Phasing Out Resort Named Merchandise… - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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View Poll Results: What do you think about the plan to phase out resort themed merchandise?
I have also noticed the merger of Disneyland & Walt Disneyworld items into Disney Parks. ??? I won't purchase anything that doesn't specify which one I went to.
I was talking to some Disney marketing folks a few years back and mentioned this very thing. I will be the first to say that I don't remember the specifics of the conversation, but I do feel like the general line was that it was a cost savings decision. If you think about it, it makes business sense to a certain extent. Move more of the product to whichever park is selling more rather than having to place a new order if it sells out.
By the way, I don't like the idea. I'd buy more if the design were specific to where I'm visiting.
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Last edited by Dlandmom2; 07-29-2010 at 04:14 PM..
I personally don't like this. I am a Disney t shirt junkie and I especially love the resort t shirts. Those and the special event t shirts are my favorites. So it really makes me unhappy. I like to have things to help me remember a specific trip(since we have been so many times) and a generic Disneyworld tshirt or mug doesn't do that. Oh well, it is just something else that I will have to live with!
I have also noticed the merger of Disneyland & Walt Disneyworld items into Disney Parks. ??? I won't purchase anything that doesn't specify which one I went to.
Same with the Dining Plan, our next trip is in a villa with full kitchen. Last trip we brought an electric griddle & crock pot - was such a hit, we will probably do that again in the future or may get a room with a kitchenette.
I understand the merger of the parks items on general character shirts that dont have a park name on them but to say both is lame imo lol
I was thinking about a crockpot or a george foreman or rocket grille the other day... be nice to have dinner cooking all day and come home and eat. My dilemma is getting it there. Wouldn't it be nice if all the passporter folks could share one locker rental with strollers and crock pots, and beach chairs, etc? We've bought coolers, and foot massagers, and lots of random things in the past and had no way to bring them home. LOL fun lil' fantasy.
I heard/read about this too. Honestly, I have yet to purchase anything specific from the resorts, but I love knowing that it's an option. And with the recent merchandise I've seen in the parks and WoD, I'm thinking Resort Gear would be a better option lately! Maybe I better do some resort hopping and start buying up what's left!!!
From a business/money aspect, I suppose it makes sense though. Sadly.
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I think this is a bad idea. I love the idea of getting a magnet or ornament, something to remember my stay. Last year, I collected the Limited Edition resort Christmas pins for each of the resorts I visited. It would be a shame for Disney to phase this out.
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Somehow, I have a feeling the truth is somewhere between the extremes. I can definitely see them reducing the number of resort-specific items if they're not selling well enough. Folks may miss a particular item in a particular category (like round, blown glass Christmas ornaments), but if they're intent on a souvenir, they'll usually still find something acceptable among the items that remain.
Overall, there has always seemed to be more resort-specific items at the Deluxe and DVC resort shops than at the Moderate and Value resort shops. It probably has to do with matters like "available disposable income." Might Disney be phasing-out resort-specific items at the Values and/or Moderates, but still sell them at the Deluxes? It seems quite possible Let's face it, if you have the budget for just one sweatshirt during your first-ever visit, would you choose one that said "Walt Disney World" or "All-Star Sports?"
Will mentioned a while back that it's more efficient to have larger quantities of fewer items. As someone who deals with this kind of inventory cost issue regularly (the cost of printing books in various quantities), you eventually reach a plateau point where the cost per item stops declining dramatically as you increase quantity. Issues like machine set-up time, mold-making, changing printing plates/silk screens become fairly incidental after a while. It's only when you're constantly making changes and producing relatively small quantities that it gets expensive. So, let's say they eliminated one resort-specific t-shirt design at each resort. It would be possible to bring out a half-dozen new "WDW" designs (all six available at every resort), still benefit from substantially improved economies of scale, reduced waste (as unsold inventory at one resort might be moved to a resort where it's selling better), and give folks even greater selection.
Disney is very good at merchandising, and adjusts their product mix all the time, so no matter what, a change of this sort is unlikely to be "forever."
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I hope they don't either. There are some resorts that are so unique that it is nice to have something unique with that resort name on it. They don't need a ton of items but at least a few popular items should be left.
I don't like the idea either. We have been collecting pins of the resorts we have stayed at. Guess I'll have to start looking for whatever ones I can find.
Last year, I picked up some resort Christmas ornaments. I actually found 2 that were marked on sale. I was able to get 3 ornaments showing the years we vacationed there. When I went back this past March, I was told by a CM that they were no longer carrying these ornaments. I was so disappointed because Christmas ornaments are something I will use every year. I really hope they don't phase out everything resort specific.
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What a horrible idea!! We were very disappointed when they discontinued the resort specific mugs. We always purchase a magnet or Christmas ornament to remember our stay.
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What a horrible idea!! We were very disappointed when they discontinued the resort specific mugs. We always purchase a magnet or Christmas ornament to remember our stay.
We always liked the resort specific mugs too. It was a bit of a diapointment to get a generic mug. To us, it makes it worth less.
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I'd buy more if the design were specific to where I'm visiting.
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