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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Despite having been to WDW many times, we don't usually make many ADR's because it worked better for us to just "wing it" with CS meals. But now that my 4 kids are teens and preteens, I want to try some more TS places during our Spring Break trip. I'm definitely attracted to the DDP, but here's my question: If I am unable to secure many ADR's for dinner at the nicer TS restaurants, should I go ahead and try for lunch ADR's? I know alot of the menus are quite similar for lunch and dinner, except lunch is usually cheaper. And if I get mostly lunch ADR's for the TS places, it doesn't seem like the DDP (at $47) will be as good a deal. I'm one of the masses who gets to call for 180 day ADR's on October 27. It seems like it's going to be a madhouse!
Thanks for your input.
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Like you said most of the places are really similar for lunch or dinner. I would try for dinner first and if it is someplace that you really really want to eat at then I would try for lunch. Had to do that last year with LeCellier no dinner ressies available but secure one for lunch and it was great.
We have ADRs for lunch, simply because there aren't enough dinners to go around. There are so many places we want to try eating at, along with working in some old favorites. I still think it'd be worth it on the DDP.
If you are going to eat a TS meal every day or a few signature meals then the dining plan is worth it. If not, maybe you should purchase the QSDP and pay OOP for your TS meal.
I'd try for dinners first and see what happens. If you can't get dinner - perhaps some of the most popular places, like Le Cellier, then it's worth trying for lunch instead.
I think in general, the DDP is used best for dinners. If you're flexible with your days and times, you'll have better luck securing the places you want. And, when you call, book the 'most popular' first - that may help!
Using DDP for only lunches may not be the greatest value. With the change back to 180 days I dont see there being a problem getting mostly dinner times for your ADR's. So unless you only want to make lunch ADR's, I think the DDP will be fine.
Most of our ADR's are for lunch because of our dining patterns - we generally eat a light meal in the evening. DDP is not really practical for us because of that. Also, neither of us eats desserts which is also a contributing factor. If you were permitted a choice of appetizer or dessert it might work better for us.
Ken
__________________
I do not make films primarily for children. I make them for
the child in all of us, whether we be six or sixty.
Walt Disney Chip and Company website
I could be wrong but if you're not going during Free Dinning, I think your choices are pretty great at getting dinner. We are going during FD and only had to resort to one lunch before dinner was booked.
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I agree with the other posts - you should try for dinner first then settle for lunch.
Maybe you should try the online ADR instead of calling. For me it worked like a charm, in fact I got all the dinner's (character, steakhouse) I wanted at the times I wanted.
I don't think you will have any trouble getting your ADR's since you get to do it 180 days out! A lot of people will not have even began planning at that point and many others will not know that Disney went back (or ever was for that matter) taking ressies at 180 days out. I expect you will totally beat out the masses! Have a great trip!
I don't think you'd have a problem getting dinner reservations booking 180 days out, I didn't have any problems making mine exactly at the 90 day mark for my upcoming trip.
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