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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Rumor has it that that might not be the case this year. There is a good chance that only the current World Showcase restaurants listed and current resort establishments will be included. Coronado's food court, restaurant, World Showcase restaurants owned by outside vendors are not planning on signing up because they are losing too much money. I know this happened every year, but there has been a lot of talk that this year it will be a reality.
In a way it sounds like the restraurants not belonging to Disney have a no win situation. If these places decide not to sign up, wouldn't the ball be back in Disney's court and they could potentially not renew their leases when they are up? Additionally wouldn't they potentially lose even more money by having less traffic because they are not on the plan? It makes me wonder why they would go in to that situation.
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.
In a way it sounds like the restraurants not belonging to Disney have a no win situation. If these places decide not to sign up, wouldn't the ball be back in Disney's court and they could potentially not renew their leases when they are up? Additionally wouldn't they potentially lose even more money by having less traffic because they are not on the plan? It makes me wonder why they would go in to that situation.
I asked myself the same thing. I think they will lose more business as more people sign up for the dining plan and the places that are on it will be even more crowded. There will be major problems trying to get ADR's. Can you imagine how hard it will be to get an ADR at LeCellier if those other restaurants don't sign up.? It's hard enough now!!!!!!!!!!
I know a lot of people have said they will change their reservation away from the Coronado if they don't participate. It won't bother us as we only eat one or two meals there every trip and we have a car so we can always go to one of the other resorts or eat at the parks--it is no big deal to us (not worth leaving the CSR where we are so happy).
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Headed "Home" for a Mini Trip -- 9/18 - 9/22 at CSR
I would think though if you couldnt grab breakfast at the hotel or a snack after a day in the parks, it would make the dining plan less attractive , or the resort less desirable- I hope that itisnt true about CSR since its a great resort!
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.
It's definitely a problem that lacks an easy solution; either way, a restaurant oculd be doomed.
On the one hand - not being part of the DDP program means you won't see as much business anymore, nwo that those DDPs are so popular. Less business = less revenue.
On the other hand - if the payments they receive from the DDP program, per credit, don't cover their costs for the meal? They just LOST money. And remember, "costs" is more than "cost of ingredients", it's also the salary of the cook(s), server(s), dishwasher(s), and so forth ... all the way down to the guy who cleans out the toilet bowls, and all the way up to the General Manager of that restaurant.
...
I think in the future, we may see some restaurants providing DDP guests with a menu that indicates certain items as being excluded from the DDP. Really, it's the only "compromise" that addresses BOTH problems: it keeps DDP guests coming, BUT, it avoids any one DDP meal from losing them money.
The Deluxe plan still includes appetiser and dessert.
The Basic plan no longer includes the Appetiser, but still includes the dessert. (IMO, if Disney is smart ... next year they'll change the Basic plan to give you a choice of appetiser OR dessert.)
The Deluxe plan still includes appetiser and dessert.
The Basic plan no longer includes the Appetiser, but still includes the dessert. (IMO, if Disney is smart ... next year they'll change the Basic plan to give you a choice of appetiser OR dessert.)
Good to know, the last time we went in 2007 we got both. And I didn't know gratuity is separate anymore. We have the $200 Disney GC from the promo which we were going to use for food, but now we are thinking of getting the basic dining plan, as it would still be a good choice. (I prefer not to look @ food prices when on vacation LOL). If we went out of pocket, I Think we would spend more, both of us did separate food budges with out the dining plan, and mine ranged from $280-$399. His was around $325 and with the basic dining plan, it would be $280 each. so it's basically a wash (with the luxury of thinking "I really want this, but it's $5 more than this" type thinking...
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Laura Jean
Counting down the days to WDW 1/19/09 - 1/26/09 (All-Star Sports)
We're going in Feb. 2009. I called the other day to make some ADR changes. While doing so, the nice person helping me explained that all the same restaurants will be on the 2009 plan, "it just takes a little longer to get everything worked out". So, while I wouldn't call it official, I think we're fine to plan on the list being expanded again.
My first post here, so I'm sure I'll make a mess of it, but I wanted to share the info.
We're going in Feb. 2009. I called the other day to make some ADR changes. While doing so, the nice person helping me explained that all the same restaurants will be on the 2009 plan, "it just takes a little longer to get everything worked out". So, while I wouldn't call it official, I think we're fine to plan on the list being expanded again.
My first post here, so I'm sure I'll make a mess of it, but I wanted to share the info.
Laughter is timeless, Age has no meaning and Dreams are forever.
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. 2010 - Polynesian ~ We're going back!
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I'm getting the Deluxe - only because I'm doing aLOT of 2 Table-Svc meals I think me & DGD will be pooped and need the fun/rest of a "sit-down" - especially with the Characters!
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Glad to have you and you brought good news too!!
I think me & DGD will be pooped and need the fun/rest of a "sit-down" - especially with the Characters!
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