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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 just read that Disney Cruise Line is going to be using the Pin Code system for Cruise Line guests beginning this summer!
The pin codes will be emailed prior to your sail date and of course strategically (I mean magically!) sent out. It will be for an upgraded stateroom category at a set price. No word yet on what the "set price" will be, if it's a percentage of the usual upgrade price or a certain $ off, etc.
So for new cruise reservations or for folks already booked--such as the upgrade? I want to know more!
Though, it would be hard for us to give up our Cat 8A staterooms on the Dream/Fantasy that we book when we make our reservation. If sailing on the Magic/Wonder, I am all about an upgrade.
Thanks for the heads up!
This is good for those who are willing and able to pay more for a better room, but it may mean there will be fewer "pixie dust" upgrades that show up automatically. I am guessing the rationale is that if people upgrade to more expensive cabins, that will free up less expensive cabins for people who are on the fence about booking. Disney Cruise may be trying to get additional money for those upgrades, instead of just giving them away. It is a win-win, though, because getting a discounted upgrade is much better than hoping for and not getting an upgrade at all.
If these PINs are for new bookings, they will give DCL a way to cut prices without making it obvious and upsetting people who have already booked at higher rates. I am highly in favor of that.
I have much the same "take" as Melissa. While it won't necessarily eliminate "magical" upgrades, it almost undoubtedly will reduce DCL's need to do it. However, I don't think that DCL would send these out to people who don't have reservations (well, maybe to Castaway Club members...). They've been so averse to offering cash discounts on new bookings (outside of on-board bookings) that I don't see it changing now. That whole "DCL doesn't discount" thing. Like booking on board, limiting these offers to booked guests makes it seem more like a perk than a discount.
It's definitely a smart move on DCL's part. Not only does it bring additional upgrade revenue (a small fraction of guests think to pursue a low-priced upgrade, but if a pin code falls in their laps, it's going to get attention), but they reinforce the incentive to book early - the exciting deals go to people with bookings, not people who wait. You can bet that DCL knows that when these things happen, folks are going to boast about it on message boards.
There's always the danger (for DCL) that people will intentionally under-book in hopes of getting a better price on the stateroom they really want, but as long as these offers are relatively infrequent, folks will probably not do that (and as long as it's relatively rare, people "in the know" will probably discourage under-booking).
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I'm definitely interested in an upgrade if the price is right. Being DVC members, we don't really get to experience the WDW pin codes, so it would be nice to have a chance at one for DCL.
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This would not surprise me at all as DCL has done something similar in the past. When I sailed with my mom in 2009, about two months prior to our cruise DCL called and asked if we wanted to upgrade our category 12 guarantee reservation to a category 9 for a total of $99. We grabbed it, of course, no questions asked!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Disney sends out offers of a variety of kinds that use pin codes. They tend to be offers limited to specific individuals/regions/groups, etc. - Essentially, these are numbers used to identify the offer - sometimes the number is unique to the recipient (can only be used once), sometimes the same number is good for anyone who provides it (people share info about the codes they've received). To take advantage of the offer, one must provide the pin code.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
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