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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I recently purchased a small batch of pins from E-bay for my son to trade while we are at WDW. They all look to be authentic pins - have the Disney logo and all. BUT... I'm terribly paranoid that they may be "scrapper pins" and I don't want to trade something that isn't authentic. I went to a web site ( Pin Pics: Home ) and I didn't see any of these pins on there, but, again, being paranoid, I am trying to make sure these are authentic pins. Anyone have any ideas how to be sure?
__________________
Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
where in the world was the seller located they might be euro disney pins or sedesma pins but the rule is that if it has the disney stamp on the back it can be traded i think
We got some pins last year on ebay from a guy in Kissimmee. They were eurodisney pins and did say Disney on the back. We thought they were okay, but we ran into a cast member in MK that said that they were counterfeit. He traded with my son anyway, but I felt really bad because I didn't intentionally try to "hoodooo" anybody. No other cast member ever said anything. We had bought off ebay a couple of times before and never had that problem.. I'm like you, now I'm skeptical. I was wanting to get some for trading on our upcoming trip but am hesitant.
__________________
I've been BOOED!! Thanks, TinktinkTink!!!
1969--DL, 1976 and 1980--WDW off site (childhood trips)
Feb 1998--WL, Feb 2001--WL, Feb 2002--WL, Feb 2003--WL, Feb 2004--WL, Feb 2005--AKL, Jan 2006--Poly, Nov 2006--AKL, Feb 2007--Eastern cruise on the Magic, Oct 2007--POP, Nov 2008--POR
PinPics is the best source that I know of to find counterfeit pins...though the site isn't all that user friendly. If you go to this page: Pin Pics: Search (don't worry about checking any of the boxes) go to the bottom of the page and in the search box type in counterfeit or bootleg, you will get an extensive list of pins. However, none of my counterfeit pins show up on that list. I had to type in more specific descriptions like "Minnie Ballerina" to find that my pins are counterfeit.
I had purchased pins from Ebay also and all but 3 of the lot of 20 were counterfeit. Sometimes, there's just no way to tell if a pin is counterfeit. Of the one's I purchased, some of the examples of counterfeiting were that the backstamp wasn't readable, a Donald Duck pin I bought should have had a fuzzy hat, the counterfeit version doesn't...I bought the one that doesn't. The Disney pins are crisps and have clean lines...counterfiet pins may have words/letters running into the outline of a design or letters that sort of run together. Other counterfeit pins will have a backstamp that says "Disney Hong Kong" or "The Disney Store" and those particular pins were never released in those places. The Jedi Mickey is a good example. He was released at WDW and DL not Hong Kong...counterfeit version has a Disney Hong Kong backstamp.
It would probably ease your mind if you could take the time to check each of your pins individually on pinpics, but that will take up a whole evening. If you have any other questions you can PM me and I'll try to be as helpful as I can. After I was taken, it's kinda been my goal to expose counterfeiters and their sellers...but it is such a huge industry...more than one person can handle...I always refer people to pinpics. Hope that helps.
We've purchased pins on eBay for years, and never had any problem trading anyof them. There are over 50,000 legitimate Disney trading pins, and it's impossible for any one person to know which are and which are not counterfeit. That being said, always look for the Disney@ logo. That's hopefully, maybe, a guarantee that even if you unknowingly purchased a pin that was counterfeit, you'll still be able to trade it.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
if anyone is interested in saving money on pins, i live down the street from a disney discount store (lucky i tell ya) and they sell pins for between 2.99 and 4.99-5.99 and they are all 100% authentic...i stock up on trash pins there for trading before i go to DL every time o go.......i wont buy on ebay anymore, to much work if you get something that isnt authentic...
and i would NEVER charge to go get them....just send the $$ and then whatever shipping is after i sent the package...and i am on ebay.....i would even be willing to do small amounts of *upfront* buying, where you could reimburse me after you recieved the package, as long as it was under 50 dollars....
again, i just want people to have a safe way to get authentic pins, and i would NEVER EVER EVER charge to help! pm me if you are ever interested....again...no charge..not soliciting...just want to help!
__________________
Me & Josh, best friends
i just hate being here.
rock <<<<<me>>>>>hardplace
here's the rub. those scrappers or counterfeits are usually made with disney molds. they're typically unauthorized overruns. like if disney says make us 500 of these pins for a LE, they do. but then they go and make 2000 more using the same dies.
if you're going to buy off eBay, all I can suggest you do is buy within 2-3 months of you using the pins. you have 90 days i believe to leave feedback on an item. so if you try to trade them and they turn out bad, you can either confront the seller about it or leave negative feedback.
We've purchased pins on eBay for years, and never had any problem trading anyof them. There are over 50,000 legitimate Disney trading pins, and it's impossible for any one person to know which are and which are not counterfeit. That being said, always look for the Disney@ logo. That's hopefully, maybe, a guarantee that even if you unknowingly purchased a pin that was counterfeit, you'll still be able to trade it.
personally i think that trading a pin that is counterfeit kinda cheapens the whole idea of it. i spend alot of money (most of my pins i paid full price for) and alot of time on pin trading, and if im trading with a cast member (i dont trade with other people, becuase they can say no) and they are in a hurry, or i am, and i dont realize until later that i have a counterfiet pin that i just traded my authentic pin for, that would make me sad. i wont put it back in rotation either, because that is unfair. maybe i take pin trading more seriously than some (but really, i dont take is as seriously as others, i just dont like people who lie or break the law, which is what couterfeiting is) but i dont think its fair that just because you *can* do something you should...innocent people lose out when people dont respect the hobby the way they should, NOT (i cannot stress the not enough...i dont know you from steve, but what you said was related to what i wanted to say...) saying that you dont....just a mini rant inspired by your last sentence...
basically: i dont think that anyone should trade a couterfeit pin because its wrong, and if i get a counterfeit pin i wont put it back in rotation (i usually throw them away, i dont like stolen things...i even pay for my music)
__________________
Me & Josh, best friends
i just hate being here.
rock <<<<<me>>>>>hardplace
here's the rub. those scrappers or counterfeits are usually made with disney molds. they're typically unauthorized overruns. like if disney says make us 500 of these pins for a LE, they do. but then they go and make 2000 more using the same dies.
if you're going to buy off eBay, all I can suggest you do is buy within 2-3 months of you using the pins. you have 90 days i believe to leave feedback on an item. so if you try to trade them and they turn out bad, you can either confront the seller about it or leave negative feedback.
leaving negative feedback is actually bad for you....because alot of sellers will leave it back...thats why i just threaten with negative or if they are selling licensed merchandise, i threaten to inform the company...and get my money back....that usually works...
i hate leaving negative, becuase i dont want to get negative...and whenever i look on people's feedback, there is always some retaliation negs....i only have 30...just one would be bad for me.....lol
__________________
Me & Josh, best friends
i just hate being here.
rock <<<<<me>>>>>hardplace
I agree if they have the copyright then your ok. If your still not sure then I would check the Disney Pin Trading site. They have a picture of all pins.
__________________
Melanie
June 1985-off site/March 2004- Pop & OKW
Aug. 2004- Hurricane Charlie POR & FWCG/July 2005- Grand Villa OKW
Feb. 2006-Pop/Feb. 2007- AS Music, WL, AS Movies
Sept. 2011- Disney Med Cruise
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I'm new to pin trading and I have a question about wearing the pins. I don't have a lanyard and wanted to wear several pins on my hat. I have a couple of rather large pins and found that sometimes they will fall off when I remove my hat. Is there any such thing as pin guards. or something to keep the pins from coming off?
losing pins is not uncommon. disney does sell bags of locking backs which basically use a small allen wrench. you can buy them on site where pins are sold.
I agree if they have the copyright then your ok. If your still not sure then I would check the Disney Pin Trading site. They have a picture of all pins.
unfortunately, they may still be counterfeit, but they can still be traded....true collectors will go through and weed out the fake ones, it just costs us money....there is nothing wrong with trading a pin as long as it has a copyright on it though...you are the victim in the situation...
__________________
Me & Josh, best friends
i just hate being here.
rock <<<<<me>>>>>hardplace
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I've been BOOED!! Thanks, TinktinkTink!!!
Linear Mode
