2017 WDW Passporter Guide [multiple updates with info on LIVE! Guides!] - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have, but the persons I ran the idea past thought it was a bad idea. They felt it would reflect poorly on PassPorter, because crowdfunding has a bad rap.
Bummer, I get my hands on some awesome stuff through crowdfunding campaigns, and I get to monetarily show my support for projects I believe in.
My company finds it's a great way to bring projects to life that otherwise we would have found too cost-prohibitive, which is why I suggested it. I'm not sure why it would be considered a bad reflection - every venture has its bad apples, but for the most part, I have found that our fans and customers love our Kickstarter campaigns.
Unfortunately, any electronic version will not work for me. My family passes our copies of Passporters around, scribbles notes all over them and we will REALLY miss the pockets. I also used to buy extra copies to give away to friends and clients who would ask me for planning help. I can't really do that with an electronic version. I'll certainly still be recommending Passporter, but I guess I'm back to creating my own planning binders again.
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Heather ~ Peanut's Mommy!
Member of The Mickey Milers
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Bummer, I get my hands on some awesome stuff through crowdfunding campaigns, and I get to monetarily show my support for projects I believe in.
My company finds it's a great way to bring projects to life that otherwise we would have found too cost-prohibitive, which is why I suggested it. I'm not sure why it would be considered a bad reflection - every venture has its bad apples, but for the most part, I have found that our fans and customers love our Kickstarter campaigns.
Since you've all brought it up, I am considering it again. One thing to keep in mind is that even if successful, it's not the path forward for PassPorter, since people were not buying them like they used to and they were no longer paying for the overhead of the actual creation of the books (by that, I mean researching, writing, editing, layout, etc.). But, as I've said, I'd like to be able to offer them as a service to readers who really like them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peanut_mommy
Unfortunately, any electronic version will not work for me. My family passes our copies of Passporters around, scribbles notes all over them and we will REALLY miss the pockets. I also used to buy extra copies to give away to friends and clients who would ask me for planning help. I can't really do that with an electronic version. I'll certainly still be recommending Passporter, but I guess I'm back to creating my own planning binders again.
You know that the LIVE! Guides let family members mark attractions and eateries they are interested in, and then you can compare what people marked in handy charts, right? It's a lot more efficient than a paper book. Your family members can all log in to the same LIVE! Guide and mark it up, at their convenience and not just when they have the one copy of a book. They can put in their own personal notes. You can then print out copies of the marked up version (with all the notes) for them. That's way beyond what a print book could do.
That's just one of many things the LIVE! Guide can do that goes WAY beyond a traditional e-book.
Binders and pockets will be available again in our store soon.
So, everyone, I'd like your feedback on an idea I've been thinking about for a little while now.
What if I gave everyone who bought an All-Access Pass for the LIVE! Guides a free PassPorter binder and a set of PassPockets, and asked them only to pay for shipping and handling (since that's not in the price and it would come out of my pocket)? That way they could print out the pages and worksheets, and have a place to put them? Do you think this would make things easier during this transition period? It would have to be for a limited time, as I only have so many binders, but I have enough to do this I believe. I'd love to know if you think this would be helpful.
I'm not sure about why it would reflect badly - there are lots of great things that have been crowdfunded. And it seems like a win-win - if it makes it, the costs are paid for, and if it doesn't, no one is out serious cash. (though you would be out some time and a small amount, admittedly.)
I really appreciate all the work you've put into the new one, and the thought you've put into attempting to meet what your fans want. The online version just isn't really useful for me personally.
I have contributed to four crowdfunding campaigns. Two took an extra year beyond when they originally targeted to fulfil, but they did fulfil. One fulfilled right away, but they had already had the product made and ready to ship when they started the campaign (the product was version 2 of an already successful product; version 1 had been crowdfunded as well). One never fulfilled; well, they shipped a small number of orders but the rest of us were left out the $ and nothing to show for it. This is where, IMO, crowdfunding gets a bad rap - things take forever to actually deliver, and a certain chunk never deliver at all, leaving funders out the $$.
I am therefore quite wary of crowdfunding campaigns and in the future will be very hesitant to support one unless I have a great deal of trust in a known entity putting it forward. And for me, that known entity will have a lot riding on being successful -- if they don't deliver, I won't be doing ANY business with them again.
I did learn some things with the last one I supported though. This was the version 2 product. They initially started on Kickstarter, but it became clear they were not going to meet their goal there. They then opened an Indiegogo campaign, which they explained was more flexible in that they could ship without meeting the stated goal -- since they actually already had the product on hand and ready to ship they were good with that. And they did ship on time.
I exchanged some emails with the head of the company about their campaign to make sure I was supporting the correct one as I really wanted the product (I had been looking at getting version 1 for some time and was very happy to see the improved version 2).
Certainly some campaigns succeed well on their own without third party help.
But from them I learned that there is this whole, well, "seedy" underside to many crowdfunding campaigns. For many campaigns, the only way they are able to garner enough support is through paying high fees (I was told $3500 non-refundable flat fee plus 35% of what is made through the campaign; which media articles on the topic I then found supported as being the norm) to third party marketing companies that will promote the campaign (and presumably do other things? not sure what else) so it gets enough visibility so enough people support it.... Those kinds of fees make it just not feasible for a lot of companies to even contemplate crowdfunding unless they already have a large enough customer base of their own. I found it distrubing, to be honest, and makes one look at crowdfunding in a whole new light. The campaign I supported was unwilling to pay those kinds of fees, which is part of why their kickstarter did not success and they did the indiegogo -- they had not known about the "underside" either until they had already started the campaign, as it hadn't really existed when they did their first campaign some time ago.
Anyhow. Whether one goes it alone or hires a third party for help, there IS a direct cost whether one makes goal or not. And then there are the additional costs of getting, in this case the books, to a state where they can be paper published.
If we use the example of the DCL Passporter as an example: there are 573 numbered pages in the Guide, but the PDF is 753 pages long, so about 180 of the numbered pages run into a second PDF page -- for a paper book those pages would have to be cleaned up/adjusted so they are just on one page: in some cases perhaps not too hard as it is only a single line, but in others it will be a chunk of work. And all of that time adds up regardless to a fair amount of upfront work. And that is before one even gets to the actual cost of printing the book and shipping it.
I did some quick searching online and a 580 page, soft cover, colour pages, 5.5 x 8.5 size, print on demand, minimum order 100 books, seems to be around +/- $60-$65 per book *just for the book* (there are volume discounts for larger #, but we're talking only 10-20% max; black not colour drops the cost to about $20 per book, but not sure if that allows greyscale or is pure black and white). There then would be shipping to the customer. And that does not recoup any of the costs of bringing the Live Guide to a printing ready state. While the end costs may be lowered due to choice of printer, volume, etc, there is only so low it will be able to go. I think the sticker shock will have an influence too. Would (enough) people pay that much for a paper Guide ?
Would (enough) people pay that much for a paper Guide ?
Nope. I've been doing this long enough to know that it would cause even bigger issues than we have right now. And those print on demand books aren't anywhere near as nice as we've had, so folks would be upset at paying more for an inferior product.
I think the better idea is to get more people onboard the LIVE! Guide system and make enough extra funds there to finance smaller print runs. Which means I need everyone's support in this -- passes are inexpensive. Even if all you're doing is browsing it once in a while to see all the updated information, you're not paying much. $14.95 for access to a guide is virtually nothing when you consider how much we all pay to go on a Disney trip.
You could consider it continued support of a valued brand even if you don't really like the idea of a digital book. Tell your friends and family about it. Help us get the word out.
So, I know nothing about the printing business but,I keep wondering to myself, is there a way you could have a deal with an online printing company to make it easier for people to get a barebones copy of their personalized guide (black and white on copy paper to put into their own binder) while not leaving you with any printing responsibilities, financial or otherwise. This would not be a discount (unless you could negotiate one just a link to the other company on your website. I know it would have to be clearly understood that 1.this would be a very basic copy and 2. The customer would be dealing with the printing company directly (that includes financially).
Maybe this would still be so cost prohibitive that no one would want to do it but the option would be there (printer ink can be soo expensive). I also don't know if you would feel that you were too connected to another company that you would have no control over their behavior.
I have to say upfront I will probably be keeping my guidebook on my tablet and or phone and just printing out the interactive worksheets and notes to put into my binder with my passpockets( which are indispensable to me). So, this idea would not really affect me. I was just thinking of the people who feel they really need a full printed version and don't want to do all the printing themselves..
I think the better idea is to get more people onboard the LIVE! Guide system and make enough extra funds there to finance smaller print runs. Which means I need everyone's support in this -- passes are inexpensive. Even if all you're doing is browsing it once in a while to see all the updated information, you're not paying much. $14.95 for access to a guide is virtually nothing when you consider how much we all pay to go on a Disney trip.
You could consider it continued support of a valued brand even if you don't really like the idea of a digital book. Tell your friends and family about it. Help us get the word out.
This is why we do the annual pass to your site (now the all access annual pass to the live guides) and why whenever anyone asks about planning a disney trip we refer them to the Passport site (and guidebooks, especially the electronic versions since the paper books are challenging to find around here).
So, I know nothing about the printing business but,I keep wondering to myself, is there a way you could have a deal with an online printing company to make it easier for people to get a barebones copy of their personalized guide (black and white on copy paper to put into their own binder) while not leaving you with any printing responsibilities, financial or otherwise. This would not be a discount (unless you could negotiate one just a link to the other company on your website. I know it would have to be clearly understood that 1.this would be a very basic copy and 2. The customer would be dealing with the printing company directly (that includes financially).
Maybe this would still be so cost prohibitive that no one would want to do it but the option would be there (printer ink can be soo expensive). I also don't know if you would feel that you were too connected to another company that you would have no control over their behavior.
I have to say upfront I will probably be keeping my guidebook on my tablet and or phone and just printing out the interactive worksheets and notes to put into my binder with my passpockets( which are indispensable to me). So, this idea would not really affect me. I was just thinking of the people who feel they really need a full printed version and don't want to do all the printing themselves..
This is similar to would like to do, and would be my ideal situation, but I cannot find anyone to do this. Printers liked to print in bulk, not one copy at a time.
It used to be that lulu.com would print just one copy of a PDF, but it looks like they won't do that anymore. Local copy shops like Staples or OfficeMax will, however. I continue to look for a company that can do this for us. If anyone comes across something that looks promising, please let me know.
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This is why we do the annual pass to your site (now the all access annual pass to the live guides) and why whenever anyone asks about planning a disney trip we refer them to the Passport site (and guidebooks, especially the electronic versions since the paper books are challenging to find around here).
Hope I don't ruffle feathers, but I'm gonna detract and give a cheer for the PassPorter going full-on digital. I certainly understand all the concerns here, and sympathize with the previous posters. But I think it's going to work out just fine!
I started using PP for our first trip in 2011 (WookiePants and I were already old...), and it was awesome, mostly because it was so easy to use and had so much great info in it. My only complaint was that it was too bulky - even with just the pockets - for me to schlep in the parks.
This new format is going to allow me to carry all that amazing info in a compact space and refer to it on the fly. It will also give me and WookiePants something to read while we're waiting in line! <<giggle>>
I'm not a young chicken anymore, but when I made the transition from hardcover books to e-books, there was a learning curve. Ultimately I learned how to best use this tech to my advantage and now rarely, and only if I have to, do I get hardcover anything. I'm looking forward to this change and will be one of the first to grab this gem when it's published.
I've already scheduled a time with WookiePants to look at the new PassPorter when it is released. I'm gonna put it on my laptop, connect my laptop to my big screen TV with an HDMI cable, and display all that goodness for our old eyes to appreciate.
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just a link to the other company on your website. I know it would have to be clearly understood that 1.this would be a very basic copy and 2. The customer would be dealing with the printing company directly (that includes financially).
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