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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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BTW, my take on the official Disney announcement is that their statement about the few number of people abusing the system is just them being politically correct.
I agree. Disney isn't going to admit to letting lots of people get away with breaking their own rules.
Strange--In August 2009 FP lanes were closed during the evening EMH hours.
I don't know. Maybe it was because it was right at the beginning of EMH that they let us use them but we rode TSMM twice with FP's in the first 30 minutes or so of EMH and the CMs didn't even hesitate to let us. This was our first time staying on property so first experience with EMH so we didn't know this was unusual. We did use them after the time had ended on them and this was the first time we had done that but it was only because of some things we had to take care of with DD that we missed our alotted time.
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I know we went to Soarin one night during EMH and not only were the FP machines all covered, the FP lines were converted to Stand by lines. We had a GAC and because there was no FP line to send us through, we had to go "behind the scenes" to get to the ride. Maybe the EMH procedure is different for different rides or maybe this is one thing Disney is trying to stop - people grabbing FP's during the day and using them during an EHM. I know this wasn't your intention but I bet there are who try to do it purposely.
It won't inconvenience us. We are law-and-order type of people and play by the rules. Although we have read that CMs don't enforce the end times on FPs, we don't get them if we know we won't be around at the appointed time to use them. So, if they are going to post rules, then I prefer them to hold everybody to those posted rules.
Now, if we could just do something about the groups who send one person to wait in a queue and then the other 8 people expect to "excuse me" their way past half the queue to join them. . .
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I didn't know you couldn't use FP's during EMH. We were just there last week and used them twice for TSMM during EMH with no problems.
If you got the FPs prior to the start of evening EMH, then they aren't supposed to be used during EMH.
But maybe you're asking about using FPs during EMH that were gotten during EMH... In that case, if the FP machines are up and giving out FPs during EMH, (and they don't always do this -- it depends on crowds and time of year) then you can certainly use those FPs.
If you got the FPs prior to the start of evening EMH, then they aren't supposed to be used during EMH.
But maybe you're asking about using FPs during EMH that were gotten during EMH... In that case, if the FP machines are up and giving out FPs during EMH, (and they don't always do this -- it depends on crowds and time of year) then you can certainly use those FPs.
We got the FP's during the day with the intention of using them at the appointed time. Then we had to take care of something with our DD who has special needs and were unable to use them when the time came. When EMH started my DH had taken DMIL and DD back to our resort. While he was gone DS and I decided to see if we could use them since we were unable to earlier in the day. We went to the ride and never even got a chance to explain why we were using them late, they just let us on. Then when DH got back he and DS used the other 2 to ride together. Again, the CMs didn't ask or hesitate to let them use them. I don't think the standby line was incredibly long either. We assumed that since they let us use them that this was normal. And this was the first time we have ever used our FPs late. Also, the only time we did on our trip. Oh, and I did look to see if the FP machines were open and they were not but they had been closed most of the day since FPs ran out around 10:30 that morning.
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My understanding is that Fastpass is designed to give you a window of time when you may return for a shorter wait. It's not a reservation. I guess I just feel that people who collect them and return whenever they want to believe that their time, or they themselves, are more important than me or my time. Please do not worry about courtesy at the jeopardy of your touring plan.
Sorry if that seems harsh, but I have done what I was supposed and changed my plans to be there. yet instead of a brisk 5 minute wait I get to wait 20 minutes because a dozen people showed up when they felt like it just a second before me. If I don't like my ADR may I take your seat instead? That time really works better for me.
Sorry if that seems harsh, but I have done what I was supposed and changed my plans to be there. yet instead of a brisk 5 minute wait I get to wait 20 minutes because a dozen people showed up when they felt like it just a second before me. If I don't like my ADR may I take your seat instead? That time really works better for me.
But how do you know that those dozen people that showed up before you aren't returning in their window as well? I'm not sure you can presume that just because you wait longer than 5 minutes in the FP line it's because people are returning outside of their appointed return window (unless you were able to see the FP's for those people ahead of you.)
ETA: We have used FP's outside of the return window and I just want to say that it's not because we think we are better than anyone else or that our time is more valuable than anyone else. We always get FP's with the intention of returning at the appointed time but sometimes it doesn't happen- for one reason or another. No big deal, if it happens in the future then we just won't be able to use the FP's but in the past we were told that it was acceptable by every CM we have encountered. I just wanted to throw this in because I want to be clear that at least for our family, we haven't done this because we are trying to rain on your "parade." And I can't recall a single time that we've returned outside our appointed window and had an excessive wait through the FP line. Not once.
But how do you know that those dozen people that showed up before you aren't returning in their window as well? I'm not sure you can presume that just because you wait longer than 5 minutes in the FP line it's because people are returning outside of their appointed return window (unless you were able to see the FP's for those people ahead of you.)
Sometimes yes you can see them; however, the generalization still stands. May I take your place at something you have scheduled? Not by much mind you. I just want your interrupt your schedule a bit so I am not inconvenienced at all. Your time is nearly not as important as mine.
Sometimes yes you can see them; however, the generalization still stands. May I take your place at something you have scheduled? Not by much mind you. I just want your interrupt your schedule a bit so I am not inconvenienced at all. Your time is nearly not as important as mine.
Thats what my point was before. I just felt my opinion was being misconstrued and instead of getting flustered (which happens) because i can't properly explain my point, i just took myself out of the debate.
With that being said, the points that this PP'er and many others I have read since my departure, is what I was trying to say. I am not saying everyone who would come back at a later time was doing it to abuse it on purpose or to inconvenience anyone intentionally, but unfortunately, that is the outcome of misusing the FP times given. They aren't optional. Its a "hey, you can come back at this time and not wait as long" ticket. And most people use them during peak times for high volume rides so that they may go and enjoy other rides while they wait for their time. So, my point is that when someone comes up and takes a FP and says at the time that they think they will be back in time to use it, but then doesn't use it in the proper window of time, you forfeit the privilege of its use. Its sort of a "too bad too sad" type of deal. I am in NO WAY saying MOST people come to Disney with the intention of making up your own rules, but it happens and when it does, its not fair to those of us who follow the rules. It's like a coupon. Once it's expired, (most of the time) it can't be used. Part of the Disney Magic is that if you explain to a CM what happened during your FP time and they CHOOSE to let you go through anyway, then you get that special privilege, But leave those decisions up to the people who work there, not yourself. Rules aren't there for debate or to make life hard. I guarantee that when people set rules in their homes for their children, the rules are solid and non-negotiable. The same theory applies to the FP "rule"
Sometimes yes you can see them; however, the generalization still stands. May I take your place at something you have scheduled? Not by much mind you. I just want your interrupt your schedule a bit so I am not inconvenienced at all. Your time is nearly not as important as mine.
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree here (and this is probably one of the areas Disney hasn't collected solid data on so we will probably never know! ) All I can speak from in my experience and I can appreciate that yours may be completely different from mine. In the times that I can recall us having a wait in a FP line, what seems to have happened is that there is a group waiting for their window to open and then when the time comes, there's a rush of people (which we do if we are waiting for FP to ripen so we can do the attraction and move on with our day- we'll linger in the area knowing that it won't be convenient to come back later in the return window.) I also can't say that I've ever bothered to take a look at anyone else's FP's so I couldn't tell you if I've noticed people coming outside of the current window when we are going through a FP line. Bbut for me, I've not felt inconvenienced by other guests. Even if I have to wait in a FP line, I'm at WDW and it's not going to make or break it for me.
For as long we've been vacationing at WDW, this has been allowed so I still think that this re-enforcement has less to do with it inconveniencing guests (which I think if they thought it was, they would have re-enforced this long before now) and more to do with "conditioning" guests to prepare for Nextgen FP's. But that's only my humble opinion
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) All I can speak from in my experience and I can appreciate that yours may be completely different from mine. In the times that I can recall us having a wait in a FP line, what seems to have happened is that there is a group waiting for their window to open and then when the time comes, there's a rush of people (which we do if we are waiting for FP to ripen so we can do the attraction and move on with our day- we'll linger in the area knowing that it won't be convenient to come back later in the return window.) I also can't say that I've ever bothered to take a look at anyone else's FP's so I couldn't tell you if I've noticed people coming outside of the current window when we are going through a FP line. Bbut for me, I've not felt inconvenienced by other guests. Even if I have to wait in a FP line, I'm at WDW and it's not going to make or break it for me. 
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