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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Now you've got me confused - I think you can take it onboard with you as long as it is in your checked luggage and not your carry on luggage, maybe?
Also if you take a bottle to the restaurant you have to pay a corkage fee to drink the wine with your dinner.... or LOL I have got it all totally wrong and really shouldn't try to be helpful.
Hopefully someone really in the know will come along and tell us
I think you may bring it on board, however the trick about bringing it from home is that when you are flying, it has to go in your checked baggage, but it must be in your carry-on when boarding the ship. We didn't do this, but it might be easier if you drive, as we did.
If I am wrong on this, then I am sure Dave or someone will correct me.
There are many things to keep straight, aren't there? You can take drinks (soft or hard) onboard with you, but the general consensus is that it has to go in your carry-on and you will be charged a major corkage fee if you take a bottle to the dining room. Like EJ said, there is some shuffling involved, because of TSA regulations for flying are in opposition to boarding the cruise.
You may not take partially finished drinks (or food) off with you, at port or at debarkation. If they are open, finish them or leave them behind.
There was some question about the liquor that you purchase while in port - some have reported that they weren't allowed to bring it on board. I'm not sure about this one. But having all of these stories floating around, it gets easy to mix them all up, doesn't it!
Heather, you're (I think) right about what you can leave home with, and the joys of doing the drink shuffle. As far as buying alcohol in ports, yes, you can bring it on board, but you have to "surrender" it, to be returned on the last night of the cruise.
Oh yeah, any alcohol you leave home with will still be subject to duty when you get home, so don't take a gallon of 7 when a fifth will do.
OK so I was confused, sorry about that, so just to be clear if I want to take any alcohol on board the ship I have to put it in my carry-on? This is of course different to flying. I'll need to be sure because I know that we will be taking our own bottles of Fairy Tale Cuvee on board as we would have bought them in WDW to take home after our cruise.
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Plan to bring them in your carry-on for the ship. While you might be able to successfully put them in your checked luggage, current Disney policy is "carry-on only," and you run the risk that they'll remove the bottles from your luggage, which will delay the arrival of your luggage to your stateroom (and require that you retrieve the bottles when you get back to Port Canaveral).
I think, among other things, DCL wants to reduce the weight of luggage, since stateroom hosts/hostesses have to lug the baggage to folks' staterooms. Reducing the risk of breakage is another possibility.
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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 so I was confused, sorry about that, so just to be clear if I want to take any alcohol on board the ship I have to put it in my carry-on? This is of course different to flying. I'll need to be sure because I know that we will be taking our own bottles of Fairy Tale Cuvee on board as we would have bought them in WDW to take home after our cruise.
Ooops, you don't want to do that. The bottle will be treated as part of your allowance for imported alcohol and your duty. I know, it stinks, but, as I like to say: "It's the law, it doesn't have to make sense"
OK I think we may just leave that in a case with WDW Bell services and swing by there to pick it up on the way back to the airport, our flight isn't until 5pm so we should be OK
Will Bell Services hold it for you the entire time you're on a cruise? You may want to double check that before making definitive plans.
Oh yes they have done this before for us as we tend to vacation in Disney first before going on the cruise and we have left a case before with them with clothes and stuff in that we did not require for our cruise. Certainly we have done this at both The Yacht Club and The Beach Club without any problem.
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Last time we went on the eastern carb we were allowed to bring any booze back on board to enjoy in our stateroom. Has this changed??? I may need to rethink what I am brining at the start of the cruise if this is the case. (not trying to sound like a lush, but even a glass or two of wine a day add's up very quickly!!!)
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1989+1993 Carribbean Beach,1996 ASS+Dixie Landings,1998 DL,2000 CB Hurricaine Floyd!!,2001 DL,2003 CS,2004 WL,2005 POR,2006 seven night eastern carb. disney cruise!!!,2006 Halloween Liki Tiki,May 2007 off site Orange Lake,May 2007 AKL,Sept 2007 CS,Oct 2008 Halloween ASM,May 2009 PC+ a seven night eastern carb. cruise,Feb 2010 GCV,BCV + BLT Sept 2011; OKW 8/12;Kindani 9/13: POR 3/13; Jambo Club Level & SS 6/14; Poly studio 8/15, GF villa July 2016;Blt + AKK June 2018
We have learned that you can actually take alcohol with you as long as you carry it on. I actually called DCL to confirm this. We are planning on purchasing the wine package for our wine, however will be drinking more than that. (Hey....we will be on vacation!)
We are planning on going to the store near DTD to purchase a bottle of rum and a bottle of whiskey so that we can mix it with the sodas on deck 9. We will also try to purchase a case of water as last time we cruised we made the mistake of buying a case of water from the cruise line for like $30.....since I learned that we can actually carry it on we will be saving a ton of money if we buy a case of Dasani for $12.00 at a grocery store and then carry it on.
It may be a pain for my hubbie, but it will pay off in the end!