Dreaming of a Disney spring break! THIS SECTION COMPLETED - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 remember that announcement too. We had planned on booking a cruise in the summer of 2011 and we ended up not being able too. When we go in May we're going to pay OOP and use our points for our hotel stay. Sometimes it just ends up working out that way.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
We were so relieved to have booked in July when the no DVC points announcement came out! But I remember how upset everyone was by that. I hope they never do that again!
I couldn't agree more!
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Looking forward to tomorrow's installment. I assume you already have this all mapped out to string us along right up to your departure!
I am so glad that the "Dream" worked out for you anyway after a bit of point scheming. I remember reading about that on the boards and thinking how it would affect those that were planning on using points, Glad everything worked out in our favor and I am in total agreement, even if you don't get the upgrade, I would be pretty happy being on the Dream with my virutal porthole
Wow! I had no idea that DVC disallowed using points on the Dream's early sailings. I'm so glad you got it all worked out. The countdown is getting shorter and shorter!
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Wow! I had no idea that DVC disallowed using points on the Dream's early sailings. I'm so glad you got it all worked out. The countdown is getting shorter and shorter!
I know! We'll be seeing you again in just over a week!
Pre-trip report – part three: a wonderful Disney surprise in Bordeaux, France!
By now, we were very close to heading off on our final road trip of 2010, which would take us away for two weeks, as we drove 3,000 miles during that time, down to the Costa Blanca in Spain. While we were gone, we had limited Internet access, but on the odd occasion we did manage to get online, we got an e-mail from Sara. Sean and Sharon had asked for details of who we’d booked the cruise through and I’d contacted Sara to get a quote for them, which I’d e-mailed on to them.
Now I’m sure Sharon won’t mind me saying this about her, as it’s 100% true but she is useless when it comes to e-mail and even worse when it comes to phone calls, or so Sean tells us with the latter fact. As you can imagine, that makes communications in between each time we meet an interesting challenge....
Therefore it perhaps came as no surprise to discover in Sara’s e-mail that they had indeed gone ahead and booked on the cruise and asked to be waitlisted for early dining. That’s why Sara contacted us to see if we wanted to be added to that list as well. Well - we were delighted and I remember us both celebrating in the lobby of the hotel we were staying in in Bordeaux when we read that e-mail! It was so cool that we’d be joined by good friends for our first cruise on the Dream.
When we got back from that road trip, preparations really kicked off in earnest, as I knew they would. It had something to do with the fact that the seven month mark for changing around our bookings was literally the day we got home, so one of the first things I did, after we unpacked all our stuff from the car, was to call Member Services. For those who aren’t DVC members, the way the points system works is that you buy points in what’s called a “home” resort and you can book your stays at your home resort at 11 months. If you want to stay at any other DVC resort, other than your home resort, you can call at seven months to make those changes, so that’s what I did.
Imagine my surprise when a British voice answered the phone! Imagine even more surprise at my end when I told her my address and she said “oh I come from near you!” It turns out that, although she’s lived in the States for 17 years, she originally came from Sevenoaks, Kent, which is about 20 miles from us. Talk about it being a small world!
Saratoga Springs quickly went out of the window. Despite the fact we have the majority of our points there, we haven’t actually stayed there since 2004. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the resort per se, it’s more the fact that we like other DVC resorts. My first move was to swap out the last five nights of our stay to a studio with a savannah view at Animal Kingdom Lodge and I was able to get our first choice of Jambo House. Having stayed at Kidani Village in December 2009, we decided that Jambo was for us, as it was much closer to the action.
The next move was to book two nights at Wilderness Lodge Villas in a studio, just prior to going on the Disney Dream. This is the only DVC resort at Walt Disney World that we haven’t stayed at yet and I thought it was about time we gave it a go.
My final move was to book two nights at an inn room with an ocean view at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort for the two nights after the cruise. I knew Mark wasn’t 100% happy with that, but I figured it would give us a chance to relax before heading back to the World and I wanted to go back to Miami to finish the bits we hadn’t seen due to the rain on our December 2009 trip.
Those plans stayed the same for ooooh literally about four days. My first preference for Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas had been to get a studio concierge, but one hadn’t been available for the whole stay. However, the lovely British Cast Member who I spoke to (and whose name I forget... ) told me that there was one studio left for the final Good Friday and Easter Saturday night, but I couldn’t book it until four days later, when the seven month mark opened up for those two nights. I called literally just as Member Services opened, hoping that the one studio concierge would still be left. I wasn’t holding out much hope, but we lucked out and got it! I was glad it had worked out the way it did, as the Cast Member did warn me that there was no guarantee of a savannah view room, which I knew, so at least we’d have that view for the first three nights there.
After that, the planning came thick and fast. Wendy told me that April hours had been posted days before we’d expected them – I think they were up by about 22 September, which I guess makes sense, if you can make ADR bookings at 180 days out + 10 if you’re staying on property. I quickly added all of that into my spreadsheet, thinking that the touring plans information Wendy had given me sounded about right. Those suggested that the parks would be pretty crowded from as soon as we got back from the cruise, as the crowds built towards the Easter weekend. That was fine, we’d just make sure to visit as many attractions as we could early on in our vacation as possible. When you see Extra Magic Hours starting at 7am and the Magic Kingdom staying open until 11pm, you know it’ll be busy.
Our ADR booking window was fast approaching, so Wendy and I got down to coming up with some plans and filling in the blanks on the couple of days we’d be spending together. The same thing happened with Heather and I, especially as they had concierge asking what they could book for them – oh cool, I guess we’ll get that service in due course as well.
I will be honest, it was tough coming up with restaurants for this trip, tougher than any trip previously. I don’t know why exactly, perhaps it was the fact that we would be in Disney for so many nights, a total of 14, which is more than recent trips, or perhaps it was the fact that we were worn out from the road trip. Or maybe it was the fact that we have tried so many Disney restaurants now. Certainly Mark wasn’t feeling the magic when I asked him for his choices. : His answer to where he wanted to eat? “I liked the Yachtsman Steakhouse”. Well, that’s a help.... in fairness, as the days wore on, he did get better and we gradually added names to the list and came up with some plans.
In amongst that, my friend Elaine (Bert&Sully) enquired about our plans for our April 2011 trip and then mentioned that perhaps she and husband Keith could come down for a weekend to Disney. We haven’t seen them since our October 2006 trip – at least I think that’s how long it was. It’s certainly been a long time.
Elaine mentioned getting together when we got back from the Dream, obviously not realising that we were booked into Vero Beach for a couple of nights. Now, knowing that Mark wasn’t 100% keen on this idea anyway, I suggested to him that perhaps we should just head straight back to Disney after the cruise and he jumped at the plan. I told him that I’d try for an extra couple of nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge, knowing that he really liked it there, then he really surprised me. “Are we staying at Bay Lake Tower at any point on this trip?” I was taken aback by that, as although we’d liked our stay there, it wasn’t one of our favourite DVC resorts, but he had some logic to it. “It would be easy to walk back from the California Grill.” Well, I like his reasoning and his thinking...
I called the next day to try and arrange it, but all that they had left were one bedroom villas with a Magic Kingdom view. While that may sound nice enough, it was a crazy amount of points. Bearing in mind that our Vero Beach stay would cost us something like 48 points, that option at Bay Lake Tower would be something like 63 points for each night! It didn’t take me long to decide that wasn’t going to work too well for us. :
I then asked about BoardWalk Villas, but no studios there either. This wasn’t looking good, so the Cast Member said it would be easier to find out where studios were still available for those two nights. The list wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas at Jambo House with a savannah view. Easy choice then! As we’d be in a studio with a savannah view at Jambo House for the next three nights, I went for that, as I was assured that, although the two reservations were separate, we wouldn’t have to move rooms.
I wasn’t giving up on Bay Lake Tower though, as Mark looked so crestfallen when I told him it wasn’t a goer, so I put us down on the waitlist for both a lake view and Magic Kingdom view studio. Only time will tell if we’ll be lucky with the waitlist – fingers crossed!
Next: 180 days out – and time to make some serious plans!
Now that is some serious planning. It's all looking good!
__________________
Tanya
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that you & Mark get to sit together on your return flight!
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
As you can imagine, that makes communications in between each time we meet an interesting challenge.... 
Imagine even more surprise at my end when I told her my address and she said “oh I come from near you!” 
Having stayed at Kidani Village in December 2009, we decided that Jambo was for us, as it was much closer to the action. 
) told me that there was one studio left for the final Good Friday and Easter Saturday night, but I couldn’t book it until four days later, when the seven month mark opened up for those two nights. I called literally just as Member Services opened, hoping that the one studio concierge would still be left. I wasn’t holding out much hope, but we lucked out and got it! 
: His answer to where he wanted to eat? “I liked the Yachtsman Steakhouse”. 
Well, that’s a help.... in fairness, as the days wore on, he did get better and we gradually added names to the list and came up with some plans. 
It’s certainly been a long time. 
This wasn’t looking good, so the Cast Member said it would be easier to find out where studios were still available for those two nights. The list wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be – Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas at Jambo House with a savannah view. Easy choice then! 
Susan
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