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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Is it just me or are the 2013 rates for the Magic and Wonder that came out today really high? We did an 11 night Med Cruise in 2011 and were thinking that we would do it again in 2013. Prices were twice as much as 2011. I could understand a 20% increase, but 100% Is it just that I was looking on the first day that they were available?
Hmm, that's really interesting! Maybe because some of the voyages are different? I'm sure costs have gone up since 2011, that's what they always want us to believe anyway! And I'm sure we'll see some price fluctuation based on supply and demand so it will be interesting to see.
Did you book a repositioning cruise originally, maybe that's where the price difference came in?
You could check pricing again when you're on your next cruise, then take advantage of the 10% deposit and on board credits.
The 12 night itineraries are stupidly expensive. They've done what they did with the Baltic cruises a couple of years ago and have priced them really high. By comparison, the seven night Med cruises look like really good value.
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The 12 night itineraries are stupidly expensive. They've done what they did with the Baltic cruises a couple of years ago and have priced them really high. By comparison, the seven night Med cruises look like really good value.
Do you think they will stay that way or will they drop in a few months? For us taking the shorter trip doesn't really make sense. Airfare is the same whether we take 7 night cruise or a 12 night cruise. In 2011 we ended up paying $1600 a person to get to Barcelona. So I do it again I would rather do that long trip. I just can't believe with both the US and Europe's economies struggling that they would be able to sell out at those rates.
Honestly, I don't expect prices to go down. From what I've heard, those 12-night Med cruises are selling rather well already. Also, I don't think prices for the Baltic cruises went down at all (and as Chez pointed out, those seem comparable to what
Disney does with the new itineraries now). Sorry
Oh, wow, Amy - you had to pay $1,600 for a transatlantic flight??? That's so expensive!!! We always get a flight for less than $1,000 per person but we're flying from Europe to the U.S. and back, i.e. the other way around - does that make a difference?
Do you think they will stay that way or will they drop in a few months?
At best, the prices will plateau after the initial rush is over. During the "feeding frenzy" folks are putting down their refundable deposits, then taking their time to make their final decision. At least, if they ultimately decide they'll go through with it, they'll have scored a good fare. The cancelled "on spec" bookings will release staterooms back onto the market, but that'll happen slowly, so it's not likely to precipitate a drop. Meantime, the remaining number of available staterooms will leave rooms in most categories a relatively scarce commodity. One reason there are so many categories and sub-categories is that, as the cheaper rooms go, only the more expensive rooms remain. The price bids up, even if the rates within a category stay the same.
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Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions