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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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World travelers out there: Do you get foreign currency at the airport before travelling (or from your bank?) I know I'll feel more secure if I have some with me when I arrive but it's been so long since I've travelled outside of the US that I don't know if they still have the "tip packs" available at airports-- with small denominations for cabs, tipping porters, etc. I'll be in London (just at the airport) and in South Africa. I'm assuming that in London I can use a credit card for a meal, but I'll need a bit of local currency for small purchases-- coffee, etc-- during my long layover.
Another question. Some currencies are easier to deal with in terms of mental conversion of values than others. I'm finding the South African Rand amounts very difficult to convert in my head! Do you carry a card with some conversion values or use a calculator? I imagine that many smart phones have an ap you can use for this, but I don't have a smart phone. I'm considering getting one of the credit-card size electronic gizmos made for this purpose. They're not very expensive. I used to be a whiz at mental math, but seem to have lost that part of my brain!
I try not to convert at the airport, as the exchange rate seems to be so awful. The best way, these days, to get money it seems is with an ATM card. When I was in Italy & Spain this summer, our group had a hard time finding places to exchange US dollars, and travelers cheques wer not welcome anywhere. We were not in big tourist areas for the most part.
But using your ATM card is easy if you can find an ATM, and those seem to be in no short supply. Don't know if you could find out ahead of time whether the airport has one? I also think US dollars are OK for tips at the airport.
Finally, I'll share what I just learned the other day. I have NO personal affiliation with Capital One, but just learned they are the only CC company that doesn't charge an exchange fee on out of country purchases. That had me really thinking about Pplying for a Capital One card, just for overseas trips.
Good luck!
Thanks, Colleen! I know the exchange rate at the airport isn't the best, but I was hoping to avoid having to find an ATM when I first arrive after traveling for umpteen hours straight! Good to know that most airports may accept dollars for tips. It's hard to believe, but most of my overseas travel was pre-ATMs and we used travellers checks everywhere. I know they're not as widely accepted now. From what I've been reading, ATM crimes are quite common in South Africa, so that has me a bit nervous, too! I'll certainly be careful about where and when I use them.
Interesting about the Capital One card! I'll look into it, although it'll be hard to break the habit of pulling out my Disney Visa for everything!
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I agree with what's been said - airport exchange rates are never good. I always get some cash at my bank beforehand. When we travel to the U.S., for example, we usually get about $200 in small bills ($1, $5, $10, and $20). For everything else, we use our credit card once we're in the country. It has worked well for us wherever we've been.
Like Cheryl, I print a small card with typical conversions to carry around. I find that easier than using a calculator.
As for ATM crime, I'd probably stick to ones that are at a well-known bank or inside larger hotels.
Such helpful responses! Thank you. I asked my bank if I could get some Rand and they said they'd only have large denominations. I think I'll ask again, because I think if I give them enough notice they should be able to get small bills. And I will print up a small card with conversions for each of the bill denominations and some larger amounts.
So great to have a meeting with you and Mark to look forward to, Cheryl! I hope it works out. If you end up being busy that day, maybe it'll work on my return flight.
It's amazing how easy it is to stress about these little things. I used to hop a plane to Europe without ANY pre-planning.
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I agree w/ everyone else - we never exchange at the airport because of the high rates. When we were in South Africa, we had no problem at all finding bank ATMs to exchange money. We also got a Capital One credit card (as I think Colleen mentioned) which do not have exchange fees on international purchases. I can't say for sure, because we didn't really try it, but South Africa did not seem as "dollar friendly" as some places in Europe do. I wouldn't really expect them to accept US dollars anywhere. That said, almost everywhere we went DID accept credit cards. In fact, aside from some outdoor market type places, I can't think of anywhere that didn't. (And we did travel all over, not just in Cape Town and Johannesburg.) Jo-burg Airport is VERY nice (much nicer than any I've been in in Europe) and easy to find your way in. (They did a huge remodeling job on it prior to the World Cup) We got there in the middle of the World Cup hub-bub and still didn't have any trouble in the airport, so I can imagine that when it's even less crowded it is truly a breeze. I can understand wanting to have some SAR before you get there, but if you can't get any, you should not have any trouble finding at ATM in the airport. South Africans are extremely friendly (at least from our experience), so if you are needing assistance finding anything don't hesitate at all to ask one of them for help.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
Thanks, Ashli! It's good to know that Tambo airport is easy to get around. I'll only be there on my return flight, since I'm flying London to Cape Town at the beginning of the trip. I've gone back several times to re-read relevant passages from your TR, so thank you again! I don't drive, so my trip will be a lot different from yours (no World Cup, for one thing!), but I'm looking forward to it so much.
Thanks, Ashli! It's good to know that Tambo airport is easy to get around. I'll only be there on my return flight, since I'm flying London to Cape Town at the beginning of the trip. I've gone back several times to re-read relevant passages from your TR, so thank you again! I don't drive, so my trip will be a lot different from yours (no World Cup, for one thing!), but I'm looking forward to it so much.
We didn't go to Cape Town airport (only Tambo and Port Elizabeth), but I can imagine that it is equally as nice. Cape Town itself is a beautiful city and you should have no trouble finding anything you need there. (Cape Town and the southern coast of SA was my absolute favorite place in the entire country. - which says a lot because I loved everywhere we went there!) Glad my TR has been of help.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I have 4 nights in Cape Town and am looking forward to exploring the city. My hotel is in the V&A Waterfront area, so it should be easy for me to scoot around pretty much everywhere. I'm taking a tour down the peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope one day, but the rest will be right in Cape Town. I don't want to start my PTR too early. My trip is in March and I'll start posting sometime in January probably.
I have 4 nights in Cape Town and am looking forward to exploring the city. My hotel is in the V&A Waterfront area, so it should be easy for me to scoot around pretty much everywhere. I'm taking a tour down the peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope one day, but the rest will be right in Cape Town. I don't want to start my PTR too early. My trip is in March and I'll start posting sometime in January probably.
Great! I will be looking forward to reading it!
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
You can also customize your own cheat sheet site.
If you make your own cheat sheet you don't have to really make a large list (per country). Depending upon your math make it only as large as you need in the smaller denominations. To get larger amounts just remember to move the decimal point one space to the right for multiply by 10s and two for 100s and if you want half an amount just divide by 2.
With this link you can enter any amount in U.S. currency (change the dollar value) and that amount will automatically change to the foreign currency you choose.
And (below) there are free converter downloads for iphone, Blackberry, Android, Playbook and Windows Phone 7.
All of the above links are in the top site Travel Exchange Rates OANDA. Be sure and click on all small underlined print AND some large print that isn't underlined to open other links.
Actually the Capital One Card sounds good as you can spend close to the exact amount you want to spend without have extra currency (Paper money) to convert back to U.S. dollars which will cost you a service charge when you return home.
Remember that foreign exchange rates changes daily so if you convert to a foreign currency while overseas it might be a little less or even more each day.
Here are a couple forums (Q&A) on ATMs in South Africa.
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Just had to add my 2 cents to the conversation.... I'd get a basic small amount in small increments before I leave home at a travel agency or a bank OR I'd get a small amount upon arrival at the airport. The exchange rates are lousy, but it is nice to have a small amount of cash for tips or emergencies. I hold my nose (figuratively speaking) and exchange the money. I agree with the idea to use ATM's and try to reference which ATM's and banks are affiliated with your bank to minimize fees. I find that ATM's near tourist offices and in more residential neighborhoods - out of the main tourist areas - have reasonable exchange rates and easy to access by foot.
You might check with Rick Steves at ricksteves.com - he is the master of ATM's, currency exchange techniques and tricks. Also, my father was a physicist and a whiz at math - he taught us to convert using approximate multipication and move decimals. We learned to convert miles to kilometers by multiplying by .6 and moving the decimal. It was close enough to give a good guess at exchange rates.
Have a great day!
Julia
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Julia Elzie
Family Travel Specialist
Affiliated with MEI-Travel and Mouse Fan Travel
E-mail: juliae@mei-travel..com
Just had to add my 2 cents to the conversation.... I'd get a basic small amount in small increments before I leave home at a travel agency or a bank OR I'd get a small amount upon arrival at the airport. The exchange rates are lousy, but it is nice to have a small amount of cash for tips or emergencies. I hold my nose (figuratively speaking) and exchange the money. I agree with the idea to use ATM's and try to reference which ATM's and banks are affiliated with your bank to minimize fees. I find that ATM's near tourist offices and in more residential neighborhoods - out of the main tourist areas - have reasonable exchange rates and easy to access by foot.
You might check with Rick Steves at ricksteves.com - he is the master of ATM's, currency exchange techniques and tricks. Also, my father was a physicist and a whiz at math - he taught us to convert using approximate multipication and move decimals. We learned to convert miles to kilometers by multiplying by .6 and moving the decimal. It was close enough to give a good guess at exchange rates.
Have a great day!
Julia
Very good tips. Thanks! I am going to get some small denomination bills before leaving home. The poor exchange rate is worth it for the peace of mind. One less thing for my jet-lagged brain to process right away! I do the approximation thing-- and always approximate high--but for the exchange on the Rand right now is not an easy one!
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