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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 will be arriving at Disney around 3 p.m. We are on the DDP. My question is should we get something at the resort to eat or try to get an ADR at a ts place. We would like to spend some time at one of the parks, Even though we are on the DDP I am thinking about paying OOP for that first meal so we can use the credits later in the trip. Thanks for any recommendations you may have for me. I will give any suggestions you have for me some thought.
Well you don't mention the resort where you're staying. If you're at a deluxe resort and want to eat at one of their restaurants then I'd make an ADR for 4 or so.
When I travel and get there at 3 or so, I'm starved after flying all day. And it's better for me to eat right away because i forget to eat when I'm at the parks.
When DH and I get there around 11 or noon, we eat a light lunch and then have a nice TS dinner but we also don't do a park the first day.
So I'd only do a TS at your resort if you're also doing a park on your first night. Otherwise, I'd grab CS and go.
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Normally, the routine is California Grill for our first dinner. Watching Wishes over the castle is magical, and my favorite way to start my vacation. This year though, we're having dinner at our hotel and then doing a wishes cruise, so we'll still get the fireworks and castle. It's just something that makes me feel like I'm really there.
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We usually eat a table service on the night we arrive either at the resort or most of the time at Epcot. We don't plan any rides or anything. We just go over to eat and maybe watch Illuminations. It is a slow way to start the trip without hitting it too hard after traveling.
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I think if you plan on going to a park on your arrival day, you might consider a CS meal at that park. You'll save some time and money and you'll satisfy the need to "get going".
I'd say it depends when you arrive. If we get there earlier in the day we usually do Magic Kingdom and a TS meal. This year since we're arriving a little later (Plan arrives a little before 4 I believe) we're just hitting DTD and having a later dinner at Raglan Road to get some of the shopping out of the way that I know is going to happen anyway
But if you want to save that TS credit and pay OOP anyway, go ahead and just do a CS meal either at your resort or whatever park you're planning to go to. They're good choices
Last year for our trip we originally booked our dinner for the first night at the resort we were staying at. We made it for an early dinner because we knew we would be there earlier in the day, do some looking around, and stuff like that and then probably head to a park after dinner.
We ended up switching that meal for another night because we called back to get the Fantasmic dinner package and our first night was the only night we could get an ADR for the package.
We usually just eat at our resort (Music), but last year we got an ADR for Boma (great food and atmosphere though a bit noisy). Two years ago we grabbed a CS at our resort dinner, then went to Epcot for a CS dessert and Illuminations. But we often just like to hang out and not stress about having to be somewhere our first night.