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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our plane lands around 6:30 and then we'll be off to check in at WL. I know I've seen a lot of posts & reports about people staying offsite the first night. So I'm just curious for your opinions/preferences...our family kind of likes to be able to check in & know for sure that our room is ready (especially my dad), the thinking being that we'll be all settled in at the resort and can get right up & go the next morning. So I'm hoping this will work well for us as we haven't tried it before.
As long as you aren't buying a package, it makes sense to stay onsite, for the reason you specified. If you are buying a package, it may not make sense to stay onsite, as the packages usually include that arrival day as a park day, which won't be used.
My personal preference has always been to stay onsite from arrival.
For us, being a family of 6, it was cost that decided. We'll be driving down, getting in around 6 or 7p. Unless we wanted to spend more $ and get a cabin or a villa, then we need 2 rooms too. We ended up getting one of those family suites at the Holiday Inn Sunspree, right near WDW, for about $89. They have a king size bed and 2 sets of bunk beds which sleep our 4 girls, so it's a lot cheaper than even 2 rooms at at All Stars. In fact, we're leaving 2 weeks from tomorrow for our next trip and booked the Sunspree again for the first night.
Again, it would depend on a lot of things. You'd need to do what's best for your family. HTH and Good luck, Ruth
I prefer to stay onsite myself. Our last trip, due to some last-minute changes we had to make because of Hurricane Frances, we ended up spending our 1st night at the Wyndham @ Downtown Disney, and then moving the next day to our "real" resort of CBR. While there was nothing necessarily wrong with the hotel, I found it annoying that I was unable to unpack and settle in - we had been under a lot of stress, and ended up flying in 2 days early to avoid the MCO closure - and all I wanted to do was relax!
It may be easier, though, if you have a rental car. We did not, and I made sure before we came down that Disney would be transporting us to our hotel the following day. We had wanted to stay at CBR, but they assured me they were completely sold out, so they said they would provide us with a transport, because of our situation. Well, they did not, and I had to spend about 45 minutes on the phone the following morning arguing with them before they agreed to pay for a taxi for us. At least we got there!
The moral of my story is, it's easier to stay in 1 hotel. But if you don't mind switching, go for it!
We've been staying off site the first night! I can't justify spending $200 when I'm not getting there until 11 PM. We stayed the last time at the Hampton Inn on 192 (free breakfast). We're usually up early, and checked into the Disney resort by 8 or 8:30 and then head to the parks!
If you are buying a package, you can have a seperate reservation for the first night - this way you do not have to pay for the tickets on that first night. We added an extra night to the end of our package. They were able to flag our room so that we didn't have to move to another. You will have to go to the front desk and check in again, but this was not a big deal at all. They are open pretty early in the morning - so you can get there before the crowds do to check in. I would definately do it this way again!
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HTH and Good luck, Ruth 
But if you don't mind switching, go for it!
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