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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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(Question from Jack who was introduced in my post “Helping a Friend” – I’m typing it the way he told me to) I first off want to say to everyone and to say that it is a pleasure that I can get all my information (through Hollie) from such nice helpful people (Hollie has told me that you are all so nice).
I am planning a trip for my girlfriend Bianca and I to go to Disney World. I don’t have a lot of money and would like to make this the most memorable trip that we will ever have. My question is when is the cheapest time of year to go to? I also wanted to know if the cheapest time of year is usually the least busiest time of year? I really hope that someone out there can help me. Thank you so much.
-Jack
The cheapest times do coincide with the lowest traffic times. Value season for 2005 includes -
1/1 - 2/16
7/5 - 10/4
11/27 - 12/19
Also, keep in mind that as long as you CHECK IN by the last day of the season, your value season rate will carry over into the next season. (For instance, if you want to go from 10/3 - 10/10, you will keep your value season room rate even though technically on the 5th, the rate goes up to regular season pricing.)
I'd vote for December, to see the Christmas decorations! We got really cheap airfare, as well as room rates, the crowds were mostly non-existant, and it was beautiful
As a teacher and my salary being the only thing we had at the moment we just got back from a trip right before Christmas. We went Dec. 17 - 20. We were able to get a discount code off of mousesavers.com and we saved 50 dollars a night at POR (which was a very nice moderate resort). We also planned 3 PS's (one was the Fantasmic Dinner Package), and we ate lunch at counter service every day. We had tickets for MVMCP that we used as a day to MK and then we bought single day tickets to Epcot and MGM. So for a 3 night/4 day trip to 3 parks our budget looked like this:
Accomodations: 284
Tickets: 290
Dining: 219 (3 breakfast, 1 of which was character, 3 counter services, and 2 ps's aside from the character breakfast)
So our total was right at $800. I paid for our accomodations and MVMCP before we went so that was already out of the way.
We have already decided we are going back at this time of the year every year b/c the Christmas going ons are wonderful and we walked onto every ride we rode two and three times!! and I hope this helps!
We were there the first week of Dec 2003. The Christmas decorations were up, the crowds were light, the weather was nice. We stayed at the All Star movies for $77 a night.
This was also our honeymoon. What a great week to go!
1/1 - 2/16 - probably lowest crowds of the year, particulary once you are pass any leftover crowds from New Years (exact date depends on when schools start back up after New Years), may be slight uptick for Martin Luther King day, but I won't worry about it. Con is the weather is unpredictable and can be very cold. I've gone twice during this time - once over MLK - great weather, great time, once right after NY - very cold, still crowded (but managable) most the time
7/5 - 10/4 - July and August are crowded, hot and humid. September is still hot, but not crowded, particularly after Labor day. Risk of hurricanes in August and September, but last year was unusual - they normally don't affect Orlando, except for extra rain.
11/27 - 12/19 - Low crowds, although there might be some residual Thanksgiving crowds the first few days and the start of the Christmas crowds the last few days. Christmas decorations are up, Christmas festivities are in full swing. Con is the weather can be unpredictable like in January. We will be going during this time later this year.
Value season affects hotel costs - ticket and food costs do not vary throughout the year. Other costs that will vary, but not on such defined dates are airfare and rental cars. They do tend to be cheaper during value seasons due to lower demand.
I've also gone in mid November - good weather, moderate crowds (it was still value season when I went in 1995) and in March - best weather, moderate to heavy crowds, expensive time.
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I've also gone in mid November - good weather, moderate crowds
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I agree. The week before the Thanksgiving week is ideal. It's mostly after the official hurricane season, there's no humidity and the weather is still warm enough to swim. There are almost no crowds if you plan it after the Super Soap weekend. Plane fares were low then too.
I've been in May, October, November, December and January and prefer November for weather, cost, and crowds.
We went in November last year (the 5th-11th), and our weather was terrific, we only noticed crowds our last day there(Veteran's Day). It was considered value season though, looks like that may have changed. We'll go again at this time of year.
Yep - I guess Disney figured out that Thanksgiving week fell under value season, so November moved from Value to Regular Season happened in 2005.
I do have to agree with the others though, early to mid November is a good time to go as well (not only for crowds, but also the weather tends to be a little bit milder). My favorite time has always been the first week of February, even though the weather can be iffy.
(From Jack – I’m typing it the way he told me to) Thank you so much for all your help. Now I just have to decide when I want to plan this whole thing for Bianca. I will let you all know when we are going when I decide. Thanks again.
-Jack
Good luck with the planning. When it comes to what time of the year to go, if you want to take advanatage of value season I would go in early December. It can be cold but nothing too bad (compared to NJ in December, which is where I'm assuming you're from), the crowds are low and the XMas decorations or gorgeous!
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to everyone and to say that it is a pleasure that I can get all my information (through Hollie) from such nice helpful people (Hollie has told me that you are all so nice).
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Value season for 2005 includes - 
and I hope this helps!
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