Federal judge dismissed 2 lawsuits regarding DAS - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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A Federal judge ruled in Disney's favor in the 2 lawsuits that had been filed by family of guest with autism alleging WDW unfairly discontinued Guest Assistance Cards
I didn't read that particular article but I did read one earlier at whatever site I was at (the name escapes me at the moment ) but I agreed with the court - and we're users of the DAS. I have to admit, when I heard about the changes, I wasn't overly happy but that came from not having enough information. The more I learned about how the new system was going to work, the more I looked forward to trying it out. For us, the DAS works very, very well and we like how it works - because it's fair to everyone.
My adult son with autism has been going to WDW since age 13 and we haven't used either the GAC or DAS, but I think the new system looks fair and workable for most people. We use FP, shorter periods of time in the parks, more breaks, and distraction (including sound-muffling headphones and iPods) to help him. He loves going to WDW and we rarely have major meltdowns anymore as he knows what to expect and has learned to wait up to an hour in line for a favorite ride.
I, too, was skeptical of the change from GAC to DAS, but we have found it workable. It's all about setting expectations and making sure my son understood what was coming with the change.
I will continue to suggest that the DAS works far less well at Epcot and Animal Kingdom, because those parks are so spread out and we have to go long distances to get return times. If anyone at WDW is listening, centrally located kiosks would be appreciated, especially at those parks. They do it in California. Why not Orlando?
I am glad these cases were dismissed. Though we don't know the specific circumstances of these families, I think some of this kind of thing (okay, I'd say a lot of it) is just sour grapes. I know we all want our kids to have a magical experience, but I personally think it's important for them to understand reality and getting along in the real world.
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) but I agreed with the court - and we're users of the DAS. I have to admit, when I heard about the changes, I wasn't overly happy but that came from not having enough information. The more I learned about how the new system was going to work, the more I looked forward to trying it out. For us, the DAS works very, very well and we like how it works - because it's fair to everyone.
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