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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Mary Warring has written a really informative article about the future of WDW discounts. You can view it on her website at www.mousesavers.com/faq.html#future. I'm know that many of us have been wondering about "room only", AP, and other discounts, and she makes some interesting predictions about what we can expect in the future.
I agree - very interesting article indeed. Mary makes some excellent point regarding the fact that often WDW was trying to target specific groups with the codes (for the purpose of gathering marketing data), but once the codes get on the internet, their marketing purpose was defeated. I would not be surprised at all if her predictions are right on. I guess it all depends on how business is and that my depend on how good the package offerings are....only time will tell. Although we don't have APs (yet...), I still think they really need to offer good percentage room only AP discounts.
Just read that article and now am second guessing renewing my AP. I have been trying to book a room for an October trip and they still have not released prices.
I'm with you Joe except we haven't renewed our AP's yet and I don't think we will be. I know I'm in the minority but I really don't like packages, even Disney packages. One size does not fit all. After reading my Mousesaver's newsletter this afternoon (even though I know it is only her opinion), I had a sinking feeling that our trips to Disney will become fewer if they truly go the way of packages only.
My DH and I were just talking about this at supper and we're fairly certain we won't be renewing our AP's this year. Not even sure yet what we'll do about the November trip if they don't offer discounted room only rates, right now we're tossing around the idea of staying .... offsite.
This makes me sad. Ranks right up there with taking all of the adult stuff out of the Disney Store. Has gotten to the point I rarely go in there anymore. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
I think the thing that makes me angriest is that they have released codes for other individuals, and not their most loyal customers.
I'm glad I'm staying off-site this trip! Makes me feel a bit better about this.
I hope Disney does continue to "reward" it's loyal customers - Annual Passholders - with good room discounts, but I think Mary is right that the codes will start to show up more & more last minute. Unfortunately for those of us - me included! - who have bought AP's to get a room discount it makes it hard to know whether to renew the AP or make plans very far in advance.
My opinion is that there will continue to be AP discounts, it's just that they won't release them very early which puts to rest the practice of buying an AP to get the room discount. I doubt Disney ever intended to create such a large group of people buying AP's specifically to get the room discount.
If Mary's predictions are correct, I suspect Disney will be cutting off their right hand to spite the left. [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]
Quote:
Originally posted by PS - I LUV WDW: I know I'm in the minority but I really don't like packages, even Disney packages. One size does not fit all.
<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">I hear you and I'm in that minority with you - I think it's a matter of education b/c packages look attractive at first but then when you break it down you realize you're paying more for less! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]
I'm right there with y'all on most of the WDW packages. Most of them save little to no money and include a lot of stuff that I wouldn't use. However, the Fairytale Vacation Package really was a good deal IF you wanted to spend a week. As I said in my trip report, we saved almost $1500 off rack rates at the GF and UPH pass prices. Obviously, packages such as this would be less of a deal for stays of less than a week (e.g. my solo trip in January!). Let's hope that "room only" discounts don't disappear entirely. Until more reappear, I'm gonna do my best with the meager 15% discount from AAA.
She makes some good points. But the way I look at it is that Disney is no different from other businesses trying to survive from this sluggish and poor economy, and the "package thing" is perhaps one of their attempts to survive and bring in business. Once things pick up (and they eventually will), then we should start seeing the AP discounts or other types from other sources as well. It'll just be a matter of time..so I wouldn't give up hope yet!...this is how I look at it anyways.
Lynne
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Keep the Magic Going!!! [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]
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