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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was changing (again) our ressie....as we now invited and therefore included our niece - now it will be 4 people traveling together: 2 adults (me, DH) and 2 children ( DD and Dniece) - we decided to downgrade our stateroom.
We'd previously a Verandah stateroom cat 4C at Disney Fantasy. We'd our stateroom number assigned and its location (midship). After including our niece it made sense to downgrade a bit, once there will be other expense to take in account for. So we moved our ressie to a 8C (Family Ocean View) still get the view but no verandah for us this time
But there was no option for choosing the stateroom number at the website. We got a # GTY. We checked 8C and it is at either deck 7 or 8, and it is a large room that can accommodate 4 persons. I tried to call but they informed me that if I want to choose the stateroom I'd need to return to a Verandah cat.
Will we know our stateroom only at check in? What the risk of following up with a GTY ressie? If it is risky I'll pay the extra 700$ and return to my previous choice. But, money wise,this amount will help us to deal with the extras involved in adding another child.
The GTY means it's a "guarantee stateroom" - they guarantee that you'll get a stateroom that's at least an 8C but they can't tell you at this time exactly which room that will be. I've seen the stateroom numbers assigned well before the final payment date or sometimes not until closer to sailing. I've also had cruisers that were actually assigned a higher category than what they've booked - so you may actually get a verandah stateroom but there's no way to know for sure until they assign your stateroom. The Disney system usually still shows the category you've booked so when they assign your stateroom you'll be able to check the deck plan to see what category the assigned room would normally be.
If the location of the stateroom (mid-ship, near an elevator, etc) is really important to you, you'll have to decide whether you're willing to pay that extra price to be able to choose your location. With the GTY, you may get a higher category but it may be all the way forward or aft.
The GTY means it's a "guarantee stateroom" - they guarantee that you'll get a stateroom that's at least an 8C but they can't tell you at this time exactly which room that will be. I've seen the stateroom numbers assigned well before the final payment date or sometimes not until closer to sailing. I've also had cruisers that were actually assigned a higher category than what they've booked - so you may actually get a verandah stateroom but there's no way to know for sure until they assign your stateroom. The Disney system usually still shows the category you've booked so when they assign your stateroom you'll be able to check the deck plan to see what category the assigned room would normally be.
If the location of the stateroom (mid-ship, near an elevator, etc) is really important to you, you'll have to decide whether you're willing to pay that extra price to be able to choose your location. With the GTY, you may get a higher category but it may be all the way forward or aft.
Thanks!!! I think I'll take a chance....I was worried about not knowing at all before arriving in the port. We prefer midship, but we've also had staterooms locate in other positions - not sure if it was Aft or Forward and they're very good.
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The GTY means it's a "guarantee stateroom" - they guarantee that you'll get a stateroom that's at least an 8C but they can't tell you at this time exactly which room that will be. I've seen the stateroom numbers assigned well before the final payment date or sometimes not until closer to sailing. I've also had cruisers that were actually assigned a higher category than what they've booked - so you may actually get a verandah stateroom but there's no way to know for sure until they assign your stateroom. The Disney system usually still shows the category you've booked so when they assign your stateroom you'll be able to check the deck plan to see what category the assigned room would normally be.
If the location of the stateroom (mid-ship, near an elevator, etc) is really important to you, you'll have to decide whether you're willing to pay that extra price to be able to choose your location. With the GTY, you may get a higher category but it may be all the way forward or aft.
Keri, my SIL may be joining us on our cruise on to the Bahams oh Feb 17th. May I refer her to you?
We booked our cruise while still on our last one and got $100 onboard credit and a very good rate, so we will keep our reservations as they are.
BTW...I also booked GTY (1st time...normally I choose our room). I like the category we picked (5C), but also heard of a few friends that they got upgraded. If it happens it will be a nice surprise.
We had an inside cabin booked on the Sept 12 NYC/Canada cruise. It's for our 20th anniversary, just DH and I. We've cruised with DCL before and knew we wouldn't mind an inside cabin. Then a couple weeks ago I noticed GTY cabins available on the earlier Sept cruises. I called MrsM (our TA Keri) and we canceled our inside cabin and waited a few days for the GTY cabins to open up. We were able to get a Veranda GTY for $100 less than the inside stateroom we had previously booked!
We had an inside cabin booked on the Sept 12 NYC/Canada cruise. It's for our 20th anniversary, just DH and I. We've cruised with DCL before and knew we wouldn't mind an inside cabin. Then a couple weeks ago I noticed GTY cabins available on the earlier Sept cruises. I called MrsM (our TA Keri) and we canceled our inside cabin and waited a few days for the GTY cabins to open up. We were able to get a Veranda GTY for $100 less than the inside stateroom we had previously booked!
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NYC-Canada Cruise Sept 2012
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