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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 guess this is somewhat new, I don't think SWA offered it before when we flew. What can anyone tell me about it and is it worth it? Because they offer it now, does that mean it is very hard to get in the low numbers to board? Any thoughts? There are 5 of us flying so it adds $100 to our travel; just trying to assess if we should pay for it. Thanks!
We debated last year, our first trip since it was introduced. I hated to spend the extra money for our family of four, so I elected to bypass it... figuring we could sit 2 and 2 (one parent with each child) if necessary. I checked in exactly at the 24 hour mark and got low B boarding passes for each leg of the flight. It was absolutely fine. We had no issue sitting all together.
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I used it last year, but I was flying after Thanksgiving so I was nervous about not getting a good number. I ended up getting A17 and A18 for both legs of the trip. For me it was worth the price.
For our last trip we purchased it for the flight home only. I checked in for the flight down at the 24 hour mark and got As - the highest As we've ever gotten - but still As. For the way home we got very low As, I want to say A18-20. It was worth every penny to not have to think about checking in during our last day.
We used it in April for our flights to and from Vegas and it was great not to have to worry about going online to check in. We had low A's and I think it was worth every penny. We are also did it for our flights to WDW in October, especially since we will be flying with kids.
Do you have a child under 5?? Families with a child under 5 can board after the A group regardless of what their actual boarding group is. That is why we don't pay the extra....we know we are guaranteed to board after A. DH and I did use it for the return flight in April when it was just the two of us. For $20, it was worth it for me to not have to worry about checking in at the 24 hour marker. But our flights were really cheap. I just booked flights for December and though they are cheaper than any other airline, it was still over $1000 for the 4 of us. Paying any more was not an option! LOL!
In April, I checked in at the 24 hour marker for our flight to MCO...got A group...like 50 something. With early bird for the flight home, we were like 20 something I think...so really not a huge difference.
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I have never done it and have gotten in the A boarding group (usually in the 30s) everytime - just by checking in online 24 hours in advance.
I have a smartphone this year, so I will be able to check in without a computer, but last year I just called home and let DH check us in. It wasn't a big deal.
$10 isn't a lot of money by itself. However, when you add it all up - you can buy a lot of souvenirs with that $100.
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DH and I use it when flying on SW. While it usually isn't difficult to check in online 24 hours be fore we depart home, sometimes it is not convenient for me to check in online for our return trip back home. For us, it is well worth it to not have to worry about checking in 24 hours ahead for a good number and a seat near the front of the plane.
Thanks for all the feedback. We are flying over the holidays so I think I will "bite the bullet" and pay for the early checkin. Just one less thing to worry about!
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We used it last year and got A16 and A17. For us, it was definitely worth the money, as it saved the worry of having to be online exactly 24 hours beforehand - by the way, we'd booked on a flight from Disney, so doing that would've eaten into our Disney time.
For me, for the peace of mind, it's worth it. It means I don't have to watch the clock for the 24 hour mark to check in. And it means that I don't have to be at guest relations at the 24 hour mark to have my boarding passes printed. And, since I like to get on the plane as soon as I can to get acclimated, it means I get an earlier boarding number.
We just purchased it as well for our flight to disney in august. I still dont understand what we have to do. Do we still have to print out boarding passes online, or do we wait until we get there. I'm very confused....
We purchased it on our Jan trip, because I was worried about getting off flights quickly. We only had 30 min connection time, and wanted to be sure we were up front for a fast exit.
I also liked not having to phone. After 24 hr, you just go online and print out boarding passes. Easy. They check you in I think around 34 hr before flight and assign you your boarding #. We were in low A group.
so you still have to print out your boarding pass 24 hours before. I thought that meant you could avoid this. Thanks, I wasnt sure what to do. so what is the difference then if you dont get it. You still have to go online 24 hours before? We actually spent the money on this because we thought we wouldnt have to bother with the boarding pass while we were in the parks. A few years ago I remember it was a hassle on the last day to find a place in epcot just to have our boarding passes printed out.
Last edited by NancyCnstn; 06-16-2010 at 07:25 PM..
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