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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Unless we have to stay value for financial reasons, we'll always pick moderate. DH and I both like the extra themeing, refrigerators, and the hot tubs. DS likes the water slides. We too felt more cramped in a value. Transportation seems to be a bit better IMHO. The food courts seem a little less crazy to me too.
For us, yes it's worth it. We love the theming and beautiful landscapping of the moderates, the double sinks, fridge, larger room, pools, and all the little extras.
But we don't commando tour. We go to the parks at opening, then return to resort mid day for a break, swim, relax, enjoy the resort. Then go back to the parks for dinner and evening refreshed and ready to enjoy the night. Personally, I find it too exhausting to go from opening to closing without a break in between.
I have stayed at the All Star Movies and Pop and both times I said I would never do it again. We have stayed at POFQ, PO Riverside (2), Carribean Beach, Beach Club and Old Key West. Beach Club and Old Key West are all really nice. But between the Values and Moderate-I would go for Moderate. It is just a different atmosphere. The rooms are a little bigger and a lot nicer. The price is not that much different. Go for the moderate.
You guys are great! Thanks! I am just waiting to see if DH makes his year end bonus. I guess that will really depend where we stay! I am hoping for moderates this year...however, we have always had a fridge in our values because DH needs one for his insulin and they have always given us a free one. We have rushed through the parks so much that we have never even enjoyed a resort pool. I think they went swimming once the day we got there the last time. Other than that, we are so scheduled (only 3 or 4 days to pack it in). This time, I want to stay longer in a nicer place! I just have trouble choosing. You all have your favorite moderates! Why can't you get together on this! LOL
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As far as family trips go, we have always stayed at the Values as well... I don't dislike them, but with 5 people it is getting crowded. Now that the youngest is getting bigger we can't stay in a regular room at values anyways.... so I've been tossing options around in my head for our next trip.
We can do a family suite at ASMu, but this actually is more expensive than getting 2 seperate rooms or even a single room at POR. POR is another option, but then we are still kinda squished into 1 room. I did book at Poly as a surprise for the next trip since it has some of the biggest rooms... then changed it to Contemporary... but now DH thinks we need to take a year off (that's another thread... LOL) so I am not sure what we're going to end up doing...
My fear is like many have said before, if you upgrade to the next level, will it make it that much harder to ever go back if need be? Right now my family enjoys the values - the kids like the theming, I like having a food court with the kids versus just a sitdown place, DH hates to spend money so he enjoys the best value for our money- if we did splurge on a better resort will it just make the values seem bland in the future?
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"With kids the days are long - but the years are short."
As far as family trips go, we have always stayed at the Values as well... I don't dislike them, but with 5 people it is getting crowded. Now that the youngest is getting bigger we can't stay in a regular room at values anyways.... so I've been tossing options around in my head for our next trip.
POR is another option, but then we are still kinda squished into 1 room.
Yes, you would be squished into one room, but with the trundle bed in the Aligator Bayou section (a twin mattress on a rolling frame that stores under one of the double beds) you would not be squished when it comes to sleeping at least.
i don't know why i always feel the need to put my odd two cents in, but my two cents does always seem to be odd...sorry. i really enjoyed reading all of these posts (for my own planning purposes!) but i have to say--if you are happy right now with a value resort, i'd STAY in a value resort. why? have you ever read Flowers for Algernon? if not--the moral of the story is 'it is easier to stay content with what you have than to glimpse what could be and then long for it forever' (read the book--it is really good. maybe while you are 'reading' in your room! ha! laughed at that slip! freudian, perhaps?) our first (and only) trip to disney we stayed at the Beach Club, but it was with a half-paid for anyway convention rate (we paid $100/night out of pocket). we could NEVER afford to stay there on our own, but now we don't want to 'downgrade' to a moderate after having stayed at BC (we REALLY really really liked it there--the pools were FABULOUS, and we had a great meal in the Yacht Club). so really, if you had an ok experience in a value resort before, i'd stay there so that you STAY happy with that experience. after all--any money you save can be put towards the NEXT trip!
I will say one other thing I've noticed that makes the moderates more attractive...I swear the lines for the buses leaving at the end of the night are worse in the value resorts...maybe because more people stay at the value ones, or maybe Disney treats you better if you pay more and sends more buses for moderate and even more for Deluxe...I don't know...if just really seemed that the more expensive the resort, the shorter the bus wait.
Having stayed at both, the moderates are definitely nicer than the values.
More space in the room, refridgerator, hot tub are my top reasons. Plus the beds seemed more comfortable. Covered bus stops and the food courts didn't seem so crazy. The energy at the moderates seemed more laid back to me as well. Not as frantic as our 2 stays in the values were.
I decided after my 2008 stay in POP that I will do what I can to avoid the values, even if it means having more time between visits. The only exception is going to be if (more likely when) we will need 2 rooms. Then it's most likely going to have to be a value resort.
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i don't know why i always feel the need to put my odd two cents in, but my two cents does always seem to be odd...sorry. i really enjoyed reading all of these posts (for my own planning purposes!) but i have to say--if you are happy right now with a value resort, i'd STAY in a value resort. why? have you ever read Flowers for Algernon? if not--the moral of the story is 'it is easier to stay content with what you have than to glimpse what could be and then long for it forever' (read the book--it is really good. maybe while you are 'reading' in your room! ha! laughed at that slip! freudian, perhaps?) our first (and only) trip to disney we stayed at the Beach Club, but it was with a half-paid for anyway convention rate (we paid $100/night out of pocket). we could NEVER afford to stay there on our own, but now we don't want to 'downgrade' to a moderate after having stayed at BC (we REALLY really really liked it there--the pools were FABULOUS, and we had a great meal in the Yacht Club). so really, if you had an ok experience in a value resort before, i'd stay there so that you STAY happy with that experience. after all--any money you save can be put towards the NEXT trip!
I think I mostly agree with this... not that we shouldn't ever go to a Mod or Deluxe level- but maybe save that for when my boys are older and might actually care. Right now they don't know any different and they are perfectly happy. Plus we spend the majority of our time in the parks or elsewhere... is paying for the Poly really worth it to a 3 year old? No. And while the extra space is needed, what my DH & I really need is a DOOR - a way to seperate ourselves from the crazy kids when we need to relax and unwind from a long day at the parks... so I guess its either the family suite or a cabin. I like the cabins because we can park right at our own cabin- since we prefer to drive our own vehicles instead of taking Dis transportation most of the time. (This may change when we finally say goodbye to our stroller...)
My kids are familiar with the term "You get what you get- and you don't through a fit" so I am sure where ever we end up we will all be happy- being at Disney is a treat in itself no matter where ya sleep!
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We've done this backwards and I can say that we have no problem switching between categories. First we stayed at the FW cabins then Pop twice, then POFQ then back to Pop and will be taking a surprise trip to POR in a few weeks.
We still love Pop when we return, so I wouldn't worry that once you go mod you'll never go back. I do try to stay away from the All-Stars because of their reputation for teen tour groups because I wouldn't enjoy that, but I love the bus service to Pop and the theming, so I have no problems returning.
I have tried to talk myself into Deluxe, but with our finances, that just seems like too much money so I am saving them for "someday" and enjoying every second I get to spend at WDW in whatever category.
We do use the hot tubs, so they are a plus at the mods for us, and we enjoy having a fridge, but we've used a cooler at Pop and kept it filled with ice and that worked great too!
SuzieQ is right, going back and forth between categories is easy to do. It all depends on what type of vacation you want and what you want to spend.
If commando type vacationing is the game plan, opt for a value. If you feel like slowing down a bit and would like to enjoy the resorts a bit more, a moderate might be better.
Where we stay depends on the above along with how many people are coming with us and what discounts are being offered.
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Definitely agree. Because it is just DH and myself (we don't have kids) we do enjoy a little more luxury and hanging out at the hotel, but if and when we have kids or go with friends who have kids I wouldn't think twice about cutting the luxury to save expense. To me, Disney is Disney where you choose to make it (if that makes sense). You can stay at the Poly or GF and want to best experience, but realize for you, you've had more Disney magic at POP because it worked better for you/your family situation. Though, the fridges @mods and deluxe are a nice touch I will admit that.
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I don't have a problem bouncing between mods & deluxe. I love things about each, yes, we've stayed at Poly, WL & AKL, but don't have a prob staying at POR or CBR either, and we're looking forward to our next stay at POR. I really don't look at it as downgrading.
And the values aren't the only ones with food courts. All the mods have them, and with the exception of the Epcot resorts, the deluxe have food courts too, just a bit smaller. We mostly just have breakfast at them, we have lunch and dinner at the parks or Resort restaurant.
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