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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World Its 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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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Getting "towel animals" and such is purely dependent on whether you housekeeper has the skills to make them and time to make them at home (off the clock).
I've stayed at total of about 50 nights at WDW, at 10 different resorts. I've only received a towel animal twice...on one stay at WL.
We have had housekeepers have fun with the kids stuffed animals once in a while though...
leaving them posed in various places or in front of the TV with the remote.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World Its 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've left large tips ($25/day when in a suite with 6 people -we were messy) and small tips ($5/day when in a room with 4), and it doesn't make any difference.
We did have the housekeeper leave a HUGE alligator made of towels UNDER the sink at Poly in Jan. It had the (older) bottles of shampoo turned around for the eyes, so that there were shiny red eyes looking out from under the sink at me. DDs loved it!!
I'm glad this is being talked about. Based on posts before my first trip last November, I was expecting towel animals pretty regularly. I tipped $5 per night every night, in little envelopes that said "Mousekeeping" in a cute font... expecting an animal at least once, which I knew my DS would love. And we greeted the housekeepers every time we saw them. But no, nothing, the whole 7 nights. Now that I know it's up to the housekeepers to learn and provide supplies, I feel bad about how bitter I was feeling for not getting animals!
You may also get a different Mousekeeper every day. We went back to our room and the mousekeeper was cleaning our room at the time. After we had asked for supplies (t.p. and kleenex) that we were out of, she apologized & old us that it wasn't her that neglected to leave it the day before. She said, atleast at POFQ, that they found out their building assignments at the start of each day. It can change from day to day. That's why it's important to leave a tip each day instead of just at the end. Sometimes I've found that they also leave cute towel animals at rooms where they can tell kids are staying.
We didn't get any towel animals, but DS's stuffed toys were rearranged several times. Wish I had thought to get a picture!!! What was really neat was that one of the toys was a Buzz Lightyear and DS thought that, like Toy Story, our toys came to life when we weren't watching.
Among the cool things that we got were a towel Mickey like Deb's pictured above, and this little bit of towel art. Our mousekeepers were very good to us.
Saw this post the other day and had to come back to show you the lovely towel creation that I got at the GF in 2005. The kids named him Bob II (we did have a Bob I).
Housekeeping used my DD's hat, sunglasses, tube, etc. to make him. It was fantastic!
i agree...it all depends on the housekeeper. last year at POP, we left $2 a day (there were only 2 of us) and they decorated our window and left a mickey washcloth. (see pix...)
this past year we left the same tips at the same hotel and didn't get anything. there was a dog when we got there, but they didn't even decorate our window...so we did...a few times...
When we went to Disney World for the first time we took small "gifts" for mousekeeping as well as leaving a tip. These including a beaded bracelet (I have a friend who makes them), a small bottle of lotion from the Body Shop and a chocolate bar from the Germany pavilion in Epcot.
While we did receive a few towel surprises, the best gift were the notes of surprise and thankfulness that we came back to each evening. It was a chance for us to get in on the fun and spread some magic of our own. We still have those thank you notes in our Disney scrapbook.
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