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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We cleaned out our garage this weekend and took back all of our returnables. Now not everyone can do this and not everyone's garage is like mine....but we had just a little over $100.00 in there!!!! We took the $$$ and bought Disney gift cards. So a 2 for 1 or us.... Cleaned out garage and bonus points for gas with our gift card purchases.
We request gift cards from my mom for birthdays/holidays before trips since my mom is always asking what we need. It's not a huge savings to cover all our meals, etc but it is certainly enough to make a difference. Plus, it's better than a shirt that sits in the closest because it doesn't fit right and she bought it on sale in another state, LOL!
I've also started emptying all our change into a bank for our daughter's spending money. She's only 3 but she loves keeping track of all the coins she collects so it will be fun to let her pick her own gift out with that money.
I also purchase things we need for our trip far in advance when they are on sale. I get those purell washer/dryer sheets and the coffee filter packs and a few other travel friendly items. These are typically pretty overpriced but by watching sales all year I can get them on sale. I've also gotten some free purell and tide samples which are great for trips for one or two loads of laundry.
I'm trying out the gift card idea this year. I plan to buy a $25 gift card when I buy groceries (at the stores that have Disney cards - not all our local stores do). My question here is, Can I take a picture of the sku or something incase I lose them? I'm so forgetful these days I'm worried I'll lose them. We don't have a local Disney store anymore since they closed most of them in MA. TY!
These are all great tips....I have been recently revamping my home and found that selling items on Craigslist has worked for me. I don't sell very many things but so far, I've managed to make $100 in a short week from items I am no longer using.
Everything I have "extra" is going toward Disney. It's not every day we can make such a special trip, so I want to have as much cash as possible.
We have a couple of ways to save. 1st - I take $200 per pay and put it in a piggy bank. That is our "main" Disney fund. This $$ eventually gets put on a travel card and this pays for everything - DDP, flights, souvenirs, etc. #2 - DH and I have a "contest". Every pay we get a $200 allowance. This is to cover every day expenses like gas, eating out, any special things we want to buy for the two week pay period. Then what is left over we put into a different "piggy bank". Our contest is to see who can put the most into this fund. Sometimes I've put in as much as $90! This $$$ will be used for tips and other spending while in Disney. We never go without and we don't "feel" the pinch either. I've also bought Disney gift cards when shopping, but stopped because I didn't want to carry that many cards.
Thanks for sharing the tips!
I take the money saved at the grocery store and buy gift cards, we also set some money aside in our bank account each month.
I love your idea of putting in $2 for every meal you eat at home. That would give me approx $2700 between now and the next trip!
Great Ideas!!! I do the 'piggy bank' 'change jar' - it's amazing how much it adds up! Your other ideas are very helpful, I'm always looking for ways to do a Disney trip. We don't go to WDW as much as most people on these boards, so when I know we're going, and it's usually years in advance, I start using our Disney Visa card only. Our last two trips had $1000,00. in reward points on it.. Since my last trip was just me and my DGD it paid for all of our meals and sourveniers, I got alot of Christmas shopping done!!
Here's to saving more and more! SW+7
Excellent ideas for savings, I'll make mental notes of all of these ideas. I think I will start trying to buy the Disney gift cards when I grocery shop instead of stashing cash that ends up getting used on other stuff. I try to brown bag it for lunch every day at work, that saves about $30-40 per week.
Thanks again for starting this thread and sharing ideas. I've started putting aside $2 for each meal at home and we've already put $24 in the envelope. I'm surprised at how fast it added up over the past few days!
We already do the savings jar and putting a certain amount aside each month. However, I really like the idea of putting aside a little for each meal we don't eat out. Good idea!
I need to start our offical savings for next year. But in the past we've
1. We live in Iowa so there is a 5 cent deposit on pop bottles and cans. We usually wait until we have a trash bag or two filled and cash them in. It's a dollar or two each time.
2. Craigs list or garage sale items.
3. Put money directly into savings account
4. Pick up gift cards at Walgreens.
I also get each of my kids a $25 gift card for their birthdays and chirstmas every year.
Thanks for sharing all these tips.
I'm going to put some of these into motion when we get back from the trip....starting with the left over money (cough, if there is any) from this trip.
I have started buying the gift cards. I think this is a great idea! We also save our change and have cashed in up to $87 at a time within about a month and a half. After I finish paying for the wedding, I will start putting away $200 each pay.
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Kim My son Kellan when he was three days old, already showing his love for Mickey! 4/18/16
We put aside a set amount of money each month towards vacations.
We also have a set amount of "pocket money" apiece, that each of us can do with as they wish; I put half of mine (thus, $150) away each month towards anything "big purchase-y" .... including spending money for when we're on vacation.
It helps that we haven't any kids, and one of us owns the house we live in - so our baseline expenses are lower than they might be for other families.
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My son Kellan when he was three days old, already showing his love for Mickey! 4/18/16
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