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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was reading about Disney's land and sea vacation packages. They said that depending on the type of stateroom you book on the cruise will depend on the type of Disneyworld hotel you get. So, the fancier the stateroom, the more upscale the hotel.
Last my family and I sailed with Disney was in 2005. We did Disneyworld as well, but I did not book a package. We booked our cruise as soon as was humanly possible and while waiting for our cruise, Disney bumped us up to a better stateroom.
Does booking a land and sea packaged effect any chance of getting a stateroom upgrade?
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I am in the process of booking a GTY stateroom on the Dream for next May. The hotels are not available to book yet for 2011, but DCL will book it for me next month and she said it would not affect my chances for an upgrade for the stateroom. If you call them, ask for Ginger she is amazing and has a ton of information for you even if you are not ready to book yet.
For 2010 (and I assume they will keep it this way) the Category stateroom you pick does not effect the hotel you get. You can book any category stateroom and any hotel.
That being said- I usually book them seperately. As of now you can not apply any WDW promotions to the land package of a land and sea booking. So no free dining etc.
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They have done away with the linking of your stateroom category to the resort you stay at, so that now you can choose to stay wherever you want on the land portion.
That being said, I always recommend booking your land and sea as separate reservations, because that way you can take advantage of any special offers that might be available for the land portion (for example, free dining). Then all you need to do is let DCL know which resort you are staying at so that (assuming you purchased transfers) they know where to either pick you up or drop you off.
Great advice from everyone but I am a bit surprised that DCL/WDW wouldn't offer some sort of deal to make booking a Land & Sea "package" a bit more appealing!! Thanks for the info!!!
Webooked separately March 2010. We were able to use a Pin Code on the WDW portion and stayed at AKL for a few days prior. DCL was not able to input the WDW code. With the pincode we got a deluxe resort at 40% off. Would be nice if DCL could interface and could input the codes for the discounts at WDW.
The issue of offering savings for a Land/Sea, that's just not in Disney's blood.
Disney doesn't do anything to encourage folks to step up from a 4-night to a 7-night land-only or from a 3- or 4-night sea to a 7-night sea-only vacation, so why offer an incentive for a 7-night Land/Sea? This also reflects the company's long-standing approach to package vacations: If folks want the "convenience" of a package, they pay for that convenience, they don't get a discount. (Another way to put it is that Disney doesn't like to offer bulk pricing to regular members of the public.)
Effectively, DCL operates as a travel agency when it books the land portion of a cruise package. They've made the decision to not offer discounted resort stays, even if they happen to be available at the time. Since the reduced price for land accommodations would be built into the package price, it would have the appearance of also offering a discount on the cruise. DCL works hard to maintain the notion that they do not offer discounts on cruises. Apparently, DCL would rather book fewer reservations at a higher profit margin (full rate/full agency commission), and let Walt Disney Travel Company/WDW book the less profitable discounted rooms. At least, that's the way it looks to me.
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Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
Thanks for the info!!!
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