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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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About us: DW and I are in our 50’s and DVC members since Feb 2013. Our first trip to WDW was over New Years 2012-13, incl MVMCP, when our DS and DDIL (who are DVC members) planned a family vacation. After becoming members ourselves, we have travelled to WDW in Dec 2013, Mar 2014 (for Flower & Garden) and just returned from an Oct 2014 (for MNSSHP) with all stays at BLT. We had planned our stays with ADRs at 180 days, FP+ at 60 days and some trips we used a Dining Plan some not. As our 30th anniversary is next year (Apr 2015), we wanted to do something extra special. We thought about a trip to Aulani but, in the end, we decided on a Disney cruise combined with resort stays before and after the cruise.
In order to maximize our remaining points and try some of the other resorts, we have booked a five night stay at BWV followed by a seven night eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Fantasy followed by another five night stay at OKW, all taking place from 12-29 Jan 2015.
This will be our first cruise, ever, and planning is pretty much done. At our 75 day to go mark, we booked a dinner and a brunch at Palo and our shore excursions in St. Maarten, San Juan and Castaway Cay.
So, that brings us to our plan for the resort stays. Our plan is to not plan.
Since becoming DVC members (and a member of this forum), I have seen/read comments complaining about the amount of advance planning/booking involved. “How do I know what rides I am going to want to go on” or “How do I know where I am going to want to eat?” Really? A couple of times I have pointed out that you don’t HAVE to make ADRs or FP+ selections… You can eat at QS and go Standby. “But, I REALLY want to eat there” or “I’m not going to wait for an hour, that’s crazy!!” OK, so what I’m hearing is that you don’t want to make a decision until you get onsite and then, when you make that decision, you want everyone else to get out of your way!
This brings me to our trip. DW and I are going to try an experiment. We haven’t planned which park to visit; we have not advanced planned or reserved dining (with the exception of the Hoop-de-Doo Revue because we really want to do that); we are not going to book FP+ at 60 days. What we are going to do is play the bus stop lottery to choose our park for the day. When we reach the park we will check with MDE and see what is available, at that time, for dining and FPs. I will take notes and let you all know what was available and what we are able to do with minimum/no advanced bookings.
Good luck. I'll be interested to hear how your experiment goes.
As for us, when we only get to go about every 3 years, we need to plan because I don't want to take the chance of not getting to do something we really want to do.
Congratulations on your decision! I think this is a wonderful way to go for you. Sounds like you will visit regularly and there is no "crisis" in not doing any certain special thing.
Although I am definitely guilty of saying "I won't get in a line with a posted wait of over 25 minutes", recently I did get in a posted 70 minute wait at SDMT. For the actual 40 minutes I was in line, I blithely chatted with everyone in line, even when they weren't interested, and was doing exactly what I wanted to do for then entire 40 minutes. I think line time can be quality time, especially when it means you can feel free and unincumbered by schedules and appointments.
Although I wouldn't suggest this strategy for a once-in-a-lifetime trip or wiht a larger group, I think you are actually setting yourself up for a surprising and wonderful Disney adventure.
"Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light get's in."
Leonard Cohen
Keeping yourself freed up means more opportunity for magic.
I love your plan to not plan!! That's the way I used to go all the time. Now I FP the big ones and then go with the flow. It will be interesting to hear how it works out for you.
Count me in as another who is interested in this. I actually think it can/will work just fine as long as you are both in on the idea, and are mellow enough to go with the flow.
Serendipity rules. I love it! On my first trip I played bus stop lottery, mostly because I couldn't make decisions. I think you'll have a blast, and it's fun knowing you've got suprises coming.
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
This seems like a perfect fit for you two. You visit frequently so there is always next time. You don't have to worry about little ones being disappointed. It is also nice that you will be at the parks then have a wonderful break on the cruise then come back to the parks for another try. I would suggest you try to some of the off-the-beaten path stuff and resort hopping. We had a blast taking boats and the monorail to several resorts and just taking it all in - a little shopping, people watching, snacking, etc. There are some advantages for us "middle-agers".
i have never clicked on a thread as quickly as i clicked on this one. ever. i was like 'NOOOOOOOO!!!! DON'T DO IT!'
however...
you clearly have the right attitude. you seem to be ok with not doing everything (or anything in particular). that does change things. also, counter service will have to happen. my main 'NOOOOOO!' reaction came from trying to eat at TS locations without an ADR on my last trip (last week). honestly, my day is not ruined if i can't ride X, Y, or Z (or even X, Y, and Z). my day is ruined if i can't eat. ;-)
also: i love your plan. five days, then a cruise, then five more days? niiiiiice!
also also: loved san juan! and i didn't plan anything there for my one port day. and it was lovely.
please please please report back. and happy anniversary in advance!
Good luck. I'll be interested to hear how your experiment goes.
As for us, when we only get to go about every 3 years, we need to plan because I don't want to take the chance of not getting to do something we really want to do.
Yes, a big part of this is our frequent visits that have cultivated a healthy "meh, next time" attitude!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I'll be interested to hear how the experiment goes too. with it. I hope it works out for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Good luck with your plan of no planning! Interested to know how it goes.
Thanks for the Wishes, I will def follow up with a trip report and let you all know how it went.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Congratulations on your decision! I think this is a wonderful way to go for you. Sounds like you will visit regularly and there is no "crisis" in not doing any certain special thing.
Although I am definitely guilty of saying "I won't get in a line with a posted wait of over 25 minutes", recently I did get in a posted 70 minute wait at SDMT. For the actual 40 minutes I was in line, I blithely chatted with everyone in line, even when they weren't interested, and was doing exactly what I wanted to do for then entire 40 minutes. I think line time can be quality time, especially when it means you can feel free and unincumbered by schedules and appointments.
Yes, we thought that might be fun to experience some of the queues and check out their interactivity, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pris
I love your plan to not plan!! That's the way I used to go all the time. Now I FP the big ones and then go with the flow. It will be interesting to hear how it works out for you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HollyH
Can't wait to see how this works for you. Good luck
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
Count me in as another who is interested in this. I actually think it can/will work just fine as long as you are both in on the idea, and are mellow enough to go with the flow.
Yes, it was curiosity that led us down this path - "How do know how bad it is to not plan if we don't try it?"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lumieregirl
Serendipity rules. I love it! On my first trip I played bus stop lottery, mostly because I couldn't make decisions. I think you'll have a blast, and it's fun knowing you've got suprises coming.
We have never played the bus stop lottery before. In the past, we would pick the park (or DTD) for the day and then pick ADRs and FPs based on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcneal
This seems like a perfect fit for you two. You visit frequently so there is always next time. You don't have to worry about little ones being disappointed. It is also nice that you will be at the parks then have a wonderful break on the cruise then come back to the parks for another try. I would suggest you try to some of the off-the-beaten path stuff and resort hopping. We had a blast taking boats and the monorail to several resorts and just taking it all in - a little shopping, people watching, snacking, etc. There are some advantages for us "middle-agers".
You pretty much nailed it! We did a little resort visiting during our Spring (Flower & Garden visit) and was really impressed with BWV and OKW during our visit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuzieBC
I used to be a planning Nazi when my kids were small, but after 33 years of visiting WDW, we now know it is fun to wing it too!
Yeah, it being just the two of us has its advantages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elbodans
i have never clicked on a thread as quickly as i clicked on this one. ever. i was like 'NOOOOOOOO!!!! DON'T DO IT!'
however...
you clearly have the right attitude. you seem to be ok with not doing everything (or anything in particular). that does change things. also, counter service will have to happen. my main 'NOOOOOO!' reaction came from trying to eat at TS locations without an ADR on my last trip (last week). honestly, my day is not ruined if i can't ride X, Y, or Z (or even X, Y, and Z). my day is ruined if i can't eat. ;-)
also: i love your plan. five days, then a cruise, then five more days? niiiiiice!
also also: loved san juan! and i didn't plan anything there for my one port day. and it was lovely.
please please please report back. and happy anniversary in advance!
Yes, we think we are relaxed enough that we can roll with it. TBH, being from the Canadian Prairies, spending Jan at WDW and aboard a cruise ship is a big win right there! Our San Juan excursion is a tour of the Old City and the Bacardi Distillery.
As promised, there will be a trip report upon our return.
Ds and I went with DH in Aug when he had a conference to attend. DS and I had no plans. We just got on whatever bus that showed up. No dining plans. We ate at counter services and the lounge at Prime Time Café. We had a blast. Sure it was hot and crowded but I let DS play his video game in line to pass the time. I wish DH would have a conference there every year.
Good luck!! Can't wait to hear how it went.
This January I'm not doing any ADRs except one, because I'm planning on meeting a friend for dinner. I find some of the CS places are really improving on menu options. We like things other then burgers, fries & chicken strips!!! We may only have a burger once during a 10-14 day stay, and never chicken strips.
If we feel like a TS dinner we'll check day of. I find it's somewhat freeing not to have to worry about getting to a dinner ADR, and just eat where & when we feel like it.
But I still will use the crowd calendar to decide what park we'll go to, I don't want to be stuck in the most crowded one. And will make my FP choices based on park crowd calendar. I do have must do rides, even though I go twice a year! :-)
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with it. I hope it works out for you.
Mary - not enough trips!
You pretty much nailed it! We did a little resort visiting during our Spring (Flower & Garden visit) and was really impressed with BWV and OKW during our visit.
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