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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm trying to convince a friend to try Disney Cruise Line, and he's adamant that their prices are way to high. I seem to recall seeing a comparison of what you get for your money for Disney compared to the other major Cruise Lines. I thought it was in my Passporter's Disney Cruise Line book, but I'm not finding it there. As I recall there was a page for each cruise Line. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Perhaps it is in a different Passporter book? I'm just not sure at this point.
I'd also be interested in seeing that comparison. I will say that, on the one hand, I agree with your friend. Any travel involving Disney is going to be more expensive. However, for me, the quality, service, and nostalgia are worth the money. Also, while DCL will never be Cunard, Silversea, Crystal, etc., it's also not going to be Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc. I think DCL fits nicely (and somewhat uniquely) in between the luxury cruise lines and the budget lines.
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Walt Disney World has become a touchstone for me, a constant in a world where everything changes. Again and again I have come back to this place, grounding myself, communing with all the people I've been.
We don't do a dollar for dollar analysis, because base fares vary so much, as do spending patterns on optional items, and placing a value on relative quality.
No matter what, if you added up the money saved on soft drinks, the relative lack of extra-cost foods and similar add-ons... It wouldn't justify the higher price. A lot of the "Disney Difference" is in the quality of the shows, childcare programs, adults-only areas, Castaway Cay, the split bathrooms in the staterooms, etc. - all reasons to pay more, but harder to put into dollars. Since DCL doesn't have casinos (just bingo), do you factor-in the money you might have lost at the roulette wheel?
So, in the guidebook, we don't risk putting hard numbers on soft intangibles. However, you could try on your own. Are the shows on DCL worth $15 more per ticket? What are the round-the-clock free movies on stateroom TV worth (figure, whatever hotel Pay Per View costs, since every other cruise line I know of charges for the TV)? How about the first-run Disney films in the Buena Vista Theatre - $8-9 per movie? Would you pay an extra $50 per day per child to have a kids program that runs around 15 hours a day (many lines have programming for around 8 hours)? $20 per day for a quiet, adults-only pool? Free room service food (beverages are extra)? What about Castaway Cay? If the other cruise line does not stop at a private island... apply the cost of a typical, all-day port-of-call beach excursion that includes all food and soft drinks... around $75-$90 per person. And so on.
Folks could help catalog the "differences" with suggested values, and then let each individual decide what those items are worth to them... Does that sound like a worksheet folks might like?
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
We don't do a dollar for dollar analysis, because base fares vary so much, as do spending patterns on optional items, and placing a value on relative quality is very subjective.
No matter what, if you added up the money saved on soft drinks, the relative lack of extra-cost foods and similar add-ons... It wouldn't justify the higher price. A lot of the "Disney Difference" is in the quality of the shows, childcare programs, adults-only areas, Castaway Cay, the split bathrooms in the staterooms, etc. - all reasons to pay more, but harder to put into dollars. Since DCL doesn't have casinos (just bingo), do you factor-in the money you might have lost at the roulette wheel?
So, in the guidebook, we don't risk putting hard numbers on soft intangibles. However, you could try on your own. Are the shows on DCL worth $15 more per ticket? What are the round-the-clock free movies on stateroom TV worth (figure, whatever hotel Pay Per View costs, since every other cruise line I know of charges for the TV)? How about the first-run Disney films in the Buena Vista Theatre - $8-9 per movie? Would you pay an extra $50 per day per child to have a kids program that runs around 15 hours a day (many lines have programming for around 8 hours)? $20 per day for a quiet, adults-only pool? Free room service food (beverages are extra)? What about Castaway Cay? If the other cruise line does not stop at a private island... apply the cost of a typical, all-day port-of-call beach excursion that includes all food and soft drinks... around $75-$90 per person. And so on.
Folks could help catalog the "differences" with suggested values, and then let each individual decide what those items are worth to them... Does that sound like a worksheet folks might like?
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I think you get your value out of your money for DCL. Like Dave said, all of the other cruise lines "nickel and dime" you. If my kids want a soda or icecream they can just grab it and I do not feel like I have to finish all of their leftovers because we paid so much extra for it. I am sure it comes out pretty even if you add up all of the drinks and extras that you have to buy on other cruise lines.
I'm trying to convince a friend to try Disney Cruise Line, and he's adamant that their prices are way to high. I seem to recall seeing a comparison of what you get for your money for Disney compared to the other major Cruise Lines. I thought it was in my Passporter's Disney Cruise Line book, but I'm not finding it there. As I recall there was a page for each cruise Line. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
Perhaps it is in a different Passporter book? I'm just not sure at this point.
The cruise comparisons are in the book "PassPorter's Disney Cruise Clues:First-Class Tips for Disney Cruise Line Trips". It has pages titled "Top Ten Reasons to Cruise Disney" & "Why I Think Disney Is Cheaper". It also compairs Disney to Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, & Royal Caribbean.
I think that is exactly what you're looking for in the Cruise Clues book, the side by side comparisons may be the ticket in opening eyes regarding Disney and their pricing compared to other lines.
I LOVE the casino reminder Dave....we don't even play Bingo onboard anymore because we NEVER win and it's not cheap! A losing session of Bingo will renew your appreciation that there are no casinos onboard!
Will your friend be traveling with children or not b/c i can think of a million reasons (well....that might be a slight exaggeration) that Disney is the only way to go for kids!
I think that is exactly what you're looking for in the Cruise Clues book, the side by side comparisons may be the ticket in opening eyes regarding Disney and their pricing compared to other lines.
I LOVE the casino reminder Dave....we don't even play Bingo onboard anymore because we NEVER win and it's not cheap! A losing session of Bingo will renew your appreciation that there are no casinos onboard!
Will your friend be traveling with children or not b/c i can think of a million reasons (well....that might be a slight exaggeration) that Disney is the only way to go for kids!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanny2004
The cruise comparisons are in the book "PassPorter's Disney Cruise Clues:First-Class Tips for Disney Cruise Line Trips". It has pages titled "Top Ten Reasons to Cruise Disney" & "Why I Think Disney Is Cheaper". It also compairs Disney to Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, & Royal Caribbean.
That's the one! Thanks! But, now I don't think I'll use these comparisons though. Hidden costs for things I wouldn't be using on either cruise aren't really Hidden costs. I'll just stick with the tried and true, "Disney Touch" as the reason it's more expensive. And if you don't care about the Disney Touch, then it's not for you.
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Wait- other lines charge for TV? And movies? Wooo, Disney has me spoiled. I do not want to think about all of those extra 'convenience' fees when I cruise. I like it when everything is paid off before I step onboard. I love DCL, and I think it would take a LOT for me to cruise on any other line!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
Amy, that's exactely what I thought - there's a fee for the TV??? That's just ridiculous. Good thing both DH and I love cruising with Disney so chances are we won't cruise with any other cruise line in the forseeable future
Amy, that's exactely what I thought - there's a fee for the TV??? That's just ridiculous. Good thing both DH and I love cruising with Disney so chances are we won't cruise with any other cruise line in the forseeable future
This is one time I have to disagree with Dave. Done Princess and RCL in the last couple of years and TV (and movies on them) were free.
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