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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I live in Canada, but use Small World Travel on the net. I also visit Mousesavers for info as well. I tried an agent from AAA who supposedly is a Disney expert, but her quote was hundreds of dollars more than what I researched on my own. On my last WDW visit, I did it on my own not having been there before and didn't understand just how big it is or all the options, so this time I'm using an agent and doing more research.
Last year, almost on impulse, we planned a WDW trip. I actually called an 800 # out of Family Fun Magazine. They took my info and w/in an hour someone called me back.... He was and still is awesome!!! I probably spent hours w/ him on the phone before and after the trip. He also gave me info about DVC (since I asked him) and now that we're DVC members, I can still call him. I have given his name & # to several families/couples who have used him w/ GREAT REVIEWS TOO!! Truly luck of the draw... and no commission fees--- Disney pays him. We even exchange X-mas cards! Saved alot of stress!!
I like booking directly with Disney because there is no middle man, the one time I used a travel agent things got messed up & Disney didn't have all of the details that would have let them resolve things for me, it took forever to get things cleared up. However, it pays to do your homework. Look at all of the special offers Disney is offering & figure out which one is best for you before you call or click.
Mostly intended to help answer Disneybine~
I would imagine that most of the Internet based Disney-only travel agents are going to be graduates of the College of Disney Knowledge. Graduates used to get these silly looking graduation caps with mouse ears, and will display them at their desk. Not sure if they still do this. Even if they're not graduates, based on what I've read from a few of their sites, they travel enough to WDW to have plenty of first hand experience to get the job done right. I'm sure you're aware of a few of these agencies via all the Disney websites : Small World Travel, Mouse fan Travel, My Favorite mouse, Kingdom Magic... I'm sure I'm missing some big ones here, and I apologize for that. (I'm not endorsing any one over the other, since I've never used any of them...)
My rambling point is that a "good" travel agent will do lots of comparing for you and give you the results. Basically do all the legwork for you. What I used to do was call DisneyTravel and get their quote. Then call a couple other tour package companies (Funjet, Gogo, etc) and get their quotes. Then price everything separately to see how I could do just by booking it all by myself with no "package." Then get prices online so I know what my competition is (expedia, etc). I would then give my client my best price and/or package to go with and let them choose. Ultimately the client makes the decision. A travel agent shouldn't force you into a package that doesn't work for you. But in order for that to happen, you as the client need to really speak up and let them know every little detail that you want taken care of. And if you don't speak up, then they should be asking you lots and lots of questions. The only way a good travel agent will guarantee any repeat business is to absolutely be positive that their client is going to be 100% satisfied with every detail of their trip. The only way I know to find an agent like this is really through word of mouth and recommendations, or unfortunately through trial and error. I suppose you could ask a potential agent if he/she's a graduate and how many times they've been there, especially within the last 5 years or so. Or ask a trick question too, something only diehard Disney fans know as common knowledge but most people don't. I don't see any reason why a US agent would not be able to book a trip for someone from Germany or anywhere overseas.
I hope this helps!!
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Tanya
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I did'nt think that you would save money by booking through a TA. I always figured that if you booked through disney you were skipping the middle man and therefore saving money.
Has it worked out for anybody so that they have saved a substantial amount of money?
Disney_duke, thank you so much for your detailed answer! I'll just compare the quote from a travel agency to what I'd pay when I book directly at Disney. I kinda prefer booking directly over going through a travel agency due to the fact that I'm "in charge" then. However, a TA would notify me if any special came out which is a great plus. When booking via a German travel company, you always have a 20% cancellation fee from the moment you're booking, leaving absolutely no room for flexibility! I just recently found out that Disney doesn't charge a fee until 45 days before the vacation date! That's why I will only consider U.S. travel agencies from now on.
Unless I find a fabulous TA somewhere, I am DONE using them. I have found that 3/4 times I used a TA I had more hassles than it was worth.
For those who have found a great TA -- you are very fortunate.
Our TA last year even told us (and gave us one of his cards) to take his #'s including his cell in case there were ANY Problems! Did not need to use the #'s , but it was a great comfort to know he was still there to give his service if needed (plus the 10+ different price quotes/packages before we decided!).
I don't have any recommendations but I can say I have had horrible, horrible experiences with an agency I'll call "LT" for short. I am sure some people here can recommend good ones.
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Favorite Disney Resort: Polynesian
Favorite Disney Character: Goofy
Favorite Park: EPCOT
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We have used Small World Travel for our last few trips....they have always been great! They're informative, helpful and very friendly. I would highly recommend them!
I had to jump in and say that I have one of the best TA's in the business. I booked my first trip with DH and DD (after many childhood trips) back in 01 by myself. I then found my TA on this board (who is on the PP list of TAs) and for my next trip turned all the details over to her. Since then, I have used the same agency over and over again. In fact, I am about to book my ninth trip using them. I have never once had a problem. It was a tough thing for me to do as I am a control freak, but I wouldn't go back to booking for myself ever again.
As AP holders, my TA was calling to get my ressies converted when the rates were released. Most times I had an email that she had got me a discount before I even knew the discounts were out. Like last week when I got an email from her that she had saved me $404 on my four night stay at the BC. This TA has saved me thousands of dollars over all our trips and it never cost me a dime to use them. Plus, I didn't have to stress over watching for the rates, making the call, being on hold and all the other stuff that goes with doing it yourself. And since AP rates tend to get grabbed up very fast, I could have missed out if I had been doing it myself.
As others have said, if you find a good one, and they are out there, they will work hard for you and save you money if a discount becomes available.
I have to agree with the opinions about Disney Travel. Personall, I LOVE having a TA as a "buffer: betiwee me and what ever is going to go wron g(and with us, something always does!) but the one-and only- time I used Dinsey Travel was a nightmare from even before we got one the plave as they ad all four of us (then the kids were 7 and 9) scattered all over the plane and refused to fix it (luckily one of our wonderful TAs here on the Boards fixed that in 10 minutes for me) but the care rental was wrong, it took 3 HOURS at the WL desk to check in as they had our ressies all mixed up and no one would admit to the fault as you nver get the same agent twice and they passed the blame around. It ended up costing Disney a comped adjoing room on our nexy trip, but the hassle wasn't worth it.
Try AAA or one of the great sponsors on out Boards if you want to use an agent. Have a great trip.
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Suzanne, in Rochester,NY
Remember the Magic!
Picture is of DD,Pam, as Constance, in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Sorcerer
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I just recently found out that Disney doesn't charge a fee until 45 days before the vacation date! That's why I will only consider U.S. travel agencies from now on.
Me & Tigger - WDW '11
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