plan to do a lot of characteh meals, or sit down dinners, it is great. We just don't have that much structure on our trips. The best bet is just to crunch the numbers and see what fits best to you. It doesn't work for us, but it might for you.
I think the dining plans make good sense of for no other reason than that your food budget is settled.
You know what you have credit wise to use and you stick to it, and it's already paid for, so it cuts down on oop while you're there. Some people like to pay a little here and there before the trip...it doesn't seem to be as painful as paying for it all at once while on vacation.
I personally would NEVER go without a meal plan. Dining is a very big part of our trip--something we really enjoy. We use the platinum plan and have always come out ahead. We enjoy hitting all our fave restaurants and our kids love the dinner shows....plus last time we hit Victoria and Albert's twice.
Of course whichever route you go it'll be wonderful cause it's all Disney!
Have a wonderful trip
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I think for your family it might be a good idea to look into doing the DDP. For me, its not worth it as I never eat the much on vacation. I usually only do one or two character meals and the rest is play it by ear.
The basic DDP looks good for you b/c: ~you already do breakfast in the room ~ can use your QS credits for lunch ~ your TS credits for your character meals for dinner ~your snacks could be used anytime Then just buy your mugs. With two of your kids being under 9 the cost will be worth it for you IMHO We love using it b/c we like having the character melas for dinner. We just put the tips aside with our mousekeeping tips and then it is all paid for before we go. HAPPY PLANNING!
I would say this...book the DDP with TB...that way you know what the price is with it in there...take some extra time and crunch the numbers. Look over the menues on allearsnet.com and make a list places you would like to eat at. With having a 6 & 4 year old you may want to do most of the character meals. And for them it is only like 22.00 a day for them to eat anyway. If you dont use all the snack credits you can always go the last day and get treats to take home. The QS meals each day you can get them and they will each have their own drink and if they share the rest of the meal the 3 adults will have a little extra food if they are still hungry.
I had this problem when I took 4 (2-A and 2 nine year olds) people with me in Nov. They did not want the DDP because in their words "that is too much money, for not alot and besieds I dont want to have to desided where I am eatting months ahead of time." Well lets just say 5 minutes after they got there and the 4 of them each had a QS they wished they would have gotten it. They still yell at me for them not getting it. Now the 4 of use that go year after year we knew that DDP was well worth it, there is 4 adults in that group. The last night we were there we still had 4 QS to use, becuase we had to leave at 7 am to get to the airport we went the night before and got 4 meals...I put them in zip lock bags, put them in the cooler, and took them with us to eat on the way home. By the time we ate them they were room temp so they were not that cold.
We've used the dining plan on the last two trips we've taken and we LOVE it!!! It's so nice to know that your meals are already paid for before you get there! I really does make budgeting for all the other "stuff" alot easier! Plus both times we used it, we definitely got our money's worth!!!
We are going with the dining plan because:
a) I like that the mealswill be paid for in advance and we can order what we want not what's cheapest
B) We can do more sit-down meals, which we would cringe at normally and end up eating hamburgers and hot dogs all week!
c) the kids will get to do way more character meals this way
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as paying for it all at once while on vacation.
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