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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We received ours when we arrived at the resort but they did "code" them for our room number etc. I'm sure there is still some form of activation required because they have to leave room assignments and things like that as flexible as they can to make easy changes when necessary.
I'm sure someone knows but id plan on stopping by the front desk when you arrive, at least to be sure you're all set.
If you made fastpass+ selections already you should see those in your mydisneyexperience login or in the mobile app.
If you were sent two magicbands check your My Disney Experience page and see if they are both there--I have five at this point--they all work for my AP, but only the one I check in with works at the hotel--most times.
Magic Bands don't have your itinerary "programmed" onto them. Magic Bands, and for that matter, all ticket media and electronic door keys, have nothing on them but their own unique serial number.
All of the information about ticket entitlements, ADRs, room numbers, dining plan credits, FastPass selections, and anything else Disney may cram on there in the future, is all stored in the WDW computer system.
That being said, the most important thing with Magic Bands is to be sure that your bands are entered into your My Disney Experience account. This tells the computer with all of the info on it that THIS Magic Band may use all of the reservations etc. from THAT account.
Think of Magic Bands the way you think of your ATM or credit card - your money is not on the card, it's in the bank, and your card is just an ID that you use to access your bank account. To prevent just anybody from accessing your accounts, you use a PIN with your debit card, and your signature with your credit card, and a PIN or the biometric finger scanner with your Magic Bands.
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How do I know if the bands are registered on my Disney experience. I ordered them through the web site.
I haven't recieved my MBs for my upcoming trip yet, but I believe this is the way it works:
1) Do online check-in (I believe at the 60-day mark). After that, you can configure your MBs by choosing colors and the names that will be printed on the inside.
2) Your MBs will be sent to you by mail a week or two before your trip.
3) When you recieve your MBs, go back to MyDisneyExperience.com and click on the "Link Existing Tickets and Reservations" link on the right side of the screen. You will then be asked "What would you like to link?" Choose Magic Band.
4) You will then be asked to provide the 12-digit ID numbers from the inside of your Magic Bands.
I haven't received my MBs yet, so I can't do Step 4, but I believe after Step 4, a magic Band is fully operational and can be used to access all of the other features you've linked to your MDE account - tickets/passes, dining plan credits, FastPass+ selections, room charging (if you've linked a credit card during your online check-in), and even your resort room (when it gets assigned to you on arrival day).
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
MagicBands ship about 30 days before your trip (at least both sets of mine did). Once they were processed/shipped, they "showed up" in my MDE account - there was no linking or adding numbers necessary.
UPDATE: My Magic band shipped yesterday, Nov 5, for a Dec 4 check-in. I got an email from Disney and another from UPS, both with the tracking number (next day air, so they'll be waiting for me when I get home tonight). Logging into MyDisneyExperience.com, I also see a notification that it has shipped, which also includes the tracking number.
Thus far, the Magic Band is not shoing up in my account, so I may have to manually enter it as I did with my park pass.
Wouldn't you need to check in at the desk anyway to find out what room you were assigned?
Now that I'm a little farther along in the process, I can answer this question!
When I did online check-in at MyDisneyExperience.com, there was an opportunity to enter either an email address, or a cell number, or both, where Disney can notify me when my room is ready. The notification will give me the room number, so technically I won't have to go to the front desk at all when I arrive at WDW, I can just go to the parks, since my Magic band will already be active and have my park pass programmed onto it.
I'll go to the resort anyway, though, because I have a couple of things that can't (as yet it seems) be taken care of on the web site.
1) I have a Disney Gift Card that I want to add to my Magic Band/KTTW card, instead of a credit card, to use for room charging. Hopefully, they'll add that capability to the web site at a later date.
2) Having kept abreast of the goings-on with these new technologies, I am aware that Guests are being given KTTW cards during the test phase, as a backup to their Magic Bands, so I think it'll be a good move for me to go to my resort and get one before I go to a park.
3) My room is ready most of the time when I arrive at WDW, and I like being able to settle in first, inspect the room for problmes, change out of my traveling clothes, and secure my luggage in the room. I prefer not to do these things at the end of a long, tiring arrival day that typically begins for me at about 3am.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Magic Bands don't have your itinerary "programmed" onto them. Magic Bands, and for that matter, all ticket media and electronic door keys, have nothing on them but their own unique serial number.
All of the information about ticket entitlements, ADRs, room numbers, dining plan credits, FastPass selections, and anything else Disney may cram on there in the future, is all stored in the WDW computer system.
That being said, the most important thing with Magic Bands is to be sure that your bands are entered into your My Disney Experience account. This tells the computer with all of the info on it that THIS Magic Band may use all of the reservations etc. from THAT account.
Think of Magic Bands the way you think of your ATM or credit card - your money is not on the card, it's in the bank, and your card is just an ID that you use to access your bank account. To prevent just anybody from accessing your accounts, you use a PIN with your debit card, and your signature with your credit card, and a PIN or the biometric finger scanner with your Magic Bands.
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