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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Just a poll of sorts. My wife and I are Gold CC members with 6 cruises under our belts. We have 2 B2B in January that will put us at 8 total. The catch is, we will have 49 nights on-board at that point (we currently have 42).
My question is, how many people attain Platinum by doing 10 3-night cruises instead of 10 longer cruises? We had table mates on our last cruise that were Platinum because they did a bunch of 3 night cruises just to stack the deck toward status. Hmm, we've sailed 42 nights and are only just now Gold and they've sailed 30 and are enjoying the Platinum perks.
Airlines reward loyalty by either miles flown or segments flown (Delta for instance). So, those who don't do long-haul flights but fly multiple segments still get status. As far as DCL, those of us who have spent many more nights on the ships than some Platinums won't see that status for a while. In theory, you could sail 110 days in a Cat T or something and only just make platinum (10 11-night Med cruises for instance) vs the person who sails 10 3-nighters in an Inside State Room and gets the perks. They spend much less money and much less time on-board but get the status.
What gives? How many people have Platinum status based mostly (if not totally) on 3-night cruises?
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Upcoming - DVC ABD to NYC in Oct, Feb 2015 Princess Half Weekend and DCL 7 night afterward.
I must admit this has crossed my mind too, especially as when we sailed with P&O, membershipof their equivalent club was done either by the nubmer of the cruises you'd done with them or the number of nights you'd spent on board, which did seem fairer to me.
I emailed DCL and their response was, "We set up the program based on customer feedback." I hear that a lot - from both DCL and DVC - but as yet to talk to a person who has given feedback on this or any other issue where a decision was based on "Customer Feedback".
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Upcoming - DVC ABD to NYC in Oct, Feb 2015 Princess Half Weekend and DCL 7 night afterward.
I just completed my 3rd cruise, but have sailed a total of 25 nights. I agree that a total of nights sailed should count for advancement rather than total number of cruises! I only like the longer cruises, so will probably never get platinum.
I agree! DH and I considered taking a 3 night and a 4 night back to back to bump us up a level. However it just wasn't worth it after considering it more carefully. We just prefer the longer cruises when we can.
I hear this a lot from different guest. I know some who have made it to Platinum status and have only sailed the 3 night cruises. I know guest who have done the longer cruises and have 28 nights onboard and are still silver.
I am currently at 107 nights onboard and will be added 14 more nights shortly. At first I was excited about the extra perks. I have noticed on the last 2 cruises they have cut back on the perks. Which is a disppointment. The Castaway Club perks I enjoy now are the early boarding group and the 10 percent off in the shops. I have so many Castaway Club repeat gifts I don't know what to do with them. I am glad they changed them to the blue backpacks but I already have 5 of those.
Many cruise lines do base it on number of nights sailed. Royal Caribbean’s program is based on nights. Plus if you are in a suite you get double credits.
They do base a lot on guest feedback . Anyone who wants to comment to DCL about this should send them an email.
I'm completely sympathetic to the idea of rewarding length of travel as well as number of cruises (though at this point, I'm Platinum no matter how you'd add it up ). DCL (and Disney overall) has always leaned towards minimal rewards - the creation of three levels of membership is the last thing they did in response to "guest feedback," and it was a long time in coming. I'm not overly optimistic about a change, but change is unlikely unless they hear from a significant number of cruisers.
Bottom line for Disney when they created Silver/Gold/Platinum was that their frequent cruisers were threatening to take their business elsewhere. While I hear a fair amount of complaining about Castaway Club (especially from those of us with way too many duplicate "gifts), I'm not sure if folks are willing to jump ship over the things they/we are unhappy about, and that's what's going to matter to Disney.
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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 was over on the cruise critic boards awhile ago and someone had the same complaint about Carnival. It does seem unfair. Disney should have plenty of merchandise in stock to change the "gifts" for repeat cruisers no matter what level.
Good point about feedback, Dave. I don't know why I forgot to put this concern on my comment card at the end of my last cruise, but I will definitely write to them.
I agree that a total of nights sailed and stateroom cat should count for advancement in addition to numbers of cruise. As similar to several mileage programs. We are gold/platinum at AA mostly due to longer flights rather them number of segments. At their program you can upgrade by either mileage (boost by flying in exec or first) and segments.
We don't have many nights at DCL, we're going to reach 21 nights in Dec - we prefer 7 nights rather shorter cruises, and we are still silver, all in verandah staterooms. We plan to reach gold next year.
However it bother me a little the notion that someone with a bit more (30 nights) might be already platinum.
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I agree that DCL should look at days on board in addition to number of sailings. We did the Med and Baltic cruises (about 22 days on board) and a couple of shorter sailings (30+ days on board total) and we are just finally at Gold level for our cruise in November. I too will try to remember to mention this on my comment card on the ship.
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). DCL (and Disney overall) has always leaned towards minimal rewards - the creation of three levels of membership is the last thing they did in response to "guest feedback," and it was a long time in coming. I'm not overly optimistic about a change, but change is unlikely unless they hear from a significant number of cruisers. 
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