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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
As I'm learning to navigate the FP+, and trying to balance the planning with the need to spontaneity....
I'm kind of upset about the state of DHS. To be honest, it isn't my favorite park, and now with another thing closing (Art of Animation, Meet & Greet, etc), it gives me a bigger desire to skip the park altogether.
My question - if we decide at some point prior to our planned DHS day on the 22nd to visit a different park, will it be a pain to switch our FP+'s? I know we may not get the best choices, but we also have toured in the pre FP+, mid summer crowd levels of 10's, without using a single FP ticket.
__________________
The Fun, Old-Fashioned Family Vacation, 3.0 http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4472933
Ch-Ch-Changes July 2015
[URL="http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-adventure-disney-world-trip-reports/288847-ch-ch-changes-ptr-july-16-24-a.html"]
Yes. We changed our plans several times. The only thing we could not get was 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. MY DD actually made several changes from the park. We were not there on 10 days but perhaps 7.
I personally did not like the Fast pass +. Especially the idea of having to make fast passes for attractions that never before needed them.
If you have an iPad or computer with you, it's very easy to change FP's at night - just as long as you keep in mind some of the bigger rides won't be available. I only did it one night on our vacation last year but it was quite easy to do.
Quote:
Especially the idea of having to make fast passes for attractions that never before needed them.
Some of the attractions that never needed them still don't need them. Disney isn't forcing you to take them and if you take it anyway knowing you don't need it, then Disney is not to blame. Plus too, if you want to pick your three FP instead of Disney giving them to you, no one ever said you actually have to use the FP. That's what I did for one of our days this year. We're not going to Epcot until later in the day and there was only 1 FP I wanted so I chose two FP for rides that don't need it so I'm not taking a FP from someone for a ride that does need it.
I never booked these until the night before a few weeks ago as it mas myself, husband and 19 yoa son. I finally got Fast passes for Toy Story Mania but never got them for the Mine Train. I was confused on how to get rid of the ones I really didn't need as the men in my life did not want to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid . So I do feel there is some flexibility and there are FP kiosks in all the parks and you can also use the My Disney Experience on your phone to check ride wait times and possibly change fast passes.
I presonally did not make our fast passes, my DD did. But she seemed to feel you could only make so many major attractions at a time and had to use three before adding new ones-so we had fast passes for things I would have never dreamed needed them like A Small World and Nemo at Epcot.
I presonally did not make our fast passes, my DD did. But she seemed to feel you could only make so many major attractions at a time and had to use three before adding new ones-so we had fast passes for things I would have never dreamed needed them like A Small World and Nemo at Epcot.
For the MK, Im very surprised that she couldn't choose something other than IASW. There are no tier levels there so one could choose nothing but major attractions. I've been able to get FP for the mine train, Splash Mountain and Anna and Elsa all in the same day - but I did do mine at 60 days out. Epcot and the Studios I agree are more limiting but as I said, just because you have it, it doesn't mean it needs to be used. The 3 FP you choose have to be used OR expire before you can get a 4th one so if there is something you don't want or don't use, you could get it for the earliest time (say 9 in the morning) and then let it expire.
When did your daughter make the FP? The closer to the vacation, the less choice you're going to have.
I do miss being able to say "hey lets grab a FP (the paper ones) for Soarin and come back in 4 hours after dinner"
Even with paper fast passes, there was some spontaneity. That is no longer the case in WDW. I am all about planning planning planning, but with the new FP+, it can be tough.
We also used to have a game plan for rope drop at DHS. We would move quickly to TSM, my husband would jump over to get a FP and I would hop in line. We would be able to ride 2-3 times in one morning/afternoon. That will never happen again.
We used FP+ for the first time last trip and loved it. A tablet or laptop is the best for doing changes, but really, we found it freeing to have those "must do's" scheduled well in advance. If you feel like changing plans you can cancel them or just blow them off.
Thanks for all the replies! We do have our "must do" FP+ scheduled for other days - I'm just really torn about spending a park ticket at DHS when it's not going to be a full day park.
I had a tough time with Epcot - we scheduled FP+ for Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Turtle Talk. From what I remember, Figment and Nemo both were essentially walk on rides, though I've been warned that because Maelstrom (which was a walk on for both our trips) is down, and because of the new FP+ system, these rides now have waits without a FP.
__________________
The Fun, Old-Fashioned Family Vacation, 3.0 http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4472933
Ch-Ch-Changes July 2015
[URL="http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/sharing-adventure-disney-world-trip-reports/288847-ch-ch-changes-ptr-july-16-24-a.html"]
Thanks for all the replies! We do have our "must do" FP+ scheduled for other days - I'm just really torn about spending a park ticket at DHS when it's not going to be a full day park.
I had a tough time with Epcot - we scheduled FP+ for Test Track, Spaceship Earth and Turtle Talk. From what I remember, Figment and Nemo both were essentially walk on rides, though I've been warned that because Maelstrom (which was a walk on for both our trips) is down, and because of the new FP+ system, these rides now have waits without a FP.
They may have lines, but nothing to get concerned about.
Honestly unless there is just something you absolutely need to do at DHS then I would skip it. Yes you can change your FPs, we did and there will be some availability just not at great times. I found most of the popular stuff would have times late in the evening. As for Epcot, Test track is a must FP but I don't know if SE really needs one and Turtle Talk does not either. You have to wait no matter what on that one. But I suppose it would get you in to that particular show if it was really crowded. Soarin' is another big FP but you can only choose one between Soarin' and Test Track (sucks). Again the tiers thing is just a pain. We got FPs for Living with the Land which I thought we would not really need but turns out we did because there was actually a big line. So you never know. If the boys want to meet characters the Epcot Character Spot is a great FP to get. I can't really say about getting extra FPs after the 3 are used as we never did that. We have Jonathon's DAS so we just used that in conjunction with the Fps and it worked for us. We added park days on our trip and I was still able to get some things so it is doable. Good luck on deciding.
My DD made fast passes a couple of months out but we changed our park day so she switched at the last minute. We also like to hop (my son was only there two days so we did MK, Epcat and AK) and I think that complicated the fast pass+.
My DD, who was in charge loved the new system. I don't know how much was me. We had not been for 5 years and MK used to be my favorite park. It no longer is but I do not like all the changes (more because I have to think about where things are). When I went back to DL after CA was added, I felt the same uncomfortable feeling. A little disoriented.
My DD made fast passes a couple of months out but we changed our park day so she switched at the last minute. We also like to hop (my son was only there two days so we did MK, Epcat and AK) and I think that complicated the fast pass+.
My DD, who was in charge loved the new system. I don't know how much was me. We had not been for 5 years and MK used to be my favorite park. It no longer is but I do not like all the changes (more because I have to think about where things are). When I went back to DL after CA was added, I felt the same uncomfortable feeling. A little disoriented.
I love the new system myself for the ability to schedule my Must Do attractions ahead of time and for changing FP on the go. I also love not having to keep track of actual paper FPs and using the MB instead. But you're right, changing park days at the last minute and hopping do complicate things. As I seldom do either, FP+ really enhances my established touring style but I can see how it might not mesh quite so well with yours. And I hear you about feeling disoriented. I'm headed to Disneyland later this month and I'm feeling a little anxious about it. I have many WDW trips under my belt, I know where things are there and which attractions build lines quickly. I also have 2 MB/FP+ trips under my belt. Going to new parks and back to the "legacy" FP system will be an adjustment.
To the OP, I'm not a big fan of DHS and I can see why you might want to skip it. You should be fine changing parks and FPs, especially if you already have your "must dos" covered on other days. My guess is that you'll have the greatest selections of FPs available at the MK as there are the more FP attractions there for people to choose from.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Fast pass
. So I do feel there is some flexibility and there are FP kiosks in all the parks and you can also use the My Disney Experience on your phone to check ride wait times and possibly change fast passes.
Ms Lydia
,
Linear Mode
