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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
I've always had great luck with busses at WDW. The only thing I don't like is the resort to resort travel. But I realize that it's due to my impatience so I usually just take a cab. Not everyone is cut out for public transportion and some choose to rent a car. Problem solved.
We use the bus system and haven't had any big problems with it. The worst time, of course, is at the end of the day. Imagine, though, the wait for the trams you take from the park entrance to get to your parking spot and then the traffic trying to get out of the park and the traffic on the roads going to your resort. I prefer dealing with a crowded bus.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
We rented a car last year and never looked back. : It's just convenient to leave when you want to leave. We do use the bus for a few trips here and there and our experiences have all been good. We just like the rental car better.
We'd been riding Disney buses since the mid 80's and have never had a problem other than a park closings. We've learned to wait awhile and let all the other peole run out of the park. By the time we get to the bus stops the lines aren't bad at all. We also know that we'll have to stand in lines at Disney and just go with the flow.
Liz
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
I think a lot depends on the expectations you have about the bus system, the resort, and just plain ol luck. I had the worst bus experience at CSR for my whole 5 day trip, and I know everyone else seems to have a great experience at CSR. And yet, POP service has pretty much been great. (As long as I don't leave a park at closing.) I love POFQ also, but I wish we didn't have to hit the 4 stops at POR. But even then, I know what's going to happen, I plug in my iPod and relax in the air conditioning.
Like some of the PP said, lower your expectations and you should be ok with the bus transportation. IMO Disney's bus "system" needs a complete overhaul. Seriously, flying down the interstate with 100 people crammed on a bus, most standing (including children) perplexes me to this day. And, truthfully is the main reason we don't go more often. Because we tend to use taxis a lot so that adds up, but is soooo worth it!
It may depend on someone's expectations. If you have a Passporter and have read posts here for a while, you probably have a MUCH better understanding of how it all works than someone who is un-informed.
ABSOLUTELY - well said!
I think this is true of just about every "review" of anything. You have to take into account the person's personality, temperament, patience, expectations, wealth, experience and general outlook on life.
Perhaps this person had been traveling during Spring Break crowds. Perhaps there were masses of cheerleaders or Brazilian Tour Groups or screaming kids on the buses. Perhaps there was a huge number of strollers. Perhaps they weren't early risers and had to fight the peak bus crowds.
Personally, I've traveled 15 times to WDW and have had good bus service on the majority of my travels. Yes, there were some crowded buses, some less than stellar routes, etc. -- but they were survivable, laugh-worthy, and free.
I think this is true of just about every "review" of anything. You have to take into account the person's personality, temperament, patience, expectations, wealth, experience and general outlook on life.
Perhaps this person had been traveling during Spring Break crowds. Perhaps there were masses of cheerleaders or Brazilian Tour Groups or screaming kids on the buses. Perhaps there was a huge number of strollers. Perhaps they weren't early risers and had to fight the peak bus crowds.
Personally, I've traveled 15 times to WDW and have had good bus service on the majority of my travels. Yes, there were some crowded buses, some less than stellar routes, etc. -- but they were survivable, laugh-worthy, and free.
Eileen
My friend is the sweetest, calmest, most patient person you would ever want to meet. She normally just takes everything in stride and keeps right on smiling. They just returned (were there May 6th thru 16th). They did stay off-property (she says never again - has to go back to staying on-property ) and had a rental. However, they didn't really want to drive all over to heck and gone so they would drive to DTD and then catch the buses from there. She was disappointed with the availability of the buses for the parks (had to go to a resort first and then to the parks - I told her about this) and she said that it seemed like every bus had a whole lot more stops than the last time she went (I think it was in 2005). Her family had been to WDW before so she is not a newbie to the bus system. She didn't say that crowds were the problem, more that it seemed very haphazard and uncoordinated. Now, being that this is Disney, I'm sure there is a very complicated dance going on with the buses, I was just concerned that there had been some big change in the system since our trip back in December. We were COMPLETELY happy with the buses and until talking to my DF I had no worries about using them again on or next trip.
__________________
Jennifer / Eeyore is my favorite!! OMG - He's sooooo grown up!!!! And an EAGLE SCOUT!! I can still remember my cute little Tiger Cub! 2016 Reading Goal - 75 books
Just to clarify -- I wasn't making a comment on your friend's disposition. Just that all reviews have to be viewed with that in mind. We're all gonna have a different reaction to the same stimuli. Hope I didn't offend!
Now that you've explained it, it makes perfect sense. Of course it stunk having to get a DtD bus to a resort and then make it to a park. They probably spent more than an hour trying to get anywhere.
It sounds like she realizes that it's best to have a rental car if staying off property (and paying for Disney parking each day) or to stay on site and have the bus system to use.
The bus system itself runs fairly well, IMHO and I've never had a real complaint about it.
Eileen
We always use the disney bus system. The only trip we thought took too long was from AKL to Typhoon Lagoon. Maybe expectations are too high to expect no waits or lines and 15 minute bus rides to all locations.
... They just returned (were there May 6th thru 16th). They did stay off-property (she says never again - has to go back to staying on-property ) and had a rental. However, they didn't really want to drive all over to heck and gone so they would drive to DTD and then catch the buses from there. She was disappointed with the availability of the buses for the parks (had to go to a resort first and then to the parks - I told her about this) and she said that it seemed like every bus had a whole lot more stops than the last time she went (I think it was in 2005).
Ahhh...that explains it somewhat.... To prevent off-site guests from parking for free at DTD and hopping a bus to a park, Disney doesn't run busses direct between DTD and the theme parks.
That makes sense then. Seems like Disney wants to make it inconvenient for off site guests to use the buses from DTD. And can you blame them really? Otherwise everyone would just park for free at DTD, then pack the buses to the parks.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Judy and Kenzie
: It's just convenient to leave when you want to leave. We do use the bus for a few trips here and there and our experiences have all been good. We just like the rental car better.
TOT hiding in Morocco
IMO Disney's bus "system" needs a complete overhaul. Seriously, flying down the interstate with 100 people crammed on a bus, most standing (including children) perplexes me to this day. 
And, truthfully is the main reason we don't go more often. Because we tend to use taxis a lot so that adds up, but is soooo worth it!
) and had a rental. However, they didn't really want to drive all over to heck and gone so they would drive to DTD and then catch the buses from there. She was disappointed with the availability of the buses for the parks (had to go to a resort first and then to the parks - I told her about this) and she said that it seemed like every bus had a whole lot more stops than the last time she went (I think it was in 2005). Her family had been to WDW before so she is not a newbie to the bus system. She didn't say that crowds were the problem, more that it seemed very haphazard and uncoordinated. Now, being that this is Disney, I'm sure there is a very complicated dance going on with the buses, I was just concerned that there had been some big change in the system since our trip back in December. We were COMPLETELY happy with the buses and until talking to my DF I had no worries about using them again on or next trip.
Linear Mode
