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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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This is a link to a thread I started awhile back on inexpensive souvenirs which can be gotten at WDW itself for $10 or less. Ten may be much more than you want to spend, but it includes mention of really nice things for less than $5, too.
Maybe you'll find a few things "in the bubble" which will work for some small gifts.
Thank you for the link to that thread! There are some great suggestions! I will admit, though, that I am a sucker for a good deal. If I could find some of those types of park items at the Disney Outlet stores at 25-50%+, then I'd be more than thrilled!
Which brings me to a story I have to tell. DH and I went to Aulani a few weeks ago, because I was looking for small Disney items to include in the favor bags for my DD's college graduation celebration dinner. I loaded up my basket full of inexpensive items (at least I thought they were inexpensive), such as key chains and pens. OMGosh, you should have seen my DH's eyes (huge and glaring ). He told me "WHAT? Those things cost THAT MUCH?" I jokingly told him he better not be that way when we shop at WDW, because Disney is NOT cheap. Of course, he didn't think it was funny. He honestly didn't think the items were worth the price. I still bought everything I needed, but I am hoping, if we have to buy lots of souvenirs for others, we can find awesome stuff at the outlet stores at discounted prices, so DH won't get all worked up ~ LOL!!!
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Last edited by momtotaryn; 05-19-2016 at 06:55 PM..
I used to go to the Buena Vista Outlets Disney outlet, but the past few years the selection has mostly been little kids clothing and not such good deals as before. Previously we found things like $42 men's golf shirts for $12 and $40 MVMCP sweatshirts from the previous year for $7 (really!). Some people like the Character Warehouse at Premium Outlets, but I haven't felt a compelling need to visit there, as my son's off Disney shopping preference is Macy's.
I used to go to the Buena Vista Outlets Disney outlet, but the past few years the selection has mostly been little kids clothing and not such good deals as before. Previously we found things like $42 men's golf shirts for $12 and $40 MVMCP sweatshirts from the previous year for $7 (really!). Some people like the Character Warehouse at Premium Outlets, but I haven't felt a compelling need to visit there, as my son's off Disney shopping preference is Macy's.
WOW, those were some good deals! We'll just have to see if we get lucky too!
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I'm very interested to see what you find out. We used to go to the 2 main outlets a few years ago and find great deals. Our kids are much older now and we don't have the time to go. We are going to WDW next month and will have a car. Interested to see what they might have and if you can get the 10% off with your Disney Visa.
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Debbie
Many trips to WDW, too many to list. Going back in June 2017!
We go to the Disney outlet on Intl. Drive every year. We have found many great deals on parks items and christmas ornaments as well as outdoor things. We have been to the one on Vineland a couple times but the parking is a nightmare and we haven't had as much luck at that one.
I'm very interested to see what you find out. We used to go to the 2 main outlets a few years ago and find great deals. Our kids are much older now and we don't have the time to go. We are going to WDW next month and will have a car. Interested to see what they might have and if you can get the 10% off with your Disney Visa.
I will be certain to report back!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArielsMomto2
We go to the Disney outlet on Intl. Drive every year. We have found many great deals on parks items and christmas ornaments as well as outdoor things. We have been to the one on Vineland a couple times but the parking is a nightmare and we haven't had as much luck at that one.
I am back from our WDW trip and wanted to report about the Disney Character Outlet store on International Drive (part of the Orlando Premium Outlet).
I have to say, it was well worth the trip! We were at Universal anyway, on our way back to AoA, so the trip wasn't really out of our way. However, I would definitely make a stop, even if we weren't in the Universal area. The store was fairly crowded. We were there on a Thursday, just after the mall opened.
There were LOTS of shirts and other clothing items. Also household things, including frames, plus stationery stuff too, although not much food items. I was very surprised to see Dooney & Burke , Vera Bradley, and Le Sac things. I bought a lot of those reusuable bags at $1.99 (regular $4.95?) to hold other souvenirs to give to folks back home. Many of the items are the same things I saw at the Disney shops in the parks, but they were marked down, some considerably. My girls were really happy to be able to afford buying some nice things for their friends.
We didn't have time to go to the other outlet on Vineland. Maybe next time. But if we only have time for one outlet, it would be the International one!
As a side note, we passed by a smaller shopping "mall" that had what was called Disney Gift Outlet (I think). We didn't have the time to go there either, but I'm wondering if there are people who went there and was not impressed with the items, because they mistakenly thought that it was the official Disney Character Outlet. I don't know for sure, because, as I mentioned, we didn't make a stop there.
edit to add: Forgot to mention, there was a small section of Disneyland 60th Anniversary things. I bought a 60th Anniversary reusable bag too ($1.99)! Oh, and you can't use your Disney VISA for the 10% discount, but most of the prices are really good already! Some of the shirts I bought were 50%+ off the original price! I wish I picked up more items at the outlet, because as mentioned, many of the same items were at the parks at regular price!
Last edited by momtotaryn; 06-15-2016 at 10:33 AM..
Reason: additional info
I prefer the Disney character warehouse at the end of I drive versus the one on Vineland ave only because of traffic. The good thing about the Vineland one is the garage you can park in.
My wife and I have been to all three of the outlets. Both of the Character Warehouse Outlets are official Disney stores. We agree that these stores are a must do whenever we are in Kissimmee. They are not at all like the Disney Stores in the malls scattered over the country. These stores sell a vast amount of merchandise for kids and adults including clothes, jewelry, bags, Christmas, pins, etc. All at greatly reduced prices. The other outlet is NOT part of Disney. They buy overstock and obsolete items and resell them. The selection is not as big but the discounts are still good. The last time we were there they had several pieces of Disney art. We bought two pieces. They were both limited edition sericels from around 2001 and we got them for less than half of their original price. The original price tags and the COAs were included. If you plan on going to all three, allow the better part of half a day. We found that our GPS had difficulty finding the last one.
Another place that you may want to check out is Theme Park Connection. Look them up on the internet to get direction. They buy and sell collections and movie props. A lot of what they sell are rare collectibles so the pricing is not always cheap although we have gotten some good deals there.
My wife and I have been to all three of the outlets. Both of the Character Warehouse Outlets are official Disney stores. We agree that these stores are a must do whenever we are in Kissimmee. They are not at all like the Disney Stores in the malls scattered over the country. These stores sell a vast amount of merchandise for kids and adults including clothes, jewelry, bags, Christmas, pins, etc. All at greatly reduced prices. The other outlet is NOT part of Disney. They buy overstock and obsolete items and resell them. The selection is not as big but the discounts are still good. The last time we were there they had several pieces of Disney art. We bought two pieces. They were both limited edition sericels from around 2001 and we got them for less than half of their original price. The original price tags and the COAs were included. If you plan on going to all three, allow the better part of half a day. We found that our GPS had difficulty finding the last one.
Another place that you may want to check out is Theme Park Connection. Look them up on the internet to get direction. They buy and sell collections and movie props. A lot of what they sell are rare collectibles so the pricing is not always cheap although we have gotten some good deals there.
Have fun saving a lot of money.
Thanks for your post! Now if we ever get to WDW again (perhaps in another 5 years?), I will have to keep in mind that there are other non official Disney outlet stores that carry great things too!
Wow, I am obviously the Disney shopoholic here! lol! I can't imagine missing the Disney outlets where I get $7. vs. $28. tshirts and $12.vs. $45. swearshirts. Sometimes the sizes are limited but hunting for the real bargans is part of the fun! Also a good place to get trading pins if you didn't get them ahead of time online. Vineland is crowded but closer to the parks.
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). He told me "WHAT? Those things cost THAT MUCH?" I jokingly told him he better not be that way when we shop at WDW, because Disney is NOT cheap. Of course, he didn't think it was funny. He honestly didn't think the items were worth the price. 
I still bought everything I needed, but I am hoping, if we have to buy lots of souvenirs for others, we can find awesome stuff at the outlet stores at discounted prices, so DH won't get all worked up ~ LOL!!! 
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