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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Mom has decided to move to Florida and of course I will be moving with her. I am super excited as I thought I would have to move myself years down the road. She wants to go down in Sept to see if we can find a place. We may rent till we can find a place to buy if we don't find something we like.
Right now I am thinking Kissimmee, Davenport. Have looked at Lakeland too, but that is a little further out which I am not totally against. Though I am thinking I may want to get a job with Disney in the future so the first two would be better.
Any opinions from the locals on the places I have mentioned? Any other place I should be looking into?
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I know we've talked a little about this, but if you are thinking about working for Disney--you probably want to live as close to Disney as you can afford. The commute from somewhere like Lakeland would be absolutely miserable in my opinion. It takes me 25 minutes to get to the Cast Parking lot at Magic Kingdom and I live fairly close by! I can be on property in under five minutes from my apartment.
When you add in the time to go to costuming, catch the shuttle to the park from the parking lot and walk to my location--I leave for work at least an hour and 15 minutes before my shift starts--that's very early in the morning on my 7am in days!
I'm about to move from Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom--so I'm not sure how that's going to effect my commute time!
When you look at cost of living in each area--don't forget to add in the cost of gas/tolls to get from your house to Disney and the wear and tear on your vehicle! My commute puts 100 miles on my car every four days!
There are lots of affordable apartment complexes in lots of areas--and some of them offer Cast Member discounts!
My brother owns a vacation home in Davenport since 2003 in the Windwood Bay subdivision off I-4 near Ronald Reagan Parkway. It's zoned for short term rentals but there are many permanent residents. Many more since the housing mess as most of the homes were owned by people overseas. You may want to consider a regular subdivision as you may not want your neighbors changing every week, or have rowdy groups staying next door.
The area has become more developed over the last few years with a Target, Walmart and Publix nearby which helps with traffic on 192 (which is at times, horrible.) It's only 10 minutes to Disney, but feels like your more in the country. I would advise not getting someplace east of Disney as you will have to deal with lots of traffic. Since we are one exit south of Disney, we very rarely have problems with traffic on 1-4. Property taxes are fairly low compared to Chicago area.
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
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Location: Davenport, Florida 20 minutes from the mouse
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We are in Winter Haven right now. I am looking to get a house in either Davenport or Kissimmee. There are nice homes and condos in both areas. I may end up getting a manufactured home and just buy it out right. The Clermont area is also nice, but a little further from Disney.
Winter Haven is nice, but too far from the freeway. I am one exit past the Davenport exit, but 16 miles from the freeway.
I'm right on the edge of Davenport and love where we live. We have Target, Michael's, Staples, Best Buy, JCP, Books a Million, Cracker Barrel near us just off of I4. Closer, we have Publix, WalMart, Lowes, Aldis, and a variety of fast food places. I'm at DAKL and it takes me 30 minutes door to door depending on traffic. I generally plan 45 minutes to get to the MK, if I have something over there.
It's also an easy drive to I4 and nicely in between Orlando and Tampa. There is a hospital near me, but unless I'm bleeding out to imminent death, I'll go to Celebration, about 20 minutes away
I really like where we live. It's off the beaten path a bit and is fairly quiet. I have learned, however, that every neighborhood is a blend of cultures and some are louder than others, so something to learn to live with. When I first moved down, I lived in a townhouse area that was zoned for short-term rentals and that wasn't very nice sometimes, not knowing who your neighbors are.
As far as the buying market goes, I found that most of the houses in my price range were being snapped up by investors (still hearing that going on) who will give it a cheap makeover and rent it out. I also discovered I could BUILD a house for the same monthly payment as the rent, so that's the route I went and I'm very glad I did.
Kissimmee, IMO, is sketchy for housing. There are some neighborhoods that are OK, but going out toward Poinciana, it's getting pretty bad crime-wise which is reflected in the housing costs. I would say, on average, you are looking at $900-1200/mo for housing in middling areas, 3-4 bedrooms. I don't see many 2 bedroom homes around. A lot of people buy a 4 bed, then rent out the extra to Disney interns or CMs looking for a short term solution. If you get the right person, it's a nice way to reduce your own housing costs.
I'm so excited that you are moving down Janine! I live in Orlando, off of 417, about a 20 minute ride to WDW. We love where we live but we have tolls so it would not be an inexpensive ride to work that's for sure. I'm not familiar with the areas you are looking in (I just drive through them) but I wanted to wish you luck and let me know if I can be of any assistance!
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I know we've talked a little about this, but if you are thinking about working for Disney--you probably want to live as close to Disney as you can afford. The commute from somewhere like Lakeland would be absolutely miserable in my opinion.
There are lots of affordable apartment complexes in lots of areas--and some of them offer Cast Member discounts!
Yeah, I am kinda looking at Lakeland as a distant maybe. Probably would not try for a job with Disney if we move here. As far as rent, we are planning on buying a house. Mom owns our current house outright.
Quote:
Originally Posted by minemoz1
My brother owns a vacation home in Davenport since 2003 in the Windwood Bay subdivision off I-4 near Ronald Reagan Parkway. It's zoned for short term rentals but there are many permanent residents. Many more since the housing mess as most of the homes were owned by people overseas. You may want to consider a regular subdivision as you may not want your neighbors changing every week, or have rowdy groups staying next door.
The area has become more developed over the last few years with a Target, Walmart and Publix nearby which helps with traffic on 192 (which is at times, horrible.) It's only 10 minutes to Disney, but feels like your more in the country. I would advise not getting someplace east of Disney as you will have to deal with lots of traffic. Since we are one exit south of Disney, we very rarely have problems with traffic on 1-4. Property taxes are fairly low compared to Chicago area.
Thanks, you have pointed out some great things to look out for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Very exciting, Janine! We'll have to get together-- and not just at the meet in June!
Definitely! We will have to make plans soon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by graygables
I'm right on the edge of Davenport and love where we live. We have Target, Michael's, Staples, Best Buy, JCP, Books a Million, Cracker Barrel near us just off of I4. Closer, we have Publix, WalMart, Lowes, Aldis, and a variety of fast food places. I'm at DAKL and it takes me 30 minutes door to door depending on traffic. I generally plan 45 minutes to get to the MK, if I have something over there.
It's also an easy drive to I4 and nicely in between Orlando and Tampa. There is a hospital near me, but unless I'm bleeding out to imminent death, I'll go to Celebration, about 20 minutes away
I really like where we live. It's off the beaten path a bit and is fairly quiet. I have learned, however, that every neighborhood is a blend of cultures and some are louder than others, so something to learn to live with. When I first moved down, I lived in a townhouse area that was zoned for short-term rentals and that wasn't very nice sometimes, not knowing who your neighbors are.
As far as the buying market goes, I found that most of the houses in my price range were being snapped up by investors (still hearing that going on) who will give it a cheap makeover and rent it out. I also discovered I could BUILD a house for the same monthly payment as the rent, so that's the route I went and I'm very glad I did.
Kissimmee, IMO, is sketchy for housing. There are some neighborhoods that are OK, but going out toward Poinciana, it's getting pretty bad crime-wise which is reflected in the housing costs. I would say, on average, you are looking at $900-1200/mo for housing in middling areas, 3-4 bedrooms. I don't see many 2 bedroom homes around. A lot of people buy a 4 bed, then rent out the extra to Disney interns or CMs looking for a short term solution. If you get the right person, it's a nice way to reduce your own housing costs.
Dawn, thanks for the great info!! Davenport is the area I have been looking into more I would say as I have been scouring real estate sights. Funny, we won't be going down till Sept. to look, but I am so excited I can't help but look now I Love the DAKL by the way, my fave resort even though I can not afford to stay there If you ever hear of some lady pleading with the manager to let her sleep on the couch in the lounge for one night, or even with the zebras for a low cost, that would be me
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with your move to Florida!
Congrats to you and your mom on making the decision!
If you ever hear of some lady pleading with the manager to let her sleep on the couch in the lounge for one night, or even with the zebras for a low cost, that would be me 
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