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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 have FINALLY talked my mom into a Disney trip!! It took a lot of convincing and a lot of charts on my part but I got her to agree to staying on property. Woo-Hoo!!
So my DD and I will be taking Mom/Grandma for the first time and we are staying at the All Star Movies. This will be our first time at this resort so I was looking for some room recommendations as well as any other good tidbits my passporter friends may have. I was thinking of the Fantasia buildings, because that is my favorite movie, but I believe those are all preferred buildings. Is that correct? It took a lot of convincing to get her to pay the extra $90 bucks to stay on property so I would hate to push that envelope by telling her we will be in a preferred location!!
Any tips and help would be greatly appreciated
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Tisha, Lance, Mitch & Kaelyn
2003 Fort Wilderness Campground
2004 Coronado Springs
2005 Saratoga Springs & All-Star Music
2006 Port Orleans Riverside
2007 Port Orleans French Quarter & Caribbean Beach
2007 All Star Movies
2007 Caribbean Beach
We stayed in Movies in 2004 and loved it. We picked the Mighty Ducks bldg because my dd plays ice hockey and loves those movies. It was a fabulous building. It isn't a preferred so no extra costs. It has it's own quiet pool which was great. It was also really really close to the bus stops at Music so you could just walk across a little road and get on their buses. At the end of the night you could pick which bus stop line was shorter, Music or Movies, and pick that bus back to the resort. I also think the food court at Movies is pretty good (better than POFQ IMHO). Have a great trip.
The Toy Story buildings are close to Cinema Hall, the luandry service, playground and Fantasia Pool. I'm not sure if they're preferred, they weren't when we stayed there in 2004.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Fantasia and Toy Story are preferred buildings. I would ask yourself why you really want a preferred building (close to pool, laundry, medical/walking issues, etc) and then determine whether or not it is really worth the extra money. Congrats on convincing mom to go and have a wonderful trip!
The only buildings that have non-preferred rooms are the Mighty Ducks and the Love Bug sections. Out of the two, I'd definitely opt for Mighty Ducks because that section is so close to the Music bus stop and has the quiet pool. It's not too far of a walk to the Movies' main building or main pool so I wouldn't worry much about not getting a preferred room. We stayed at ASMo this past April and got lucky: We had booked a regular room and were upgraded to a preferred room in the Fantasia building.
We stayed in '02 in 101 Dalmation Bldg, and at that time it wasn't preferred then. This bldg was almost perfect for us. We booked Fantasia, but no rooms available when we checked in. A huge hassle, but we had a great time. The Dalmation Bldg seemed to have everything for us, close to both pools, near the food court, and quiet too.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Thank you all for your opinions. I think I will shoot for Mighty Ducks. I can always walk to the Fantasia buildings to take pictures!!
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Tisha, Lance, Mitch & Kaelyn
2003 Fort Wilderness Campground
2004 Coronado Springs
2005 Saratoga Springs & All-Star Music
2006 Port Orleans Riverside
2007 Port Orleans French Quarter & Caribbean Beach
2007 All Star Movies
2007 Caribbean Beach