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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your bags will still be picked up at the Orlando airport by DME regardless of who you fly. Luke and I have used Concierge on many trips to print out our return flight boarding passes. So at least those two things won't be causing you additional fees.
I hear you on all of the extra charges. I was surprised when booking a flight from California on American Airlines, and saw the extra fees to pick out an aisle seat, a window seat, etc.
My understanding is that you won't have to pick up your bags from Spirit on arrival (as long as they are tagged with DME) - it's only on the way back to the airport that you have to lug them. But, we haven't flown them - yet.
Wow, they charge you depending on the seat you pick? Unbelievable!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Sharon is correct. You will not have to collect your bags on arrival. The tags will be mailed to you if you are taking advantage of DME.
I would check with concierge because I think they can print your boarding passes for you at the desk.
The only thing you will not be able to do is check your bags at the resort the day of departure. You will have to take them with you and check them at the airport.
Well I guess it's not that bad. I liked last time that I didn't have to worry about my luggage until back at home. You really get used to good stuff at Disney, don't you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Yes, you can ask the concierge to print your boarding passes for you. I think that is ridiculous that the airline charges you to pay if you print them at the airport. Are they also one of the airlines that charge you for carryons too?
Yep, they charge you for carry-ons. You can take a backpack or bag that fits under the seat and you don't pay for that. But anything bigger than the dimensions they give and that has to go in the overhead bin, you pay for. And you pay more than the checked luggage. I think it's like $45.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
We've had our boarding passes printed out at both Concierge and at Guest Services at DHS!
Thanks! That's good to know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Your bags will still be picked up at the Orlando airport by DME regardless of who you fly. Luke and I have used Concierge on many trips to print out our return flight boarding passes. So at least those two things won't be causing you additional fees.
I think I'll be heading over to Concierge on my last day. Thanks for the info!
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I thought I'd do a little trip down memory lane. As a family, we've done 4 trips to Disney and we've enjoyed each and every one of them. I wanted to share with you so you can see the evolution of our family. So here it goes.
2006
Our first trip. We stayed off-site. Adriel stayed back home with my mother, he was a baby. I've come to regret leaving him behind.
OMG, Abniel is so stinking cute in that pose!
2008
We went on this trip with Arben's side of the family. My mother joined us. There were many stressful moments and we ended up touring the parks without them, doing our own thing.
They're so cute! How little they were.
Abniel giving us some attitude, even as a young child.
2011
This trip was with my family. The TR is in my signature. Wasn't the greatest trip either. This trip made us realized we are better off traveling by ourselves, just us 5.
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Awe - they are so cute. Laughed out loud at the "Viking Girls."
Totally understandable that your best trips are with just the five of you. Relatives are wonderful, but everyone has different touring styles - and, I bet you stressed yourself out trying to keep everyone happy.
WOW!! Just read your whole trip report in one sitting!!!
First let me say...I love your planning strategies!!
Congratulations on AKV! My family has never shown any interest in this resort, although I would love to stay there!
Your ADR's look great. We've only used the DDP once and that was only for counter service. Like some folks have stated, the DDP is not for everyone including my family. It just didn't fit our eating style.
Can't wait to read more!!
I love the trip down memory lane. It's so fun to see pictures of past trips.
I love re-living my trips through pictures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
A great trip down memory lane!! It is so fun to see how much the boys have grown over the years!
On our first trips they were so little. Adriel was, at first, afraid of the characters. He wouldn't cry but just wouldn't pose next to them. Now he loves them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I love when people post pics ofpast trips. Your boys are such cutie-pies! They're growing up way too fast and it's great to have all these memories.
It unbelievable that only 2 years ago AJ looked like such a young boy and now you look at him and he's almost a man. My boys are growing up so fast.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
Awe - they are so cute. Laughed out loud at the "Viking Girls."
Totally understandable that your best trips are with just the five of you. Relatives are wonderful, but everyone has different touring styles - and, I bet you stressed yourself out trying to keep everyone happy.
The Viking Girls... I think no one realized this until we saw the photos back home. If they want the same photo, I'll make sure they get the correct helmets. Or will I...
I agree, travelling with others is sometimes very stressful. My sil will be in Orlando the same dates as we are, but we are only planning to meet up one day in MK.
Quote:
Originally Posted by travismom
WOW!! Just read your whole trip report in one sitting!!!
First let me say...I love your planning strategies!!
Congratulations on AKV! My family has never shown any interest in this resort, although I would love to stay there!
Your ADR's look great. We've only used the DDP once and that was only for counter service. Like some folks have stated, the DDP is not for everyone including my family. It just didn't fit our eating style.
Can't wait to read more!!
Thanks for joining! It's good to know that my planning and rambling interest other people. There's so much I can talk about Disney at home before I get some rolling eyes.
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I love the pictures from your past trips! My parents just flew Spirit last week and it turned out to be a pain for them on the way there and no big deal on the way home. When they got to the airport they were told the flight was overbooked. They volunteered to get moved to a flight that would arrive 3 hours later. Instead they arrived 9 hours later because Spirit didn't know what they were doing.
That being said they had already checked their luggage on the flight they were supposed to be on and it was waiting for them at POR when they finally did arrive. I think the luggage went on the initial flight.
I know their return flight went well. I can ask them about printing their boarding passes and what not. I don't know what they did, but I'm pretty sure they didn't incur a fee or my dad would have complained.
I love the pictures from your past trips! My parents just flew Spirit last week and it turned out to be a pain for them on the way there and no big deal on the way home. When they got to the airport they were told the flight was overbooked. They volunteered to get moved to a flight that would arrive 3 hours later. Instead they arrived 9 hours later because Spirit didn't know what they were doing.
That being said they had already checked their luggage on the flight they were supposed to be on and it was waiting for them at POR when they finally did arrive. I think the luggage went on the initial flight.
I know their return flight went well. I can ask them about printing their boarding passes and what not. I don't know what they did, but I'm pretty sure they didn't incur a fee or my dad would have complained.
Ugh, 9 hours later. I'd be super furious! I hope this doesn't happen to me.
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On our first trips they were so little. Adriel was, at first, afraid of the characters. He wouldn't cry but just wouldn't pose next to them. Now he loves them.
My boys are growing up so fast.
Deb
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