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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 not sure how I feel about a centralized FP machine. It would be nice to be able to walk in the park get a FP and then move on to something else. However I still think that there should be FP machines at the attraction itself since I have a feeling that a central FP machine would create a huge bottleneck at the front of the park. I guess we'll have to see how the test goes.
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I like the current way more. We've all seen the crowds around FP machines. Can you imagine the crowd around a bunch of machines for different rides? The only upside I see really is if the return times were shown, you could decide which ride to get a FP for based on that. Say you have an ADR at 1:00pm and the FP return times are between 12:30 and 1:30 for EE and the Safaris, 11:00am for Dinosaur. You could see more easily that Dinosaur would work better with your plans.
I like the idea of centralized FP distribution near the center of each park. Instead of having to crisscross the whole park to get a FP after you use your current one, you'd only have to crisscross half the park.
If the FP distribution area also incorporated the wait times boards, as well as the FP return times, it would be a great help in planning a daily itinerary (as far as I know, the tip boards do not currently include FP return times, just stand-by times).
I don't see centralized FP causing more lines than the current scattered machines, but the lines will be concentrated in one spot. Depending on where that spot is located in the park, concentrating those lines might not be the best idea for crowd flow.
On a separate but related note, I also like the idea of centralized height measurement for kids. The inconsistency of the current system, which is left in the hands of individual CMs. I've lost count of the number of parents who complain on the boards about how their kids made the height for every ride in the park but one, or they made the height for all the rides in one park but not in the next park, etc. Centralized measurement and wristbands eliminate that problem; it's a proven system used in theme parks all over the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danielle Harmon
I like it as long as they also keep the FP resources at the ride/attraction itself. I'd hate to have to continually go back to a centralized location to grab another FP when I was eligible for another.
You currently have to keep going back to the attraction itself to get a FP when you become eligible. Concentrating the FPs in one place can cut down that travel time in many cases, except when you're waiting around in the immediate vicinity of the next attraction you want to get a FP for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fluttercat
I don't like the idea. I see a huge pile of people standing in a line wondering what its all about. Besides, if people are too lazy to walk back to the actual ride to get the fastpass then what's to say they would even use it if they got it. That would mean none for people that would. As for walking all the way to Soarin' to find that they are out of fastpasses, check the tip boards in the various areas of the park. They tell you what the wait times are and whether there are any fastpasses available for the ride.
All of those negatives apply just as much to the current system. Some of them would be worse in a centralized system, but some of them would be improved.
You currently have to keep going back to the attraction itself to get a FP when you become eligible. Concentrating the FPs in one place can cut down that travel time in many cases, except when you're waiting around in the immediate vicinity of the next attraction you want to get a FP for.
I understand what you are saying, but like I said, a centralized area doesn't work with the way we attack the parks. We tend to go from one area to the next, and get FPs for the area that we are in only. If we don't get one because they are all gone, we are fine waiting in line. For us it is a more leisurely way of enjoying the parks and we still get to see and do everything. I would hate to have to keep going back to a centralized location just to see about a FP only to walk back to where I had been in the first place.
But I see what you are saying, because no one "tours" the same...
The idea of a centralized FP sounds good to me in theory. But the article referenced stated that, since it was located at the Tough to be a Bug FP machines, people were confused and trying to get FP for TtbaB. That leads me to wonder where they would put the machines in the other parks. To cut down on confusion, you would think the tip boards would be a good spot, but at MK and DS there really isn't room to put a lot of machines.
I'll be interested to see how this test works out.
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Yes, Eileen, I think so - I know that it does say at least "Fastpasses Available" so you know if it's worth making the trek up Mt. Epcot. I'm pretty sure it tells the current return time.
I like it - but I would definitely want to know the return time - and hopefully - the current wait time as well!
I like the idea, but I too want to know the return time and current wait time from the beginning. It seems it would be possible to post this info on something like a Times board.
I would not mind it too much as long as return time and stand by times are shown, AND they keep the FP machines at each attraction. If they change it to be only at a central location that would just create a huge mob of ppl. I could not imagine seeing all the ppl that rush to the various FP machines around each park at rope drop in one area.
Dave had an interesting comment about getting a FP for one attraction while at another. If they had a central FP distribution area that would open up say 2 or 3 of the 6 FP machines at each attraction for ones for another ride. I really like this idea.
Another note why-o-why did they not put the FP for Soarin near the entrance to the Land!!!
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