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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok so DH swears that he read a blog article about all Value Resort rooms having mini refrigerators in them. Something about when the room prices went up, it evened out how much the cost of a mini refrigerators for a week added to your reservations. Has anyone one else heard this or can anyone confirm this? This will be a very cool thing!!!!!
Yes, all Value resort rooms have them. Beware though, they don't cool all that well.
You know, I read that thread about how poorly they were cooling for some people before I went a couple weeks ago, but we had no problem at all with ours in either AoA or AS Sports. We put room temp bottles of water and soda in there (and I mean filled it up), and they got quite cold. I think one of the things that really helps is if you don't open the door for a few hours once you put everything in it. At least that's what we did, and we had great success.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
From what I understand they got little fridge TYPE things they call beverage coolers that do not get anywhere near as cold as a real min-fridge. I have read on the DIS boards that they do not even get cold enough to keep milk from spoiling and it takes overnight for it to cool down drinks to a slight chill. Ppl have called maintenance thinking their unit wasn't working when in fact it was it just doesn't get very cold. But I don't think the rates of the room were changed other than the normal slight increase they do every year for inflation.
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10/27-11/6/11 All Star Music Family Suite (QSDP) --Family trip
1/26-2/1/12 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista --Adults Only trip
4/16-4/21/12 Rosen Inn --Adults Only Trip
10/27-11/4/12 All Star Music Family Suite (DDP) --Family Trip
4/14-4/19/13 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista- Adults Only Trip
11/10-11/17/13 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Adults Only Trip
11/2015 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Family trip
I didn't notice a room rate change, but I have heard folks complain that the "fridges" were beverage coolers. Those are designed to cool the interior off by up to 25 degrees below room temperature, so they're fine for sodas and cheese, but long term milk storage (more than a day) might be a problem. Since I haven't experienced them myself, I guess we'll find out how well they cool when we get there in a few weeks.
Some people have suggested putting a container of ice inside (doubled ziplock bags are good for this), making sure the fan in the back/side isn't obstructed, and leaving the door closed overnight to cool it off better.
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oh cool! so it's no longer an extra $10 per day for the rental? that's so much better. one year we had taken the auto train down and packed our own mini fridge and microwave for the room! glad to know we don't have to do that anymore! (besides we have upgraded to a moderate resort)!!!
The beverage coolers are inside a small wooden cabinet and from what I've heard it helps to keep the cabinet door open. This allows the heat from the running motor to escape. Makes sense.
I agree that the it being in a cabnet will make it run and the things in it will not get as cold. So keeping that cabnet door open should make a difference. They should really have the back of the cabnet open for air circulation and would of thought they should know that.
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Love the Magic of Disney Thanks Dad for our first 5 trips.
We were there last month at POP and had no problem with the frig. It was just like the one we got the 2 previous trips as a medical frig. I tried to post pic on the photo section for POP, but it keeps showing up as pending approval, or just black.
Thanks for the info. I went out yesterday and purchased a cooler to bring along as a back up since we plan to have snacks and some breakfasts in the room. Does anyone know if the refrigerators at AOA are smaller than the ones at the moderate resorts?
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Just got back from AOA and due to the comments here I purchased a cooler for the room in case the fridge was too small or wasn't cold enough. Well we had plenty of room in the fridge and it was nice and cold even though we kept the door shut on the cabinet all the time. Kind of regret purchasing and lugging the cooler along as it just sat in the corner taking up room.
We are here now. We have been here for 9 days in a family suite st All Star Music and I am not sure if what we have in here is the same as in the standard rooms but what we have cooled our drinks just fine. It did freeze up about halfway through the trip and maintenance came and said the door wasn't closing all the way and that was the problem. It thawed out and we didn't have any more problems out of it.
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10/27-11/6/11 All Star Music Family Suite (QSDP) --Family trip
1/26-2/1/12 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista --Adults Only trip
4/16-4/21/12 Rosen Inn --Adults Only Trip
10/27-11/4/12 All Star Music Family Suite (DDP) --Family Trip
4/14-4/19/13 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista- Adults Only Trip
11/10-11/17/13 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Adults Only Trip
11/2015 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Family trip