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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are experiencing an extended stay at a hotel during our corporate relocation. Ok much more extended than we had anticipated. We actually stayed at this chain in a different state the last time we relocated for six months and they CLEANED the bathrooms-tubs, sinks, everyday. However, in the room where we are now, the baseboards behind the toilet are covered with slime, the tub isn't being scrubbed, just generally wiped down for obvious stuff, they haven't dusted the tv tables. Now we wanted a two bedroom, but the relocation company said, 'oh we didn't know you would need one' and there isn't one for 50 miles around for the rest of the summer, so three adults are in a one bedroom. I do admit, since it is tight, it does not stay very picked-up looking. And we do have a yappy little dog who is in the cage sometimes when they clean. I take him out of the room for several hours everyday, but they RARELY even attempt to clean before 4:30, just when we are getting back and winding down. I asked about this. I thought maybe we had said to come back later on our first day or something and got on some kind of list or something because I see all the rooms around us being cleaned around 9 and ten AM, and I take the dog out for a long explore. I was told the housekeeping person would call me but nothing ever happened. Now I am (paying) taking him to doggy daycare so I he can be out of the room when they clean. When we VERY first got here I mentioned that the 'return vent on the HVAC closet was visibly dusty and slimy.' I was corrected that those were only louvers and the return vents are elsewhere and something about it not being an HVAC closet, but told that I was right and it should be dusted. Also the sprinkler head right over the bed is COVERED with dust. I am afraid I will be sleeping with my mouth open when it all decides to drop. So anyway nothing ever happened with that-it was several weeks ago.
My husband saw a thing on TV where the housekeeping did mean things to people's toothbrushes because they didn't leave a tip. We are leaving the same tip we left at the other state, but not really getting much help. After he said that I did go buy a locking file box. I carried it in from the car in the box and didn't think it was THAT heavy, but it is hard to carry any distance out of the cardboard box-slippery little thing, and heavy.
I finally broke down and cleaned the tub myself due to severe skin irritation. I also cleaned the louvers, and the TV tables and the sink-the lip of the faucet was actually GREEN, and the baseboards behind the toilets, but I am afraid to go after the sprinkler head.
I don't want to gripe too much, just for my own sake because it isn't costing US anything, but it is costing the company something and I feel like somebody isn't getting the money's worth. But I keep hearing the people at the reception desk telling everyone that all the hotels in town are completely sold out for the rest of the summer, so I guess they just don't have to try hard.
Oh, and just to show how picky I am-what do y'all think about putting glasses in the cupboard upside down. I never do that. I don't clean the bottom of the shelf often, and definitely here the outside of the cabinets are sticky and nasty and light switches and....oh I digress.
Who likes putting down glasses upside down? I have heard it's so bugs don't get in your glass? If I took out a clean glass and there was a bug in it I would just wash it, but at least I would know that a bug had been in it. I am thinking something may be crawling across those cabinets shelves and now the lip of the glass from which I am drinking has all those germs.
I just don't like the way we are tipping housekeeping. At a restaurant we tip at the END of the meal if the service was good. We tip very well if the service was great. When we tip housekeeping we tip HOPING they will do a good job that day. It's sad.
Anyway, so is the plan for these extended stay places to just not do a deep cleaning until they are between guests? If so it wasn't done before we checked into this room. We had been in a couple other rooms in this same hotel and checked out and went to another town to stay with family. Those rooms were quite adequate, clean, I never noticed a problem, and these are things I would notice.
'I know I ask perfection of a quite imperfect world, and fool enough to think that's what I'll find.' NEVER saw a room this nasty at Disney....or even in Orlando for that matter. Competition brings up the level of everything, who knows, maybe this is the cleanest place in town?
I would contact your relocation company and explain the unacceptable condition of the hotel. A one bedroom is not acceptable for three adults. Also explain that the condition of the hotel is causing health issues. Personally, I would not be tipping housekeeping for a room in such horrible shape.
I second contacting your relocation company. And stop tipping. Really, I don't tip housekeepers much at all. If we've left an exceptionally messy room, or if the same housekeeper is there often, I tip. Otherwise, no, I don't.
I'd also go to the manager of the hotel and speak to him/her. And check on-line for available spots, even rental homes. Just because the front desk says there are no rooms available doesn't mean there aren't. I am currently sitting in our 2 bedroom timeshare. I booked a 1 bedroom for the 4 of us (staying a week), and that was all that was listed as available when I booked it. When we arrived, DH asked about upgrading to a 2 bedroom (the girls weren't happy about sharing a sleeper sofa). He was told no, there were no 2 bedrooms available. That night, we turned on the window air conditioners and they sounded like jet engines preparing for take-off. The next morning, we told the front desk and they said they'd fix them. Came back after a day of touring to find the air conditioners not fixed. Went to the front desk and asked what they had decided about the noise - and they handed us the keys to a 2 bedroom/2 bath room!! Yep, it was available. Long story to say: Don't take one person's word for it. Research. And threaten.
Tell the management you're contacting the relocation company about the dirtiness of the room, and mention that you've requested it be taken care of AND that you've done your own cleaning because of HEALTH issues. YELP is a powerful tool, too!
I understand why they would clean your room last - they don't have to have it ready for those checking in.
And - I store my glasses "upside down". Always have. The thought of storing them 'right side up' gives me the willies!