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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Well we are back! I would give our trip a 7 out of 10..
We had some GREAT times, and Not so great times..
Took us 1.5 hours to check in with the new magic bands. The Magic bands are GREAT
Love them, Downfall is.. A LOT of the Disney employees don't know what they are doing with them. - and that's kinda being nice. - If they couldn't have checked us in they should of taken the bands and brought them too us after they fixed them. My poor husband stood there 1.5 hours waiting.. finally he said. Hey I need to get something to eat i Been driving 6 hours and now standing here 1.5 hours..
One employee actually told me its so much better than it was, when they first rolled off..
Tips.. When going into a park.. Put your band up to the podium wait for that to turn solid white, then put your finger on. Other wise it will not register right. Someone should of told us that.. We figured that our on our own, around day 3.
Tip 2. Small Children Fingers are not registered. So they do not need to put their fingers on the podium either. ( another thing we were not told)
Tip 3 Always bring your Key to world card with you. Some places know what to do with the bands and ask for the card.
Again the concept is awesome, I love it.. You can even swim with them.
But the employees are not there 100% yet....and mistakes are being made..
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
But the employees are not there 100% yet....and mistakes are being made..
That's for sure. On our vacation, we didn't even have RFID tickets let alone the magic bands and when we went to AK, those are the only turnstiles they had. The CM told me to hold my card up to the Mickey head and when I told her I didn't have that kind of ticket, she told me again to hold my ticket up to it. After 2 or 3 minutes of it not working (which I already told her it wouldn't) she called over someone else who told her we didn't have that kind of ticket. We were finally helped by someone with an Ipad/tablet thing.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Sorry was a crazy week.. and we had a wedding rehearsal dinner last night, wedding today. so I have a minute to continue my report
So finally get checked in.. the next couple days things were good.
Then my husband , Niece ( age 5) sister in law, brother in law. Said let's go on test track, I said eh my stomach is a little off. So i declined and stayed with my 2 year old Nephew.. We walked all around epcot.. there was a 20 min wait.. Im looking at my cell phone 20 min, 30, 40, 45 min. Finally I texted them.. NO one texts back. Im starting to think what the heck? ( Nephew is asleep in the carriage by now) finally just a little over an hour they come out. The ride got stuck at a 90 degree angel and they had to be taken off 1 by 1.. My niece was so scared.. poor thing. She felt like she was slipping out of the belt. My brother in law trying to hold her up..
and the attitude was.. just a glitch.
the poor man who was riding along also broke his watch getting out... Ride will be up soon they say.. My SIL went and reported that the ride should be checked over well... they gave my niece a gift card....basically to shush them up..
Another day went good.. tried to put it all behind us.. Then we were on a Disney bus going back to our hotel.. and a older man rear ended us! All of a sudden we felt bang! ( our family was sitting in back of the bus) only about 10 others were on the bus.. My sister in law stands up and sees the guy behind us all crushed. She said.. Hello Bus driver you were hit.. I was? -----about 25 minute of paper work and diney workers flying around asking questions.
Next morning I wake up my lower back was very tight and sore.. My BIL whos a cop in another state called Transportation and explained the situation and got us free massages.. They were great... What a treat.. that night thou.. i could barely walk! just my luck.. my left leg would shake if i sat to long and then tried to walk. went on for about 2 days and I seem to get back to normal. But was very embrassing not able to walk for 2 days. I felt about 90 years old. Must of pinched a nerve some how..
ON a great note. We were given EXCELLENT seats at the electrical parade..
so beautiful! so we had some bad experiences and some GREAT ones.. I finally got a ride on Dumbo! and had lunch a BOG that was awesome experience!
Went on tower of terror with my niece for her first time. She loved it so much. they took us back for a 2nd ride.. through the back elevator( employee way) .
Was awesome!!
I don't know how people can afford to eat there without the free dinning plan thou.. 1 Monster energy drink is 4.59 Here at home they run 2/4 .
prices were high!! Bring what you can !!!
We requested a fridge at pop 3 times, never got one. then one day we came in and the one that said don't use was plugged in.. ?? weird..
Check out was a Nightmare too. there was a 400 charge on my account. for the massage, and some meals that were suppose to be applied to the dinning plan and was not.. That took another 45 min to get worked out.. We have been back 4 business days. I will check the bank tomorrow and make sure my credit is in there. I'm mad it was ever put on.. ( the massage) would of never gotten it if A. We were not in the bus accident and B. Transportation didn't say so. -- So im anxiously waiting on that. I know no one is perfect and things happen. But don't say its ok for something if its not.. Or don't say your going to do something if your not.
So my trip to Disney I would give a Solid 7... IM glad we went but could of done without the bus accident but i guess thats life.
Moral to this Trip report.. Give yourself plenty of check in and out time.. and ALWAYS check your check out charges before you leave..
Glad that everyone was ok with the bus accident! Glad you did have some good time with your vacation. Sorry about the bad times! Hope Disney gets the kinks worked out soon!
Glad everyone was okay. I remember reading about that accident in the Disney news blurbs. You had your share of headaches, that's for sure. It sounds like they tried hard to send some pixie dust your way.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I hope they get those kinks worked out quickly.
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
Deb
Linear Mode
