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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Was trying to crunch some numbers and see if a quick long weekend trip in October would be possible for us. Looks like we MAY can swing All Star for my DS 12th birthday. Still crunching numbers! My question is which is your favorite All Star and why. We stayed at Pop in November and while me and the boys loved it DH did not. He's more of a moderate kind of guy. But since this will only be a 3 day in the parks 4 night stay I may can con him into a value one more time! And would you include any kind of dining or not really worth it. Was thinking of QS dining but it increases the package by close to $500!!! Opinions welcome please!!!
We like AS Sports because it's the first one you come across and for sentimental reasons. Had my dad lived, that's where we would have all stayed when we took Abby for her first trip to Disney. None of us are sports fans (dad was though) but we still enjoy it. As for a dining plan, I did it and loved it but last time (after Abby turned 10) I found we spend less money on food by paying OOP. Part of it is because we don't drive anymore. On the dining plan, we would take home all the extra food and drinks from the CS and snack credits. Flying we can't do that (no room in our suitcases even if I wanted to). The other reason we don't do the dining plan anymore is we go in summer and if we're hungry for only 1 meal split 3 ways, that's all we need to buy. Getting the dining plan, I made sure we got everything we paid for - even if we really didn't want it - and it really was way too much food for us.
We like AS Sports because it's the first one you come across and for sentimental reasons. Had my dad lived, that's where we would have all stayed when we took Abby for her first trip to Disney. None of us are sports fans (dad was though) but we still enjoy it. As for a dining plan, I did it and loved it but last time (after Abby turned 10) I found we spend less money on food by paying OOP. Part of it is because we don't drive anymore. On the dining plan, we would take home all the extra food and drinks from the CS and snack credits. Flying we can't do that (no room in our suitcases even if I wanted to). The other reason we don't do the dining plan anymore is we go in summer and if we're hungry for only 1 meal split 3 ways, that's all we need to buy. Getting the dining plan, I made sure we got everything we paid for - even if we really didn't want it - and it really was way too much food for us.
I totally agree with the dining plan, it was a waste for us. We never ate the dessert and had so much water leftover, we left them in the rooms when we left, hoping the crew would use them.
We've stayed in all the All Stars and POP, and Movies is still our fav. It's probably due to being our first resort, and love all the nostalgia from the movies.
We stay in Music every year (12 times so far). It is the middle resort, so you can easily visit either Sports or Movies to enjoy their theming, pools, food courts, etc. (Yes, you can use all six pools!) Music seems to attract a somewhat older crowd, often more adults, although there are certainly plenty of families. My son adores the squirting Three Caballeros in the main guitar pool, the attractive landscape is grown out, and the huge musical icons are fun for photos (love the drumset). There are activities near the pool in the afternoon and movies in the evening. The only other resort we've stayed at is the Swan, which was lovely, but not twice the cost lovely. Our rooms at Music have always been clean, comfortable and in good repair, just right for the three of us, all adults.
So far as the meal plans go, we have done it both ways and done fine both ways. On the QSDP, we often save items for eating in the room, or bottled beverages to carry to the parks, since we can use our refillable mugs at the food court. We normally do breakfast and dinner there, as we are perfectly happy with the food selections and don't care to run around too much for meals. Some of the dessert items make perfect snacks, like muffins, fruit, and my husband's favorite, the fruit and yogurt parfait. If you are light eaters, you could probably do just fine OOP. When we pay as we go, for three adults, we figure $90/day, which is a bit less than the QSDP, but the DP snack credit allows us to feel freer to get that extra Mickey bar or caramel treat in Germany without worrying about blowing $4 on a snack.
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I think all three are good. I've stayed at ASMu and ASMo multiple times, but on our last Value trip we stayed at ASSports and it was way better than I'd thought. I didn't think I'd care for the theming, but it was nice and we had some of our best service there...including the buses.
AS Sports is my favorite for many reasons:
1) It's the first pick up/first drop off on the park buses.
2) We are sports fans
3) It's the first resort dd & I ever stayed at.
My second favorite is AS Movies:
1) My dd plays ice hockey and was a huge Mighty Ducks fan and that building is cool.
2) If you stay in the Mighty Ducks bldg you can take either the Movies or Music bus because the bus stop for Music is right next to the building.
We would have liked AS Music more if we weren't all the way in the back of the resort in the Country Faire building.
I always rent a car, so bus service doesn't enter into my decision, nor does distance from the bus stops to my room.
My favorite is All-Star Music, and I prefer to be in the Broadway section, which is toward the back.
Music is generally the quietest of the 3 All-Stars (except when there's a special event like Pop Warner football or cheer competitions). It's laid out in a long, straight line from Melody Hall to the farthest buildings, so it's easy to find your way around without getting lost. And it's in the middle, so it's not difficult to walk over to either of the other All-Stars to pool hop (one of the few places it's allowed) or use their bus stops or food court.
I like the Broadway section because it's way in the back and quiet, away from the pools and the hustle and bustle of Melody Hall. But it's also next to a large section of parking lot, so I can always get a space close up when I stay there. If I want breakfast in Melody Hall before I go to the parks, I just drive up and park in the Check-In lot while I eat, then leave from there.
You can't go wrong with any of the All-Stars. The differences are not huge, and all three are great places to stay.
We like all of the All Stars, but Movies is probably our favorite theming. I like the serene feeling at Music, but I dislike the layout of the buildings there. It's a more straight line arrangement leading away from the main building. When we were there, we didn't pay for a preferred room, and we wound up in the Broadway buildings and it was a long way from the buses, food, etc. If I stay at Music again, I would pay for a preferred location, which is Calypso, or I would request Jazz, the next closest to amenities.
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Love Sports!! As far as buses go you will be first drop off and pick up! Also we always request floor level in football building. That way we are between the main pool and the less crowded pool of the baseball themed area and we are close walking distance to the main building for food and such I agree the dining plan is a lot of food and is a bit pricey. However, it is good for people like me who like everything paid for upfront. No worries & no guess work only extra money required for the trip would be for shopping, arcade, etc... It stresses me less to just get the dining plan.
Hi Chrystal! Our favorite is All Star Movies. Both my DW and DD are huge fans of the Disney movies, so the theming really hit home with them. I don't remember being last off the busses being an issue with us. We had too far of a walk to the room when we were at Music, and it was a bit much for a small child after a day at the parks. DD gives Music as having the "best pool" of the two resorts
We are trying QS dining this trip next month at Pop for the first time, so no comment yet on that.
Good luck with the DH. If he didn't like Pop Century(??why??), he probably won't like the All-Stars.
To us Sports feels like home, the pools are fantastic and we never found them over crowded! We also have enjoyed the Movies resort, the grounds are very nice and most Disney fans would like them. We are not a fan of Pop.
As for the dining plan, we found it to be way too much food for us. The only one in our party who actually ate is all was my 17 year old son. For the rest of us we shared meals and left with credits still on the room.
Have fun I hope it works out!! We went for my son's birthday once and it was great!!
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I agree the dining plan is a lot of food and is a bit pricey. However, it is good for people like me who like everything paid for upfront. No worries & no guess work only extra money required for the trip would be for shopping, arcade, etc... It stresses me less to just get the dining plan.
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