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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are going to be staying at the Hyatt MCO the night before our cruise. Do any of you take your luggage with you to the bus or do you always leave it in your room to be picked up?
They typically pick it up at your room. Sometimes they tell you to leave it just inside the door or just outside the door. When you check in at the front desk be sure to tell them you are using the Disney Cruise transfers. They will give you an letter with current procedures.
One of the Hyatt's "selling points" is successfully transferring their guests' luggage to the cruise line, so they do it well.
As stated, you will receive a letter on check-in explaining the procedure but you basically just leave your tagged bags just inside your room by 8:30 am (with an appropriate tip, of course ) and bell services takes care of them.
Our luggage was in our room after we returned from the sail-away party.
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I agree. . . luggage handling is one of the reasons we stay at the Hyatt. Just save your DCL luggage tags and put them on after you have retrieved your bags from luggage claim and have checked in at the Hyatt. Inform the Hyatt staff upon check-in that you are sailing with Disney and your luggage will magically be transported to the ship with the luggage tags attached.
Another good point is that typically you are given 2 tags per person. And we only check one bag per person but each have a carry-on bag. So, once we get to the Hyatt, the DCL tags go on some of our carry-on bags too so we have more free hands. Just remember to have all your travel documents, medications, etc. with you to take to the bus and the cruise terminal.
Have a great trip!
Which brings up another question: Does the luggage go on the bus that YOU are on, or do they let it pile up so they have a "full" compliment of luggage to go on a seperate bus/truck etc?? Which might leave hours after your bus does.
Note: Since we'll be at the Hyatt, plan is to get the earliest Cruise Line bus to get to the Port.
Which brings up another question: Does the luggage go on the bus that YOU are on, or do they let it pile up so they have a "full" compliment of luggage to go on a seperate bus/truck etc?? Which might leave hours after your bus does.
Note: Since we'll be at the Hyatt, plan is to get the earliest Cruise Line bus to get to the Port.
On my last cruise it went on a separate truck..which was being loaded right next to us as we boarded the bus.
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The baggage may actually beat your bus to the port. The bus drivers are required to go substantially slower than the speed limit. I doubt they require the same of the truck drivers. And when the luggage arrives at the terminal? It's been pre-loaded in special luggage carts, so they take them down the lift gate and roll them right to the x-ray machines. If bags are on the bus, a baggage handler would have to unload each bag, load it onto the cart, and wheel it into the terminal by hand.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
"Slightly" off topic BUT wondering where cruisers have been checking in recently for their cruises when staying at the Hyatt. Last time for us it was near the lobby area of Hyatt, but that was a number of years ago.
"Slightly" off topic BUT wondering where cruisers have been checking in recently for their cruises when staying at the Hyatt. Last time for us it was near the lobby area of Hyatt, but that was a number of years ago.
Now you go down to the airport lower level(like you are going on magical express). You check in at the DCL desk and they get you all checked in and you do not have to do anything once you get to the port.
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And when the luggage arrives at the terminal? It's been pre-loaded in special luggage carts, so they take them down the lift gate and roll them right to the x-ray machines. If bags are on the bus, a baggage handler would have to unload each bag, load it onto the cart, and wheel it into the terminal by hand.
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