Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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10-11-2006, 03:25 PM
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#16
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,357
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
Amen, Dave.
[ QUOTE ]
As far as the cruise industry is concerned, they're just worried that a few people might not cruise because of the cost and/or inconvenience of a passport applicaton. Even if people do qualify for the PASS card, it's not that much cheaper, and getting one won't be any more convenient. So, what's the real benefit to the consumer?
To add insult to injury, this change came too late for anyone who would be traveling at the end of 2006/early 2007.
There are more and more good reasons to have a passport. If you don't have one, it's a judgement call on the part of the border crossing official - is that photo ID and birth certificate valid? Passports issued worldwide for at least the past five years are computer-readable. One swipe through a slot and the border crossing official has all the info he/she needs, on screen. If you were a tired, harassed border crossing official, what would you prefer?
[/ QUOTE ]
It took us all of 1 minute to clear immigration with our passports a week and a half ago. Swipe, swipe, "welcome home, hope you had a nice trip". I saw a few people with birth certificates who weren't exactly hassled, but it clearly took them longer. The immigration officer has to manually enter all the information into the computer for each person in the party and wait for it to be pulled up. For a family of four this can take 5 minutes or longer. Then come the questions that are asked. "Who old are you, son"? The building where we were processed was unairconditioned. I can't imagine how happy the immigration officer was, standing around since 6:00 Sunday morning until after 10.
[ QUOTE ]
Beyond all of this, I really wonder why the cruise industry wants a delay for any reason (other than the possible loss of a little business, which I doubt would really happen). When a ship enters a foreign port, it provides written certification to the local immigration authorities that it has checked the identities of its passengers. As far as I know, they also provide a full passenger list including passport numbers. When there is no passport, that means the cruise line is sticking out its own neck. I'd think a passport-or-nothing law relieves the cruise line of some potential legal liability.
[/ QUOTE ]
Dave, CLIA all but said it was a fear of losing some clients. But given the push for the last almost 2 years, very few people were cruising without passports. I hand out passport applications with every international trip I book.
The biggest push in the travel industry came from CLIA. It was almost as much as the senators and representatives from the border states. CLIA spent several million dollars lobbying against it.
Mexico was ready to require passports due to the immigration issues. I know that flying into Montreal was a breeze with a passport.
I also use my passport when I fly domestically. When I'm in LAX or ORD, the TSA agent knows exactly where to look, as opposed to scanning the whole driver's license to find my name.
I can't agree with you more on the security aspects. Add to that the opportunity to travel outside of the Western Hemisphere and passports make sense. Yes, they may seem expensive, but the cost is amortized over 10 years.
Dave, did you need a passport for Panama? I know Columbia now requires them.
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10-11-2006, 03:41 PM
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#17
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Gilberts, IL
Concierge Level: 5
Posts: 772
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
We need passports to be used for land sea and air travel. For everyones peace of mind not just ones. Since 9/11 I have not gotten on a plane not for fear just have not traveled. When we booked our trip I said we are all getting passports. I think for safety reasons everyone should have one. Besides think of looking back at the stamps when you are old and say I was there. It is a keepsake as well. Dave you hit the nail righ ton the head.
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10-11-2006, 04:52 PM
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#18
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 14,427
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
[ QUOTE ]
Dave, did you need a passport for Panama? I know Columbia now requires them.
[/ QUOTE ]
We were transiting the canal - never touched land. Under the circumstances, I'm sure the ship's certification was all that was needed.
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10-11-2006, 05:29 PM
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#19
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Community Rank: Passenger 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanover, Maryland
Posts: 40
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
[ QUOTE ]
Yes, they may seem expensive, but the cost is amortized over 10 years.
[/ QUOTE ]
We already went ahead and got my older kid's passports. I'm still on the fence on whether to get my newborn a passport or not for our January cruise. Children's passports are only good for 5 years. Passports are not good for 10 years until they are issued on or after the child's 16th birthday. (Form DS-11, instruction 4).
Kim
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10-11-2006, 05:31 PM
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#20
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanover, Maryland
Posts: 40
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
[ QUOTE ]
Besides think of looking back at the stamps when you are old and say I was there. It is a keepsake as well.
[/ QUOTE ]
I discovered it's not as much of a keepsake as I had hoped. When you apply for a renawal of your passport, they take the old one. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
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10-11-2006, 07:04 PM
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#21
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Worthington, Ohio
Posts: 2,257
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
When I renewed my passport a few years ago (with a change of name), I had to send in the old one, but it was returned with holes punched in it.
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10-11-2006, 08:34 PM
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#22
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Besides think of looking back at the stamps when you are old and say I was there. It is a keepsake as well.
[/ QUOTE ]
I discovered it's not as much of a keepsake as I had hoped. When you apply for a renawal of your passport, they take the old one. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
But they send the old ones back with the new one [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] I am on my third (or is it 4th) passport, and I have them all. They punch holes in the cover of the old one, and stamp the front page with cancelled.
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10-12-2006, 09:49 AM
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#23
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Gilberts, IL
Concierge Level: 5
Posts: 772
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
Yes when I got my new one for a name change they sent me back the old one with holes punched in it. So you could still see the stamps but it could not be used.
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10-12-2006, 09:55 AM
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#24
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Gilberts, IL
Concierge Level: 5
Posts: 772
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
Just a small point the Goverment could bring the fees up. You know to make a buck. So I would just get one because thing about supply and demand. Just get one you will most likely save money in the long run.
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10-12-2006, 12:37 PM
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#25
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,357
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Re: Pending - Passport requirements may be delayed until June 1, 2009 for cruiser returning from
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Besides think of looking back at the stamps when you are old and say I was there. It is a keepsake as well.
[/ QUOTE ]
I discovered it's not as much of a keepsake as I had hoped. When you apply for a renawal of your passport, they take the old one. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
I got mine back with a big CANCELLED stamped across it.
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