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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 whole "nonrefundable" part really sticks in my craw, add that to the fact that you have to have an activated AP at booking (I can't activate an AP sitting in my pajamas at home....), plus you have to book 120 days out, and you only get one room, etc., etc. There is now no incentive to buy an AP except for the discount over buying regular tickets. That's it. I have no reason now to purchase an AP.
I found info. on the Mouse for Less which says this Best Passholder program will not replace the current AP program, but is an addition to the program.
I hope the Mouseforless site is correct and this is just an alternative program. However, it really doesn't make much sense to me as an alternative as who, in their right mind, is going to choose an option that could cost them more and will involve a non-refundable deposit? And even if it is an option at the moment, how much longer before it becomes the ONLY option if Disney doesn't hear long and loud from all the AP holders and potential AP holders out there that this is not an acceptable alternative?
I posted this on another thread under resorts, but I did talk to a CM who was very helpful and he said if it looks like from what he has read that the online bookings will get a better discount, so if you are willing to take the chance on losing your deposit, you should get a better rate.
I don't know what to do. I am testing it out right now to see if I can even book the same reservation that I already have. I know that we aren't going to cancel, no way, no how , UNLESS something tragic happens! However, there have been many a Disney trip cancelled because of illness, death in the family, job change, etc. so it scares me.
Hmmmmph! It would be nice to know that the better discount is a sure thing.. And it would be very nice, as well, if they'd let you into the Passholder section (at least to book) if you have a voucher that you intend to activate when you ACTUALLY GO ON YOUR TRIP and NOT 120 days before!
I don't understand how this is an alternative. Woldn't this mean that the usual periodic release of AP rates won't happen? And what happens if you don't have a computer? Disney only allows Who would book with a non-refundable deposit? DH has been cryig for a while that he is tired of Disney. This may be the reason he gets his way & we start going other places. It seems to me that Disney is going to lose a lot of money to cheaper off-site places who must be grinning from ear to ear about now. Before I wouldn't even consider off-site even knowing all the great deals to be had but now I'm definitely going to be considering it. Whre else can you get a 1 BR suite with free full breakfast for $89 a nigh? Not WDW. At this rate, we'll be trying new vacation spots
It's just such a WEIRD business decision! The ONLY benefit that I see is that you are insured of getting the LOWEST rate and you don't have to keep checking it yourself. Now if you're that concerned about not doing the work yourself, you get a travel agent that you trust to do that FOR you. But the most unpalettable part is that NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT!! What's up with that! It's not as much at a value resort, but it could be HUGE at a deluxe. And it seems like it's the deluxes most AP users are going to. Now a non-refundable deposit of some kind makes sense, or just do it like they do for the dinner shows. And has anyone seen any information about CHANGING reservations in case you need to change dates or even category of resort?
So do they think that all these AP'ers that aren't getting great rates are going to flock enmass to DVC? Are there enough rooms for that many? It's just madness and I think something strange is going on.
I'm sure the AAA folks are ginning from ear to ear. They've got the best discounts at the moment.
My letter to Disney is on it's way. This is absolutely ridiculous. I was planning on renewing our AP's in November of this year but if this is the trend of the way AP benefits are going, I will not be renewing.
There must be something going on that they felt a need to institute this policy.....
Perhaps alot of AP holders were reserving rooms and then not using them?
methinks we're not seeing the whole story.
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