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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It's a shame -- because there are legitimate pizza places that cannot deliver (or cannot get guests to order) anymore because of the scammers. And Disney's internal pizza delivery is not tasty, IMHO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashli
We got one of these fliers in our door last month at CSR. There is actually a notice (I can't think where it was...maybe on the little security tips list in the room?) that highly suggests guests who wish to order pizza to do so from a nationally recognized company (doesn't give any specific examples, but like Pizza Hut or something) because of all the scams happening with the fliers. It's nice that Disney is on top of this, and while I do feel bad for smaller local places that won't get the business, I think this is a good bill.
During our stay this past December we got flyers every day at SSR, and many times more than one. The concierge desk told us they maintain a list of reputable delivery places (not just pizza) and all you had to do was ask for it. They make no warranty regarding the quality of the food, just the fact that the restaurant exists and is a legitimate place of business.
DH kept a couple of the flyers and though the flyers looked identical, the name would be different....and sometimes they would still have the same phone number.
I wonder if it might be worth contacting authorities. If they are stealing credit card information, wouldn't they be able to find them with the phone numbers? They could call and pretend they are a hotel guest and trace it? I think I watch too many TV police shows, lol
Disney and the authorities are already hot on their trail.
The problem is, the scammers buy those cheap pre-pay cell phones, get a number and the fliers printed up. Then they scam a couple of people out of their credit card numbers and toss the phones.
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We've stayed off-site for a night a few times recently and that's where we got the fliers. One hotel warned us by having a sign in the room, the other hotel didn't.
I got fliers at the hotel that didn't warn us (Hyatt Place across from Universal). The flier even said something about not ordering pizza off a flier that doesn't share the business address, but anyone can make up an address!
We always rent a car, so we can go pick up food, but for those of you who rely on Disney transport, I'd order from national chains or Flippers - a local chain that is awesome. There are several Flippers locations around the area, and the closest one to Disney is in the Crossroads Plaza. Their food is great!!!
The pizza flyer scam is nothing new at WDW. It has been going on for years. I am surprised they have not caught anyone yet. If they have its not been publicized a lot.
We are at BLT and I did see them sticking out from under one door but we never got them this week at all, thankfully. I know it's a false sense of security but I like that it is KTTW entry here. Of course, there are ways around it but it's nice having the traffic less.