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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So, we are booked on the inaugural cruise for the Fantasy. My wife and I are Gold Castaway Club members, so we are eligible to book things (excursions, adult dining, etc.) at 105 days before sailing.
We got so busy with the holidays that WE FORGOT!
We jumped on last night to find all Palo and Remy reservations are booked! We know we can go onboard and sign up on a wait list, but it's unlikely we'll get a reservation (especially one for later in the week) since everyone wants to try everything. My wife is especially disappointed we didn't get brunch at Palo. That's harder to get than a Palo dinner reservation and she loves the brunch.
Keeping fingers crossed that there is a cancellation and we can get in. I'll be checking the site daily to see if we can get a slot that opens.
So, learn from our mistake - pay attention to when you are eligible to book your cruise activities and do it without delay!
As Charlie Brown would say, "UUUUGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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Upcoming - DVC ABD to NYC in Oct, Feb 2015 Princess Half Weekend and DCL 7 night afterward.
So, we are booked on the inaugural cruise for the Fantasy. My wife and I are Gold Castaway Club members, so we are eligible to book things (excursions, adult dining, etc.) at 105 days before sailing.
We got so busy with the holidays that WE FORGOT!
We jumped on last night to find all Palo and Remy reservations are booked! We know we can go onboard and sign up on a wait list, but it's unlikely we'll get a reservation (especially one for later in the week) since everyone wants to try everything. My wife is especially disappointed we didn't get brunch at Palo. That's harder to get than a Palo dinner reservation and she loves the brunch.
Keeping fingers crossed that there is a cancellation and we can get in. I'll be checking the site daily to see if we can get a slot that opens.
So, learn from our mistake - pay attention to when you are eligible to book your cruise activities and do it without delay!
As Charlie Brown would say, "UUUUGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
We too were disappointed when our booking window opened at 75 days and found the brunch booked as well as the Cabanas on Castaway Cay. I kept checking 3-5 times a day (I think I can log into our reservation in my sleep now ) but to my great surprise (at 38 days out), a cabana opened up and I happened to be on line at the right time!
I would continue to keep checking and good luck!!!
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Sorry to hear. usually the 7 night cruises are a little easier to get into Palo than the shorter 4-5 nights.
I wonder if they will open any at the next window for booking? Might be worth a try to look early and frequently right around the next booking window for non-Gold members.
Good luck!!!!
We are already within the 90 day window. I think the issue is there are probably a lot of Platinum and Gold CC members, but it really doesn't matter since, at 90 days, booking is open to everyone (or at least everyone who has sailed before).
I'm pretty sure most of the passengers will have sailed before and really wanted to be on the inaugural like we did. That means they all got in ahead of us since we goofed and forfeited our Gold privileges as far as booking in concerned.
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Upcoming - DVC ABD to NYC in Oct, Feb 2015 Princess Half Weekend and DCL 7 night afterward.
Sorry that happened KCooley...I'm just a Silver, got in exactly at midnight at my 90, but there was nothing available for any dining option, so I agree, there are probably many Gold and Platinum folks. Like Tiki4, I'm going to keep trying for a cancellation slot.
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I saw something on another board that for the Inagural Cruise, even Gold members had no openings at the 105 day mark for either Palo's or Remy's. They were all taken by the Platinum/Conceirge level members.
I saw something on another board that for the Inagural Cruise, even Gold members had no openings at the 105 day mark for either Palo's or Remy's. They were all taken by the Platinum/Conceirge level members.
That at least makes me feel a little better. Only a little. It's our 7th anniversary. We did a cruise on our honeymoon and didn't eat at Palo then either, so I guess we may end up "reliving" our experience.
I think I read one of the complaints about Remy and Palo is they aren't any bigger than the Magic or Wonder, even though you have so many more people trying to get in. It will end up that only Platinums can get in - as evidenced by the Inaugural. Oh well. I guess when we make Platinum, we won't be able to complain any more.
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Upcoming - DVC ABD to NYC in Oct, Feb 2015 Princess Half Weekend and DCL 7 night afterward.
I was in the line for the maiden voyage of the Dream. I happened to be on a preview cruise so I was actually able to start the line around 10:30 am before any of the other guest got on. I sat in the D lounge with my iPad waiting. At noon when the other guest started coming in things got hectic. The line ended up in down the hall all the way into Shutters. I would suggest if the line is really long when you get there stop by Palo later that day. I know many people ended up canceling or didn’t show up. I heard they actually ended up taking walk ups. Good luck!
I think I read one of the complaints about Remy and Palo is they aren't any bigger than the Magic or Wonder, even though you have so many more people trying to get in. It will end up that only Platinums can get in - as evidenced by the Inaugural. Oh well. I guess when we make Platinum, we won't be able to complain any more.
I suspect the availability of Palo and Remy on the Inaugural has more to do with VIPs than "plain old" Concierge and Platinum. I'd scratch one entire night, probably first night, for the sake of some sort of VIP dinner. Then figure DCL and Disney company executives, celebrities... there could have been several nights completely off the schedule before reservations opened.
As far as I know, they don't release 100% of the tables at 120 days - they hold back a little something for 105 and 90, at the least (though apparently, not much). But on an Inaugural, all bets are off.
In terms of seating capacity, they increased Palo in proportion to the increase in size of the ship - 50% more seats, and more than 50% more space (lots more room between tables). What they didn't do is expand the capacity beyond that. That makes Palo no easier to get than it was before - that's certainly disappointing at one level, but it's also part of the reason folks feel it's special. If Palo became substantially easier to get (say, doubling the number of tables found on the Magic/Wonder, then increasing that by 50% - 3 times the number of seats on the older ships), far fewer folks would be talking about dining there (less reason to brag or complain).
Another factor is that nearly every veteran cruiser feels the need to experience the "new Palo," which is probably increasing demand for now. While I'm sure some folks try to get Palo every time they cruise, a fair number of others (myself included), don't bother booking Palo every cruise, just when it fits with our other plans. At the moment, everyone's putting Palo on the "must do" list.
Remy is all-new, of course, and in theory it adds capacity. In reality, I'm sure that everyone who'd like to dine at Remy is also trying to get a Palo reservation, and if there are still Remy reservations available, there are almost undoubtedly Palo reservations available, so the same people may be getting reservations for both (I'm guilty of that).
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) but to my great surprise (at 38 days out), a cabana opened up and I happened to be on line at the right time! 
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