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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hey everyone! I'm going down to WDW on July 11th and have a question/issue that I just thought about.. haha.. I don't have my annual pass yet (I have the voucher) but I asked for AP rates, since when I'll be at WDW I'll get my actual activated Annual Pass, which they say you need at check in.. Hereeeeeeee's my dilemma though haha..
I'm using the Magical Express to get to the Polynesian, and my flight gets in at 9:26 in the morning, which means it'll be like, 11 by the time I get to the Poly, which is way before "check-in" but they can always check you in and hold your luggage, right? But I won't have my annual pass yet, so I won't be able to check in.. lol.. so I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do luggage wise, because I don't want to be lugging around two huge suitcases to MK Guest Relations (I'll be travelling by myself as well!)
So yea, does anyone have any insight to my problem? Perhaps they'll hold my luggage before checking me in so I can go over to Guest Relations? lol.. thanks so much & sorry if this makes noooo sense at all!
I know they're supposedly cracking down on making sure you have activated APs when you check in, but I'm fairly sure that Disney would be accomodating enough to hold your luggage if you explained that you needed them to do it so you could go get the AP activated..
Yup, they will certainly hold your luggage for you if your room is not ready yet. But even if your room is not ready yet, you can pre-check-in, which will get you your room keys and paperwork, and after 3pm you call a number they provide and they tell you what room you're in. Bell services will even deliver the luggage to your room when you get in that night; all you have to do is call.
As to the voucher, most CMs don't even ask to see your AP when you check in on an AP rate, but if they do, the voucher will be enough.
Alrighty.. I mean, I live in New Jersey so it'd be pretty hard for me to activate it any earlier.. haha.. thanks guys, hopefully they will be accomodating!
Technically speaking the voucher is not good enough, and in rare instances their have been CM's that have given a guest a problem. But as others have said most of the time they don't even ask to see it. That may be changing with the new rules, it would not surprise me.
However, dropping the bags with bell services is not tied to checking in.
Bell Services will take your bags, and you do not have to go straight to check in, you can hop right on the bus/boat/monorail and go to the parks and check in later.
The only downside to this is if you had a special room request or were hoping for an upgrade, you would be better off checking in early then late for that.
If you haven't already purchased the voucher, you can buy an activated AP at the Disney EarPort at MCO. Otherwise, I've heard multiple people say what others have said above, that a lot of times, they'll take a voucher for check-in and just ask to see the AP within the next day or two, some have said they never asked to see the AP. It all depends on who you get and I'm sure being extra nice about it can't hurt either.