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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 was wondering when do you usually call and get your Disney Rewards card? How close to your trip that is? We are leaving December 26th this year and I want to get as much points on the card I can before cashing it in. I thought I would ask your advice to see how you all do it.
You have two options: One is to call about 6-8 weeks before your trip and have them mail the card to your home.
The second is to redeem the points at Disney World. You can go to Guest Relations at all of the parks (and DTD) and request a rewards card. Then you call the number on the back of your card, talk on the phone for about 5 minutes, and the points are instantly there.
I would wait until the fall to get your card. The points that are transferred onto it will not expire for about 2 years, and if you accrue more points on your Visa card you can easily have them transferred to the card before you leave or while at Disney like the other poster said. I think there is a 10 point minimum when transferring them over.
I've done it twice already and both times did it right at Guest Services in the parks. Very easy & you get all the points that have accrued.
__________________
First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
The last time we used ours, we called from our hotel room after going to guest services. Only takes a couple of minutes and then you will know you have the most rewards on your card. Good luck!
The last time we used ours, we called from our hotel room after going to guest services. Only takes a couple of minutes and then you will know you have the most rewards on your card. Good luck!
This is what we do. Wait till we get there so that we have as many reward dollars as possible, and so quick, no need to wait and worry about things getting lost in the mail either!
I kinda wish this thread was here last week! I couldn't find our redemption card so Saturday I called to report it lost. They were able to move my old points back to my account, then issue a new card with all the available points. I also had them send new Visa cards as I had accidentally signed the one with DW's name on it when we got those last year. Those cards arrived in the mail Tuesday. Now I wait for the Redemption card. I'm sure it will get here in time for our trip, but had I known I would have just waited and loaded all points at WDW.
I usually order mine about 3 months in advance (usually in May for an August trip) and transfer all but 10 of my points onto it. Then when I get it, I use whatever I have to help pay off my package and I keep accumulating points until right before we leave then I call back and have whatever is left transferred onto the card (usually quite a few dollars since I charge absolutely everything to build up points instead of using cash)
I waited until we got to park on our first day and redeemed it at guest services. That was I was able to catch an entire extra month (December) of points. It took almost no time.
I redeemed my rewards online a few weeks ago. The card came in about a week. We are leaving next week and had accumulated 17 more points so I went online and added them to the card. It was easy and only took a few minutes.
I charge absolutely everything to build up points instead of using cash)
I did the same thing and accumulated over $450 for our trip. I have my car insurance, cable, cell phone bill on there. Anything that does not charge extra for using a credit card goes on there.
I am going to keep my Disney Visa but I am starting to use my Costco AMEX card instead, It has a 3% cash back for Gas and Restaurants, 2% for travel and 1% for everything else. You can't decide when to redeem your rewards. You get a check once a year from around February. This is my first year with the card so we sill see how I like it. Since AMEX is not taken at as many locations, I will use my Disney Visa at those places.
I always order the reward card a couple of months out but with only 10 points on it. I transfer the rest of the points once I have the card in my hot little hand. That way I don't worry about it getting "lost" in the mail as much. We have had incidents where gift cards have been stolen out of the mail.