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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 I know I am so totally out of the loop with technology, so apologies in advance for the silliness of this question.
So, I'm guessing the parks have wi-fi available, that you can use on any device. (I could be wrong, so please correct me if I am)
My main question is, if I don't have a phone with a wi-fi service package, but I'm pretty sure my phone has the CAPABILITY to connect, will I be able to use the wi-fi in the parks to connect with my phone so that I can use the MDE on my phone? Like if I had brought my laptop with me? Or do I actually need to have the wi-fi service package through AT&T first?
And either way, what SPEED is being used, is it based on what the park offers, or what my package allows for through AT&T?
Ok I hope those questions weren't too silly.... I just need to know what I have to do before we go, so we have the capability to use the MDE while in the parks.
Thanks!
You don't need to have wi-fi service through AT&T. If your phone has wi-fi capability, simply make sure it is turned on and then connect to the parks wi-fi. Your phone will then pull data through Disney's wi-fi as opposed to your data plan.
You can use it on any device so I guess you could technically bring your laptop with you if you didn't mind carrying it all day. The majority of people just use their phones or tablets.
The speed is going to depend on how many other people are using the wi-fi and your location in the park. When I was there there were some places where the wi-fi was extremely strong and some places where it was very spotty.
If you have the data and a 4G phone you may just want to use that instead of using the wi-fi and it is usually faster.
__________________
Just counting down the days till the next adventure!!!
ok I know I am so totally out of the loop with technology, so apologies in advance for the silliness of this question.
So, I'm guessing the parks have wi-fi available, that you can use on any device. (I could be wrong, so please correct me if I am)
My main question is, if I don't have a phone with a wi-fi service package, but I'm pretty sure my phone has the CAPABILITY to connect, will I be able to use the wi-fi in the parks to connect with my phone so that I can use the MDE on my phone? Like if I had brought my laptop with me? Or do I actually need to have the wi-fi service package through AT&T first?
And either way, what SPEED is being used, is it based on what the park offers, or what my package allows for through AT&T?
Ok I hope those questions weren't too silly.... I just need to know what I have to do before we go, so we have the capability to use the MDE while in the parks.
Thanks!
A little background for you:
What is Wi-Fi?
Wi-Fi is a short-range, hi-speed wireless networking protocol. It's a radio system used to connect computers together without wires. Wi-Fi comes in several different sub-types, each of which has different speed capabilities. The types are usually referred to by their protocol numbers, 802.11, and a letter. 802.11g is the most common on phones, but home connections can be 802.11b/g/n or some combination. Sometimes, for simplicity, the 802.11 part is left off and the type is simply called "Wireless G" or "Wireless N". Basically, higher letter means higher speed.
The speed of the connection between devices automatically slows to the speed of the slowest device. If your tablet has 802.11g, and your home internet router has 801.11n, the connection between the two will be 802.11g, and your tablet won't get the full speed that the router is capable of. Same if it's reversed - if the router is 802.11g, and your tablet is 802.11n, they will connect at 802.11g speed.
Wi-Fi is a radio connection. It requires an antenna, and a set of chips with the software built into them to allow various devices to speak the same language. Wi-Fi chips are tiny and can be found in almost every smartphone, tablet, and laptop ever made.
If you have a Wi-Fi equipped device like a phone or tablet, you can connect to Wi-Fi sources wherever you find them.
Where do I find Wi-Fi?
The most common Wi-Fi source you'll probably encounter is the wireless router that many people have in their homes, which allows their internet connections from the cable or phone company to be used by their Wi-Fi equipped laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Many people don't even realize that the wireless connection can also be configured to allow them to connect their various computers together and transfer files from one to the other, to connect external hard drives to their home network, and even to print wirelessly. The main thing that most people use Wi-Fi for is to share the high-speed internet connection that they get from their cable or phone company.
The second most common Wi-Fi you'll encounter is typically called a "Wi-Fi- hot spot" or simply "hotspot", in businesses or public places, like libraries, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. These Wi-Fi connections don't typically allow file sharing between computers; they only allow multiple computers, tablets, and smartphones. Some of these hotspot allow anyone to connect for free. Others charge you to connect, per minute or per hour.
Disney's Wi-Fi
Disney's Wi-Fi connection in the parks, resorts, and DTD is the second type - a Wi-Fi hotspot. But they have put lots and lots of hotspots all over the property, overlapping them to create one huge hotspot that covers almost all of the Guest areas. And they chose to make it free for all Guests, much like many McDonalds and Starbucks do.
That's the background. Now to your actual question!
Devices
All Android, iPhone, and Windows smartphones come with three separate types of wireless radios built into them:
1) A 2G, 3G, or 4G radio used for phone and data. This is the connection you pay for by the minute for phone calls, and by the megabyte for data usage (like surfing the net, browsing Facebook, or looking up directions with your Maps app).
2) A Wi-Fi radio, which can connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot. Wi-Fi is completely separate from the phone/data system. Using Wi-Fi on your phone does not cost anything - however, the provider of the Wi-Fi hotspot sometimes charges you to use it. Some hotels charge you per day to use the hotel Wi-Fi. Some restaurants or fast-food joints charge you per minute or per hour to use their Wi-Fi. But at the phone end, it's free.
3) A Bluetooth radio, which is a different kind of wireless networking system, designed for very short range connections like headphones, headsets, speakerphones, keyboards, and mice. Bluetooth is what you use to connect your wireless headset or earphone to your phone. Bluetooth has been around for a while - even dumb phones have it.
Using it in the Parks
In short, if you have a smartphone, you will be able to connect to Disney's Wi-Fi in the parks, DTD, and at your resort, at no charge, and the connection is completely independent of your phone provider, so you don't have to buy any additional services from AT&T or make any changes to your phone plan.
When you're connected to the Disney Wi-Fi system, you will be able to get online and surf the net, download and install apps, check maps, post to Facebook, and do anything else you want to do on the net. You will be able to go to the MyDisneyExperience web site to manage your ADRs and FP selections, or you can download and install Disney's MDX app, which can be easier to use on a phone's small screen than the web site.
Best of all, when you're using the Wi-Fi connection, you're NOT using the data plan that you pay your phone provider for - so all of that in-park online time will NOT count against your monthly data plan!
The worst drawback to all of this is that using Wi-Fi extensively drains your phone's battery much more quickly, so be prepared in case you run out of juice before the end of the day.
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Thanks Will!!! I read & re-read that post so hopefully now I understand most of it.
However.... what if I don't have a "Smart Phone" (pretty sure I don't cuz when purchasing the phones, smartphones required the internet package to be purchased at the same time)? I see on my phone menu the choice to connect to the web, but the only thing listed under Network Connections is ATT WAP, and then an option to "Create"... for which I need all sorts of info. I'm just wondering how I would be able to make my phone access the free wi-fi,... or if that's even possible with a phone that isn't "Smart".
And when they say in the park-that's literally what they mean. None available in parking lot at Epcot or the monoral station right outside the turnstiles at the Magic Kingdom.
Thanks Will!!! I read & re-read that post so hopefully now I understand most of it.
However.... what if I don't have a "Smart Phone" (pretty sure I don't cuz when purchasing the phones, smartphones required the internet package to be purchased at the same time)? I see on my phone menu the choice to connect to the web, but the only thing listed under Network Connections is ATT WAP, and then an option to "Create"... for which I need all sorts of info. I'm just wondering how I would be able to make my phone access the free wi-fi,... or if that's even possible with a phone that isn't "Smart".
Whether it's possible will vary wildly according to the phone. Many dumb phones don't even have a Wi-Fi chipset and antenna, or at least they didn't back in the days before I moved to smart phones about 5-6 years ago. Things may be different now.
My last dumb phone COULD connect to the internet using the 2g/3g data connection provided by my carrier, which at the time was Verizon. But an internet connection on a dumb phone, without a data plan, was charged by the minute, and it was pretty expensive. I used it a few times to check in for my flights home from Orlando on the Southwest web site, but it was pretty slow, glitch, and very awkward because my dumb phone had no touch screen, just a navigation wheel.
What is your phone's make and model? To find out, take the back cover off and look under the battery; every phone has a sticker under the battery that lists its make, model, and serial number (don't post the serial number online).
FYI, there are other devices besides phones that have Wi-Fi capability. Laptop computers, tablets, some e-readers like Kindle Fire and Nook Color, and of course the iPod Touch, can all connect to the in-park Wi-Fi just as they can connect to your home Wi-Fi. If you have any such a device, you can bring it with you and use it all day at WDW. I see people carrying iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tabs and sometimes Kindles all over the parks these days. Some people even use their tablets as their primary cameras in the parks.
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ok, that's pretty much what I was expecting. I will definitely have to look into getting a smart phone. I do have a Nook, but it's soooooo difficult to navigate on the web on that.
Thanks so much for all the good info Will!
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