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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I was wondering if we can bring some of our own snacks? I plan on ordering some grocery's for our resort stay before the cruise and was thinking I could order some extra snack item's to bring on our cruise.
You really don't need them - food is available 24/7. If not from a restaurant or food window, then from room service. And there are rules in most ports to taking food off the ship. I'd save the space for other things if it were me...
You really don't need them - food is available 24/7. If not from a restaurant or food window, then from room service. And there are rules in most ports to taking food off the ship. I'd save the space for other things if it were me...
Thank you for the response. What do you think about bringing some alcohol on board for our stateroom? I read we can bring it on in a carry on for the stateroom. I was thinking this would save some money. Do you agree?
Thank you for the response. What do you think about bringing some alcohol on board for our stateroom? I read we can bring it on in a carry on for the stateroom. I was thinking this would save some money. Do you agree?
Yes!! Last time I brought half a dozen or so of the little airline bottles of things that would mix with stuff I could get on board (you can get OJ in the mornings and store it in your room fridge). I always bring my own wine - don't forget the corkscrew, but that needs to be packed in your checked bag while the alcohol has to be in your carry-on.
We brought both snacks and alcohol. I wanted a little something for our boys to have if they were hungry first thing and of course the drinks for us parents.
If you do bring snacks they have to be commercially-packaged and unopened whenever you board and anytime you take them off the ship (in ports of call, and when you return to the home port) - individually-wrapped servings will work best in that regard. No fresh fruit, veggies, fresh sandwiches (Subway, home-made, etc.).
DCL does sell salty snacks on board, the same kind they sell at the parks and resorts (so they're hardly a bargain), There are just so many good things to eat at no charge. To stock your stateroom, order items like the fruit and cheese plate and their fresh-baked cookies from room service, or bring them down to your room from the snack bars on the pool deck. You do have a cooler in the room, which is fine for the fruit and cheese, even if it's not good enough to get your beverages ice cold. And speaking of ice, let your stateroom host/hostess know you'd like to keep the ice bucket filled. Guests can't access the ice machines, so a standing request like this is a near-necessity if you plan to tend bar in your stateroom.
__________________
Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
If you do bring snacks they have to be commercially-packaged and unopened whenever you board and anytime you take them off the ship (in ports of call, and when you return to the home port) - individually-wrapped servings will work best in that regard. No fresh fruit, veggies, fresh sandwiches (Subway, home-made, etc.).
DCL does sell salty snacks on board, the same kind they sell at the parks and resorts (so they're hardly a bargain), There are just so many good things to eat at no charge. To stock your stateroom, order items like the fruit and cheese plate and their fresh-baked cookies from room service, or bring them down to your room from the snack bars on the pool deck. You do have a cooler in the room, which is fine for the fruit and cheese, even if it's not good enough to get your beverages ice cold. And speaking of ice, let your stateroom host/hostess know you'd like to keep the ice bucket filled. Guests can't access the ice machines, so a standing request like this is a near-necessity if you plan to tend bar in your stateroom.
Thank you for the great information, I didn't realize we couldn't access the ice machine, really good to know !
great to know! Can you order cheese and fruit via room service? We planned on tipping our cabin steward right away to keep the ice bucket filled for our happy hour cocktails!
You probably won't need snacks for the ship -there is plenty of food available on the ship for no extra cost. We did bring a package of granola bars and a some of the prepackaged nuts (those in small, single serving packages) and we found these helpful for taking with us on excursions. As Dave mentioned, there are restrictions on what can be taken on/off the ship.
great to know! Can you order cheese and fruit via room service? We planned on tipping our cabin steward right away to keep the ice bucket filled for our happy hour cocktails!
There's a great cheese plate on the room service menu.