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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I want to plan a trip for my family....not sure if it will be this year or next, but how do you all find out about the deals that Disney are currently offering? For example the free dining and the gift card offers and such? And also do you plan your trips around that time to save money or do you just book your trip for when you want to go and then you just luck out if they run a promotion? Sorry so many questions, but I really want to make sure I get the most bang for my buck! Last year was a terrible year for us, and I would really like to be able to plan an amazing trip for my family. Any advice is appreciated! Thanks!!!
Disney trips are a great incentive for my family when we go through tough times...our next trip is for celebrating my husbands return from Afghanistan! It's a great distraction on the not-so-good days and gives us all something really fun and positive to look forward to. So, I think your reasoning is excellent!
I start out with a general timeline of when we'd like to go. It seems like free dining in the fall is almost always "guaranteed" (though, of course, not officially). Many people get special PIN code offers. I've gotten these, it seems, after I've built trips and saved them on the Disney website. (not purchase or reserve, just save them). Also, update your Disney profile regularly...there's a spot to include when you'd like to go on your next vacation.
It seems to me that by checking their website and the "special offers" sections regularly and checking these boards, I always hear about the promo's before they start airing the commercials on TV.
I know there are a few websites that specialize in publishing the discounts, but I've never used them.
Just be proactive and seek out the offers. I'm planning our third trip as a family and we have yet to pay full price (doubt we ever would). You might have to be a little bit flexible with your dates, but discounts have been plentiful the past 3 years.
You can go ahead and book your vacation if you have dates set in stone. From what I've heard, Disney is great at working with you to get new discounts applied to your reservation. If you do this, I would do it with the mentality of being prepared to pay full price and any discounts just being a "bonus."
I go to the Disney website and look at the special offers tab. It will have the current special offers and the dates for them. I also order my Disney planning DVD so that I can be on the mailing list and get special offers in my email.
I plan my vacations around money saving times. (Value Season) But luckily for us that is now the ONLY time we want to go. Not only is crowd levels down but we get great deals and we get to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.
I plan my trips for Value Season typically to get the most bank for my buck, then keep my fingers crossed for deals. For example, we just got back on Saturday from a week at the Boardwalk Inn. We planned for January to take advantage of lower crowd levels and price and were lucky enough to take advantage of the Buy 4, Get 3 Free deal. We often go in late September as well to take advantage of lower crowd levels and prices and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. And often we get Free Dining in the mix!
As a Disney Destinations Specialist I let my clients know as soon as a new Disney offer is released. If someone is already booked and a new deal is offered for their travel dates I call to have the discount applied to their reservations.
Many people also watch the Mousesavers and Disney websites.
Not being an "official" planner (), I tend to find out the latest promotions by subscribing to Disney-related newsletters, like PassPorter (of course! ), AllEars, and I, like Belle, check out Mousesavers.com.
And as far as when to go? Dince DH and I have APs and are now also DVC members, we aren't usually eligible for most promotions so we don't go by when they're offered. . .although it'd be nice!
Instead, we like to go when it's "cooler" and when there's something "else" going on at Disney, like Food & Wine Festival, MNSSHP or MVMCP. So we tend to go between October and December.
Reading some trip reports here on the boards may help you decide when you'd like to visit and may help you pinpoint a timeframe -- thus making it easier to track down a promotion that's available during that time (rather than trying to go through 3 different promotions and doing the math on savings, what are the dates, what's going on during that period, etc.) -- IMO.
Hi, I book earlier as possible as soon as I got the dates we want and can travel.
What I did (and worked): I booked in value season (try to look for mouse saver web site, they have plenty information) or regular season the room I could pay for if there is no promotions. Also included dining plan and tickets (we will end up spending money in food and tickets). After that I put every extra $ in disney trip, as well as any amount of money that I could save in order to PIF as soon as possible.
I follow posts and board, as well as the Disney web site for special promotions every month (same to airplane tickets). When (and if) a promotion for my time travel was released I just called them and applied. I use the extra money to upgrade our room and add extra
We booked through a TA and she did all the work for us! After we had already booked and started paying for our trip, our TA told us that we qualified for free dining and only had to pay the upgrade for the deluxe! She ended up saving us a few hundred dollars! I will totally use her again!