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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 need someone to tell me we don't have to worry about anything.
I went on line to see that our flights both going to WDW and coming back are full! So I'm getting a little concerned about seating. I can't imagine my DS10 sitting between two strangers on the airplane and surviving the trip without someone strangling him. So I called SWA and they basically told me to check in online and hope for a low boarding number. Otherwise, there was nothing else they could do for us. Is it really that unreasonable to ask that they find a way to seat us next to each other?
Does anyone know how many rows are typically in a SWA plane? Assuming that everyone will want an aisle or a window seat, leaving the center seats open for the last people on the plane, I'd like to figure out how low my seating number has to be.
From what I have heard they seat families together. I am not a big fan of SW but with airfare so cheap I'm willing to deal with it. If you check in online 24 hours before you get a boarding letter and number. You can even check in from your cell phone if you have internet. Good luck and don't worry. I am sure you will be fine.
Joanne, where are you flying out of? I see by your countdown that you will be leaving a few days after us. We have full flights too. I used on line check in this am and got an "A" boarding designation. This is what I did....I went to the Southwest site about 15mins before my 24 hour window and I clicked on "check in for flight", filled in all of my info and then watched my computer clock. As soon as the clock showed I was 24hrs from my flight time, I clicked the "go" button.
But really, don't worry.....I'm sure things will work out fine.
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honeslty, dont worry, make sure you log on SW site and get your boarding pass exactly at the 24 hr mark, if your flight say, leaves at 7:48 am, log on at exaclty at 7:30am, and keep hitting refresh, you will be able to 'check in' 24 hrs ahead of time and print your boarding pass. even if you dont print you can still log in and get your BP at the 24 hr pd. , and they do let families board first.
even if you end up with B passes.
I think as long as you check in right at the 24 hour mark you'll be fine. We flew SWA for the first time in Dec. and I had the same concerns as you. We checked in exactly at 24 hours and got the low A20s. We had our pick of seats--could've even had the bulkhead if my parents didn't insist we move back. Coming home we checked in via Blackberry and there was a little delay on the connection but we still got the end of the A group. Again, tons of seats to pick from -- even as the B group was boarding there were still plenty of rows of 3 together.
I fly SWA often. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you check in exactly 24 hrs before your flight. Get the site up, and your information typed in, and be ready to hit the enter button. If you have more than one person in your party, open up multiple windows of the internet and get them set with the info typed in for each person. Keep trying on one until it checks you in, then check in on the other window, then the other, etc... until your whole party is checked in. Then you can go back and print your boarding passes. You should be within a few numbers of each other. If you can't print your boarding passes at that time, you can print them at the kiosks at the aiport. I would write down your line position for each person just in case. (A24, B3, etc..) I've found that as long as I'm in the B's or upper C's, I've never had a problem with getting a seat. But I prefer to sit at the back of the plane, so that does not upset me. I usually check luggage, so I'm not in a rush to get off the plane. For the trip home, I have my husband or friend check me in, and I get a boarding pass at the airport.
From LAX to Vegas, they do not board children first anymore. They board them after the A group. Not sure if this is true from other locations. (I would think the policies would be the same everywhere??)
Don't worry if you have a high A number if you check in right at the 24hr mark, they save A1 - about A20 for "premium" flyers.
DH, DS and I have flown on SW many times, and have never had a problem being seated together. Checking in as close to that 24-hour mark as possible is the best way of making sure that happens, though!
Have a magical trip!
- Laurie
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Laurie (aka LeapDayBaby) having a blast with Mickey and Goofy at Epcot, August 2006
Seven trips to WDW (1975, 1982, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014)! Next trip: Soon, I hope! I've been jingled! Thanks Sandy!
That is the reason I will never use SW again. On our first flight with them (we had always used Delta but got cheaper fares with SW) we were not seated together at all The kids were only 3 and 4 and it was very upsetting to all of us. I'll pay higher fares to be able to get the seats I want now.
I would also check-in at your 24hr. mark. If for some reason you have a problem
explaining your concern to the flight attendants should do the trick and they will
help you out. Sometimes it's just a matter of asking someone to trade seats with
you. Don't worry to much about it. We've flown tons on SW and while with kids
they were able to help us out. When it was just DH and I we might've had to sit
seperately once in awhile.
We love SWA, and have never had a bad experience. If you get A or B boarding you should be fine (Check in 24 hours exactly before your flight...on return flight, get guest services to do it for you, either in the hotel or park). They used to seat families with young children (age 4 and under) 1st, but now they go at the 1st of B Boarding. It looks like your son is older than that, so it will be important to check in online promptly. You can go to SWA's Boarding School tutorial online and get more comfy with the boarding technique. Good luck, don't worry and enjoy your trip!
Southwest sounds like a great airline. But I like to know exactly where I am sitting. My wife and I like to sit next to each other on airplanes. We fly Jetblue.
Check in 24 hours in advance and don't worry about it. The flight attendants will help get you seated together and most of the passengers will be willing to switch out seats to help families. Only rows you wouldn't be able to sit on are the emergency exit aisles.
We always make sure to check in on line exactly 24 hours ahead of time. We usually get a number around 20 - 30 and have had no trouble getting three seats altogether. We actually had more trouble before they offered on-line check in, so that has helped.
I agree with the other posts, if you check in 24 hrs before and get at least an
A or B boarding group you really will have no problem getting a seat with your son. I have flown SW many many times because they are the only airline that has direct flights to Tampa and Orlando from Birmingham. I have never had a problem getting my family to sit together. And "if" for some reason you get a boarding pass that is a C or something, I am sure someone would be willing to switch around for you. You can usually find someone nice on a flight. Also, regarding your return trip, if you go to the concierge at your resort 24 hrs before your return home flight, they will help you check in and let you print your boarding passes there. It's worked well for us before! Good luck!
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Is it really that unreasonable to ask that they find a way to seat us next to each other?
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. Coming home we checked in via Blackberry and there was a little delay on the connection but we still got the end of the A group. Again, tons of seats to pick from -- even as the B group was boarding there were still plenty of rows of 3 together.
TOT hiding in Morocco
I've been jingled! Thanks Sandy!
The kids were only 3 and 4 and it was very upsetting to all of us. I'll pay higher fares to be able to get the seats I want now.
Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
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