Confessions of a WDW Addict (Pre-Trip Report) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Having the parks scheduled, made it a lot easier for me to begin looking at ADRs. I had lots of ideas and spent some time visiting with my wife about the options. She is really good about just letting me do what I want. It is not that she does not care, but she knows we will have a great time regardless. She trusts me, I guess!
I had a lot of ideas floating around in my head, and honestly wanted to do the DDP for the trip, but the cost was just too much. It would have been a real splurge and we decided not to. We even decided not to do the RDP because I think we will not spend even that amount each day out of pocket. That breakeven point seemed to be about $120 for two adults. Over that and the RDP would be worth it, but we discussed it, even looked over menus and the numbers did not add up. So we will be paying OOP for our meals.
I was hesitant at first, but I think this will be okay. This way we can even do some meal sharing to save a little money here and there. Every little penny counts, right?
When we started looking at menu, we decided to try some meal sharing. This is not something we do often and will be interesting to see if we follow trough. But by sharing a meal, even a few times throughout the trip, will save a lot.
Here are some of the thoughts we had: Splitting a chicken & rib plate at Flame Tree for lunch, maybe sharing a burger or chicken sandwich at Cosmic Rays (fixins bar), maybe even sharing at some of the sit downs like California Grill and LaChef DeFrance. I would not have even considered this until reading this in another trip report.
I really want to try to get a CG reservation for Wishes, but the food is so foreign to us and the prices VERY high. I have to be honest, I want to go for the experience, not the food. I know people say the food at CG is sooooo good, but we are simple eaters and neither of us recognizes anything on the menu except steak, and I would never pay that much for a meal. So we thought about just getting a couple apps and sharing a desert.
At La Chef DeFrance, we are thinking about doing something similar. Thought we might share one of the pre-arranged 3-course meals, and add an extra app. I want to try the snails, just so I can say I did it.
It will be interesting to see if this works out. I am interested in hearing from others how have done this. Do they look at you funny when you say you are sharing a sit-down meal?
Stay Tuned . . .What will my priority ADRs be?
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We have shared meals many times - especially my daughter and I - or we order 2 entrees for all 3 of us. We find that this works well for us.....it saves money, we can also enjoy apps and/or dessert without going overboard......and it leaves room for more snacking!
It will be especially easy with the counter service places
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I used to share meals with my DD Stefanie, and even now Luke and I will share some portion of our meals whether it is the appetizer, entree, or dessert. No server has ever looked at us funny as I think it happens quite a bit.
Tell me about the very expensive DDP. I ran the numbers, did a spreadsheet and decided against it. For our family of 5 it was way too much money. Plus, the way some of us eat, we're better off paying OOP.
We have shared meals many times - especially my daughter and I - or we order 2 entrees for all 3 of us. We find that this works well for us.....it saves money, we can also enjoy apps and/or dessert without going overboard......and it leaves room for more snacking!
It will be especially easy with the counter service places
I love the "leaving room for more snacking"
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I used to share meals with my DD Stefanie, and even now Luke and I will share some portion of our meals whether it is the appetizer, entree, or dessert. No server has ever looked at us funny as I think it happens quite a bit.
THe thing I worry about is will the waiter feel he being slighted out of the tip he would have received if a table ordered two meals. I guess I should just not concern my self with that and do what works best for us, right?
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Tell me about the very expensive DDP. I ran the numbers, did a spreadsheet and decided against it. For our family of 5 it was way too much money. Plus, the way some of us eat, we're better off paying OOP.
I could not believe how much the DDP was going to cost. Plus I felt like we would have to do a 1 table servinf credit lunch & signature every night. Would feel quilty about doing counter service with the credit. And by Joe, there are some good counter service I want to try.
I think we made the best decision for us.
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