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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How frustrating! I never use my debit card except at a bank ATM. And then usually only at my own bank's ATM at our local branch.
I use a credit card as my debit card. I deduct the amount I spend directly from my checking account ledger when I make the purchase and pay the cc in full every month. All the convience of a debit card, but more protection against fraud. Any questionable charges have been caught and addressed by the cc company before I even knew about them, and I'm not out any money, even temporarily.
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I am so sorry you are having to go through all of this again!
Do you use the same gas station every time??
If so, I would not go there again.
Our oldest son told us a couple of years ago to stop using the debit card for any purchases. I have been trying to talk dh into doing that for over a year now.
I'm sorry it happened to you again. It's happened to us several times. The last time it happened I set a bunch of limits on our debit cards: no ATM balance inquiries, no cash withdrawals of more than $100, I get notified of any debit over a certain amount, as well as a few others I can't think of right now.
I can always change the parameters if we need to withdraw more than $100. I know our balance to the penny at all times so we don't need to do balance inquiries at the ATM anyway.
So far that has helped. I'm very confident my number was stolen from a gas station.
If I go into the station to pay, I assume my card cannot be skimmed?
Unfortunately that's not necessarily true. My station manager showed us a video where 3 people went into a convenience store - not sure if it was a gas station too - and all it took was one person to point to something on the wall behind the cashier to get her to turn around while his friend put something on the credit card machine. The second person was kind of between the two and had put some things on the counter. It literally took like 3 seconds for this to be done so it can happen. I think the "bigger" places with more things going on are more likely to be hit (we're small, one register, very limited items for sale, etc).
We think the Mobil Speedpass well worth getting despite my not being thrilled by supporting Exxon-Mobil corporation. Easier when traveling to be able to get gas at Exxon or Mobil stations with the Gas Buddy phone app to locate one for us.
We get a better per-gallon discount having the Speedpass linked to the gas charge card rather than to a credit card which is largely why we do that. We have encountered a few small-town stations with pumps that couldn't take Speedpass, so having the gas card certainly simplified matters at those rather than assume the possible risk of using a credit card.
Hope you have fewer problems with the Speedpass.
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The only place other that the bank or ATM I use my debit card is Sam's inside (I can use a credit card at the gas pumps). I have only had s fraud attempt once since I've had it (opened acct in 1990), and that was from a hacking incident w/ the CU. Luckily they caught it before anything happened and re-issued a new card.
I use my CC almost everywhere and pay it off each month. I need to get a different one becasue I way too many Southwest points, LOL! OP, I know you like to fly Jetblue. Do they have a CC where you can earn points for flights????
Straitlover, look into getting the Disney Visa credit card since it sounds like you use a cc often.
You get one reward dollar for every $100 charged to the card and paid off. No annual fee for the basic card.
Other than the reward dollars, there are other nice perks such as discounts. Spend $50 before taxes at some Disney shops, and you get a 10% discount. Some restaurants give a 10% discount, too. The Disney Visa M&G in Epcot is a good one that we always do, and you get a free 5x7 photo print at that one.
We enjoy, too, when people comment about our purple card with Tink on it. You can choose what design you'd like from several cute ones.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Jet Blue does have a credit card and offers some of the same incentives as Southwest.
I know you fly frequently to see your grandson. Getting a JetBlue card to use as your debit could be a win-win!
As for going into the gas station to pay vs. paying at the pump, it might be harder for someone to install a skimmer, but as Darlene pointed out, it can be done. Also, consider that it could even be an employee of the station who is skimming the cards. I wouldn't count on it being more secure inside vs. out.
My debit card is also a MasterCard so I am not sure a credit card would be better. I personally avoid credit cards with incentives because they charge merchants higher fees and some small independents lose money on small purchases but need to take cards to be competitive. As a small "merchant" who takes cards, I try to not take profit away from others. The example I heard was someone who goes into a small, local village store for a drink, may cost more the merchant more in fees than the merchant is paid for the drink. It goes along with nothing is "free".
My plan is to use my low limit VISA for gas only. And track where I use it. I did talk to my bank and it seems like they will investigate these charges a little more thoroughly-maybe because they were in the country.
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It's happened to us several times. The last time it happened I set a bunch of limits on our debit cards: no ATM balance inquiries, no cash withdrawals of more than $100, I get notified of any debit over a certain amount, as well as a few others I can't think of right now.
so we don't need to do balance inquiries at the ATM anyway.
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