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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DME leaves to go back to the airport 3 hours before your departure time, giving you plenty of time to check your bags and get through security.
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This was in another post. I thought I read somewhere else that with DME you check your bags at the resort and get checked in for your flight at your resort too, thus allowing you to simply walk to your gate when you get to the airport. Which one is correct?
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That's if you are flying on a participating airline. (From AllEarsNet.com, these include American, Continental, Delta (including Song), JetBlue, Northwest, and United) You can take your luggage to the airline check-in desk in the lobby and take care of it anytime on the day of your departure.
If you are on a non-participating airline, you have to schlepp your bags to the DME bus and collect them again at the airport. Then you have to check-in with the airline.
We also flew United, it worked great. Just check your bags and get your boarding passes in the early morning at your hotel. Hop on to the DME bus and walk to the gate. We had one bag missing, but was dropped off the next day. Even though one bag was delayed, I highly reccomened DME.
And you don't have to be taking DME back to the airport to utilize the resort airline desk check in. On our last two trips we had a rental car and just checked our big bags in the AM, got our boarding passes, then contintued on with our day. All members of your family must check in together with ID to get your bording basses at the resort airline check in desk. At some resorts like COR and OKW, the desk is outside....
Even if you are using one of the participating airlines that does not mean that you are guaranteed resort check in for your bags and airline tickets. They have a disclaimer on the printout that they slip under your door for your DME pickup time. This happened to us last week and I was very upset. We were flying Delta and had no problems on the way down, but were told at the resort that we had to check in at the airport, with DH in the wheelchair, 6 checked bags and 4 carry on bags, it was a bit of a pain to have to lug all that from the bus port into the airport. I was looking forward to this service and the woman at Bell Services told me that alot of people were upset that day because it happened several times. The worse part is that DME check in starts at 5:00 a.m. but Bell services doesn't open until 7:00 a.m., so I went down around 6:00 to check in and when I was told that I had to check in at the airport, I still had to wait until 7:00 to get Bell services to hold me luggage so we could go to the park.
DME check in? or the remote check-in desk? the remote check-in desk operates from 5 am to 1 pm and you are able to check in for your flight 3-12 hours in advance.