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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 think that you will need to rent at least one van and maybe two. I don't have much experience but the one time we did go to WDW we had a rental car and used hotel shuttles at an off-site hotel. There was no way that we could have done it just on the shuttles. The place we stayed had lots of shuttles to and from MK but the other parks had far more limited service. For example there was one shuttle to AK in the morning and one return at noon and a second return shuttle at 5:00. That was it. As you can imagine, the AK buses were crowded. I remember one evening where the bus could not hold another person and there were several people still wanting to get back. To this day, I dont know whether the hotel sent out another shuttle or these people had to find another way back to the hotel. The buses to the waterparks were even more limited. Can you get a shuttle schedule from your hotel to see what it is like? This may help you decide. We had four people in our group and would have differences about whether to stay longer or retreat to the hotel. I can not imagine that 15 people will all be on the same page about this. You will have to factor the cost of parking - $12 a day per vehicle- into your budget. But you can change parks or leave and come back and just show your ticket. You wont have to pay again.
Also, I suspect that you may be able to get better rates closer to your trip. I would try to book something that you can cancel without penalty and keep my eye on the rates. Reading other threads, many have reported that the rates were over $400 for a minivan several months out but the rates dropped as it got closer to the travel date.
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Thank you everyone for your suggestions!!! I did find a 12 passenger for $800. So that is the route we are going to go. It still seems like a lot but since we are off-property and we are planning a day at the beach I think we will all be happier that we have a little freedom and flexibility. I'm just glad I figured that out, I was getting stressed there for a minute!
If you go through Hotwire where do you pick the car up? Or does it depend on the company it is coming from?
Hotwire is just a discount booking source that connects you with the major retailers. You could pick it up right at the aiorport. It'll tell you what company and you just go to their counter like everyone else.
Check alamo and national for vans/SUV rentals. You can sometimes get a pretty good deal on them. Both of these are on the airport so there is no catch a bus to the rental area dragging your baggage around, etc.
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Try Carl's Van Rentals for larger size vans. We are going in January for 2 weeks with 7 people, including 2 car seats, a double stroller and all of our luggage, so needed a larger van. I found the national car rental services for larger size vans were very expensive even with Mousesaver discounts. This place specializes in vans and has been in business in Florida for 15 years, so although we haven't used the rental yet, the reviews on line I have found have been positive. Their responses to my emails have been quick and helpful. Also, although their location is off airport property, for $50 fee they deliver the vehicle to the airport, which when factored in was still cheaper for us then the other rental costs.
We also considered renting 2 smaller vehicles, but the resort we are staying at allows us only 1 vehicle per unit, so it had to be one smaller one, but if you have that option, maybe 2 or 3 smaller vehicles would work for you, and allows people with different interests to go different ways during your stay.
BTW, if you end up using Carl's please post back to us (especially for me), so I will know what to expect.
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