From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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Monday 27 February – part six: where’s our luggage?
When we were done eating, and it was a long meal, not necessarily of our doing, but more it was a bit slow on the service side (I think we left about 1:15pm, after having been seated at 11:30am), we headed out of the park, and off property to photograph some more hotels.
On the way, we did see some attractions, including the now closed Wet ‘n’ Wild. It’s a bit surreal to see it just sitting there, doing nothing…
We made our way over to the Orlando Premium Outlets to check out the stock in the Disney Character Premiere. I found a handbag – not exactly what I wanted, but it was $30, and I’m not convinced Disney sell what I’m looking for any longer sadly. Mark these words for later in the trip report…
That done, we made our way over to the BoardWalk. We parked up, not impressed with the lack of parking, and how big the valet parking area was. After hiking our way over to the lobby, we swore we’d use valet for much of the rest of our stay – not what we wanted to do, but we felt Disney were forcing us to do that.
Now, we’d been out all day, quite deliberately, to ensure we were arriving at check-in time. We were there at around 3:45pm, and check-in time was 4:00pm, so I was not impressed to be told that the room we were due to get was still being cleaned. I asked if it would be ready at 4:00pm, and got the standard response, which in layman’s language was “possibly not”. This is what annoys me. We get a lecture about check-in time is 4:00pm, you can’t expect a room to be ready before then. Ok, fair enough, but when we ask, you can’t tell us what time it would be ready.
The guy tried to give us literally one of the furthest rooms from the lobby, and we explained that was not going to work with my chronic fatigue. He offered us another room that seemed to be nearer, but honestly when we hiked over there, it was still a fair way away… and this is why we don’t like staying at the likes of the BoardWalk Villas or Wilderness Lodge Villas, as we always find ourselves miles from reception, which really taints the view we have of our stay there.
Even worse was to come. We went to bell to enquire about the luggage, only to be told it wasn’t there yet. Now Old Key West had told us it would be there by 4:00pm at the latest. Not quite the story we got from the BoardWalk… They told us deliveries take place from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, but the luggage can arrive way past that time, and apparently once the guy is out on deliveries, they have no way at all of reaching him to see where he is and how the deliveries are going. We were a bit shocked by that. We asked when the luggage might be arriving, and the guy was really helpful, but essentially couldn’t give us a time, and honestly told us it could be another couple of hours. I explained we were due out for dinner, and needed the change of clothes in our luggage, and he said he would keep an eye out for it and call us as soon as the cases arrived.
Not too impressed with our stay so far at the BoardWalk, we hiked off to find our room…
… which was very nice, and at least also came with a Jacuzzi bath.
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Very nice views! But for crying out loud - why can't the luggage be taken care of any faster? That seems off. And you know they can contact him when he's out delivering it. I'm sure he has a cell phone.
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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.
You room looks quite nice and a good view as well! That's too bad with the luggage and baffles me why they can't get it sorted out or give you a straight answer! The same thing happened to me in 2012 when I went from CSR to the WL and after spending a few hours in the parks I returned around 4 pm for my luggage and they didn't have it yet. I didn't get it until 5:30 pm. I have a feeling it may have still been at CSR and they had to send someone out to get it!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Why oh why can't Disney get it together with the whole room being ready on time ? It's not like it's a big surprise when a guest shows up to check in for a room that has been reserved well in advance. Hmph.
at least you got a jacuzzi bath (hope it works) and fun view, too.
What purse did you get at the outlet ? I bet it's adorable!
Very nice views! But for crying out loud - why can't the luggage be taken care of any faster? That seems off. And you know they can contact him when he's out delivering it. I'm sure he has a cell phone.
That's what we said too, but they claimed the guy didn't, and apparently even if he did, he's not allowed to answer it while driving. I guess Disney haven't heard of the idea of hands free...
You room looks quite nice and a good view as well! That's too bad with the luggage and baffles me why they can't get it sorted out or give you a straight answer! The same thing happened to me in 2012 when I went from CSR to the WL and after spending a few hours in the parks I returned around 4 pm for my luggage and they didn't have it yet. I didn't get it until 5:30 pm. I have a feeling it may have still been at CSR and they had to send someone out to get it!
That wouldn't surprise me, as I got the feeling that's what they might've done with us too....
Why oh why can't Disney get it together with the whole room being ready on time ? It's not like it's a big surprise when a guest shows up to check in for a room that has been reserved well in advance. Hmph.
I know, right?
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at least you got a jacuzzi bath (hope it works) and fun view, too.
Yes, the Jacuzzi worked. Trust me, if it didn't, I would've made a big complaint about that...
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What purse did you get at the outlet ? I bet it's adorable!
I don't actually have a photo of it. I'll see if I can get one and post it....
Your room looks lovely, hope it is not too much of a hike to it. The view is just wonderful! I truly wonder about luggage services. We changed rooms within the same resort ( long long story) several years ago and we still had to call to get our luggage from them and it still took 30 minutes for it to arrive. It is not that big a resort, I think it was still sitting in our old room and they had to go get it. This was at 6pm at night.
We saw the closed Wet n' Wild too and it was a bit eerie! Still wondering what they are going to do with it.
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.
Your room looks lovely, hope it is not too much of a hike to it.
It wasn't too bad. I would've preferred closer to the lobby, but honestly, it could've been worse.
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The view is just wonderful! I truly wonder about luggage services. We changed rooms within the same resort ( long long story) several years ago and we still had to call to get our luggage from them and it still took 30 minutes for it to arrive. It is not that big a resort, I think it was still sitting in our old room and they had to go get it. This was at 6pm at night.
That's nuts!
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We saw the closed Wet n' Wild too and it was a bit eerie! Still wondering what they are going to do with it.
I've read various speculation. Some say hotels, others say a restaurant and shopping complex - nothing new or exciting in either option sadly.
Sorry Boardwalk is not impressing you all so far, but at least you've got great views from the room. I do like the new décor there since our last stay there five years ago
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They told us deliveries take place from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, but the luggage can arrive way past that time, and apparently once the guy is out on deliveries, they have no way at all of reaching him to see where he is and how the deliveries are going. 
We were a bit shocked by that. We asked when the luggage might be arriving, and the guy was really helpful, but essentially couldn’t give us a time, and honestly told us it could be another couple of hours. 
I explained we were due out for dinner, and needed the change of clothes in our luggage, and he said he would keep an eye out for it and call us as soon as the cases arrived. 
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That's too bad with the luggage and baffles me why they can't get it sorted out or give you a straight answer! 
The same thing happened to me in 2012 when I went from CSR to the WL and after spending a few hours in the parks I returned around 4 pm for my luggage and they didn't have it yet. I didn't get it until 5:30 pm. I have a feeling it may have still been at CSR and they had to send someone out to get it! 
This is why we don't use their luggage service... we should've learnt by now! 
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