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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 everyone! My two lil men and I are going to the world this May. We have saved $400.00 in Disney gift cards. I really don't want to be carrying around all these cards. So I was wondering if when we make a purchase we can charge it to our room, then that night I can go to front desk and pay off room bill using gift cards?
Yes! I have done it a couple of times in my stays there. Just gotta go to the front desk and pay off the charges of the day basically. As I recall (and please correct me if I'm wrong) you couldn't like.. pre-pay the charges that were going to be made in the future.
We've always used a credit card to back up room charges, but I think you could just give the CM at checkin all your giftcards as backup for room charges. Researching, I found this info--
From TripAdvisor: "A room charge can be set up with a credit card OR a debit card OR cash OR Disney gift cards OR travelers checks. A credit card is NOT required." (Not sure it's accurate, though.)
Using the giftcards as room charge backup could be a good way to limit how much you put on room charge.
You can also use a credit card as room charge backup and then apply your giftcards to your room charge total before you leave to pay it down by $400 or pay it all if you put less than that on the room. Most rooms have a safe anymore where you could stash the cards until then.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
I did this last August. About midway thru the trip I took my gift cards to the front desk and paid off everything I had charged to that point. Then I did it again the afternoon/evening before our last day. After that I just used the gift cards or figured it would go on my credit card that was on file. I'll be doing it again this trip
From TripAdvisor: "A room charge can be set up with a credit card OR a debit card OR cash OR Disney gift cards OR travelers checks. A credit card is NOT required." (Not sure it's accurate, though.)
This is entirely accurate. You do not need to use a credit card.
I have been using Disney Dollars and Disney Gift Cards to enable room charging for many years, most recently in December 2013. But you don't have to keep visiting the front desk, you can do it at check-in.
When you arrive at your resort, tell the check-in CM that you have Disney Gift Cards that you want to use to establish a credit for room charging. Not all CMs know how to do this, and some will even tell you that it can't be done. But it can. Just ask for a supervisor if the CM keeps telling you that it can't be done. All of the check-in supervisors I've encountered have known how to do it. They will put the entire Disney Gift Card (or Cards, they can do multiples) toward the credit.
When you check out, you will have to visit the front desk one last time, because any unspent remainder will be refunded to you in cash or a new Disney Gift Card.
NOTE: Ca$h is better, because it requires no extra skills and can be done quickly. Whatever you do, DON'T let them try to put your unspent remainder back onto your original Disney Gift Cards. I made that mistake once and it took them 45 minutes to do it, and when I got home I found that the card was empty. Two phone calls and 90 minutes later I finally got my money back, but from then on I insisted on getting my refunds in cash.
I accumulate Disney Gift Cards months ahead of our trip. It's a fun reminder that we are going and it's a forced savings. We always pay off our room charges near the end of our trip. Sometimes if I know I've put a lot on the room, I will go and pay it off mid trip. I never give any to them upon check-in, but that is my preference.
I never had a problem, and then nothing ends up on my credit card that I have provided at check-in. Pretty awesome!!
Thanks, WillCAD, for that expert opinion. You answered several questions I had about what if you didn't room charge as much as the total giftcard balance. I'd have been tempted to ask that they put any unused amount back onto one card.
Except, I know too well how we spend! We're unlikely to spend less than we'll have in giftcards, that's for sure. Yes, we do our best to keep Disney from bankruptcy. ::::giggling::::
Thanks everyone! Im liking the idea of paying the total bill at the end. That way no refunding will be needed. Also I can then carry one card with me just in case a purchase that cant be billed to the room happens. Thanks again!
Thanks everyone! Im liking the idea of paying the total bill at the end. That way no refunding will be needed. Also I can then carry one card with me just in case a purchase that cant be billed to the room happens. Thanks again!
Anywhere that can't charge to your room - also won't be able to accept Disney Gift Cards.
The only places that can't charge to your room are 1) non-Disney venues such as shops at Downtown Disney's West Side and in the Swan and Dolphin hotels, 2) roving vendors and carts that don't have electronic card/Magic Band readers. For those places, carrying a Disney Gift Card would be useless. Also, for the roving vendors that don't have any sort of electronic payment capability, carrying a non-Disney card like a credit or debit card will also be useless.
I suggest carrying a small amount of cash with you for roving vendor purchases, and a debit or credit card for larger stuff like meals at non-Disney restaurants.
All Disney-owned restaurants and shops throughout the property that are equipped with card/Magic Band readers can charge anything to your room, including food, souveniers, tickets, tours, golf, mini-golf... the list is endless.
Since you'll have to go to the front desk at check-out anyway - either to pay the bill or to get a refund of unspent remainder - my preference is to enable room charging with a deposit, rather than a credit card. I'd rather not have my credit card linked to my MDX account at all; it's just too easy to overspend.
NOTE: All Disney-owned venues have had their electronic readers updated to accept Magic Bands. If Disney owns it, and it has a reader, it can read both Magic Bands and magnetic cards.
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