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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It still surprises me somewhat. I've been in the parks three times this year and have found the crowds higher than I expected each trip, given that they keep talking about attendance being lower.
I definitely thought it was far more crowded when we went in June this year than the previous June trips we had taken as well. I do know that we personally did not spend as much on trinkets as we have in the past, though the stores always seemed to have plenty of people in them - probably browsing to get out of the heat, not buying.
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15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
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I know we won't be spending as much when we go in October and as we weren't lucky enough to get free dining we are at the mo going through all the menus and working out how much money we will need to eat and drink. DH has even had to take a 2nd job so that we can go on this vacation because we don't want to break in particular our dd's heart but she knows it won't be a spend spend spend vacation and I really can't face cancelling it.
I'm not surprised with revenue down, but attendance still seems busy, with all the deals being offered. In this economy, just keeping people coming thru the gates, helps to cover all those fixed costs that must be paid.
After yesterdays report I am glad my DH sold our Disney Stock just before 4pm yesterday! DH told me park attendance was down 9% and park merchandise was down 19%. He also told me they missed the projected earnings by as he put it a large amount. We will buy it back soon as it has already gone down over $1 since he sold it. I am not at all surprised by the merchandise angle. When we go in a few days we will only have around $300 for pirate league, snacks and maybe a little something from the gift shops. Thats way less than our norm of $450 just for merchandise(not including mickey bars and water) But I honestly didn't think park attendance would be down by 9%. I figured it would be down a little 3% or so. Does anyone think this will affect package/ticket prices for next year? Sorry if this was already posted elsewhere
As someone who just got back.... and went the same time period last year, that 9% does not reflect the last 2 weeks at all....we had much more crowds esp in MK... merchandise I believe, but not attendence the last 2 or 3 weeks....
I wonder if the higher-than-expected crowds many of us have perceived are that, for those of us who go during the lower-crowd seasons, we're seeing bigger crowds at those times because there are more promotions or deeper discounts then... People are thinking "heck, if I have to take Johnny out of school to save $400, it's worth it!" However, during the historically more-crowded times, they are seeing more of a drop because the discounts aren't as great then...
The 9% is spread across the whole year -- and since few of us are lucky enough to be there the whole year , we're only seeing samplings.
Eileen
Touring plans numbers dont fall off like they did earlier in the year when looking at Aug, Sept and onward.... that supports your theory!
I don't think 9% is bad at all. We are holding to our stock as the economy is turning around and our other stocks are now the highest they have been in a year! We take the "wait and see" attitude with stocks and it always pays off . We may buy more if it drops though
I'd like to say I will not be spending as much $$ as last, but it will be more. Since we're celebrating 30 years of marriage, I'll bite the bullet before and after, but baby, I'm CELEBRATING!
LOL! That was us last year!! It was our 10th Anniversary trip and we spent more on souvenirs than we ever had or probably ever will!!
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Stephanie- Mom to Jaden and Emerson, Wife to Keith, Novelist
I'm an independent agent with Fairytale Journeys, specializing in Disney vacations!
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I'm surprised no one mentioned this... but they raised ticket prices just about an hour ago. They announced it Friday? and raised it Sunday? is it that bad? The article made it on the front of CNN
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Been to WDW a million times... was even a Cast Member! Next Trip: March '12
Still thinking of going to the F&W Festival again....
Disney raises ticket prices almost every year, usually around the beginning of August, so I don't think that affected anything one way or another. The increase is not enough to deter most people from coming to WDW but a few dollars per day per visitor will help Disney parks' bottom line.
According to what I've been reading, Disney came within one percentage point of projected earnings for the year, although their earnings per share are lower than last year. One division that took a big hit was movies as DVD sales are way down over previous years.
And when the stock drops, that's when to buy. We bought ours at $16.40, so even with the recent drops, we are still ahead.
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I have to say that BECAUSE of the buy 4 get 7 promo we ended up spending WAY more at Disney then we ever would have been able to. Without the promo we would have stayed off-site at my parent's time share, eaten many more meals off property and not had as much money to spend on souvies and stuff. Even if we could have stayed on site we never would have been able to do the dining plan without the promo and we defintely couldn't have done 9 days. So, Disney got a mod room for 4 nights, park tickets for 4 for 2 extra days, and 4 people on the meal plan as well as about $1000 in extra spending that they wouldn't have had without the promo! I guess I did my part!! LOL!!!
It seems I've been reading a lot on this board and on others that people are cancelling trips or spending less on the trips they do take. I've heard very mixed reports about summmer (it's up! it's down!) from friends who've gone recently. When I was there in May, it was pretty empty. We even got same day reservations during the fireworks at California Grill.
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and water) But I honestly didn't think park attendance would be down by 9%. I figured it would be down a little 3% or so. Does anyone think this will affect package/ticket prices for next year? Sorry if this was already posted elsewhere
, we're only seeing samplings.
. We may buy more if it drops though 
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