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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Can you charge World purchases to your Sog room key?
What about showing your tickets? Are they on a KTTW card?
Or should I just carry cash and a dedicated debit card for purchases? And worry about EMH when I get there?
I'm sure I'll think of more questions as I go along but those were bothering me today.
Thanks in Advance
Since SOG is not owned nor operated by Disney, they do not participate in any of the perks except for Extra Magic Hours. No Magical Express and no room charging in the parks or Disney owned resorts. :
Same with room keys . . . SOG has a generic room key and you get a separate paper resort ID.
While you can't charge purchases to your room key, you CAN have purchases shipped back to the resort.
It typically (in my experience anyways, and from what I have been told during each stay) takes a day longer than if you were staying at a Disney owned resort. So, if you purchase something the night or two before you check out, you would probably be better off purchasing at the end of the night and taking it back to the resort with you.
I also forgot to mention that you can charge purchases at Shades of Green ONLY to your room. There were a couple of nights on our last trip that we charged dinner at Mangino's to the room.
Thinking of charging breakfasts to the room at the very least. Four adults and a 4 year old having buffet shouldn't be too much. Eating other meals in the World...
Might try for a character breakfast, too, suggestions?
Also, someone suggested getting the resort refillable mug at Poly since we'd probably walk / ride (scooter) to TTC. Would that be "legal" and make sense for drinks on the way to / from the parks?
Thinking of charging breakfasts to the room at the very least. Four adults and a 4 year old having buffet shouldn't be too much. Eating other meals in the World...
Might try for a character breakfast, too, suggestions?
Also, someone suggested getting the resort refillable mug at Poly since we'd probably walk / ride (scooter) to TTC. Would that be "legal" and make sense for drinks on the way to / from the parks?
I thought the breakfast buffet at SOG was great -- I ate there after the WDW Marathon, and it was the best oatmeal I've ever tasted . They also did some fancier stuff, like made-to-order omelettes, an extensive fruit bar and stuff like that.
For Character b'fasts, we have found that Crystal Palace is lots of fun for the kids, the Polynesian is also very good and this year we are planning on trying the Princess one at Akershaus.
We do the towncar stop at the grocery store. This works out well for us on non-Character b'fast days, and non-race days (where you have to line up by 0400). It's nice to grab a bagel and go. And it makes you appreciate lunch more!
Good luck!
__________________
Lisa O'Neal
Goofy 2010, 2008, 2007
Run Fast, Run Hard!
We just got back from 9 nights at SOG. We bought a few items at Hollywood studios @ around noon and they were at the front desk by 3pm the next day.
Your room key is just a generic one like you get at staying at any 'normal' hotel. We had no problems getting in for EMH at the parks using our resort ID card.
We were not impressed with the breakfast buffet. For a few reasons. We also had something that grossed us out (which reminds me i need to call them later to complain, lol). We ate it once and after that we just purchased cereal & milk in the store. We ate the dinner buffet 4 or 5 times, ate at Manginos 3 times. The dunner buffet was okay. We also looked at the choices before deciding to eat there or not. The buffet is not very big but the price cant be beat. I will say their 4th of july rib night was GOOD!!!! lol. They also had a prime rib night which was very good.
Our room was great the only problem we had was the water stinks but that is florida. lol. And our water stopped working mid shower on our checkout date. Not sure why but we had no water going into the room at all for about 5 minutes.
We will be staying there on future visits!
Water/Soda at the store is much cheaper than at other resorts/the parks. One morning we had a breakfast of cereal and juice at the express cafe only to realize that the same cereal/juice/milk is cheaper at the store at the resort. lol