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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Try Avis... I have a rental for about 18 hrs.. overnight rental and a midsize SUV and its costing about 65 dollars. If you were willing to go to compact and if it is only for a few hours it should be less.
Car Rental TIP:
We rented an economy vehicle (for two adults and one 5 year old). We were told to just take the vehicle from underneath the economy sign...key's already in the ignition. We carefully chose a car from directly beneath the 'ECONOMY" sign.
On returning the car we were informed we had actually chosen an upgraded vehicle and were charged an extra $250+ (can't remember how much exactly).
From then on we have got the car rental company employees to take us to the economy vehicle, rather than just orally directing.
I'm sure this was a one off...but just thought I'd mention
Have a great trip!!!!!!
Hi....
We will be renting a car for the first couple of days in Orlando becuse we are doing to Universal first then heading to Disney.
I was thinking that I wanted to rent the car at the airport then return to an onsite place at disney (which is what we did a couple of years ago). My question is: Sinc we will be staying at the Beach Club should we return it to the car care center or should we do the return at the Dolphin? I know that Alamo and National both have a return sight at the Dolphin hotel, but would they take us to the Beach Club like I know that the car care center would. I was just thinking that the Dolphin would be closer...
Hi....
We will be renting a car for the first couple of days in Orlando becuse we are doing to Universal first then heading to Disney.
I was thinking that I wanted to rent the car at the airport then return to an onsite place at disney (which is what we did a couple of years ago). My question is: Sinc we will be staying at the Beach Club should we return it to the car care center or should we do the return at the Dolphin? I know that Alamo and National both have a return sight at the Dolphin hotel, but would they take us to the Beach Club like I know that the car care center would. I was just thinking that the Dolphin would be closer...
TIA
I would price out the different locations and see if there is a big difference in cost. Yes the Dolphin may be closer but sometimes the price can be significantly
higher. THe Car Care Center is very easy to get from. You would have to walk back to the Beach Club from the Dolphin which is really not that far.
I am pricing a rental car for our upcoming trip. The price increase from two years ago is crazy! It is more than double for the same car and same company, I tried every code I could find and it is still skyhigh! Why? We are supplying the gas, sofas prices are not the reason...I will make the reservation and hope it goes down closer to our dates, it did last time.
where is the avis drop off location near disney? We live in a smaller town and Avis is our only rental choice. I am thinking about renting to drive down and then fly back home.
where is the avis drop off location near disney? We live in a smaller town and Avis is our only rental choice. I am thinking about renting to drive down and then fly back home.
Thanks
The Hilton in the Downtown Disney area has an Avis rental desk. The code for that location is LB3.
After returning the car at this location, you can either walk to Downtown Disney and take a bus back to your resort, or you can take a cab.
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Is there a Hertz return near WDW? And how would we get from where ever that is back to the parks? Thanks!
Yes there is a Hertz on WDW property:
Shades of Green Hertz. The location of the Hertz at SoG is:
1950 Magnolia Palm
Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States
Hours of Operation: 0800-1700 7 Days
You can either walk over to the Poly from the Shades of Green, or you can take a cab. The walk will probably take 10-15 mintues.
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1. If renting at airport and returning at a location in Lake Buena Vista, I would ask (many times) the people renting you the car to verify that there will NOT be a "drop charge," which is customarily charged if you return the car to a different location than where you rented it. (I got hit with one of these once when I rented a car at Dulles Airport and returned it to the agency's office at Union station in DC.)
2. The best comparison website I've found for rental cars is breezenet, www.bnm.com. You can put in your dates, and they'll display for you what each company will charge, both as a daily rate and the net total including all the add-ons. Very useful for comparison purposes between car sizes, agencies, etc.
Hope this helps! By the way, I've rented from thrifty on the previous trips, and had an excellent experience with them even though they're off-airport. In fact, I left my sunglasses in the car when returning and one of their employees found them and tracked me down at the airport to return them to me. Very good service.
Regards,
Joe
This is a good point. To add my own positive experience, I had rented weekly from Enterprise at one of the hotels there by Downtown Disney. It was a beautiful walk to the hotel along a sidewalk from Downtown Disney. There was an emergency at home and I had to return the car to the airport 1/2 way through the rental. They were very fair with the charges-I can't remember what they did, it may have been combine it all-I had to leave for a few days and go back to Orlando to rent a car again. But I remember them being very understanding when I surprised them and said I was turning in a rental the morning I arrived for my flight. They came up with a good solution right away without having to go talk to management or anything and got me on my way quickly. Thanks Enterprise!
We're considering renting our next trip, as we're flying in. Our last trip we stayed off property and loved driving on our own vs. buses, so we want to get a car. What's a good choice? We are thinking about renting from the airport and just returning it there when we fly home. Thanks for any help!
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1st trip ever!- ASMO- Sept. 2001, 2nd trip- ASMO Aug. 03, 3rd trip- ASMO & CBR June 05
Birthday trip without our dd's!- POR- July 2005
4th family trip- POR-Aug. 2007!!
we rent a car nearly every trip. Start looking when you are ready, you can always cancel and rebook with no charge (usually). I have found great rates and not so great rates, depends on the time of year (I think). You mostly find coupons that include a sat night stay. we try to pick places that include both spouses for no extra fee such as avis, budget and alamo.
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