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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Sorry, our systems aren't programmed to provide confirmation of shipment on pre-orders. You can contact us (e-mail to support@passporter.com is a good choice) and we can update you, and if it's been a couple of days after we've shipped, we can give you your tracking number (it takes a couple of days to get those from our warehouse).
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
Thanks Dave! I'm not in any hurry, I know it'll get to me sometime in the next few weeks I just couldn't remember if there was an e-mail or not. It'll just be a better surprise on my doorstep one morning.
I have loved the WDW Passporter for years but hadn't really paid attention to the cruise version because I hadn't taken a Disney cruise yet. I just booked on the Fantasy for next September. Do the cruise Passporters come out annually as well? If so, it looks like from this thread that the 2011 just came out in August. Would I look for the 2012 version at the same time next year? I want to start planning and don't know if I should buy the current version or wait for the next one (or both)?
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Jun 93-off site, Aug 99-CRS - Jun 00-GF, Aug 04-CBR, Aug 06-POR, Sept. 08-WL, Dec. 10-POFQ, Aug 12-AoA & DCL, Nov 12 Paradise Pier DLR, Feb 13 AKL, Oct 13 CBR/YC & DCL, Sept. 14-BC, Sept. 15-ASM
I have loved the WDW Passporter for years but hadn't really paid attention to the cruise version because I hadn't taken a Disney cruise yet. I just booked on the Fantasy for next September. Do the cruise Passporters come out annually as well? If so, it looks like from this thread that the 2011 just came out in August. Would I look for the 2012 version at the same time next year? I want to start planning and don't know if I should buy the current version or wait for the next one (or both)?
The DCL books do come out each year as well. This year, it came out in August only because there was so much new info and such that needed to be added in but the 2012 is expected to be "back to normal" and be available sometime in February.
Since you are sailing out of Port Canaveral, the 2011 should work just fine for you! The 2012 edition will have more port info and such on the New York, Galveston and Seattle sailings, I believe.
Yes, all the ports the Fantasy will be visiting in 2012 are covered in the current (9th Edition), which we started shipping in July 2011. It should work very well for you. The book also includes everything we know about the differences between the Dream and the Fantasy (not many).
Most of the time, we've identified the cruise guides by edition numbers, rather than years. The problem with using years (and we did try it) is, if you bring out a "2011" in February (no less June) 2011, people think that it's already getting old, despite the fact that it's brand-new. Most annual guidebooks come out in August and September of the prior year (like new car models), so even a book that comes out in February 2011 is assumed to be almost 6 months older than it really is. Same problem if we were to label it a 2011-2012 - most folks will assume it came out in fall of 2010, so to them, "2011-2012" means we're revising it every other year, rather than annually half-way through the year. That's certainly not the impression we want folks to have.
That said, when you use edition numbers rather than years, folks still aren't sure if they have the most recent edition. We've received customer support e-mail from a number of folks who thought the new, 9th Edition cruise guide we sent them in August/September was an error, because it was a "2011" and a book we send to them in August/September has be a "2012."
The only way around these issues is to publish on the same schedule as Frommer's, Fodor's. Birnbaum's, etc. The trouble is the timing of Disney's information announcements isn't in line with that schedule. Disney Cruise Line announces new itineraries in fall and early winter. We expect to hear about 2013 cruises in the next few months. A "2012" published in August or September couldn't have that info, and since a lot of cruisers are planning a year or more in advance, if the book they purchase in 2012 doesn't include info about the 2013 cruising season, they're being short-changed. The same is true for our Walt Disney World guide. Disney historically doesn't release pricing (lodging, admission, etc.) for the following year until August. So, all those books released in August/September 2011 that say 2012? They actually have the 2011 info. That's why our Walt Disney World book generally comes out in November. Our 2012 info really is 2012 info.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
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I just couldn't remember if there was an e-mail or not. It'll just be a better surprise on my doorstep one morning.
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