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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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OK, I have a reservation with Dollar for a midsized SUV for our December trip and it came to $344.89(all inclusive). So I just checked on the same type of vehicle through Hotwire and found a great deal for $277.38!!!- but of course, you don't know the company until after you book.
My question now is this: should I go with the Hotwire price (it says that I pick up the car at MCO but I really need to make sure that its an "in terminal" location? Should I try bidding even lower on Priceline? Just when I thought I had everything settled, I find all of this, but saving that much money would be terrific, if I can do it!
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"Remember the magic!"
Many trips to the parks around the world!
Next trip to WDW and Universal will be 1/16, but I'm trying to sneak in one trip to Disneyland before then!
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Call Dollar and ask if they can match it. Have you made a deposit, and if so, can you get a full refund?
Every vehicle I've ever rented at MCO was "in terminal" - the desks are on the bottom floor, you get your paper work taken care of, then you walk across to the parking garage (expect a decent walk, though) and get your vehicle.
IS the difference in price including everything? Other drivers, etc. covered on both? I did one of those priceline or something like it website car rentals once and found out something: it looked good at first, but when you added in the extra fee for another driver, it came out to about the same I would have paid going through the car rental company. Still worked out, and I wasn't out more money than I would have been, it just wasn't as good a deal as I thought it might be.
Also - did you check with your insurance agent and your credit card company to determine if they cover damage to the car? I forgot to once, couldn't remember if they did (we had just changed insurances) and had to buy the insurance.
Good luck with your decision.
Not sure what to tell you except that we have used Hotwire several times and have had great luck! Everytime we have gotten Alamo as the rental company. The only thing is once you go with them, you pay in advance and there is no refunds. Good luck, and I like the idea of calling Dollar to see if they will match it!
I used Priceline but I didn't do the thing where you bid a low price and have to pay in advance. I just searched the available prices and found Advantage rental car had a mid-size car for around $14 a day PLUS taxes and fees. It came out to a few dollars over $200.
Not sure what the SUV would have cost. But you can get a Priceline car and not have to pay in advance so that if you find a better deal you can cancel the one and rebook with another.
But the Priceline deal was the best price I found.
All of the airport car rental companies are in terminal. They are in the A terminal lower level.
If you use Advantage they will be the very first rental counter you come to when you get down to the rental car level. They will not push the insurance if you just tell them your own car insurance or your credit card covers rentals. Both of ours covered rentals.
They did offer to upgrade us to a full size car for $5 a day more. We took it. We also paid to have them refill the gas tank because they offered gas at $3.29 a gallon.
But they were about half the price of all the other name brand rentals I found even using coupon codes.
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10/27-11/6/11 All Star Music Family Suite (QSDP) --Family trip
1/26-2/1/12 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista --Adults Only trip
4/16-4/21/12 Rosen Inn --Adults Only Trip
10/27-11/4/12 All Star Music Family Suite (DDP) --Family Trip
4/14-4/19/13 Quality Suites Lake Buena Vista- Adults Only Trip
11/10-11/17/13 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Adults Only Trip
11/2015 Wyndham Bonnet Creek- Family trip
Thanks for the advice! I did call Dollar and they wouldn't meet the price, so I called Hotwire to double check that everything was included (comparing apples to apples) and saved $67.51!! The company was Alamo and I'm actually glad that it's all paid for
__________________
"Remember the magic!"
Many trips to the parks around the world!
Next trip to WDW and Universal will be 1/16, but I'm trying to sneak in one trip to Disneyland before then!