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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So as a Canadian I have to surrender my passport upon embarking. I read in an older trip report that everyone in the party has to report to a certain room a 6am on the last morning to pick up the passports. I'm wondering is there anyway to pick it up the night before. I feel once the ship leaves the last port to head "home" we should be able to get them back.
WOW... didn't know that you had to do that... kinda like in Europe they want you to leave your Passport at the front desk at hotels while you are sleeping... hmmmm told them.... no thanks...... not allowed.....
I know that we have to surrender passports but I thought it was everyone that had to do that not just Canadians. As far as a room goes, I hadn't heard that. You probably have to go along with their rules on this one.
We last cruised the Caribbean in 2004 and that was the process then. I don't believe you could pick it early and every single non US citizen had to attend on the final morning, because until they'd done that, they couldn't start the disembarkation process.
However, I did think that I'd read somewhere that this had changed recently? Maybe I was mistaken? The only plus side was that they didn't do this on the Med cruise, probably because they were in Europe and not having to go back into the States at the end of the cruise.
Sorry, I could have been clearer, all non US citizens (Disney's not picking on Canadians )have to surrender their passports. But I would still like to know if there's a way to pick them up on the final night after we've left the final port and are heading for Florida.
They did change the procedure for cruisers visiting St. Thomas, but I think it's still the same for non-US citizens returning to Port Canaveral. It may have something to do with the Customs/security setup in the terminal, which is not nearly what it is in airports and other cruise terminals I've been through. As far as I know, the reason you can't do it the night before is that you need to have a US customs agent on hand, and they can't manage that until the ship has docked.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
I'm Canadian and just cruised in January. We did NOThave to surrender our passports at the terminal... I also thought we did, so when I asked, the guy at the counter thought I was making stuff up! He said we just keep them like everyone else. Also on the last morning, we didn't have to meet anywhere, and we just watched the debarcation presentation on TV the night before.
That's great news ! Surrendering the passporter was one thing (although not too keen on it) but finishing your holiday by having to line up so early is really a pain.
Thanks for your help.
This keeps wobbling back and forth. I'm never sure if this is a CBP thing or a cruise line thing or what.
On our last cruise (not Disney), CBP was on the ship well before we docked. I got up at about 6 to watch and there were 7 or 8 walking around. And I didn't hear of any sort of "round up" of non-US nationals. There was a separate check-in line for them, as well as the usual line at immigration. They also had lines for "no duty" and "paying duty". But folks were being called over to that line since they didn't seem to be getting much "business".
We're Non-US citizens (Germany), and for our 4-night Disney cruise last April (2008) we did NOT have to surrender our passports and therefore did not have to attend any kind of meeting before disembarking. It was just the same for us as for US citizens.
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We sailed last Jul and non-US citizens didn't have to surrender their passports. I can't believe that to me that sounds criminal to do that. You are supposed to maintain them on you at all times just like your military ID cards.
I had friends who went to work civilian contracts in Saudi Arabia that had to give the company they were working for their passports but I think it was just to keep them secure. I joked with them once they gave up their passports they were trapped and indentured servants
Interesting thread. I have never been on a cruise however I now have travelled 15 different countires mostly in Europe. I have only ever given up my passport once and that was to gain entry to a supplier premises (perhaps as they print money on site might have something to do with it). During that visit, another member of the party made a valid point. Her passport is the property of her government and she is only the custodian of it and therefore was not in a position to give it up.
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on the last morning to pick up the passports. I'm wondering is there anyway to pick it up the night before. I feel once the ship leaves the last port to head "home" we should be able to get them back.
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Angie
PassPorter Guide Author
I don't believe you could pick it early and every single non US citizen had to attend on the final morning, because until they'd done that, they couldn't start the disembarkation process. 
)have to surrender their passports. But I would still like to know if there's a way to pick them up on the final night after we've left the final port and are heading for Florida.
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