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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Hi! We're going down in a large group for the first time. There will be 10 of us for most meals!!!
In your experience, will we have trouble getting reservations with such a large crowd? Will I be better off splitting up our party? Thanks for your wisdom!
If you want to eat at "peak" times and at popular restaurants, you may have trouble. Definitely call on your 180-day mark and tell the Cast Member that you're willing to be flexible with your seating if they can find one that will seat your whole party.
They will give you the standard "the restaurant does not guarantee that your party will be seated together...." bit. My advice for that is to arrive at the restaurant about 15 minutes before your ADR time and tell the hostess that you're *willing to wait* if they can arrange for your party to sit together. If you're polite and give them time, they will probably be able to open up two tables and pull them together to seat your party.
1) Determine the best times to shoot for when booking each meal (i.e. some folks like dinner at 5pm, others like it at 8pm, so you might agree on splitting the dif and trying for ADRs between 6:30 and 7:30).
2) Determine which parks you will be in on which days.
3) Determine which meals you all want to experience as a group. Some might want dinner at 'Ohana (who wouldn't ), some might want breakfast at 'Ohana, some might want dinner at Crystal Palace, others might be drooling over dinner at Jiko or lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In. Figure out which meals you want as a group. Also, get some ideas for "backups" or secondary preferences in case you can't get all the ADRs you want (i.e. you can't get an ADR at 'Ohana, but you might be able to get into Kona Cafe that day instead). It's easiest if you can get all of the decision-makers in the family together as a group for this process; treat it like a pre-trip party. Hook a laptop up to your TV and show the group the menus from various restaurants so they can make up their minds.
4) Once you know which meals you want, and which days you will be physically close to those restaurants, and the times of day you want to eat, plot it out in a spreadsheet or on a calendar, and it will all fall together like a puzzle.
5) Go to PS Calculator 10.0 to determine when you can call to book each ADR.
6) On the appropriate day, 180 days from your arrival, call Disney Dining to make yourADRs. Have your schedule all ready and fleshed out. (NOTE: If you are staying at a WDW resort, you can call 180 days from the first day of your trip and make ADRs for up to 10 days at a time, no calling back day after day for a week to make a weeks worth of ADRs)
Bon apetite!
Edited to add: Eileen's advice about arriving early for your ADRs is spot-on. But I recommend at least 20 minutes for a party of 10 people. ANd make sure your entire party is there when you check in; they won't seat you unless everybody is there; don't split up for potty breaks till you're checked in and the hostess gives you a rough idea of how long it will be till you're seated.
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Don't groups of 10 or more qualify as grand gatherings? Do they get special booking privileges?
As I recall, every time I call for ressies I get asked whether my party consisted of "X or more" guests -- we never are, so I don't remember the thresshold number or know what happens if you say yes.
They get special event meals that only GG's can book. They also get some added perqs (like getting rooms located close together, etc.)
But GGs don't have to book through what used to be the large groups dining line. The "regular" dining line can book for groups up to (I think) 20 guests.
Last trip we were a party of 10 and had no problems. When we made reservations they told us we could be split up. That only happened once and that was at Planet Hollywood. We chose to be split to get to a table sooner. We were still close together.
Thanks for the great advice! We're going the first week of December (3-11th). We have our restaurants pretty much planned out, but I wasn't sure how many backup restaurants I needed.
Additionally, what if someone in my party decides not to come? Are our ADRs ruined?
Additionally, what if someone in my party decides not to come? Are our ADRs ruined?
No. If it's just a couple of folks, you can probably even wait until you check in to let them know. Then if your table for 10 is really a bunch of small tables pushed together, they can pull one back out and seat a smaller party earlier or as a walk up.
We had a group of 11 last year and were only at seperate tables once at LTT but the tables were right next to each other. It seemed to me that we were mostly offered earlier dining times. Definitely order your requests in importance to you and popularity. For example HDDR @ 180 days out 6am we had to choose a different time than we wanted because they couldn't seat us together.
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), some might want breakfast at 'Ohana, some might want dinner at Crystal Palace, others might be drooling over dinner at Jiko or lunch at Sci-Fi Dine In. Figure out which meals you want as a group. Also, get some ideas for "backups" or secondary preferences in case you can't get all the ADRs you want (i.e. you can't get an ADR at 'Ohana, but you might be able to get into Kona Cafe that day instead). It's easiest if you can get all of the decision-makers in the family together as a group for this process; treat it like a pre-trip party. Hook a laptop up to your TV and show the group the menus from various restaurants so they can make up their minds.
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