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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My daughter and I are going to Disney in October for 6 days. We already have our tickets (Make your way, no hopper or anything).
Our whole family is going back in May (3 adults, 1 child) for about 10 days. Can my daughter and I (the child) use our Annual passes and still share a room with people who have regular tickets?
My daughter and I also plan to go back next October, so that would be about 22 days in the next year that we would be there.
Is that enough to spring for APs?
Also, will we still qualify for the free dining if we get APs?
To get free dining you have to have a package that includes park tickets, so I think you would have to have at least a one day ticket to get the free dining and still use the AP. If you didn't use the 1 day ticket you could then apply it to the purchase of your next set of tickets.
My daughter and I are going to Disney in October for 6 days. We already have our tickets (Make your way, no hopper or anything).
Are you planning to upgrade these tickets to APs while you are down there?
Quote:
Our whole family is going back in May (3 adults, 1 child) for about 10 days. Can my daughter and I (the child) use our Annual passes and still share a room with people who have regular tickets?
Yes, you and your daughter can use your APs and the rest of your family can use their regular ticket media (MYW, PHs, etc) to enter the park. You can also check and see if an AP rate is available for your room during that stay since someone with an AP will be in the room.
Quote:
My daughter and I also plan to go back next October, so that would be about 22 days in the next year that we would be there.
Is that enough to spring for APs?
ABSOLUTELY. Anytime you plan to be in Disney more than 14 days it's more economical to buy an AP.
Quote:
Also, will we still qualify for the free dining if we get APs?
Well, it depends on which trip you are speaking of. For your October trip if you pruchased a package (your room and MYW tickets) and the FD is offered during your time, then YES you can get Free Dining and then on the last day of your trip upgrady your MYW tickets to APs and just pay the difference in cost. However, once you have your APs you would not be able to get free dining without purchasing a package including at least 1-2 days of tickets. But, as an AP holder you can get a Tables in Wonderland card which gives you a discount at most restaurants in Disney.
I asked a similar question to my travel agent just last week; I'm going to WDW and taking my Dad along for the first time in October. Here's the skinny she gave me.
Free dining provisos
1) To qualify for free dining, you have to purchase a package that includes tickets.
2) Disney has upped the minimum - you now have to buy TWO-day tickets to qualify for the package deal, not one-day. They can still be base tickets with no other options on them, if you like, but they must be two-day tickets.
3) Disney doesn't let you mix different discounts or specials, so if you get free dining, you can NOT get any other discount on the room - it must be booked at full rack rate.
Looking over those rules, and the quote that she gave me, I decided to forget the free dining and just book a room-only ressie with my AP discount, and buy the extra ticket I need for Dad.
To AP or not to AP
Jlp, if you and your DD are both going to be in WDW for 22 days in less than a year, then DEFINITELY get the APs! Forget free dining, forget booking a package.
APs with Disney Dining Plan
APs will give you significant discounts on your room-only ressies, as well as a bunch of other assorted discounts that might come in handy on your multiple trips, and you CAN book the dining plan with your AP rates, you just won't get it free.
Tables in Wonderland
On the other hand, you also qualify for a discounted membership in the Tables in Wonderland club, which is a dining discount card. I believe AP holders only pay $75 for a year's membership (not 100% sure), and the TIW card gets you between 10% and 20% off at most Disney dining venues in the parks and resorts. If you're a big eater who does table service and signature restaurants a lot, TIW can save you a significant amount of money.
I'm at the opposite end of the dining spectrum. I eat mostly counter service while at WDW, only eat a few table service meals, and never go to any of the signature restaurants. This makes TIW a non-profit enterprise for me, so I don't bother with it during those years when I have an AP; I simply pay my dining expenses out of pocket.
Sharing room between AP holders and non AP holders
That's easy, too, but with one provision - a package deal requitres that everyone in the room have the same package, i.e. the same tickets. But a room-onnly ressie, which is what you'll make with your AP discount anyway, doesn't require any ticket purchase.
So, when your family goes, you'll book a room-only ressie with your AP discount, and buy your family's tickets separately, either at the resort, or in advance from the Disney Store or online.
This is actually a good thing, because it will allow you to buy the family's Magic Your Way tickets at different times, instead of all together; say, one ticket per pay period, or whenever you get the money together. Couple these individual purchases with a pilgrimage to your local Disney Store (if you have one), and you can make a nice little Disney activity for your family - "Today, we're going to the Disney Store to get Dad's ticket!"
So, in conclusion, GET THE APs! You won't regret it for a minute if you do.
Our last day of this trip in October... after we have used all of our free dining credits, we can upgrade to APs and just pay the difference between the AP price and our 6 day passes?
Just to let you know, the room rates were released for AP holders and I am one. I had booked the free dining originally, but with the AP room rate, I could save 200 and still PAY for dining. So I rebooked and saved the 200 and still have dining which I am payng for. Sometimes AP rates for rooms are cheaper than what you would save with Free Dining. Just thought I would stick that in for food for thought for next time.
Our last day of this trip in October... after we have used all of our free dining credits, we can upgrade to APs and just pay the difference between the AP price and our 6 day passes?
No need to wait till the last day. Do it on the first day, so you'll be eligible for AP discounts on food and merchandise during your stay.
When you check in, ask the CM to NOT put your park passes on your room keys; ask for them to be encoded on separate cards. Then, you can take those separate cards to Guest Relations at one of the theme parks or Downtown Disney and have them upgraded to annual passes. And all you will pay at that time is the difference between the cost of the 6-day passes and annual passes.
Angileyze is right, however; the cost of a package with free dining is sometimes more than getting a room with AP discount and paying for the dining plan.
When you check in, ask the CM to NOT put your park passes on your room keys; ask for them to be encoded on separate cards.
That's the advice I'd give as well -- people have reported having problems with their dining credits if they leave their ticket on the KTTW card at check-in and *then* convert the ticket to an AP.
So, get the ticket printed separate from the KTTW card at check-in and then go to a Guest Services window at the park or Downtown Disney to convert it to an AP.
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