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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Anyone have experience using Hotwire.com? UPDATE in POST #9
Has anyone here ever booked a hotel in NYC through Hotwire.com? My friend and I are planning a last-minute trip to NYC for the first weekend in November. We'd like to stay somewhere near Times Square/Theater District, but would really like to spend less than $250/night. I've seen a few deals on Hotwire.com, but have no experience booking w/ them and I'm a little leery about booking w/o knowing exactly what hotel we're getting and where. Complicating matters is that we'd really be most comfortable in a room w/ 2 separate beds. I know I'm asking a lot, but if I knew others have had good experiences, I'd be a bit more assured about using Hotwire.
So has anyone here used Hotwire for hotel stays in NYC or elsewhere? Did you get what you expected? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. TIA!
__________________
-Lisa
The World is a book. Those who do not travel read only a page." - Augustine
LOVE Hotwire. We have gotten some amazing deals, and been able to stay in four star hotels we could never otherwise have stayed in. In NYC, we actually got the Westin Times Square for $149 (it was around $300 elsewhere) and got a free upgrade to a suite!!! We've also got the Drake in Chicago, The Chattanoogan in Tennessee, and literally dozens of other hotels that we've been very happy with. One time we were going to a wedding in Indianapolis and randomly ended up getting a room at the same hotel that the wedding was at - for less than half of the block price!
My rules of thumb:
-It works best in big cities
-You are safest with 3.5 and four star hotels
-Get a good education on the "zones" to make sure you are booking in the right part of the city.
-Sometimes there will be Tripadvisor ratings for individual hotels. If so, you are safe with anything having a 3.5 star Tripadvisor rating. If it has a 4.0 or 4.5 star Tripadvisor rating, I would even book a hotel with a three star Hotwire rating.
-If you have a special request (non-smoking, separate beds) call the hotel IMMEDIATELY after your booking goes through to request this. Although the hotel has no obligation, I have never had one not honored probably because a hotel using Hotwire is obviously not full for that night.
-Go in with a spirit of adventure. You know you're getting a three or four star hotel, how bad could it possibly be?
You may be interested in a companion site of sorts:
This site can often help you guess the hotel before you even bid on it, using amenities, star ratings, etc.
One last piece of advice I would give is not to look at Hotwire as a place to book the cheapest possible hotel, but a way to get more bang for your buck. For example, if you would normally be spending $150 to stay in a no-frills hotel in an undesirable location, on Hotwire you can turn that $150 into a four star resort hotel in the heart of the city!
Good luck, and please let me know how it works out.
I have used it twice in the past 3 months. Once for Chicago and the other for Indianapolis. I have had great luck with using Hotwire. As the previous poster said, use the betterbidding site. I used it both times to compare the hotel and it was the hotel each time. It really helped us in Chicago, because we were able to pick a hotel we like in an area we wanted. You can PM me if you have any other questions.
My husband uses betterbidding.com to narrow down what hotels we might be buying/looking at. He can almost always figure out where we might be staying before hand. Then you can read reviews and check maps. We have done it a few times. Always works out fine.
We stayed at the Intercontinental in New York and I LOVED it. So for our 10th Anniversary we were going to get a room here in New Orleans. I really wanted the Intercontinental here but it was 229.00 we booked through Hotwire and got a 4 star for 69.00 and we got the Intercontinental!!! It was Great. Also used it for my husbands birthday again staying in town book the same 4 start but this time it was 89.00 we got the Sheraton it was really nice too. As long and you are ok with anything with the star ranking in the area your good. And Goodluck
We stayed at the Intercontinental in New York and I LOVED it. So for our 10th Anniversary we were going to get a room here in New Orleans. I really wanted the Intercontinental here but it was 229.00 we booked through Hotwire and got a 4 star for 69.00 and we got the Intercontinental!!! It was Great. Also used it for my husbands birthday again staying in town book the same 4 start but this time it was 89.00 we got the Sheraton it was really nice too. As long and you are ok with anything with the star ranking in the area your good. And Goodluck
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so much for all the info. I'll be making my plans this weekend, so I'll go check out those sites. I'm also going to see if AAA has anything to offer. Either way, fingers crossed that I can get a good deal!
__________________
-Lisa
The World is a book. Those who do not travel read only a page." - Augustine
I realized I may not have been very clear. The site I mentioned is to use along with Hotwire. It just tells you what hotel Hotwire might be teling you they have for you. Kind of a way to peek before you buy so to speak. Sorry I was on my way out the door with the last post.
So after much investigating (THANKS, Chelledun17 for telling me about betterbidding.com!) and summoning of courage, I booked a 3.5 star hotel in the Times Square Theater District for $202/night, which turned out to be the Millenium Broadway! I'm VERY excited to have gotten a good deal on a hotel in the area I wanted. For comparison, on Hotels. com, they're listing the same hotel for $319/night and a room w/ two beds is more. I immediatedly called the hotel and requested 2 beds on our reservation (and I confirmed that would be no extra charge), so hopefully, they'll honor that request.
We also got tickets to see The Lion King for that Friday night. Neither of us has seen it before, so we're . Our NYC trip is coming together!!!
__________________
-Lisa
The World is a book. Those who do not travel read only a page." - Augustine
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Anyone have experience using Hotwire.com? UPDATE in POST #9
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UPDATE!!! Hotwire ROCKS!!!
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