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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 know some of you remember my car woes - although in the long run they really weren't all that bad. It needed this, then it needed that. I forget how long ago now but I was told the end of the car was starting to rust away and one of the last times my car was looked at, I was told I might end up with a Fred Flintstone car (meaning no floor). I wasn't overly concerned but a couple of weeks ago (I can't remember now if it was before or after Disney) when I asked how soon that might happen my mechanic basically said "one day it'll be there, the next it'll be gone." That concerned me. Not enough to do anything at the time because they (mechanics and service writers) said it was okay for now. Fast forward to this past weekend when Lenny and I did groceries. On the way home, we passed a small car dealer that had a Santa Fe (the type of car we had in Disney this year that we both really liked) so it got me to thinking. What is going to happen this winter with ice, snow, salt and sand? Is my car going to make it? I went online to see what I could find out about the car just to look. I ended up finding another one with just as many miles but three years newer (a 12 versus an 09) and not that much more money. I started crunching numbers and while I didn't have 100% of what I needed, the rest wasn't impossible to come up with.
After I got out of work on Sunday, mom and Abby went with me just to look. I hadn't fully decided whether to actually get it or not. After driving it and talking numbers with the salesman, we came to a total I could do but I wanted my mechanic to look at it first and they were okay with that. Monday was a Jewish holiday and I didn't have to work so I took the car that day for an "extended test drive." There were a few problems with it - two mismatched tires, the rotors were bad, the oil was overdue and a few other straight maintenance items. The tires and rotors to me were a sticking point so I took my estimate from my mechanic to the dealer and basically said "what are you going to do for me." I will make a long story short but basically they weren't going to do anything for me - and they cut my trade in value in half to boot . After something like two hours of going back and fourth (but most of it with mom, Abby and I sitting at a table by ourselves) they refused to do anything acceptable and I literally told them "you forget, I do not need this car. I have one that still runs. I am not getting this car" and we walked out of the dealer. I didn't have my heart set on the car so I was perfectly okay with it and had absolutely no regrets about walking away.
Yesterday morning, guess who calls me while I'm at work but the salesman. All of a sudden, they were willing to work with me on the tires and rotors but not the trade in value. I told him "let me think about it and I'll call you back." I didn't want to say no right away but I did have every intention of calling and saying no. What I did instead though was call mom - and again, long story short - everyone at the station ended up in a pow wow about me and what I should do The consensus was the car is a really good one and at the original price they quoted pretty much a steal so it would be a shame if I let it go. After talking with mom, then the mechanic and then mom again and then spending like 10 minutes hearing mom say "hold on, they're talking" she finally said hold on and then the station owner came on the phone. He said what I already knew - if I let the dealer do the work, chances were pretty good it wasn't going to be done right and I'd have to put more work and money into it. What he suggested was to ask for more than what they had originally quoted me for my trade in and tell them I will get the work done on my own, they wouldn't have to, and see what they came back with. If I could do it, great, if they weren't willing to work with me, then walk so I took his suggestion.
I called back the dealer and said "I heard what you had to say, now this is where I stand. I'd like 2500 on my Malibu and I will assume all responsibility for the rotors and the tires and all the other things on the Santa Fe. You will not be responsible for fixing any of it." The salesman groaned when I upped the value of my car but he said he'd get back to me. About 30 minutes later, the sales manager called me back instead saying my car wasn't worth it but they'd give me 1500 for it." My response? "I'll tell you what, why don't we meet in the middle. You give me the 2000 I was originally promised sight unseen on my Malibu bringing the total back to what was agreed upon on Sunday and I will take responsibility of the rotors and tires, etc on the Santa Fe. You won't be held responsible for any of it." He said let me put you on hold for a minute. I wasn't even on hold 5 seconds and he came back and agreed to those terms. So after all is said and done, I know own a new to me Santa Fe. I know it doesn't seem like I made out by having to put work into the car but in a way, I did.
Had I agreed to their terms - they do the work and only give me half the value on my Malibu - I would have ended up spending more money in a couple of months to redo what they didn't do correctly (I and the station owner where I work have no doubt they would have taken shortcuts). With the way it worked out, I got the original price agreed upon with the knowledge of what work is needed. Most of it is regular maintenance that is by no means urgent so it's stuff I would have to do anyway and when it comes to the tires and rotors, I'll get my employee discount and it shouldn't cost me too much more than the $1000 the dealer tried to take away from me. Either way I was going to pay that amount somehow but at least this way, I know the work will be done right the first time and I'll even get a 3 year warranty on all of it to boot.
Why do dealers have to be that way though? Every time I've been to a dealer, I've had a bad experience and things eventually work out but what does it have to be so hard in the first place?
Thanks for listening to me though. I know it ended up long.
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Congrats on the new car, and on sticking to your guns on the price! A lesser woman couldn't have done it. And the trade-in you got on a car that's almost rusted through actually doesn't sound that bad.
Glad it worked out & you got a new to you car. This sort of thing always makes me glad that I don't drive & therefore don't have to deal with car dealerships & the salesmen that go with them.
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I agree that it is just painful to negotiate a car deal. When I trade next time, I might seriously consider going to Carmax. At least they don't dicker on the sticker price. It is what it is. They give you a quote on yours, and you pay the tagged price on theirs. No fussing over much of anything
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Congrats on the car. Used car dealers take many things into consideration in selling cars. I got my car for over $3500. under blue book because the dealer would have had to pay additional fees and rent if the car remained on the lot into the next month.
I paid cash with no trade so they were happy to just get the car sold. I hae it two years and out my first money into it this week for an item related to routine wear and tear.
Do you oil right away. My father was big on not letting oil go over due if you want to car to last.
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It's always a good idea to walk away if the deal doesn't suit you. As shown, they almost always come back with a new offer. Good work! I hope you enjoy it.
We had a dealership that wouldn't work with us and we walked. It took them a week to come back to us with what we wanted, but by then it was too late, we found something else we wanted more.
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. After something like two hours of going back and fourth (but most of it with mom, Abby and I sitting at a table by ourselves) they refused to do anything acceptable and I literally told them "you forget, I do not need this car. I have one that still runs. I am not getting this car" and we walked out of the dealer. I didn't have my heart set on the car so I was perfectly okay with it and had absolutely no regrets about walking away.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
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