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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My knee has been bothering me a lot lately and our WDW trip is coming up in 3 weeks. Scooters are so expensive to rent, so was thinking of bringing a scooter from home. I have a couple of questions. Is there a problem with transporting my scooter on DME? I know the regular buses are fine. Are there places at the parks to recharge my scooter if my battery is running low? It is sooo expensive to rent scooters at WDW especially for a 10-day trip. I had a shot of cortisone last week hoping that would alleviate the pain, but it's still bothering me. Pixies for me please that the recumbent bike I'm doing every day makes my knee better in time for our trip.
Have you looked at renting from an authorized off-site supplier? They are considerably cheaper than renting from WDW each day of your stay plus you wouldn't have the hassle of trying to fly with your ECV and risk it getting damaged in transport. Plus if you have any issues with it, you simply call the supplier and they will come out an meet you and either fix it or bring you a new ECV. This happened to us. We were at Hollywood Studios and the ECV I had rented from Apple Scooters wasn't holding it's charge. It was evening and we'd hopped from Epcot earlier in the day. I'd already had the ECV for a day or two and it held the charge fine both days before with full park touring, not needing charging until we got back to the hotel but today, it was dying and we still had a few hours to go. I called Apple and they arranged a tech to come out and meet us outside the park gate. He swapped out the battery right there. Never had a problem after that.
I've used an ECV twice that I've rented from an authorized Disney dealer (once because my leg was in a air cast and once due to extreme exhaustion) and both times I've never had an issue with running out of battery power. Also, I know for a fact that those ones will fit on the Disney buses. If they don't fit in the white square at the loading area, they don't ride.
Also, to save battery power you can always take it into a certain land and park it somewhere - usually near the stroller parking, and then do a number of attractions in that area, and then head back and get it and move onto the next area. This is what we usually did.
DME can transport your scooter but you do need to let them know that you'll have one. Not all of the DME buses are equipped with a lift and tie down area(s). There are outlets in the parks you can plug in to to charge your scooter and if you can't find one just ask a cast member and they'll show you where there's one.
I too would say be careful about the plane. They have rules for what kind of batteries they can have - and they may have to be removed completely before the scooter is then loaded in with the luggage. If you use the scooter to get on the plane, chances are good you will be the first one let on but then you will be the absolutely last one off too (we witnessed this with someone in 2016). AFAIK, they also don't take responsibility for it if they damage it in any way shape or form. When it's out of your sight, you don't know what they touch or how.
I understand about cost to rent but knowing how much a scooter costs to own, (we just had to replace Lenny's) what we spend for a rental scooter brings a lot of peace of mind. We don't have to worry about anything. If the battery won't hold a charge, they company will bring new batteries or a new scooter. If you pay for the insurance (a small fee) and fall off a curb (Lenny did it once) and damage the scooter (it wasn't bad but enough we needed a new scooter), no worries as the insurance pays for that. One scooter we had kept blowing a fuse too - Lenny wasn't sure what was up with that but again, we were able to get it replaced and the only questions were to determine what was going on. If any of that happens to a personal scooter, there is no one to help. And that's not to mention, not only are you out of luck for vacation, once you get home you now have to scramble to get it fixed, replaced or whatever. Leaving our scooter at home we don't have to worry who's touched it, what they could have done, etc.
Check with your airline about the scooter as there are rules about them. Before you call know the dimensions and what type of battery your scooter has (dry cell or wet cell) this might be in the owner's manual or you may have to contact the scooter manufacturer or a dealer that sells the type of scooter you have. I believe it's wet cell batteries that have to be removed, although I'm not positive. I do know that Alaska Airlines doesn't make me remove my scooter's batteries.
As a powerchair user, I can definitely say there are pros and cons to bringing your own to Disney.
Pros:
Familiarity - no one knows your mobility option better than you do. You know all its quirks and how far you can go without a recharge. You also know the turning radius and how much space you need around you to move safely especially with the “invisibility” factor inherent with crowds and little (and sometimes big) children around.
Expertise - you have used your own device plenty and know how fast you can go safely and stopping distances which can vary from device to device. You also have knowledge of how to maneuver your equipment into places like queues, restaurants, even other modes of transportation like busses, boats, or the monorail.
Cons:
Transportation to and from Disney. If you are going by plane, you have seen the other posts above about regulations and lack of airline responsibility. I took my manual wheelchair on a flight once and there was several hundred dollars worth of damage the airlines refused to pay for.
Mileage and wear and tear to your device. As if we need reminding, Disney World is huge, and the prettier the path, the more rough it seems to be. Knowing how much maintenance costs factor this in to the decision.
If you have handicapped plates or a placard, remember that valet parking is free at the resorts that provide that service, but tipping is usual.
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