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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yes, sorry about that! AP is Annual Pass. You'll get discounts from the moment you activate it. The 8 days is the break even point with an AP versus Single day admission. We bought an AP last year, spent a total of 17 days in the parks(three trips), so we more than broke even, add our discounts and we came out ahead!!
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OOoo!!! That's a good idea. If we had done it last year this year's tickets would have been covered under it! I see more Disney trips for cheaper in my future... :P
Be careful, Annual Passes makes it all to easy to go to WDW! Couple the AP with our Disney Vacation Club(DVC) and you've got a pretty durn inexpensive trip!
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Be careful, Annual Passes makes it all to easy to go to WDW! Couple the AP with our Disney Vacation Club(DVC) and you've got a pretty durn inexpensive trip!
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That's my ploy to convince DH that we want to go to Disney again NEXT year! He's already suggesting 'somewhere else' - boo hiss!
Sorry about not explaining what an AP is! Like they said, 8 days is the break even point on park pass costs, but with the savings on rooms and the other savings at World of Disney (DTD) and Epcot sit-down restaurants, you really will come out ahead!
*PS - the savings on room rates begins the day your stay begins. For example, we will arrive on Dec 18, just before holiday season starts. We got Port Orleans Riverside for $79/night for 8 nights!
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Be careful, Annual Passes makes it all to easy to go to WDW! Couple the AP with our Disney Vacation Club(DVC) and you've got a pretty durn inexpensive trip!
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This is EXACTLY why my DH gets scared whenever we decide to get Annual Passes - he knows I am plotting the next trip!
I used the DreamMaker Package but booked my airfare and transportation to/from the airport seperately. I did a few quick calculations and don't think I could have done any better on price short of buying an AP. But since I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to Disney within a year I thought the AP would be wasted so I just did the package.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
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Re: Package vs buying individually
I've only done a package once....last Christmas week. It was the best deal for us, because our room was discounted and we could not have gotten as good a price otherwise (YC room for around $200w/tax a night during Holiday season, after taking out price of UPHs). You have to run the numbers to see what works best for you. I don't count the extras as worth much when figuring out the cost. Usually we get a better deal by buying room-only discounted reservations and buying PHPs that are fewer than the days we are staying (we like to have a free day/water park day in the middle of the vacation).
I think you do have to sit down and do the number crunching to see which is better. When I did it last year (for the trip I had to cancel ) for my DH and I to go on the Dreamaker Gold Plan (staying at the Wilderness Lodge) for 7 nights & 8 days vs just buying individually it worked out to about $150 more for the package (total not each). It was worth it because then everything was paid for and I didn't have to worry about traveller's cheques and exchange rates( being from Canada - it was a lot more convenient).
Also being from Canada there isn't a lot of Disney expert travel agents around so I booked straight through Disney - so one phone call and it was all done.
Like I said trip had to be cancelled at last minute (don't worry had only paid deposit and they gave me a full credit for any future Disney trip when I called up to explain the family emergency that had happened- also one bonus of booking straight with Disney) but I would still get a package just for the convienience (sp?).
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Couple the AP with our Disney Vacation Club(DVC) and you've got a pretty durn inexpensive trip! 
) for my DH and I to go on the Dreamaker Gold Plan (staying at the Wilderness Lodge) for 7 nights & 8 days vs just buying individually it worked out to about $150 more for the package (total not each). It was worth it because then everything was paid for and I didn't have to worry about traveller's cheques and exchange rates( being from Canada - it was a lot more convenient). 
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