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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 do EVERYTHING myself and just let poor Judi book it. So I can't help you much with your question. I have control issues but still like the security of using a TA. How many times have you called WDW and gotten different stories??? I'll let my TA freak out over that stuff and I will stick to the planning!!
I do EVERYTHING myself and just let poor Judi book it. So I can't help you much with your question. I have control issues but still like the security of using a TA. How many times have you called WDW and gotten different stories??? I'll let my TA freak out over that stuff and I will stick to the planning!!
Thanks Tracy! That's it in a nutshell - a TA is your best advocate We are here if something goes wrong, to answers questions, and to make sure you get the best price possible for your vacation.
I am ready at 6AM EST, 7 days a week to make reservations and ADRs for clients. Your time is valuable and I wait on the phone so you don't have to I am here while clients are traveling so if they have any questions or issues while on the trip I can take care of them immediately - no matter what day of the week or time of day. Clients do not have to call me to inform me about new offers - I know as soon as they are released and I'm on the phone getting them the discounts as applicable. Once applied, I email the client letting them know of their savings!
Some of us only deal with Disney destinations as well, so our focus is 100% Disney
I am a control freak and being a stay at home mom, I can research things myself. I LOVE planning. But I do like having a TA. I figure 2 heads are better than one and if I see something, I can ask her about it or she can tell me things. This past few wks we were able to book rooms only with a TA, and that is something I couldn't do on my own.
Having a TA doesn't mean you are doing things on your own. It means that you have a team of other people working with you to help create your holiday. And if something comes up while you are away, you can always call them and your TA and all their team, can help you find a solution.
Yeah, I would love to become a TA and my family thinks i should but, I haven't gone that route. I love planning.
I do EVERYTHING myself and just let poor Judi book it. So I can't help you much with your question. I have control issues but still like the security of using a TA. How many times have you called WDW and gotten different stories??? I'll let my TA freak out over that stuff and I will stick to the planning!!
I am right there with Tracy. I am a type-A personality so actually letting go of some of the control has been a big test for me. I did all the planning but wonderful Judi books for me and takes care of any changes etc. I have been so pleased with the result that I recommend her to all my friends considering Disney trips.
The best thing about it for me is the fact that I work 0600-1600 Mon-Fri...at the least. Judi is up and at em and on the phones when I can not be...and that is worth all my gratitude!
I know I have been probably more than a little trying in that I ask lots of questions and follow things closely. I have learned a great lesson in trust and patience. I really don't think there is much really to deter anyone from utilizing the TA of their choice.
Good questions! I usually tell people that the number one reason to use a Travel Agent is that time is money. Your time has value! So why spend YOUR time on the phone booking your reservation, making dining arrangements, adjusting or comparing your reservation every time a new promotion is released, adding room requests, etc. when a Travel Agent could be doing it for you! And those are all things that most good travel agents do.
Many travel agents (myself included) will get up early at your 180 mark to book your dining reservations, help you plan your itinerary, ensure that all your room requests and celebrations are noted. Monitoring your reservation to ensure that you are getting the best deal (my favorite e-mail to send is "Good Morning! While you were sleeping you saved $xxx thanks to a new promotion that Disney released today.") is a big one as hold times on the phone on days like the day Disney released the Free Dining promotion can be upwards of 30 minutes or more! Plus a good Travel Agent can suggest things to "plus up" your vacation that you may not even have been aware of.
What are the cons? A lot of that depends on what agent you book with. If you book with a Travel Agent, the Agent is the only one who can access your reservation. So even a minor change needs to go through them. Some people consider this a con as they have to e-mail their agent with the request and then wait for a response. But if you have an agent committed to responding to e-mail in a timely manner than this should not really be an issue. And if it is - you are with the wrong agent!
That said, some people truly enjoy the planning process and prefer to do it themselves. Of course, those people sometimes wind up becoming Travel Agents themselves!
I think that this all really depends on your personal preferences. I think that there are a lot of benefits to having the assistance of a TA. They have a lot of knowledge so especially for folks who haven't gone to WDW before, or who have no desire to do the research, TA's are invaluable! They are on the look out for deals and promos, they can do your dining reservations, the list goes on and on. I think some people also don't enjoy all of the details around booking their vacation, in which case TA's are also a great help.
For our trips, I haven't used a TA in the past just because I like doing it myself (I am our family TA, ha ha ha!) I think Disney has made the process easy for folks who have the desire to do it on their own, which is nice.
I'll admit, I'm a little jealous of Disney TAs because they get to talk about Disney trips all the time (although I'd probably also be jealous of all of the trips I helped booked but didn't get to go on too. )
I've done it both ways. It really does just boil down to how much work you want to do on your own and how much control you have over your reservations.
If my DH was to ever plan a trip somewhere (anywhere), he would need a TA to help him b/c he doesn't like having to read up on all the books that tell you what to do/not to do, etc. He also doesn't have time (or wouldn't want to use his free time) to sit on the computer or the phone to make all the various reservations that need to be made. So, for somebody like him, a TA would be great b/c they already know all the "to-do's" that have to be done and can just do it for him. They can also tell him things that he shouldn't miss out on, etc.
Now, for somebody like me, I enjoy reading up on all the travel books and figuring out what our family might like to do, where we might like to eat, etc. It's fun for me. I also have a lot more free time than DH does, though. So, when it's beneficial for me to use a TA is when I book a trip way out ahead of time. What I don't like to have to do is to be watching the internet or boards for a new promo that may come out that could lower our already booked vacation. In that case, I like having a TA watching for any new promos and have them call and see if they can get me a better deal, etc. That takes stress of me.
I just booked a last minute trip to WDW for my son and me for September. In that case, I did not ask a TA to help me b/c I knew that I was going to have more issues getting some of the things I was looking for, i.e the resort I wanted, the dining I wanted, etc. because of me booking so close to the date of the trip. I knew it was going to be easier to just do all the checking and re-checking myself, etc. than to have to be emailing back and forth with a TA. But, if DH was planning a last minute trip, he would still just use a TA and say "get me what you can get me" and not really worry about if he gets everything he was looking for.
The only "con" I can see in using a TA is that you don't have control over your reservation. So, if for some reason you decided you wanted to change something about your reservation, you'd have to email your TA and tell her what you wanted to change and then wait for them to email you back to see if they were able to make your change. So, if you're not a patient person or need to know something right away, then a TA might be considered a con.
I have had positive experiences both ways - I think it's just a preference.
I actually used to do everything myself. All the planning and all the booking, everything. But that has recently changed. Things have just gotten to the point where that's not possible anymore. I still do all the planning, along with my mom who travels with me, but we've turned the booking over to Tom at Mouse Unlimited. Neither my mom nor I have the time to sit on the phones to make payments or do bookings etc. We don't have jobs that will allow us to sit on the phone or the internet and book our dining so it's easier for us to send our ADR requests to Tom and have him do them for us.
Also we've just had him book us on our first ever Adventure by Disney to Egypt in 2012. All it took was an email and a few minutes on his website one night logging our credit card information and the next day our deposit was paid to Adventures by Disney.
We just don't have the time anymore but we still do all our own planning. Especially since we plan to do our trip in June 2011, a trip in Jan 2012 for the Marathon weekend and then off to Egypt with Adventures by Disney.
I haven't used a TA in awhile. Perhaps the few I've tried have not been very good ones. There have been a few times in the past when I've called for a price quote from TA's (AAA included) and then called Disney's direct reservations and gotten a better price on my own. Also, for awhile (not sure if it's still the practice anymore) there were surcharges on your airfare when booked through a TA. We mostly go to WDW and now are DVC members so it is easy for me to plan on my own and get exactly what I want. I would probably try going back to a TA though if I were going someplace new.
I've done both, used a WDW specialized TA, and sometimes book myself. When I use a WDW TA, they only book my resort. I prefer booking my flights, and ADRs.
There are things I like with each. If there are multiple discounts out, it's great to have the TA do the "Disney Math" to figure out which is the best promo for me! And to automatically apply it. It's been my experience that they know when a Promo is coming out a day or so before it comes out. And as Judi says, it's good to have an advocate incase there is a problem.
The thing I like about booking myself is that, well, I enjoy it, lol! And I like being able to pay on line in My Disney Vacation site. Of course, you can just send a quick e-mail to the TA asking her to make a payment too. I'm always on the boards, and monitor Mousesavers, getting their e mails, and the WDW site whether or not I have a TA! So I know when WDW puts out the Promos. Because I've been to WDW several times, I feel comfortable booking myself. My first few times visiting I did use a TA.
I'm one of those people who loves planning mine, and anyone elses WDW vacay if asked
The first time I did it all myself. I never checked back to see if there were special offers, so I think we may have past up either "Free Dining" or "40% of Hotel Stays". This time I went with a TA and I tell you, I will go this way every single time we go on a trip. We did get the "Free Dining" this time. Whooray for us. All of our ADR times we asked for, every single one is the exact time or very close to it. So I think having someone with the Experience in booking Trips with Disney is the very best way to go. You will be well taken care of.
I love my TA! I use her often and send people to her all the time. all i do is really book through her since she can monitor deals and savings i would never see or catch on to! so there can be savings there. she understand that I like to do my own itinerary planning and ADR. So she helps me out with them if I need anything or we both do it and see who gets the better times!
You dont have to feel like you are relinquishing any control if they are a good TA
I would use a TA in the future, but for right now, I like obsessively planning everything and tinkering with the reservation, getting up before dawn to do our ADRs at the 180 day mark, etc. I think they're amazing, and when the novelty of being a psycho planner wears off, I'd love to try one.
I would use a TA in the future, but for right now, I like obsessively planning everything and tinkering with the reservation, getting up before dawn to do our ADRs at the 180 day mark, etc. I think they're amazing, and when the novelty of being a psycho planner wears off, I'd love to try one.
psycho planner that pretty much covers most here incl. me!
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Self-Planning versus Travel Agent
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Pixie Dust
We are here if something goes wrong, to answers questions, and to make sure you get the best price possible for your vacation.
I am here while clients are traveling so if they have any questions or issues while on the trip I can take care of them immediately - no matter what day of the week or time of day. Clients do not have to call me to inform me about new offers - I know as soon as they are released and I'm on the phone getting them the discounts as applicable. Once applied, I email the client letting them know of their savings!
Danielle Harmon
! I use her often and send people to her all the time. all i do is really book through her since she can monitor deals and savings i would never see or catch on to! so there can be savings there. she understand that I like to do my own itinerary planning and ADR. So she helps me out with them if I need anything or we both do it and see who gets the better times! 
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