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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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There's a lot of hub bub going around about how they've done away with the 5pm, 7pm, & 9pm show times on the Disney Dream for a 6:15pm or 6:30pm (depending on the show) and an 8:30pm show with an occasional 3:30pm or 4:00pm Matinee. I guess the real question is, will we be assigned one of the new show times based on our dinner seating or will they be left to the passengers to choose which one works best for them?
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I just did online check in yesterday and it still says 7pm show and late dinning. Will they notify us if there is a change or will they contact our TA?
If there are only two show times, then passengers will go to the one that doesn't conflict with their dinner time, just as they do on the Wonder and Magic. I don't know why DCL would go back to just 2 times, though -- I've read that the shows have been pretty crowded.
I just did online check in yesterday and it still says 7pm show and late dinning. Will they notify us if there is a change or will they contact our TA?
Unfortunately they are not notifying us in advance. We are told to check navigators as they are still tweaking the scheduling. My guess is holidays and summer will be the three shows as the ship is full, other times it is semi up in the air.
It looks like DCL is experimenting with various options. I wouldn't consider anything a permanent change quite yet.
The basic fact remains, they did not increase the size of the Walt Disney Theatre proportionally to the increased size of the ship. They will probably always have to offer three showings of the more popular shows, even if they don't do three performances of every show. On my early February cruise, the three stage shows were on the three-performance schedule, but the variety performer had just two shows, with the typical 6:30pm and 8:30pm show times.
DCL has been carefully measuring attendance at each show. When they scan your KTTW card before entering the theater, that's one of the things they're doing. It also helps them redirect guests to a different theater entrance in a case when, for example, balcony left has plenty of seats, but the balcony right and orchestra left and right do not. My guess is they're going to keep scanning KTTW cards regardless of anything else.
Will they decide that "open seating" (come to any performance you wish) works better than assigned seating? I think they're working on that choice now. When they get enough statistics and guest feedback, we'll see what happens.
Will they permanently change the show schedules? That's probably a separate decision. What they've essentially done for now is slip the entire schedule a half-hour earlier. I think that's more convenient for most guests. The 5/7/9 schedule? Maybe they thought it would be easier to remember, maybe it had some benefit for the cast and crew or other aspect of operations. Frankly, it's not earth-shattering if they have 4:30/6:30/8:30 show times for the most popular shows, and just 6:30 and 8:30 times for the less popular shows.
Changing to that schedule doesn't really change the natural tendency for most guests to prefer seeing a show either immediately before or after dinner. Requiring guests to attend the early show is the real issue. A person on main dining can be assigned either early or late show and will still have the show immediately adjacent to mealtime. Parents of younger kids (who are usually on main dining) will probably prefer the early show to the late show - we've always gotten a lot of questions about "I have main seating - I don't think my kids will stay awake for the late show." A person on late seating may have a harder time accepting an assignment to the early show, as it breaks up their afternoon/early evening time block (change out of swimwear, see show, and then do ???? while waiting for dinner - there aren't a lot of organized activities other than the shows, photo ops, and pin trading during meal hours).
If it turns out that enough guests regularly choose the early show that the middle and late show are never "sold out," then they can abandon the need to assign guests a particular show time. If that doesn't work, and they regularly have to turn guests away from the middle or late shows, then the balance will tip in favor of assigned show times. Guest dissatisfaction over having an assigned showtime is probably more manageable by DCL than guest dissatisfaction over not getting to see a show at all.
We may see one more change before the dust settles - giving guests the option to select their showtime as part of the online registration system. We may hear some grumbling about Concierge and Platinum Castaway snapping up all the good show times, or people who don't use the online system being at a disadvantage, but considering theater capacity, I suspect most guests, even first-time cruisers, will have a good crack at getting their first choice.
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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 have posted the navigators for the dream maiden voyage. They can be downloaded from my facebook page. Magical Memories Production | Facebook
Hope they help.
Has anyone actually been on the Dream when they had to shows only? I keep hearing the hub bub too, but have yet to hear from an actual person who has been on the ship for just 2 shows. Our cruise is sold out, so my guess, is that they will still have the 3 shows.
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Has anyone actually been on the Dream when they had to shows only? I keep hearing the hub bub too, but have yet to hear from an actual person who has been on the ship for just 2 shows. Our cruise is sold out, so my guess, is that they will still have the 3 shows.
We were just on the Dream B2B (both sold out) with two shows each day usually and an added afternoon show on a couple of days. Even on the nights with only 2 shows, there was plenty of room. We usually sat down 5-15 minutes ahead of time with no problem. We didn't like the show moving to 6:15 rather than 7. Really, the only reason we had chosen late seating was so we had more time in the afternoon to just relax and take our time getting ready for the "evening" after being in port or at the pools. With the show moved to 6:15, we would have been better off with main seating and later show, since we had to be ready by 6 anyway and we usually eat very early at home. Really would have preferred the show stay at 7 pm. 45 extra minutes doesn't seem like much, but it makes quite a difference if you don't get back to your stateroom until 5:30.
We were just on the Dream B2B (both sold out) with two shows each day usually and an added afternoon show on a couple of days. Even on the nights with only 2 shows, there was plenty of room. We usually sat down 5-15 minutes ahead of time with no problem. We didn't like the show moving to 6:15 rather than 7. Really, the only reason we had chosen late seating was so we had more time in the afternoon to just relax and take our time getting ready for the "evening" after being in port or at the pools. With the show moved to 6:15, we would have been better off with main seating and later show, since we had to be ready by 6 anyway and we usually eat very early at home. Really would have preferred the show stay at 7 pm. 45 extra minutes doesn't seem like much, but it makes quite a difference if you don't get back to your stateroom until 5:30.
I agree...that 45 minutes can make a huge difference
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Thanks for the info!!! I am sure that if Judi hears something she will let me know!!
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