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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Myself, my DH, and my DS will be going in January. We are staying at POP from 1/14/2010-1/21/2010 and have the Deluxe Dining Plan.
I really want to do a Disney Cruise before or after but I am wondering if I should just save the $ for Disney. We are not big souvenir folk, but again this would be our first time so who know what would happen.
I am wondering if I should set a daily amount around $100 or so.
If you are on the Deluxe Dining Plan and don't normally buy souvenirs, $100 a day should be more than enough. On the Deluxe Dining Plan you get so much food and snacks you won't be spending any money for that at all.
100 to carry around each day at a park will be a bit much but I always budget about that a day for incidentals so that so I am assured that I have enough. Incase I see something that I really fall in love with while I am there. Tips....Mousekeeping, DME, taxi, table service meals, etc...that figures in my 100 dollar a day amount.
I always go with just my daughter and we buy lots of little cheaper things. I charge everything to our room..... Tips for meals, coctails at dinner, souviniers, incedentals. I don't really carry cash to Disney. May be $75 in cash at the most.
ANYWAY....... For a week of tipping and spending, the two of us usually rack up about $400 in charges. I think I do pretty well considering I see people walking out of the shops with $500 sales
You would need daily tips for mousekeeping, and meals, and any souvies you or son may want. We aren't big souvie people either, maybe get a couple of things for ourselves, but mostly stuff to bring home for others. I tend to tip in cash but $100 per day is more then enough.
We find our biggest expense is food, so with the Deluxe Dining Plan, all that's extra for us is souvenirs and any alcohol we want with our meals. That's probably amounted to maybe $30 or $40 a day at a guess, maximum.
Did you know that you can charge things back to your room with your room key card? We did this on the last trip and made things so much easier. At the end of each day and of our stay we were able to have a complete read out of our spending.
You can also have any items you buy sent back to your resort. The packages will get there the next afternoon. We really took advantage of that service.
You can put your Dining tips on there. It actually seemed to be what Disney would rather you do cuz it was always a a pain to pay in cash being on the DDP. After the 1st day we only carried $20 just in case.
Here's a run down on what we spent on our last trip (we had DxDP, too)....
Mousekeeping....$4 per day
Turndown Service....$2 per day
Breakfast tip......$15 for family of 4
Lunch/Dinner......$20-25 for family of 4
Rain gear and misc....$20-$50
Hope that helps.
I think $100 a day will be plenty for your first trip and if you bring home money
than you will be ahead of the game. As for the cruise maybe doing a cruise/WDW
trip would be the way to go. Not sure how old your DS is but you could talk to
your DH about all the relaxing qualities the cruise after your WDW visit would
have and a great way to end your vacation.
I calculate how much spending money we need long before we go so we have time to save up. Figure in tips for dining and mousekeeping, as well as any extra snacks or meals you think you may purchase that are not included in the dining plan. Also, figure in for any extras you may want to do such as mini golf, characters in flight, bike rentals, etc. We also set an amount of souvenier money for each person. That way I know how much money to bring. We keep the money in our room safe and use our key to the world to charge almost everything. I pay off the room charges about half way through the trip to keep us on track and then again the day before we check out. FYI, once your room card hits a certain amount the resort will autamatically charge your credit card. I think the amount may have been $500, but check on that during check in.
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