Recruiting Fans for PassPorter Street Teams! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
PassPorter is looking for fans for our new "PassPorter Street Teams" -- would you be interested in volunteering?
How It Works: You help us spread the word about PassPorter in your hometown and we reward you with PassPorter goodies! Spreading the word means doing things like placing postcards and bulletin board notices in your community, giving postcards and pass-alongs to community members (i.e., folks at school, church, work, etc.), contacting your local library to donate an older edition, visiting your local bookstores to see if the owner/manager carries the book (and request it if they do not), facing out books on a bookstore shelf, posting to your community blogs/message boards online about PassPorter when appropriate, etc.
Who Can Volunteer: Anyone with a passion for PassPorter! For our pilot program, we're looking for a couple of dozen volunteers to begin with, and then we'll expand from there.
What Do You Get: Volunteers will get PassPorter items to distribute (postcards, bulletin board notices, magnets, pass-alongs, and older versions to donate). Any volunteer who reports their efforts to us also gets PassPorter gift certificates, complimentary copies of upcoming releases, access to the PassPorter's Club, special designation here in the PassPorter Community -- what you get depends on your level of participation. A special forum will be created to brag about your efforts and accomplishments in your community!
How Do I Apply? Reply to this thread by midnight ET on Friday, January 15 and tell me why you're passionate about PassPorter, why you'd like to help spread the word, any ideas you may have for doing so in your community, and your community/town/city. Citing examples of how you might have already spread the word in your community is helpful, too! I will choose the first volunteers for our Street Team about one week later.
Update (January 15): Wow, more than 125 readers have applied for our the PassPorter Street Team! As I didn't expect nearly such a large response, I will be holding "tryouts" to help me select our first team members -- everyone who responds to this thread by midnight tonight will be receiving additional directions via PM (private message) on how to tryout beginning tomorrow (Saturday). It's gonna be fun!
I would love to do this, I think the passporter is the most fantastic guide book that there is, however not only would I like to raise your awareness to my local home community, Newhaven, East sussex,UK. and to my worl colleugues, which I do now anyway.
But I would like to spread the word of your guide as I do now anyway on 'the dibb' a british disney online forum. Which would mean reaching a disney community all over the UK.
When I find out someone is going to WDW...the first thing out of my mouth is to recommend these boards and the PassPorter book. Over the last year alone I've been responsible for about 10 - 15 book sales (other than me!). My friends and coworkers know where to come for WDW info and my local mom's group (about 100+ families) routinely comes to me to help them plan their trips so it is easy for me to share the love of my favorite WDW planning book!
I routinely look for the books at our local bookstores (complaining when I don't find any on the shelf) and when I found out our local library didn't have any, I recommended them as a must have (although they still don't have one on the shelf).
I would be honored to officially become part of the "team" and have even more opportunities to promote PassPorter!
I spread the word already! I am a huge fan and buy every edition. My daughter keeps them as souvies. I would love to be in this pilot program because I'm really involved at my daughters school and there are a huge group of us that are Disney fans. Some are DVC members, others just passionate fans.Pleaase Please, Please pick me!!!!!
I would also love to do this. I have just ordered and quickly received three copies of the 2010 Passporter for an up coming trip. One for me and one for my SIL and Mom.
I often tell my friends and family that this is the only WDW guide book I need. My DH laughs at me rearranging the shelf at the local bookstore so that the Passporter is easier to see.
I am the go to person at work for any WDW questions, having cards to give would be very helpful. I am in Cleveland, Ohio
__________________
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Last edited by Hugmonster; 01-07-2010 at 11:30 AM..
This is such a good idea. I've belonged to a street team for a band, and it really puts the word out.
I've grown very fond of the Passporter boards. I don't post as much as I would like, but reading the boards is a favorite pass-time. (Posting from my phone is a bit difficult, but reading is easy!) The people in this community are some of the nicest I've ever encountered. I would love to be able to do MORE while not being able to post much. I would love to give back to a community that has provided me with wonderful support. Without the Passporter boards I wouldn't have met any of the super nice people here and would never have gotten some much needed support.
I also love the stuff I get from Passporter. I am constantly going through my editions whether I am going to Disney or not, and look forward to a new edition each year. I also love my Passporter Pouch- it was really handy for when we went to WDW this past year. My edition gets passed on to friends and family (after I get to read it first!) constantly. I also won't let others look at it until I'm finished.
I would love to apply for my area. I live in Rochester, NH and work in Northwood, NH. I've already donated past editions of my Passporters to libraries in both areas (Rochester and Northwood currently have my old editions), but could easily pass them on to other libraries in the state. As a librarian I can easily find out which towns would love a copy and send it their way without having to mail the books. Each library here is connected through Inter-Library Loan and we easily transport materials.
I also have plans to move soon and can provide whatever town I move to with materials. As a librarian I have contacts with the departments that provide materials, like the postcards and informational materials, to the public. Many libraries also have distribution centers for these kinds of things as well (an idea for others as well!) and I could easily get them there. Posters and handouts at the post office, gas stations, grocery store, and other community locations are also a possibility.
I also think that being part of a Passporter Street Team would be fun.
__________________
I am The Muffin Queen, Do Not Question My Fluffy Golden-Brown Authority!
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.
Hey there PassPorter! Chiming in from the West Coast. Guests from out here really, really, really need & seek out info about the parks - especially about WDW. I usually hand them past copies with a request that they return them after they buy the newest edition. A dozen loan outs & at least a dozen books purchased so far.
In the last 13 months, I've been to Disneyland on 8 different trips & have winged my way back to WDW 5 times. In fact, I was delighted to have been carrying APs for both coasts in my wallet. A personal goal was to be in both resorts on one calendar day, however funky weather in Atlanta kept me from getting into DLR by just 15 minutes. One day I hope to achieve it!! During these visits I've attended MouseFest 08, D23 Expo, helped out in the D23 info booth during Gay Days in DLR, competed in MousePlanet's MouseAdventures in both DLR & WDW, walked the CHOC Walk with the MousePlanet Team, attended a couple of meets with the folks on the Mice Chat boards, as well as eagerly participated in the WDW & DLR events for PassPorter's Decade of Dreams.
I am proud to say that I was an Opening Cast Member for the Eugene, OR Disney Store (now sadly closed) & that my friends still steer their friends to me for the latest skinny on "all that is Disney." My store's former CMs still meet from time to time & we have a group on Facebook to keep in contact. I'm sure that enlisting their help about various places & schools to hand out info would be a piece of cake. We like spreading the magic.
I noticed another comment about "facing" product. I too find myself facing stuff. Hard habit to break, so why start now?? Making the rounds to bookstores... not a problem.
Good luck with this project. It sounds great. To participate would be wonderful, however I'll talk up PassPorter just as much as I always have - all the time! Thanks for the opportunity. Christina
I have loved my PassPorter since I got my deluxe edition for my January 2004 trip! I still keep all of my important documents in the deluxe binder and only order refills for the new year (in fact, I was about to order this year's refill when I saw this on Facebook).
Ironically, I had my teeth cleaned yesterday and my dental hygienist started asking me for help with a Disney trip. My first response was, "Passporter!!!" (I also sent her a multi-page email with tips, links, recommendations, etc....I hope I haven't frightened her!)
I don't know if I would be as good at spreading the news as all of the other entrants, but I would like to try.
I do like to steer everyone to Jennifer's and Dave's www.PassPorter.com website and books and forums.
And I like to hand out free PassPorter WDW and DCL books.
Good luck everyone.
Ray
__________________
<font color="blue">ºoº Guess who this Santa's helper is? We take pictures of all the premies for Christmas/holiday cards for mom and dad to be put at bedside as a surprise on Christmas morning. These two little guys kept taking turns pulling my beard...lol. ºoº </font>
What a fanatastic idea! Thank you for the opportunity to be considered.
My Story:
I am passionate about Passporter because I actually use it. I not only use it to plan my vacation, but I can actually sit down with it and picture myself touring the different resorts and theme parks without even leaving my chair. I'd like to spread the word to my fellow Disney fans who have not had the privilege of owning/using Passporter for their trips because I know there are many that can definitely benefit. And not just the regular guide, but the other ones that are available. I have been singing Passporter's praises since I bought my first one in 2007 and I have already convinced a few friends to go out and get one, so I know that word of mouth really works. Amongst friends and family, I am known as the go to Disney expert. Since I've been more times than most in my circle, they know that I keep up to date with the changes, new rides, new resorts, etc. I can't even begin to count off how many people I've helped over the years when planning vacations. I could probably talk Disney all day and night! I know there are still lots and lots of Disney fans that are out there that have never really looked into planning their trip beyond calling a travel agent. I've done it myself and I've vowed, NEVER AGAIN!
My suggestion for helping to spread the word would be to start with my daughter's school and/or son's daycare. School aged children are some of the most likely to go to Disney (along with their parents) so my idea would be to maybe use a few copies as a raffle prize during a school/community function. I'd set up my own table with a few copies on display & also have the raffle sign up going on. My hope is to be able to explain the usefulness of having an all inclusive guide to turn to with any kind of question while also displaying copies of the maps, resort photos, etc as a backdrop.
I may have gotten off track, but I would love to be a volunteer and make more of my friends, family and community members aware of just how useful and essential Passporter can be when planning their next Disney vacation.
What a great idea! Why am I passionate about Passporter? The book and website hold all my Disney dreams. The book with the wonderful photos (of people I know!) and the wealth of information presented like no other guide book and the websites wonderful community of Disney friends who are so kind and helpful. I have been reading Passporter and part of the message boards since July 2005. I already spread the word about Passporter to anyone who will listen! I have spoken to a mom's group about Disney and of course, I talked about the only guide book you need for Disney, Passporter!
Last night, I was pouring over my new 2010 Passporter, seeing you and your family and the people I know from the message boards in the photos and thought to myself - I want to be apart of this book. Today, I see your post.
I will love helping spread the Passporter name! I live in Huntsville, Alabama.
Thank you for your consideration,
Danielle
__________________
WDW Oct . 2012
Since Minnie's chair is gone, I had to find a new place to have our photo taken this past Oct. Not sure this will be the permanent place.
I would Love to be part of the PassPorter Street Team! I already tell anyone & everyone I know all about my favorite Disney Planner & Guide!!! (as well as the AWESOME online community that we have here on the boards.
Hello from the charming town of Camas, WA. If you're looking for us on the map, find Portland, OR; go north across the river to Vancouver, and veer slightly to the right! This is a very Disney oriented town. Our High School marching band goes to Disneyland every other year, many of our neighbors go two and three times a year, one of the local dance studios is planning a trip to WDW this summer, and the community at large views it as an easy destination.
I have often told people how much more we get out of our trips because of the Passporter. I discovered it when we went to WDW the first time and couldn't believe how smoothly our trip went. My first step would be to market directly to those community groups that are planning trips (cheer teams, dance troupes, High Schools, etc.). Some of those families may be making the trip for the first time and need the extra help that the Passporter can give. We also have several community boards in grocery stores and coffee shops that get a lot of attention. We have two major bookstores in Vancouver, one of which carries SOME Passporter books, but not all (and not current). I also wonder if AAA would stock the books if approached.
We love Disney travel and are planning a trip to one of the two parks in August (we haven't decided yet which one). Once we have firm plans, the first thing I intend to do is pick up my Passporter and start filling the pockets with Disney dollars, reservations, and notes! I trull believe that more people would use the Passporters if they knew how helpful they can be.
Well I do love Passporter. Like others have said I am the 'go to' person for Disney trips in our circle of friends/co-workers. I buy the spiral edition so I can loan out last year' edition while greedily holding on to this year's edition! I do believe it is the best thing out there for planning a Disney trip. Not only is it a great planning tool it is a great keepsake as well! It goes with me anytime I might have to wait for something.(dr's office, school event, dance class) and almost always starts a conversation. I would love to have access to magnets or something to hand out.
I live in Grove City, Pa(About 1hr north of Pittsburgh) and we have been using PP since winter of 2001! WOW! I can't believe it has been that long!?!?! I can't even imagine how much better our trips have been with this 1 book.
I have a couple of friends that are DVC members who had never heard of Passporter until I showed it to them at dance last night. They were amazed at the wealth of information.
Well of course I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do this! I already spread the word, but would love to spread it even more!! I help friends plan trips, etc and regularly have my passporter with me at work and show it off. I've shown it off on airplanes on my way to DW, too! I also could post about it on my facebook page! That would be fun! Oh gosh, what fun it would be to share my fun with even more people! Pick me, pick me!!!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Thanks for the opportunity. Christina
Disney - 9.2012
Hybrid Mode
