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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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're looking at a Royal Room at Port Orleans Riverside, and we really like the location of those buildings - close to the main building as well as the east bus depot.
But we're interested in the Wilderness Lodge, too -- but because it's so much more expensive we would have to book the standard room (overlooking a parking lot or a dumpster)...
So which is better: the best room at POR or the dumpster/air handling unit view at WL?
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Well we have done both. I love POR but for us we had a room on the 5th floor at WL and it was awesome. I can't remember the room number but each nigh we had a very good view of the high fireworks from our balcony. To me this coupled with the proximity to MK makes WL my choice each time. The one draw back is the CS is small and more limited compared to POR. Good Luck!!
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I've never stayed at POR, but have stayed at WL three times.
The POR Royal rooms look really nice. I can see why you'd like to stay there.
At WL, twice we had Standard room rate, but each time we were upgraded. Once to Woods view and once to Courtyard (a room near a ice machine and caddy-corner to another room so we could practically see in their room from our balcony, so not a primo room). The last time we stayed, we actually paid for a Wood view room.
I like WL because it's all in one building. No having to go outside to get food or shop if it's raining.
I think it's a hard call. I just wanted to point out that even if you reserve a Standard room, you may not be looking at a dumpster or a parking lot.
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Our view was standard and if we looked at the ground it wasn't great. We had a view of a parking lot, dumpster and a smoke house. But as I said the night time view trumped the view of the lot during the day.
How do you get a complimentary upgrade? Ask for it? I would be afraid I would ask for an upgrade, they would say yes, then bill me the higher rate. That's my luck!
I just came back from WL, room 5077. You could hear the goings-on at Whispering Canyon all day and up to 10:00pm. Plus, every night at 9:30 the EWP's music would come blaring through the balcony door. It was the loudest room I've ever been in. But, even with that being said, I'd choose that over POR. POR is so large and spread out that there's a lot of walking to do. What looks on a map like a building close to the lobby is quite deceiving. I loved the boat ride to MK and the beautiful grounds at WL. Plus, Roaring Forks offered a great waffle area that had waffles with real strawberries (not from frozen) and whipped cream. The pool was great, too.
I'm in the same dilemma. I have a royal room booked at POR, but my DH came the other day and said to price out the WL. He's looking forward to being closer to the MK. I'm kind of thinking I'm going to stay with my original thought and stay at POR. I'm really looking forward to the royal room!
How do you get a complimentary upgrade? Ask for it? I would be afraid I would ask for an upgrade, they would say yes, then bill me the higher rate. That's my luck!
If you ask for an upgrade, you should expect to pay for it. Complimentary upgrades are done either because of some booking error (like for instance, they overbooked a room category), or because a CM decides to spread some pixie dust. I've read posts from hotel CMs on DISboards that say that asking for a free upgrade is pretty much a sure-fire way of not getting one.
While I have not actually stayed at Widerness Lodge I did tour a standard view room on my last trip. We were waiting on our ADR for Whispering Canyon and a cm was nice enough to take us up for a tour! I must say I thought the room was very average. I love Riverside, and that's even before the rooms were renovated. I think the resort rooms look fabulous now, all of them, the Royal Rooms and standard rooms in both the mansions and alligator bayou sections. I would stick with Riverside!
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I see you're going Spring Break, so no, I wouldn't count on an upgrade. They usually happen when resort is not busy. We were upgraded in Jan, loads of empty rooms.
POR is my fav modrate, but I'd pick WL. We have stayed there 3x, and love it. The location is great, with boat to MK, or CR & FW, so ADRs in this area are easy.
Love the atmosphere at WL, and the beach, watching EWP, and pool. @ hot tubs which I frequent. POR hot tub is very small.
Personally, if I'm going to spent $30 more on a room, it will be for a deluxe.
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