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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thanks in advance for your understanding on all the following questions - I've taken the advice of many and will post them all separately!
1. Is it best to book a Disney Cruise via the Disney website, a travel agent, or an alternate site? And are these discounted trips on other websites real?
We book through Disney. The benefit to doing it through a TA is that someone else is doing the work and research and taking care of all the little things like airlines, transfers, etc. With TAs and alternate sites (Expedia, Travelocity, etc), you may also get additional onboard credits.
The discounted sites may discount a teeny bit, but be careful that it includes fees and add-ons. We saw a price that was significantly less, but once we got to a certain point when it "totals" the price it wasn't any different. MouseEar (site sponsor here) did offer a small discount - about $50/person, IIRC. But we ended up using the Disney site instead (I like to know for certain things are getting done).
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There are times when travel agents book group space at early booking discounts, so they may be able to offer staterooms at lower than prevailing rates for certain dates. Sometimes they may also offer an onboard credit or stateroom gift as an incentive. However, under normal circumstances it's not a matter of getting a better price from an agent (DCL has policies in place to help ensure that agencies cannot undercut DCL's own pricing), but rather, a matter of getting helpful service and advice. For example, if you want to book as soon as DCL releases a new season's cruises, you can put that task into an agent's hands.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Ok obviously I'm biased but I vote for using a TA. For all the reasons mentioned plus some agents will take care of booking your spa and Palo reservations for you!
What HeatherD mentioned is absolutely correct - you want to make sure you are comparing apples to apples - does each quote include taxes, port fees, insurance, any available rebates, etc. This can easily be the difference between quotes!
What everybody else is saying (FD: I'm an agent). I frequently price out the on-line competition (I won't call a real agent and waster her/his time). You'll usually see some price that really looks good. Until you get to the moment when you commit. Then you get to see $195 in government fees, $95 in fuel surcharges and, surprise, a $25 booking fee! A real agent will tell you everything up front. A real agent will explain all of your options, and explain things like penalty dates and payment options, and all the things you want to know, plus the things you didn't know you needed to know. I haven't met any of the other agent's here, but given the advice they give, and the praises others sing, I don't think you can lose with a good, real agent. You can always book directly with DCL, which I'd actually recommend before Travelocity or Orbitz or the others.
You can always book directly with DCL, which I'd actually recommend before Travelocity or Orbitz or the others.
Yeah, if you're not going to go with a physical TA (someone you can call, talk to, etc), then I'd go with DCL - which we do! The others don't offer me enough of a discount or credit to make it worth it for the comfort I have when I go directly through Disney. And Disney is no dummy - they will keep their prices the same because otherwise everyone would use other places that Disney has to pay commissions to - using Disney keeps the commissions in the Disney family.
I used AAA as my TA for this trip, and earned some shipboard credit by doing so. The AAA TA told me their prices were exactly the same as if I did it through Disney, the only difference is AAA offers the shipboard credit.
So....for me, getting $100 to spend on the ship and being able to call/email a single person about my trip.....the answer was easy!
we used a TA last time too (I think her price was along the lines of the group booking rates) and are using her again this upcoming time since we also added on a few days at WDW beforehand. She's great at all the details! :-)
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I used a TA earlier this week. The price was the same as it was with Disney. Actually it ended up being a little less because of the trip insurance. Disney's trip insurance was terrible expensive, I got insurance through another provider and saved enough to cover the cost of two of our needed passports. Plus, I have called her every day and she has had to do all of the leg work and I just get to ask her my questions. I have used TA's where I wondered what they did, I did all of the work and they made money, but this time it is completely different. One additional tip for you on TA's and booking Disney- if you have specific needs and the first agent you call cannot get you what you want, try another. Some of the TA's use company's that pre-buy rooms/staterooms with Disney in hopes of selling. So if you cannot get what you the first time, don't settle until you have called around a bit.
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Thanks in advance for your understanding on all the following questions - I've taken the advice of many and will post them all separately!
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Pixie Dust
Just easier for me to have someone else deal with the details 
The others don't offer me enough of a discount or credit to make it worth it for the comfort I have when I go directly through Disney. And Disney is no dummy - they will keep their prices the same because otherwise everyone would use other places that Disney has to pay commissions to - using Disney keeps the commissions in the Disney family.
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