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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are cruising in January 2009. We would like to add a land package but can only do it at the end of our cruise. I called today and the CM told me it HAS to be at the beginning. I thought I read in the Passporter that it can be moved to the end. It is cheaper for us to do the package than to do it separately. Go figure.....
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As far as I can tell, it is probably cheaper to book them separately using available discounts...
The problem may be the type / length of cruise? You also are limited in the type of resort based on the level of your stateroom.
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Definitely double check on doing it seperately. There are instances when it works out better to do a package, but not that often. Especially if you want to do WDW after your cruise. Right now room-only prices are not out for 2009 so it may be that a land and sea package is the only way you can price out a room at WDW.
I called today and the CM told me it HAS to be at the beginning. I thought I read in the Passporter that it can be moved to the end. It is cheaper for us to do the package than to do it separately.
We ran into that because we wanted to do the 4-day cruise, but wanted to WDW after, rather than before. The land-and-sea packages are either 4 nights WDW then 3 nights DCL OR 4 nights DCL then 3 nights WDW.
From everything we researched, it doesn't appear to save any money as a package; it's just convenient to pay everything to one place and check in once, etc. However, many have said that they saved money going separately because they aren't locked into a hotel based on their stateroom choice. We did the cruise as early as possible, and then waited for the rooms to become available to book that as well....
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Disneyland - Dec 2011
Heather
Last edited by HeatherD; 05-01-2008 at 11:16 AM..
Reason: clarification
Thanks for the replies. You are right. Prices aren't out for January 2009 for rooms, so I was just going by September prices. Maybe Jan. prices are different. I was trying to get a value season price since I know Jan. is value.
My TA booked my last trip and has booked my next trip as seperate packages. Cruise and land each have a reservation. Disney coordinates Magical Express and Cruise transfers fine. With the separate booking they can sometimes beat the combined price. (Last year, six month after booking, WDW had a special and by being willing to switch equal resorts POFQ to POR, my land portion was reduced by over $250 !. )
You have ultimate flexability with the split package. Whatever dining, ticket packages you want, as well as what class of resort (it does't have to match your stateroom level). And, yes, I went to the cruise first, then to WDW (for Mousefest )