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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Wonder if anyone could enlighten us please?
We are due to fly to Florida in June 2014, staying on site at Coronado Springs.
I understand the Magicbands have been introduced as a means of obtaining fastpasses etc. but I'm not sure where we stand as UK customers. I'm booked with Ocean Florida who offered dining and tickets as part of our package. Should we contact them about when we'll receive our Magic bands? Or is it something we'll receive when we arrive? Does this mean we can't use the fastpass system on our trip? (Assuming many will be gone if we try and get some upon arrive.) Furthermore, should we be entitled to the Magic Express? Transfers were included but they didn't specify which.
Just want to ensure I chase up so we don't miss out on anything.
Thanks in advance
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2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
It's impossible to say how Magic Bands and the Fastpass system will work by the time of your trip. So many changes have occurred since testing first began that what we would have been told six months before our stay wouldn't have begun to apply.
Currently, only U.S. residents can choose preferred colors, have individual names imprinted inside your party's bands and have the bands shipped to your residence. International guests pick up the generic grey bands at checkin at your Disney resort. They function as do the customized ones, but as of yet, you would simply get the old paper Fastpasses as usual. (U.S. residents also get the grey bands if they don't get their customizing done before the deadline, too.)
Except for the one Value--Mod??? not sure which it is that's currently testing Fastpasses linked to Magic Bands only.
Practically everything we tell you now could be done very differently by June, in short. I would simply check these boards regularly for updates and hope that Disney will have a satisfactory system in place by that far in the future.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-27-2013 at 03:34 PM..
Currently, only U.S. residents can choose preferred colors, have individual names imprinted inside your party's bands and have the bands shipped to your residence. International guests pick up the generic grey bands at checkin at your Disney resort. They function as do the customized ones, but as of yet, you would simply get the old paper Fastpasses as usual. (U.S. residents also get the grey bands if they don't get their customizing done before the deadline, too.)
Just to correct this - this is only partially true. You can't get the MagicBands shipped to you, as Disney don't ship them internationally, but we were able to pick the colours and get our names put on our bands, then we just picked them up at check-in. We're DVC Members, but I'm sure I read that others from the UK have been able to do this as well.
I'd speak to your travel agent as well to clarify the position, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to participate in this.
I'd speak to Ocean Florida - I know Virgin Holiday customers have been able to use Fastpasss+.
We're DVC members and are going in May. We'll have to pick up our bands at check-in as they don't ship internationally but we've been able to customise them.
We live in Canada, and are able to customize our bands, colours, names, etc. They just ship them to the resort instead of to our home. We get them from front desk at check in. As Cheryl explained.
Be sure to sign up for the My Disney Experience acct. this is where you will customize your bands.
Am I write in thinking I'll only get the bands when the travel company has brought the tickets? I'll give them an email on Monday.
I'm not too concerned about personalisation, just more the case of being able to use the Fast Pass system. If the paper tickets are still available I'd happily use those.
I find it so confusing as I can't seem to book anything since I don't have the details for my Disney tickets (first time I have stayed on site so they are normally brought directly with WDW online). Not sure when the travel agent will purchase the tickets for our trip; I must chase them up.
__________________
2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
I would be concerned about the personalisation aspect if I were you, as each person's band is linked to a fingerprint and will not work if you get them mixed up! Also, it would appear that DVC members from the UK can personalise their bands, but not regular UK visitors, therefore you would receive grey, unpersonalised bands upon arrival at the resort. You will not be able to do online check in, either. (I asked Disney on the phone about this and was told we could not do this).
Even if you create an account on My Disney Experience, until you have the physical tickets in your hand, you will be unable to link your tickets to your account - a ticket voucher or booking reference number from your booking agent will not work.
This was our experience from November this year.
Having said all this, the system is still being tested, and as others have said, it all may have changed by the time you go!
Good luck, and have a great trip.
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Do you have My Disney Experience? All planning, is now done thur this acct. you will be able to see your hotel reservations, tickets, order MBs, make your ride FPs, dining reservations, etc.
So first step would be to set up an acct for My Disney Experience. Then contact the TA to see if they've got your tickets, etc.
When we book thru a TA my reservations show up on MDE. You may have to call or email Disney IT to help.
We are in Canada, and I use a TA who specializes in WDW vacations who is in the US. She books directly with WDW, so have never had a problem.
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I would be concerned about the personalisation aspect if I were you, as each person's band is linked to a fingerprint and will not work if you get them mixed up! Also, it would appear that DVC members from the UK can personalise their bands, but not regular UK visitors, therefore you would receive grey, unpersonalised bands upon arrival at the resort. You will not be able to do online check in, either. (I asked Disney on the phone about this and was told we could not do this).
Even if you create an account on My Disney Experience, until you have the physical tickets in your hand, you will be unable to link your tickets to your account - a ticket voucher or booking reference number from your booking agent will not work.
This was our experience from November this year.
Having said all this, the system is still being tested, and as others have said, it all may have changed by the time you go!
Good luck, and have a great trip.
Thanks
Well it is only my partner and I travelling and we'll just have to make sure we don't get them mixed up. We aren't DVC members but have paid nearly £4000 for the trip, so there isn't much we can do if they aren't offering personalised bands to UK customers.
Can I ask, what is it on the tickets that I need to link? There must be some sort of reference/barcode that I can get from the travel agent when they receive them?
I am going to contact them today, I have never completed an online check in before tbh.
Ocean Florida do specialise on WDW to a certain extent from what I can gather. They certainly seem knowledgeable when I booked it.
__________________
2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
Can I ask, what is it on the tickets that I need to link? There must be some sort of reference/barcode that I can get from the travel agent when they receive them?
The ID code on the back of the ticket.
__________________
Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Do you have My Disney Experience? All planning, is now done thur this acct. you will be able to see your hotel reservations, tickets, order MBs, make your ride FPs, dining reservations, etc.
So first step would be to set up an acct for My Disney Experience. Then contact the TA to see if they've got your tickets, etc.
When we book thru a TA my reservations show up on MDE. You may have to call or email Disney IT to help.
We are in Canada, and I use a TA who specializes in WDW vacations who is in the US. She books directly with WDW, so have never had a problem.
Thanks- ill contact them today. This TA does tend to specialise in WDW and Florida holidays so I'm hoping they can throw some light. We don't book advanced dining reservations as we have the QS dining plan so it's only since the introduction of the Magic Bands it has become an issue for us booking FP reservations (we do like to use them a lot in the parks).
__________________
2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
Thank you! I have a suspicion they buy their tickets in bulk and won't have got them for June customers yet. I'll find out though! Normally I buy through WDW direct and their tickets only arrive about 4/6 weeks before our travel.
__________________
2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
For the stay,play, dine promo I booked for January trip I had to buy 2 day tickets, we have Annual Pass, but tickets were mandatory for package deal. Tickets weren't sent, they went directly into the My Disney Experience acct.
This new system sure is making planning more complicated.
For the stay,play, dine promo I booked for January trip I had to buy 2 day tickets, we have Annual Pass, but tickets were mandatory for package deal. Tickets weren't sent, they went directly into the My Disney Experience acct.
This new system sure is making planning more complicated.
Absolutely! Especially as I don't want to spend excessive amounts on phone calls to the US if I can help it.
Wish it was slightly more straight forward.
__________________
2011- Hilton Bonnet Creek - engagement
2012- Holiday Inn
2013- Disneyland Paris with friends
2014- Coronado Springs
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I wanted blue, byt DGF did too, so I did the chivalrous thing, and deferred to her wishes. 
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