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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am allergic to animal hair (dogs, cats and the like). Now I read on themeparks.about.com that Loews allows guests to bring along their pets. Those of you who have stayed at a US resort, did you see a lot of people with pets there?
Do you think they have rooms for people with allergies like mine? I mean, if a dog was in the hotel room I'll be staying in, it would have had to be completely cleaned or I won't be able to sleep in there
Do the US resorts have room assignors like at WDW? I'll try to put the info on my allergies on the reservation and tell them again at check-in - hope that it'll work.
The website says that you're charged a $25 cleaning fee if you bring along a pet. I would assume the room is cleaned throughly of any dog or cat hair. I've been in different rooms at the onsite Universal hotels. I've never encountered dog hair, cat hair, bird feathers, fish scales, or any other leftover pet things in any rooms. The rooms are immaculately clean. You could probably eat off the bathroom floor! Not that I would.
Thanks for the link, Barry! And thanks for always answering my questions so quickly. I know I can be a pain in the neck
It says on that website that guests with pets will be placed in "pet-friendly" rooms so I guess if I let the front desk know about my allergies they should be able to put me in a room classified as "not pet-friendly", i.e. there have been no pets in there...
BTW, even though a room might be (and look) very clean, it can still cause my allergies to break out because once the pollen are in the furniture, it's pretty hard to get them out (especially if there are pets in the room on a regular basis).
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We stayed at a pet hotel last year in Tennessee. I'm sure most hotels will follow the same rules - We were given a choice of only (2) floors we could stay on. All other floors were for guests without pets. I would call ahead, or fax, and state that you have a pet allergy. They should be able to accomodate you by placing you no where near a pet designated room.
According to the link on Universal's website, pets aren't allowed on club level rooms. So if you want to be extra safe, book a club level room.
One time at RPR, I was sitting in the lobby and I saw all sorts of dogs. It was like the Purina Dog Show. Other times at other resorts, I did not see one dog walking around.
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We took our dog to Universal and told them about him being with us, but they were out of 'pet friendly' rooms. I believe those rooms do not require you to take the elevator or a commonly used door to get your pet outside. However, my dog was very fury and since we were on the 5th floor, I would always worry about people with allergies before I got on the elevator I would ask if everyone was ok with dogs. I would think you would be fine though in a room that wasn't pet friendly. but it was kind of cute because all the employees we saw said our dog was 'nice.' Now he was a nice dog, but we could tell the dog lovers, and it kind of seemed like some people were almost told to say it. We did also have to wait in the lobby until our room was ready and he just lay at our feet. But even though it was a busy time, there was plenty of room, and again we tried to sit by a door that didn't have to be used by everyone.
Thanks for posting, Kelly! I think I'll be ok if I "run into" people with dogs in the hallway or something. It's just the room I'm still worried about. Well, I can usually tell within minutes if the room is ok or not so in case I notice my allergies are starting, I'll immediately ask for a different room. Since it's a medical reason, I'm sure they'll be willing to help me out. Not much else I can do, I guess. I'll keep my fingers crossed - I haven't stayed at a hotel that allows animals before so I'll just have to wait and see.