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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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"Many guests already know that Disney FASTPASS is one of the best ways to make the most of their time at Disney Parks. This landmark innovation was first introduced at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World in 1999 as a way to provide guests with faster access to the fun. Over the years, Disney FASTPASS has evolved and expanded and is used at our theme parks differently, based on the unique ways our guests enjoy our sites around the world.
Today, I’m excited to announce further expansion of Disney FASTPASS coming to two of our most popular attractions — Toy Story Mania in Disney California Adventure park and Matterhorn Bobsleds in Disneyland park! When Disney FASTPASS first launched at Disneyland Resort it was available at four locations, and over the years the number has expanded to a total of 16 attractions with these two new additions.
Later this year, we will launch Disney MaxPass, which will allow guests to maximize their experience by providing unlimited downloads of their high-resolution PhotoPass images and by enabling the convenience of mobile booking and redemption of Disney FASTPASS return times – all by using the Disneyland App. Disney MaxPass will be available for an introductory price of $10 a day. Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders also will have the opportunity to purchase Disney MaxPass on a daily or yearly basis.
Guests will continue to have the option of Disney FASTPASS service at no cost by obtaining FASTPASSES at attraction FASTPASS kiosks, just as they do today.
The addition of these two new Disney FASTPASS locations and the introduction of Disney MaxPass is part of our ongoing commitment to providing guests with opportunities to customize their experiences and make it even easier than ever to create unforgettable memories.
We’ll have more information to share on these updates soon — including details and launch dates — so keep an eye on the Disney Parks Blog."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Belle*
Later this year, we will launch Disney MaxPass, which will allow guests to maximize their experience by providing unlimited downloads of their high-resolution PhotoPass images and by enabling the convenience of mobile booking and redemption of Disney FASTPASS return times – all by using the Disneyland App. Disney MaxPass will be available for an introductory price of $10 a day. Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders also will have the opportunity to purchase Disney MaxPass on a daily or yearly basis.
Oh no! Disney, please do NOT make it so you can buy better FASTPASSes! I hope I'm reading this wrong...
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I am very confused by this - to me, it's a very poor piece of public relations (and I work in that line of work, so I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about ). I've had to re-read it two or three times and even now, I'm not sure I've got this right.
They are saying you can pay to use a mobile app, whereas the existing Fastpass system at Disneyland remains, but there's no detail about what you get for your $10/day. Do you get the initial three per day as at WDW or will it work in a different way? I guess they're not giving us this information just yet, but I don't understand what you're paying for. Ok, so it saves you walking around the park to machines, but what else?
When I saw the name of it, I assumed you'd pay for unlimited Fastpasses during the day, but I'm still not sure if that's what they're actually going to be offering?
Curious, but disturbing. I'm not sure from what I've seen so far that I'd pay for this....
The way I'm reading it is it's a combination of Photopass and Fastpass. You're paying for unlimited digital downloads for a single day and then you can use the app to book an undisclosed number of FP's. So if you want photos and pay for it, you get the advantage of booking FP's with the app. If not, then you can do it the old fashioned way for free.
Yes to all these questions. If it's exactly the same but you don't have to WALK to a kiosk...well...maybe.
I have vowed that once Disney starts SELLING FP, I will be done. I will grieve. And I will move on. I'm more than happy to give Disney all my disposable income as it stands today, but this is where I draw the line.
Super confusing post - I read elsewhere that it includes unlimited FP's - but I don't think that's been confused.
To me, if it's unlimited, then it might be worth it. It will be interesting to see if there are any restrictions - I mean, after all, if you can theoretically get a couple of Fastpasses for the busiest rides, then maybe? I get frustrated with the tier one process at Epcot and if I could get something like Soarin' and then IllumiNations (giving an example from there), I might think about it for busier times of the year.
Quote:
Either way - I think it would be fine if they just left it as is!
Well said!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kynna
Yeah, I'm not clear on how many fastpasses you can get too! Can I pay $10 to use an app to get fastpasses for my family or is it $10 per person?
I'm guessing $10/person, but again, this is where it's so badly written. It's trying to tell you something, but not really telling you anything, if that makes sense?
Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
Yes to all these questions. If it's exactly the same but you don't have to WALK to a kiosk...well...maybe.
I have vowed that once Disney starts SELLING FP, I will be done. I will grieve. And I will move on. I'm more than happy to give Disney all my disposable income as it stands today, but this is where I draw the line.
I must admit I feel a bit like that. I figured the day might come, but I think it's very sad.
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Originally Posted by Kynna
The words "introductory price" makes me nervous.
Uh-huh! My first thought is that $10/day just for the digital photos is way cheap, no way would that last.
I just have a visceral reaction to the thought of front-of-the-line passes being for sale at Disney! I know they do that at Universal and maybe some other places ($89/person at US, last time I looked), but I've always loved that everyone at Disney gets the same experience. This isn't exactly the same, but it gets dangerously close, if you can pay for the chance to reserve a FP while others are running through the parks to get theirs.
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OTOH, I will say that it's way past time to have FPs at Toy Story Midway Mania! Those lines can be huge, not to mention occasionally very hot in that outdoor queue. When it first opened, TSMM at DCA had a single rider line, but that went away.
Matterhorn Bobsleds--I love roller coasters but hate that one. It's just rough. Don't care what they do with it, but I like the look of it on the Disney skyline.
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MAYBE, the plan is for everyone to use MaxPass in exactly the same way, but they are piloting it with the folks who will try the one-day photo downloads for a fee? And eventually the two won't be connected, once they feel that the system can handle mass guest use of MaxPass? And we will all be equal again in the eyes of the mouse?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KimmyAnn1147
MAYBE, the plan is for everyone to use MaxPass in exactly the same way, but they are piloting it with the folks who will try the one-day photo downloads for a fee? And eventually the two won't be connected, once they feel that the system can handle mass guest use of MaxPass? And we will all be equal again in the eyes of the mouse?
Could be! As it stands, $10/day is a very cheap way to get PhotoPasses alone (so of course the price will go up!), so if I were going there soon, I'd probably get it just for the pictures.
Looking at the blog, each person in the group would need to pay in order for all the FPs to be handled in a group. It doesn't sound as if one person can get it, and then link everyone's pictures, like you can do with PhotoPass and Magic Bands at WDW.
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). I've had to re-read it two or three times and even now, I'm not sure I've got this right. 
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