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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My husband and I have AP's that will need to be activated when we get to WDW, and my daughters have MYW tickets that I ordered to pick up at Will Call.
Everything is linked to My Disney Experience already, how does Will Call work with the magic bands? Do we just go through the regular "turnstiles" to activate my daughters' tickets or is there a Will Call window at the park? I believe we still have to go to Guest Relations to activate our AP's.
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Neither Magic Bands nor My Disney Experience change a thing about redeeming an annual pass voucher. You will still need to go to Guest Relations or a Ticket Sales window at the parks or Downtown Disney to trade in your voucher and get your AP.
Having to show up in person to redeem an AP voucher has always been because of the ID issue. With APs, you have to sign the physical pass and present ID, which locks the pass to you and only you in a much more secure method than the biometrics that are used on all tickets. I suspect that Disney treats the APs this way because Passholders are eligible for fairly steep discounts on room packages, so Disney wants to be more stringent on the ID requirements for Passholders right from the day of issue.
This post I made in another thread may help you to understand the redemption process:
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillCAD
It may help you to think of it this way: There is no such thing as an "inactive" or "not activated" Annual Pass. An Annual Pass is active from the moment it is issued (NOT the first time you use it, that rule applies only to regular Magic Your Way passes).
What you get when you pre-purchase, either online or at the Disney Store, is a voucher. A voucher is not an Annual Pass. It's not a pass at all. It's simply a placeholder, a stub, a receipt, a coupon. It shows that you have paid for an Annual Pass, but you haven't actually received your Annual Pass yet.
When you arrive at WDW, you surrender that voucher, and only then are you issued your Annual Pass.
Since you've already forked over your money, however, Disney figures that as someone holding a voucher, you qualify for certain perks, so they number each voucher. The number on the voucher can be used as proof that you're a voucher holder who is entitled to book rooms, packages, and tours with a Passholder discount, and since the Disney Tech Revolution of 2013-2014, voucher holders are also eligible to make 60-day advance FastPass selections if they also hold an on-site room reservation, or 30-day advance FastPass selections if they don't have an on-site reservation.
Nothing that you do with your voucher number will "activate" your Annual Pass, because the voucher is not a pass. You don't get a pass until you surrender your voucher. The ONLY way for that 365-day clock to start is to surrender your voucher and receive an actual Annual Pass. The clocks on those puppies start ticking the day they are issued.
Thanks Will, I do understand about AP's so I'm sure it seems like why am I asking about the MYW tickets since we have to go to guest relations anyway, right?! I was just curious what it is we're "picking up" at will call since the tickets are electronically linked to the girls' magic bands already.
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Thanks Will, I do understand about AP's so I'm sure it seems like why am I asking about the MYW tickets since we have to go to guest relations anyway, right?! I was just curious what it is we're "picking up" at will call since the tickets are electronically linked to the girls' magic bands already.
Sorry Nicole, I thought you were only asking about the APs.
Disney still issues a Tyvek or plastic card for each MYW ticket. Originally, this was simply as a backup during the testing and introductory phases of Magic Bands, and of course not everyone actually HAS a Magic Band, since they have only been available to off-site Guests for a month and they cost $12.99 each.
Technically speaking, I don't think you actually need to pick up a physical card for your DD's ticket, since you have the number and it's already linked to her Magic Band. But I can't say for certain yet, I'll have to ask around a bit.
Okay, I went to the MDX web site and spoke with a CM using the live chat feature. She said that, since you have your tickets already linked to your MDX account and Magic Bands, you won't need to pick up a physical ticket when you arrive. She did recommend picking them up anyway, as a backup, but frankly I don't see the need.
I do recommend that you record the numbers of your tickets, including your AP vouchers, either on your phone or on paper, and carry it with you to WDW. If you have a problem with tickets or Magic Bands, the ticket numbers are the most important things to have. It may also be helpful to have the confirmation numbers of the purchases. This way, if they can't find your tickets in the system, they may be able to find the transaction which proves you bought them, and issue replacements. Essentially, it's like carrying a digital receipt with you.
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Wow thanks so much for the help, I really appreciate it! I'll be sure to bring our receipts, and I did take a photo of our AP's already. Since we have to stop at guest relations anyway, I'll probably pick up the MYW tickets anyway as a backup, but I agree with you that it's probably not really necessary.
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