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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 can book my flight tomorrow on Southwest. Jet blue also flies direct from my local airport to Orlando. Any suggestions as to which to use. I have never flown on Jet Blue.
thanks.
I only fly Southwest because no other airline has direct flights out of my Long Island airport and it is worth extra money to NOT have to drive to Queens. But if they both flew out of my preferred airport I would go with the lowest price and best times.
I was going to say, for me, it would depend on price, but as others have said, keep in mind about the baggage charges. If you want two bags, it may be cheaper to fly Southwest.
We've flown them both and I really like both of them. Southwest is so efficient and, in our experience, has great customer service. JetBlue is a great airline, as well, and has satellite tv, which my four children like. We always go with the best price and flight times for each particular trip--in our area they tend to be very competitive, which ends up being financially advantageous for us. I don't think you could go wrong with either.
We prefer Southwest. Just got our flights for December - from BWI to MCO was as low as $109 each way...that's cheaper than it was for us in 2012.
I've never had a problem with SW, and they've never lost my luggage or doodled around with my reservation. The boarding procedure takes a little getting used to, but it's not horrible either.
We like to fly Jet Blue because of the assigned seats. We like South West but I don't like paying extra for early bird check in. The boarding process for South West just stresses me out I know I could pay extra to avoid that, but for four people that adds to the flight cost. However on South West everyone gets 2 bags free and Jet Blue everyone gets 1 free. My kids love Jet Blue because of the televisions. We just go with the cheaper of the 2. We are able to choose between several airports all within a 2 hour drive, so that helps too. However last time United was the cheapest even with baggage fees , so we went with them. Our first choice is Jet Blue.
They added JetBlue to PVD a couple of years ago and I finally decided to try them last summer on a solo trip I made to visit a friend. (We again flew SWA as a family group of 4 with a toddler in September) I don't think we will ever go back to SWA unless the fare is significantly less expensive; the assigned seating made it all worth while for me. We also found the seats more comfortable, especially with the extra leg room. The satellite tv was nice to have, but I think I enjoyed the flight tracker more; it was fun to see where you are, how high you are and how much farther you have to go. We never travel with more than 1 checked bag and 1 carry-on for each of us, so that isn't a deciding factor.
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We have flown both so for us it comes down to best cost. We have 3 airports we can fly from (Dulles, Reagan National or BWI). For our last trip we chose JetBlue out of Reagan because it had the best price. JetBlue offers first checked bag free plus one carry on and one personal item. In addition, we have credits for future flights because we kept checking the cost after booking and our flights actually were cheaper. (Southwest offers the same credit.)
I've never flown JetBlue - I've been a Southwest customer for over a decade and haven't even tried another airline - but they get good buzz on the FlyerTalk message boards when compared to Southwest.
You've gotten some good advice about checking the baggage fees as part of your decision process, but I'll add a few other things into the mix that you might want to consider:
1) Change fees. I started booking SWA because they have no fees for changing a flight
2) Seat size/pitch. I'm both tall and wide, so I'm less comfortable on SWA, which has a very short seat pitch, limiting my leg room. However, I book two seats, and I'm more comfortable. Southwest also has the narrowest seats in the industry at 17.0", while JetBlue has 17.8" and a longer seat pitch. JetBlue also has something called "Even More Space" seats, which are wider and have a longer seat pitch.
3) Customer of Size policy. Southwest has the best in the business, IMHO, despite some bad press. If you don't fit in one seat, book two, and you will get the fare for the second seat refunded after your return, whether the flight was full or not.
4) Flight times. Check the departure and arrival times to see which airline has better options for you. I live close enough to BWI to select very early departure times, but if you have a long drive to get to the airport, you might want to consider another carrier that has a more convenient schedule.
Booked my December trip this morning on Southwest. It was cheaper than Jet Blue and I've flown Southwest for years. Only $218.00 round trip from Providence. That's about as cheap as it's ever been.
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I love Southwest and they are my preferred airlines. For my upcoming trip to Houston, I am flying jet Blue becuase they have a non-stop from Boston to Houston and it makes the overall trip much shorter. When looking at flights, SWA and JB were within pennies of one another and actually left with in a few minutes of one another. Bet Blue won because I arrive two and a half hours earlier. I will manage with one bag no matter what.
Compare fares, but if all things are equal, then I'd go with JetBlue. Their customer service is great, the seats comfy, the TV makes the time pass by quickly. And their free snack service is good, too! If your particular flight goes down in price at any time, a quick call to JB will get you a credit for the difference.
I have flown SW many times, and love them for many of the same reasons, but if given a choice, I'd take JB.
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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
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We always go with the best price and flight times for each particular trip--in our area they tend to be very competitive, which ends up being financially advantageous for us. I don't think you could go wrong with either.
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