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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The DDP works for some in some circumstance, not for others in other circumstances. Personally, we haven't used one for years. It hasn't been a good fit with how we eat or how we tour. And instead of relaxing me so I don't have to worry about prices on vacation, I find it does the opposite and stresses me out: "Is this a good use of a credit? Will we use all of our credits? What if we have to cancel a meal?" We just order what we want, when we want and charge it all to the room. We usually find we spend less money than a dining plan would have cost us.
(Pardon if I echo what someone else has said --- I haven't read through all the responses. Got only a few minutes till I have to give the kids a bath!)
We decided to do without a dining plan for our upcoming trip. We just didn't want the hassle of making ADRs all the time --- with 2 young kids, we found that running around the parks just to make our dining reservation was more disruptive than "peace of mind." So, we were going to do QSDP this time, but we realized we wanted even more flexibility than that.
So, we loaded the equivalent of 4 QSDPs onto a Disney gift card (2 adults, 2 kids) and will use that to pay for our meals. It's peace of mind in that everything's already paid for. It's a new experience for us, as we've never done WDW without a dining plan. I'm looking forward to the freedom and hope we end up feeling like it doesn't break the bank to feed our family.
Good luck with your decision!
Carol
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DS-almost 3 & DD-6 with Meeko & Pocahontas in 2012
DH, "Commando" (Let's get a move on, folks!) ~ Me, "Pokey" (Just a moment...Look at this cool trinket!) ~ DD, born 4/2005, "Ride! Ride! Ride!" (Roller coaster! Cars! Dumbo!) ~ DS, born 3/2009, "Charge!" (I wanna goooooo!)
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Thanks everyone for weighing in on this. You opinions and thoughts I take very seriously. At the moment we've decided we are going to do the dining plan. We are going in June and it's so hot. I don't want to end up passing out like last time and a nice air conditioned meal is needed. We'll end up paying for two meals out of pocket this way, but that's okay. Just knowing I don't have to worry about my son ordering the steak makes me feel better. We may not do as many TS places on our next trip, but for now it's hard to narrow it down! Thanks again!
We regularly get the Deluxe Dining Plan and I have to be honest one of the big reasons is the first pro you list - not having to worry about the cost while we're there. That makes a big difference, and really helps me to relax while we're there.
After reading everyone's posts on dining, I am more confused now then I was! I feel that the DDP is too much but I'm afriad that the SDP wont be enough. I wish they had one in the middle, with 2 table and 1 quick. If we can get free dining sometime during the year before we go then I wont feel bad if I upgrade to DDP. We are planning our trip the end of Oct. 2013
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After reading everyone's posts on dining, I am more confused now then I was! I feel that the DDP is too much but I'm afriad that the SDP wont be enough. I wish they had one in the middle, with 2 table and 1 quick. If we can get free dining sometime during the year before we go then I wont feel bad if I upgrade to DDP. We are planning our trip the end of Oct. 2013
I know! I wish they had that too. Though I have to say, their portions are so huge you really don't need three meals a day.
We have not bought the DDP since they included the gratutities with the plan. We now pay out of pocket and save a lot of money over what it would cost us to buy the DDP. We still eat at the same restuarants we would with the DDP and last trip we saved over $600 for six people on a week long trip. In my opinion the benefit of the DDP is having your meals pre-paid. As far as being a bargain the DDP is not a money saver.
[QUOTE=
So, we loaded the equivalent of 4 QSDPs onto a Disney gift card (2 adults, 2 kids) and will use that to pay for our meals. It's peace of mind in that everything's already paid for.[/QUOTE]
That is a really good idea! It gives you the flexibility and the peace of mind since it's already paid for. Good thinking
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
There are ways to "work it" and make your money go a little farther, but that's more effort than I want to do on my vacations.
That's EXACTLY my thinking too
Have a great trip and I don't think you can wrong either way. Personally, we don't do the DDP anymore because the kids are now adult prices but still eat next to nothing
We usually do the dining plan just to have the food paid for ahead of time. We enjoy a table service meal each day so honestly we end up saving a small amount every trip over what we would have paid (on average $100-150) but I wouldn't do it probably if we didn't do the table service meals every day.
Another thing for us is our teenage son (almost 15)....that child is hungry 95% of the time these days and it is easier for us to be able to feed him from the dining plan because it keeps him full. If it were only my husband and I then we would probably do things differently because we can snack and be fine.
I think it all depends on your family dynamics and what is easier for you.
we usually do the dining plan but did OOP this last trip. honestly, i missed the dining plan. we normally did the TS meal for dinner (the most expensive meal) and didn't have to worry about what we wanted to try on the menu. We did use gift cards and didn't find much difference between that and having cash or credit card. OOP and DDP are two different mind sets--we were much more conscience of the cost of our choices when it was cash or credit card. With the Dining plan, we were free to choose that steak or experiment with a new appetizer.
I was talking to someone who just got back from Disney and they told me that when you have a dining plan you have a special menu with only a few items on it. Is this true?
We have done the QS dining plan before and it was okay, but limited. We aren't doing it this time, because unless we order the single most expensive thing on the menu at every meal, it won't pay for us. My DD and I can often split a meal and we certainly don't need dessert at every meal. Plus, in June, I'm worried the heat will make me not hungry.
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