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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We are considering a trip to WDW in February of 2013. We are familiar with WDW, but we have only stayed at The Caribbean Beach Resort. We are looking at staying at Coronado Springs. My husband wants to stay at The Contemporary. I don't know if the check book will allow that I wouldn't mind anyone's feedback on either resort. Thank you!!
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I have stayed at Coronado a few times and Love it. It is my fave Moderate resort and fave resort that I have stayed at. I have never stayed at the Contemporary as it is one that I can not afford. I found Coronado relaxing and peaceful. I found all the Cast Members very friendly. I loved the atmosphere of the resort. Loved nothing more then relaxing on one of the hammocks around the lake with an adult beverage after a long day in the park.
The beds are queen sized which is nice, very comfy to It is a convention hotel also, so they more then likely will have a convention while you are there. It never bothered me, you just may notice more guests walking around dressed kind of nicely.
You will enjoy the resort , I wish I was going there myself sometime soon!
Our fav moderate resort is POR- Riverside! Beautiful landscapping, rooms are newly refirbished, they are doing them now. Queen beds, boat to DTD, great food court, evening family entertainment in the lounge, horse & carriage rides, marina to rent boats & bikes.
I've not stayed at CR, theming doesn't appeal to me. But loved our stays at WL and Poly. WL is a more affordable deluxe. We'll be there this time next week, yay!
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I'm going back for a third stay at Coronado Springs, this time with all the family, in March (usually we stay at a Deluxe). It's a great, comfortable, place to stay. We love the bus service, the pool area, and the beds.
There are so many options it is really hard to decide! Of course you should get a passporter because they have everything you need to know about every resort all in one handy dandy place with all the pertinent information and no waste on fluff and fancy talk.
My husband is a huge hotel snob and would only stay at the Poly. After about 5 trips he realized if we cut back we could take more trips and thus our love of the Coronado Springs was born.
It really is the moderate that think it's a deluxe. A lot of business people stay there because of the convention center so they work hard to keep it looking spiffy.
The grounds are really beautiful and there are buildings spread out all over. There are 3 pools and the main one is gigantic with a fun slide (the "jaguar" slide) so even in the dead of summer in the heat of the day when you're usually walking on heads to get in the water it doesn't feel over crowded.
The queen beds are great and i LOVE that they don't have those disgusting "comforters" that you KNOW never get washed!!! The white duvets are great, the beds are comfy the room is spacious and the amenities are nice. You really don't feel like you are skimping. CSR does book fast (the secret about how great it is has been getting out!) So i'd recommend booking there and then maybe looking into an upgrade at CR if a promotion or something comes out.
Thank you everyone for the input, that really helps. We have only stayed at one resort and we love it, but wanted to try something new. I like to hear directly from people who have stayed at these resorts.
PixieMichele- We are going to get the Passporters Book for WDW, I looked through it at Barnes and Noble and loved it! We are going to surprise our kids with this trip, so we are trying to think of creative ways to do that.
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I can only comment on the Contemporary - love the location but really don't care for the resort's rooms! Our room last October was in definite need of refurbishment and cleaning - really not a good experience. The restaurants, shops, and location can't be beat, of course, so there's that. Still, it is my least favorite of the deluxe resorts. If you're looking for an alternative, you might consider Animal Kingdom Lodge (serious Wow factor) or the Poly or the Beach Club. AKL is slightly less expensive than some other deluxes, which is nice. Happy planning!!
Just got back from Animal Kingdom Lodge and I have to say I really Love it there! The down sides are it is a longer bus ride to the parks (except Animal Kingdom - you are barely on the bus and you are there!). The room decor is a bit dark, the only thing I don't like - not the decor, but the darkness of the rooms. If you are a big make up person, you might want to bring a lighted make up mirror. It's never been an issue for me DD, DSis or DNeice, but I know for some woman, they like the lighted mirror!
Up sides are great food, the animals, relaxing when you want it to be, fun for the family when you need it! Kidani Village and Jambo house both have great pools and gyms. My DS worked out every day except one and he can't say enough about the gym! If your choices are between Coronado and Contemporary only, My pick would be Coronado Springs, for all the reasons mentioned above! Good luck with your planning.
Coronado Springs is my favorite resort - of any level! I stayed there in Jan 2011 for the first time and just fell in love. It has beautiful grounds, and our room was gorgeous. Very clean (not just the actual cleanliness, which was great, but also the colors and lines used in the decor....I love it). We didn't get to use the pool because it was quite cold when we were there, but it looked awesome! I am one who usually likes to change up the resort each trip just so I can keep everything fresh, but I am already planning to go back to CSR in Dec 2012.
I can't comment on Contemporary, because it's one I haven't stayed at. The closeness to MK is cool, but the theming of this hotel does not appeal to me at all. If I wanted to be close to MK I would choose WL (another one I love!).
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Contemporary doesn't appeal to me....rather bland. Wilderness Lodge is my absolute favorite, so far, but we are going to stay at Coronado on our trip this year partially because it is less expensive and partially because of all the nice things we have heard.
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We have never stayed at the Contemporary so I can't compare it to CS. We did really like our stays at CS. Its been years but when we stayed the rooms were nice and my dd loved the pool area. We have stayed at Wilderness Lodge and to me this resort is the best value for the price. Its so beautiful and the transportation to the MK is great. Good Luck with your choice!
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We stayed at the Contemporary and loved it. The linens and towels were the best of all the WDW resorts I've visited. The room was a nice size and the pull out bed was comfortable. The bathroom sinks are a little weird, but the plus to the bathroom is that someone can use the toilet in privacy while someone else is in the shower. We were in the garden wing, so it was very quiet, yet still close to the lobby. I loved being able to walk to MK, too.
WOW! Thank you everyone for the great feedback!! We are now actually thinking of changing our minds on where to stay. We are still considering CS, but now thinking of the Poly. So many decisions We can't wait to start planning.
Does anyone know when you can start booking vacation packages for February 2013?
The Poly is my second favorite resort after WL (my daughter's fave is Poly). I have not heard anything recently about the renovations at the Poly. I've been wondering how that will affect the resort. Does anyone know anything?
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I wouldn't mind anyone's feedback on either resort. Thank you!! 
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