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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 know how much it costs and I know how expensive it is but it's the one thing on this planet I won't give up. I am going to wait and save up for a fancier trip next time then go down to a value next summer because I want to do it that way.
I know pretty much to the penny what we just spent. At night in the room, while Lenny and Abby went swimming, I spent my time going over receipts and making sure the cash I had left was what I should have had. I also made lists of what charges got put where. By the time we got home, all I had to do was put the extra cash back in my account and make sure my credit card statement matched my figure - which it did. Would I tell someone the exact total I spent? Probably not as it really isn't their business. Besides, the way we vacation could be different and so the total could actually be misleading to someone.
I pretty much know what I spend. I keep track of what I am paying out and the total for the package (or each item if I get a room only ressie like we have done for December). I also really try to stick to a budget for souveniers and such. I set three budgets, what I know I will spend, one in case we buy extras and then one with a few emergency scenerios on it - just paly around with the numbers and then I have a good estimate to play with.
I do add it up when I get home just so I can use the numbers for future trips. As for when people ask me I give them round about figures to play with but that is all...
Well, I know that a trip to WDW might SEEM more expensive than other trips. I know when we went to Cape Cod, we shared a cottage with family (so we only paid 1/2) and our cottage only bill was $1875.00. Then I had to purchase groceries (3 times!!!!) to the tune of at least $150.00 each trip. Then I had to pay for eating out for at least 4 dinners, ice creams truck visits at the beach, souvineers in PTown, gas for the drive (4 hours in loaded SUV) to the Cape and back home after the week, gas for the week. I believe our Cape Cod trip easily came out at least at the $3,000+ mark for 2 adults and 2 kids.
So compared to the $1900.00 I paid for rooms at wdw during free dining, including upgrade to DlxDDP and park hopper tickets. Airfare which was $1016.00 for four people. I anticipate a $55 Bippity Boppity Boutique visit...plus a couple of souvineers for dd6 (I rarely ever get anything for myself...so I figure $200 should cover all this). Not to mention that it was definately easier to budget and pay for WDW than to budget and pay for the Cape because with WDW all the food is already paid for...there is really no huge unknown.
I honestly don't think WDW is any MORE expensive than anything else!!!
I've had people ask the same thing. Most of the time it seems they're asking because they are thinking how much it would cost to take their own family. Honestly people are surprised when I tell them the cost of the package. They always seem to think it would cost more - especially when they realize it's room, food, and park tickets for three people for a week. Really we'd spend that much going other places anyway.
As far as souveniers and other OOP expenses, I don't really keep track all that much. We take a set amount of cash and always end up bringing a lot of that back with us. That money has been specifically set aside to spend at Disney, so we never feel guilty spending it or like we're spending more than we should be.
I honestly don't think WDW is any MORE expensive than anything else!!!
I totally agree with this, with the exception of the Disney Cruise. I can take my family on a trip to San Antonio, staying at a moderate hotel with visits to Sea World/Fiesta Texas for a bit less than WDW. In planning for our vacations, when you add in food and activities, WDW is the best value. I know there are cheaper ways of doing it, but when the option comes up, my family picks WDW every time!
I'm like you- I piece mealed my vacation over a lengthy period of time. Buying the tickets here............and paying for the room there...........and so on and so on. I honestly don't know what we spent, and I don't care to know. I would be scared to total the reciepts. I've also had lots of people ask how much I spent. There have been a few who I think honestly wanted to see if they could afford it, so I would just say things like- you can get a value resort for less than $100 per night and mention the free transportation and things like that to give them an idea. But others, who are just being plain nosey,- I am more vague yet tell the truth,--I don't know how much I spent and I don't want to know!
Hey, any way you want to do it is "normal" so don't worry about it. If you had a good time then that should be enough. I also have a general idea of where you live (you mentioned in a previous post that you live just north of my hometown ) and I know that people around here can have a tendency to be a little more "agressive" when asking personal questions. Just tell them you honestly don't know how much it cost (there are so many factors) and that there are many differnet ways to make a Disney v-k affordable. If they're still interested tell them to buy a PassPorter!
Funnily enough I have just had an email from a friend who is thinking of taking her two boys to Disneyland Paris and wants to know what my trip in September is costing me. She is very careful with money so I have told her my costs, but said there are cheaper options I can help her choose.
Because of my circumstances at the moment I am being a bit more cautious cash wise this coming trip than on others. I love eating well, and would usually do the "good" table service restaurants for most meals, but this time I am mixing it up much more with counter service and the more affordable restaurants . I'm figuring that my grandsons will be just as happy with a slice of counter service pizza in a relaxed atmosphere than fancy sauces and lots of cutlery. I'm going to avoid shopping as well apart from bits and pieces for them (and a tee shirt or two).
Oh and I have ebayed some stuff to cover my spending money. That went quite well.
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I normally don't ask people how much their vacations cost and I wouldn't excpet people to ask me either. I try to be careful with how much money I spend. I've never actually added everything up, but I'm sure I've spent a lot of money, but in the end it was totally worth it!
I know about how much we spend. I make the reservations which this upcoming trip includes room, tickets, and ddp. Add in airfare and I know what I am spending. As for money for suvies I just save a little bit here and a little bit there. I dont take the credit card to the parks. rd
Well, Here's another question... Do you add in peripheral things that you buy FOR a vacation like say a new piece of luggage, even if you are going to use if for OTHER vacations when doing your final budget? ex: I bought new luggage -approx $60 and packing cubes- approx $60 so do I add in that $120 to my overall vacation budget? Personally I don't think I should since those things will get used over and over again, even though I INITIALLY bought them for THIS trip.
I guess if people ask again at work I'll say "airfare has gone up a lot since I bought my tickets!"
How about answering with...
More than I think and alot less than I really expected!
or
Now you know why I don't visit Starbucks!
or
the truth (if you know it) about $xxxx - gee it was money well spent!
or
You can never put a price on family memories.
As you can tell I too have been asked countless times why we keep going to Disney parks (aren't they all the same?). why do you spend so much - you could buy XYZ with that money. Yep, I'm over people who think they know how to spend my income.
i usually have a ball park idea . i would not mind sharing if anyone asked me . we start with we own dvc plus usually stay at a hotel for fri and sat / airfare / rental car / food eatin in and eatin out/ plus spending money for all those little extras plus the presents.
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