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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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DH wants to use town car service and stop at a grocery store for flowers, beer, and snacks. Me I want to do DME for the expierence and have Disney florist deliver an arrangement. (remember, I have a bum shoulder, not responsible for typing.)
Staying YC-C. I am at home for the next 13 days recovering from surgery so I have losts of time to ponder things.
Help I don't know what to do. We leave in 35 days. Still not sure if should do the new DDP, doesn't seem to be worth it, compared to last year.
We have used both the DME & Towncar service & have to go thumbs up with the towncar service. (The past several trips we have used Quick Silver & they have been both very professional & friendly which adds to the Disney Magic) When using DME, you are riding with many others from different resorts (you don't get that little extra TLC a towncar service provides) and depending on how they schedule their arrival to the different resorts, it could take you many stops before your resort is reached.
Another vote for the town car. You may even request something special for the ride to help make it more 'Disney'?
Also, you will be thankful for the time you save on your return.
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DH and I: Epcot 12/07
Life is not about the things I accumulate, but the experiences shared with others
Every person is different and for us, spending $70 or so on a one way car service seems silly.....I can get ALOT of pressed pennies (or other souvineers) for that money!! I enjoy the bus and most of them only stop at 2 resorts. Obviously the All Star bus stops at 3.
As for DDP.....you aren't saving quite as much money...but you're also wasting less food. When the plan included appet, entree, and dessert, I found myself only eating half of each course to make sure I had room, or if I ate all of my appetizer (like the yummy spinach artichoke dip at Sci-Fi), I was stuffed midway through my entree. I still ordered dessert, but only ate a few bites. But besides all that, I think the ease of everything being paid in full ahead of time is worth it (even with having to pay tip OOP) and the plan does still save you money. I've done mock itineraries and compared the costs of paying OOP and paying for DDP.
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Stephanie- Mom to Jaden and Emerson, Wife to Keith, Novelist
I'm an independent agent with Fairytale Journeys, specializing in Disney vacations!
Visit my Facebook page!
We really enjoy DME. We have found it to be efficient. Yes, it stops at more than one resort, but the resorts are in the same area. I think it is more exciting, especially for the kids, to share the experience with others also about to arrive at the best place in the World!
I have not used ME yet...so I can not comment on the pros and cons...but I can tell you why we choose to use a town-car service. We have made 6 trips to WDW in the last 3 years. Three of the trips were with DS's 15 & 11...and three trips were just the two of us. We travel from Idaho...so it takes a long day of flying just to get to Orlando. The last thing we want to do is deal with mass transportation! We use Sunray Transportation...and with an $8 discount from the Mouseforless site...it costs only $82 round trip. Bob & Roger are fabulous...and are always waiting for us at the bottom of the escalators near our baggage claim. We have yet to make a grocery stop...as I am on vacation too...and that means no work for the Mommy...LOL. (It also means that we pay resort prices for beer...OUCH...but DH says that I deserve a vacation too!)
As for the DDP 2008...here is what I did to figure out if it was worth it to us or not. I sat down and priced what we would spend on food for a day with a buffet and a day with an order off the menu restaurant. I know that we will do one sit down meal...and one counter service meal each day...dinning plan or not...with breakfast bars in the room that I brought with us. So when I made my plan...I did not count what we would get on the dinning plan...but rather what we would order without the dinning plan. I didn't bother to add any snacks to this...as we tend to use our snack credits for ice-cream bars and water...so I know it will only total $5 or less. I added 6% tax to the total for the two meals...and then compared that number to the cost of the dinning plan for the day. If it turns out that we are going to benefit financially by using the plan...we will do the dinning plan. We get a bit more food using the dinning plan...so if it is a wash on cash...I am guessing that we will still come out ahead when all is said and done. If I am going to spend more on the dining plan then I would without...we skip it. I hope that all makes sense...and helps you with your decision. Just so you know we have used the dinning plan for the past 6 trips...I am still not sure what we will do for our trip in Apr-May 2008...LOL.