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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have tried the past 3 years and not been able to get in either. The CM this year told me to call at 6:30 AM EST to get into the phone queue in hopes of being one of the first calls answered. That's my strategy for next year!
I got CRT for our July trip this year. Here's how: Call ahead of when you want to try for the PS so that you can navigate the menus and know which buttons to push - write this information down. On the day that's exactly 90 days from when you want the PS, start calling at 6:50 am EST and keeping calling repeatedly until you get the "Welcome to Disney Dining" message. When it starts going thru the menu's, punch each of your number selections as soon as you can so you can get in queue quickly. When the Cast Member answers, don't chit chat... blurt out that you want Cindy's for XXXX date, any available time... they'll understand your momentary rudeness. You can apologize after you get the reservation! Here's hoping you get in next time!
I agree that you need to know ahead of time what prompts to push, and push them before they are done with the whole message. Call about 5 minutes till 7am. Good luck!!!!!
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I got CRT for our July trip this year. Here's how: Call ahead of when you want to try for the PS so that you can navigate the menus and know which buttons to push - write this information down. On the day that's exactly 90 days from when you want the PS, start calling at 6:50 am EST and keeping calling repeatedly until you get the "Welcome to Disney Dining" message. When it starts going thru the menu's, punch each of your number selections as soon as you can so you can get in queue quickly. When the Cast Member answers, don't chit chat... blurt out that you want Cindy's for XXXX date, any available time... they'll understand your momentary rudeness. You can apologize after you get the reservation! Here's hoping you get in next time!
I agree with cj. I had trouble the first trip trying to get a ps there. but after following this advice,I got ps for our last two trips. it definitely works. Go to allears site for directions you can print out. That is where i got this tip.Have a great time. Cindy's was (IMO)the best breakfast I have ever eaten and being in the castle is so cool!
If you don't get it at 90 days, keep calling! People do cancel. I wouldn't call everyday, but at about 30 days before your trip, I would call a couple of times a week. It's better to call in the afternoon. Most people are not going to wake up at 7:00 am to cancel their reservation so they tend to call after noon.
WOW!! you guys are good. I would have never thought to call ahead of time to get the right prompts to push. I'll have to keep this in mind for when we go back to DW.
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I got CRT for our July trip this year. Here's how: Call ahead of when you want to try for the PS so that you can navigate the menus and know which buttons to push - write this information down. On the day that's exactly 90 days from when you want the PS, start calling at 6:50 am EST and keeping calling repeatedly until you get the "Welcome to Disney Dining" message. When it starts going thru the menu's, punch each of your number selections as soon as you can so you can get in queue quickly. When the Cast Member answers, don't chit chat... blurt out that you want Cindy's for XXXX date, any available time... they'll understand your momentary rudeness. You can apologize after you get the reservation! Here's hoping you get in next time!
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Carla hit it right on the head! That's exactly what I've done and got CRT for breakfast 2 years in a row for both of my girls' bdys on the first try for each! I've called ahead to copy down the prompts but I've also called when they're closed so I know how the opening and closing messages sound. I used both my regular phone and my cell phone - I dialed the number for each ahead so that I just had to start hitting redial around 6:50am (I use the time on my cell phone or check with the weather channel to make sure it's accurate), and then keep hitting redial til I hear the opening message. Follow the prompts and just hold.
Oh yeah, I forgot something... if while your holding for a Cast Member, you get a recorded message that says something about "at this time, if you're holding for a PS at CRT, they are most likely all filled"... IGNORE IT!!! and DON'T HANG UP!!! I got this message and was still able to get a PS for 9:00 am.
I've always called ahead to get the prompts right, and have been lucky enough to get CRT three times! It helps to practice, and to know what the difference is between the "closed" message and and "open" message. There is a subtle change at the beginning
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Oh yeah, I forgot something... if while your holding for a Cast Member, you get a recorded message that says something about "at this time, if you're holding for a PS at CRT, they are most likely all filled"... IGNORE IT!!! and DON'T HANG UP!!! I got this message and was still able to get a PS for 9:00 am.
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Me, too, Carla. I had never heard that message until I called for this trip. I didn't hang up, figuring I only needed a PS for Carly and I. I got in on the day I wanted at 8:55 a.m.
tenya
Last trip I made all my own PS's (Val's advice about calling ahead and writing down the prompts was the best advice I had received before my last trip and really helped - I got all my PS's but I waited each morning on the phone for anywhere between 25- 50 minutes.) This trip I guess I did it the "easy" way - I booked thru an awesome travel agent, who made all my PS's (I emailed her the list of what I wanted and about when and she emailed me back with confirmation #'s). On the morning she called for our CRT reservations, I received an email from her at 7:05 am telling me we were in!! It doesn't get any easier than that!
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