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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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OK...now that it is official...the photobook is driving me crazy!
Since we are multiple rooms traveling together, and most rooms taking advantage of the free photo book, can our photopass numbers be added multiple times? Or do we have to have the photopass photographers take a picture of the group with each individual room's photopass?
This is becoming way more complicated than I wanted it to be!
Interesting questions! There hasn't been much detail released on the PhotoPass book (only that there is no getting rid of it!) i'm going to look into that, i'm sure a lot of people will want to know!
Ok i've found some details....
"One 20 page Disney PhotoPass book"***
***Online registration required. There is no charge to use Disney's PhotoPass Service to capture, view or share your photos. Prints and other products are available for purchase. Photos must be claimed within 30 days of being taken. Once claimed, they will be available for 30 days from claim date. Not responsible for missing, lost or damaged photos. Promotion code is a one-time use only and cannot be combined with any other offers. Promotion code will be provided as a voucher in your travel documents and will expire on 1/31/2012. Promotion code is not redeemable for cash in whole or in part. Promotion code holds no cash value. Promotion code is a one-time use code which will remove the cost of one (1) Disney's PhotoPass Photo Book with 20 pages. Standard domestic or International shipping charges will also be removed from your order. Offer does not include duties or value-added taxes, which may be assessed and are the responsibility of the package recipient. If additional pages are added to the Disney's PhotoPass Photo Book, additional products are added to this order, or Express shipping options selected, additional charges will apply upon final check out from DisneyPhotoPass.com.
Exactly...that blub on their website caused me more questions than it answered. Since it says that pre-registration is required...can a single number be added more than once? I know you are supposed to be able to add your own photos from your camera...how is that going to work for other cards...
I would really like to have all the kids and grand kids in ONE book for me, but I am sure each kid would like to have their own book. We always get the disk and we each make our own book through another site...like snapfish (can't remember the other sites now). This was supposed to be a drama free trip!
Just spoke with photopass people...and they have no clue! They said I was the first call about it and, even though they have known for two weeks this was going to be offered soon, they were not aware it had already been released.
So, they are researching and will let me know sometime this afternoon.
I also see that for only 149...they have the disk and book...also asked how the pricing would work on that. (Which would be our best bet...)
If it works like a regular Photopass card you just give the photographer all of your cards and he scans them all if at the same time when he takes the pictures. Then all of the pictures end up on all of the Photopass cards. Hope this helps!
He doesn't need to take "individual" pictures and then scan them to each separate card. He'll take a couple of pictures and then scan each card to capture all the pictures he took of your group.
When it's time for you to view the pictures associated with your PhotoPass card(s), the pictures will show up and can be placed into your PhotPass book.
I travel with friends all the time and this is how we do group pictures! We hand over our cards and get ready to pose. Then we collect our cards. (You can also pose first and then hand him each card in succession to swipe so they don't get mixed up.)
One hint -- use a Sharpie to mark your card so you know to get yours back from the photog when he's passing them back. Also, take a picture or write down your PhotoPass card number in case you lose it!
Thanks for the above information. That is more than the photo pass people are able to tell me.
They are positive that the promotion has not been released yet, and I am mistaking it for the Disney Visa card offer...even after I tried to explain that my TA has already sent me the confirmation and I do not have a Disney Visa card!
My confirmation shows an additional 99 (something) for the photo book, even though the CM insisted it is a freebie they are giving away when you purchase the dining plan.
Unfortunately, it will be a while before anyone actually tried to use this promotion, so it will be a while before I can actually get my answers.
The promotion was released today -- May 2nd -- to the General Public. (I'm not surprised if not all elements of Disney's enormous operation has all the info. Like any company, keeping everyone up-to-speed on everything is a monumental task!)
As for the confirmation showing the $99, I've communicated with a TA over the past few days, and I'm of the understanding that it's rolled into the overall price of the package. (It's "free" like DME is "free," even though the price of the rooms was increased to cover Disney's cost for this program.)
....you know, if the drama is causing you that many headaches...why not forget about the photo books, and continue your vacations as normal? Even with "paying" for the book, the deals are still fantastic, so why worry about something if it is confusing. We just booked the package, and may, or may not, get the photo book in the end. Sure we paid for it, but we're still saving $500 on our reservation, so either way we are happy.
Plus, I'm sur ein a coulpe weeks the Photopass folks will be totally briefed up on what the deal truly is, and you'll be able to get more straight answers to your questions. To me it reads that when you check in you will get a code that will essentially pay for the cost of one photo book....so unless I'm wrong, you should be able to "buy" a photo book with your code using the photos as one order, then "buy" another one as a second order...so on and so forth. I can't see there being a problem getting multiple books from the same account...even if they have to be separate orders.
Either way, have a ton of fun with your family during your vacation, I know I will with mine!!
Also, you say you're "multiple rooms traveling together." I'm assuming that you each have different reservation numbers -- which means you'll each get separate books, with different pictures, if you'd like.
OK - here's what I've gleaned from this conversation, for the benefit of the OP:
- Each individual reservation will get a photobook (BTW - LOVE them!)
- You do NOT have to take multiple group shots, just hand over all your photopass cards to the photog
- Be sure to mark each card so they do not get mixed up and take a picture of it or jot the number down, in case it's lost.
- Once a card is registered to a photopass account, it can only be accessed by that account
- You can upload personal photos to the book, so if the photog. took group pictures on your camera, too, then everyone can access those.
Don't let it stress you out! Where there's a will there's a way. Just take a deep breath and figure out what can work for your group. Have a great time at The World!
When we travel with my DB/DSIL we each have our own photopass card, and the photo swipes both our cards so we both can access the photo. Not a problem at all. I suggest everyone take a few of those sticky address labels (I can't be the only one to get hundreds in the mail) and stick one on the back of their photopass card, so everyone knows they got the right card back. Also, one person can collect all the cards, and wait until they're all swiped then dole them back out later. The rest of your party can clear the area for the next group to get ready for a pic.
OK...so SOME of my questions and concerns have been answered, however with each answer another question comes.
As of 5pm today (Tuesday) Photopass management is insisting that the only two packages that have been released with any type of photopass connection with free dining have been issued to Disney Visa card holders and Disney Rewards. There is no general public release.
Even after I sent the website to them, they are insisting it is not there.
My basic problem is I want to get the best value for my family. I do not want to have to pay an additional $100 to get the disk when I have already paid the additional to get the photo book. I would rather have both, however, there is no way to get that with this promotion.
Other than the free dining being offered for a limited time with this promotion. this will actually cost a visitor$ 100 more than purchasing the parts ...it does not make sense in any type of Disney math for the consumer. (Disney photo pass cannot even agree that point as they say the 100 gives you a discount on the photobook only. You still have to pay $49 for the book!)
LOL! I understand that Disney is a big corporation, and it takes time for everyone to get the correct information. However, for the past 5 contacts with them (only the first was by me...they have called me 3 times and sent one email) they keep trying to explain to me that I am mistaken as I obviously have a Disney Visa card and that is how I purchased my free dining....
As far as I am concerned the subject is closed. If Disney photopass contacts me again about it, I will make sure it is the last time as I will agree with every thing they say...true or not! I will probably just join a photopass share group and let the photobook go unused. Yes, that is wasting the $100...but at this point it is worth it not to worry about the ramifications later on.