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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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You can't do ADR's until 6:00 a.m. ET. It's FP's that can be done after the last park closes.
We do ours online which is pretty simple for us since we're accustomed to a 4:00 a.m. CT wakeup. By the time 5:00 our time strikes, we have a desktop and a mobile on and holding for the window opening. (Two devices just in case the site or the app either one pitches a hissy. Yes, that can happen.)
If you wait until 7:00 when the dining line opens, you may easily be out of luck for the hot restaurants if you had any on your list.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
For our last two trips I've had to call in at 7:00 am because I've always had some kind of computer glitch at 6:00 am. Both times I was able to get what I wanted at the times I wanted.
Yep, I figured the difference between FP window-open time and ADR time had escaped you momentarily. (Not that the rest of us have ever had that experience. )
Glad to have been able to help.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
My last few trips I've done everything online. We usually don't do the "big ticket" meals/times, so I've never had an issue getting what I want +pretty close to when I want it. The only issue I've had - and this was a couple of years ago - was the 180+10 wasn't working for me, so I had to log in daily to get everything scheduled.
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We just do online. The only time I called was for the first year of the dessert party in MK, and once my TA made a reservation for us. Everything else I book through MDE.
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Always on line. I don't do very many ADR's since I travel solo and am not particularly a "dining" person. I surprised myself a few weeks ago and decided, at the relative last minute, to make ADR's for my April trip. I now have an ADR for each day, unheard of for me!
Don't forget while there if you have a smartphone how easy it is to add an ADR if there's a desirable time, of course, for where you'd like to eat.
We decided on a whim late Christmas night last year to see if we could get 1900 PF the next morning. Fired up MDE on the iPhone and found a perfect time for us.
Just as simple as making ADR's on a desktop or laptop.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
I did our first half online! Everything went very smoothly!
Now I wait to make the second half of the stay ADRs on March 30!
You are so lucky - I'm having to do ours daily, as it just never seems to recognise our DVC reservation... It's happened for the last two trips and it's the same again this time.
I do ours online because I'm very fast on the computer. Even though I can only go as fast as the website, but in general I'm still faster than average.