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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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We are getting ready for our trip at the end of January. This will be our first "real" trip with our daughter. We took her when she was much younger, not mobile, and really not doing anything at all. She just rode in her stroller and really didn't do anything at that time. This time will be MUCH different. We will be staying on property for the first time and are very excited about that. We are staying at POR. My DMil is going with us to help with DD so we have to have a room that accommodates 5. It is myself, DH, DMil, DS and DD. This is my question. What sort of room requests would be good to make? I requested a room that is not surrounded by other rooms. Maybe a corner room. I explained that if DD gets loud I did not want to disturb a lot of other guests. I would like to not disturb any other guests but I'm pretty sure there will be a room or two sharing walls with ours. I also requested bed rails but other than those two things I was really at a loss. Since I have never been to POR I really don't know what specific thing to request. A certain area?
For our ADR's I requested to not be seated in the middle of the restaurant but to be seated maybe up against a wall that way we are not surrounded by other guests. Again, this is so that if DD gets loud we are not disturbing so many other people. If anyone has any other suggestions they are greatly appreciated.
Here is a link to the layout, http://allears.net/acc/portorleansmap.jpg
We love this resort & stayed there many times before we joined DVC
The main building is across the water from most of the room buildings. You may also want a ground floor room. corner rooms are great, Magnolia Bend, Building 95 may be a good choice.
Alligator Bayou Is the only area that can sleep 5 - they have a trundle bed that a child or small adult can fit in. That area does not have any elevators to get to the 2nd floor rooms, so y would need to request first floor for medical reasons if stairs would be a problem.
Magnolia Bend does have elevators, but those rooms do not have trundle beds and don't sleep 5.
Allearsnet has a nice page about the resort. Port Orleans - Riverside Fact Sheet and Video
For requests, I would suggest making whatever is most important to you your first request. In making room assignments, they assume that whatever you list first is most important. Quiet area and corner rooms would be good.
For ADRs, the most important time to tell them what you need is at the time you are checking in for your ADR because that is where the table will be assigned. Sometimes, they will even let you look at the restaurant table plan to pick out a couple of tables that might work for you. Do be aware that waiting for a particular table may mean a longer wait. So, you kind of have to balance the wait with the 'better' table.
I agree about making the ground floor corner room your primary request with the resort.
When we were at WDW last month, we requested booths or tables against the wall when we checked in. We made this request because of the service dog. A table by the wall allowed Ramoan to sit against the wall and have Merlin lie at hi feet and not be in the way of people walking through the restaurant. Booths allowed Merlin to sit next to Ramoan and lay his head on Ramoan's lap. We sometimes had a slightly longer wait, but it was not an unreasonable wait. I don't think we waited longer than 5 minutes for any of our ADRs.
Specifically state that you want a first floor corner room near the lobby because you have a special needs child. I suggest going over your child's room and looking at what she currently uses. Will she need waterproof sheets for example? Look into security locks on the inside if she is an escape artist.
Talk to the restaurant staff about your child's needs. Character liaisons/handlers can arrange for no character visits or for the character to act differently than normal such as no touching, no sudden moves, or slowly approaching the child. Staff can expedite service if a guest has to eat fast such as a special needs child who can only set for dinner for a short time before getting rambunctious. Staff can arrange for special food for the SDI child who refuses to eat anything but 10 foods. Try going for a walk with the child so that the child gets something new to do.
Good luck
waves to Sue, miss you
__________________
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
Thanks for all the great advice! We did request booths or table against the wall and we will definitely mention again when we get to the restaurants. I will also request ground floor corner room. I did request corner room but did not request ground floor. Did not even think about that.
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We are getting ready for our trip at the end of January. This will be our first "real" trip with our daughter. We took her when she was much younger, not mobile, and really not doing anything at all. She just rode in her stroller and really didn't do anything at that time. This time will be MUCH different. We will be staying on property for the first time and are very excited about that. We are staying at POR. My DMil is going with us to help with DD so we have to have a room that accommodates 5. It is myself, DH, DMil, DS and DD. This is my question. What sort of room requests would be good to make? I requested a room that is not surrounded by other rooms. Maybe a corner room. I explained that if DD gets loud I did not want to disturb a lot of other guests. I would like to not disturb any other guests but I'm pretty sure there will be a room or two sharing walls with ours. I also requested bed rails but other than those two things I was really at a loss. Since I have never been to POR I really don't know what specific thing to request. A certain area?
For our ADR's I requested to not be seated in the middle of the restaurant but to be seated maybe up against a wall that way we are not surrounded by other guests. Again, this is so that if DD gets loud we are not disturbing so many other people. If anyone has any other suggestions they are greatly appreciated.
Hi there! I think your decision to stay on property was probably the best choice you could have made. I've seen some great suggestions here.
One thing that strikes me is your (most admirable) sensitivity for other people's enjoyment and peace. Just remember, it's Disney! There will be loud, loud, loud kids all over the place. I think your heads-up on your ADR should help the CMs to keep you in the quietest area.
Do you have a bag of fun activities or toys? Maybe some calming toys or books?
I agree with Sandra that you are very sensitive to your child's noise which is a good thing and that there will be some noisy kids at restaurants.
Watch a clip from T-Rex or other family dining restaurants. I was at Napa Rose lounge and this family let their kids run around the room. This is an elite restaurant with meals starting around $50 and has a dress code for dining. Mom and I had dinner there and next to us was a large family that let their kids run around, throw things, and lean the entire top half of their body on the table. I have seen more kids suffering from bad parenting that are annoying than special needs kids. You will do fine and if the kid acts up just smile and take her for a walk.
Make sure the resort knows that you cannot do stairs because of your stroller and special needs child then they will try to put you in a ground floor room or one with an elevator. I would never say that I wanted a specific building. It gives CMs leeway to get you the best room possible overall when they can pick and choose buildings.
Not everyone is good at reading people. It gets to where you want to scream when you have another brat screaming, running around, or getting into things. Like a blind rage over bad parenting that blinds the person from the fact that the child is special needs or maybe suffering from heat stroke or gluttony. They cannot see that that kid kicking and fussing has a temperature and is sick. You have to go to the parks knowing that other people will be curious at something they do not understand, will offer help even if the help is not needed, and may not know why something is what it is. Have lots of fun and do not put too much pressure on yourself. do not worry so much about what others think.
big hugs, hoping for a great trip, points up to Sandra who is very helpful and smart like lots of people at passporter
__________________
Mom calls to check on me and reminded me to pay the gardener. I love her so much.
Disneyland was fun with flag retreat and pickles. I have a home here, thank you. GAC is NOT a "front of the line pass".
She is gone but keeping signature. Laundry is getting done. My purpose in life is to help poor people in FL. Farewell, will miss you.
Oh! One other suggestion....do not do online check-in. While I love it and it gets me into the parks and my room a little quicker, it would give the CMs a little more leeway in getting you into the best room if you were able to express your room needs at the time of check-in.
For your dining reservations, what times were you able to get?
If you have reservations for the first seating, chances are you will wait even less for a table you requested. Most restaurants will let you wait for the table you want unless it's the last seating (as long as you don't mind waiting). Just make sure to reiterate your requests when you check in. Some restaurants check-in manually, some use a computer. Not all requests may transfer verbatim in the computer or in print-outs.
Oh! One other suggestion....do not do online check-in. While I love it and it gets me into the parks and my room a little quicker, it would give the CMs a little more leeway in getting you into the best room if you were able to express your room needs at the time of check-in.
Thanks! I had not even thought about needing to do the check-in in person. I had considered looking into the online check-in to speed up the process but I will just stick to checking in when we get there. We are planning on getting there around lunch time so I'm guessing there will be no line at check-in? I am also hoping that this will help us in getting our requests granted since we will be checking in early.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Laughaholic
For your dining reservations, what times were you able to get?
If you have reservations for the first seating, chances are you will wait even less for a table you requested. Most restaurants will let you wait for the table you want unless it's the last seating (as long as you don't mind waiting). Just make sure to reiterate your requests when you check in. Some restaurants check-in manually, some use a computer. Not all requests may transfer verbatim in the computer or in print-outs.
I did get some of our reservation times for early but then some of them were late. I was not really wanting any late but since we planned this last minute and was booking reservations only 45 days out I was not able to get some of the times I wanted. My TA is checking daily on a couple of our reservations to see of we can move them to a different time.
I am just hoping that our DD will love Disney as much as the rest of us do and that the waiting for different things won't bother her as much as I am afraid they will. Also, that she will making it through our meals and enjoy them.
Sounds like you are doing some good pre-trip arrangements. We are always amazed at how accomadating Disney is for us and our special needs requests. Dont be afaraid to be specific when talking to theem and they will do thier best to accomadate you. Have Fun!
__________________
We have traveled to Disney World since 1976
Next trip May 2013
I Love Disney! Sharon
Just wanted to give an update. For our room I did contact Disney again and make a request for a ground floor room (do not want to carry stroller and all her stuff up and down stairs along with trying to get her up and down the stairs) and I requested specifically building 14 so that we can be close to the main building. This will make things easier if we have to go back and forth to the main building for things. I really do not want to end up in one of the buildings far away from the main building. I just don't know what to expect with Selah so I'm just looking to simplify everything for this trip.
Just wanted to give an update. For our room I did contact Disney again and make a request for a ground floor room (do not want to carry stroller and all her stuff up and down stairs along with trying to get her up and down the stairs) and I requested specifically building 14 so that we can be close to the main building. This will make things easier if we have to go back and forth to the main building for things. I really do not want to end up in one of the buildings far away from the main building. I just don't know what to expect with Selah so I'm just looking to simplify everything for this trip.
THanks for the update. I think simple is the way to go!
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I also requested bed rails but other than those two things I was really at a loss. Since I have never been to POR I really don't know what specific thing to request. A certain area? 
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