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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 would tip what you are comfortable with and what seems fair. Food prices at Disney are very high to begin with so even a 10% tip could mean a good sized tip. If you happen to have six people or more in your group you will not have a choice and 18% will be automatically added to your bill.
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We tipped the same at Boma as we would have at a regular sit-down place. The staff is constantly checking on you, keeping your table tidy, bringing drinks, answering questions, etc. I view the fetching your own food part as a benefit, even entertainment, in that it allows me to customize my meal to my tastes. The fact that the staff person didn't actually carry my plate for me (although they will do that for you if you are elderly or disabled) doesn't take away from everything else they do to make our meal special.
At buffets at home where they simply take away the dirty plates and we get our own drinks, silverware, and food, we normally leave 10% or $4 minimum for the three of us. If the staff fetches drinks and refills or performs other services, we up it accordingly.
As a person who has worked in the food industry most of my working time doing a buffet is hard work! We not only cleared tables and refilled drinks, we were also required to fill the buffet and and keep the serving areas clear and clean. So even though they are not "serving" the food directly to you the are clearing, cleaning dishes, tables and buffets and filling drinks and buffet foods so you can find the food you want. I pay the same amount as I would if I was at TS and agree if service is not what is expected then I adjust but normally it will be 18 - 20% for the 4 of us.
I tip the same at WDW as I do at home, or anywhere else:
TS - 15% for adequate service, more for exceptional service, less for poor service. For tabs under $15, I round up to a $3 minimum tip; for tabs over $15, I compute the percentage.
Buffet - 10% for adequate service, more for exceptional service, less for poor service. Again, for tabs under $15, I simply round up to a $2 minimum tip. For tabs over $15, I compute the percentage.
I always round any tip up to the next dollar, because it seems rude and even demeaning to leave change as a tip.
If service is bad enough that I feel no tip is deserved, that also demands a complaint to the manager - I will never just stiff a server without an explanation. I once dined at Kona Cafe with a group of about 30, and we had one of the worst servers I've ever seen at a restaurant. He was rude and short, took a long time to refill drinks, flat out refused to split the tab any further than one per table of 12 (and it took a lot of complaining to convince him to go that far), and actually made an insulting remark toward one of our party as he was handling the check. Needless to say, he got no tip from most of the group, and I made sure to complain directly to the manager before I left.
If service is truly outstanding, I try to leave some kind of compliment, either with the server or the manager, particularly when I'm with a large group, or a particularly difficult group like my family! Once, I was with a group of about 60 people at Trail's End, and the server did a remarkable job of keeping us all hydrated and sifting through 30 or more tabs, keeping KTTW cards, cash, gift cards, and dining plan credits all straight with no mistakes. Everyone in the group tipped her around $7-$8; even I, miserly old scrooge that I am, left her $8. Since the tab group was about 60 people, the tip this CM got for under two hours of work was somewhere in the $400 range, and several of us made sure to compliment her and her manager for the excellent work.
I tip the same at WDW as I do at home, or anywhere else:
TS - 15% for adequate service, more for exceptional service, less for poor service. For tabs under $15, I round up to a $3 minimum tip; for tabs over $15, I compute the percentage.
Buffet - 10% for adequate service, more for exceptional service, less for poor service. Again, for tabs under $15, I simply round up to a $2 minimum tip. For tabs over $15, I compute the percentage.
While I figure that the servers at Disney (buffet or not) do tend to do a little more work that my average server at home, Disney prices are also higher than my average prices at home. So, even if I still give the same percentage tip, it works out to be more for the Disney server.
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While I figure that the servers at Disney (buffet or not) do tend to do a little more work that my average server at home, Disney prices are also higher than my average prices at home. So, even if I still give the same percentage tip, it works out to be more for the Disney server.
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