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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Good morning, hope I am posting in the right forum....
I am trying to help my friends daughter plan a trip to disney, she is on a tight budget so staying on property right now is not an option, so I am looking for the most DECENT/CLEAN PLACE and reasonable place that has a shuttle bus to TTC for her....
Any help will be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
Depending upon her budget, a value resort might be a good choice, especially if she gets a room discount (there are offers right now). She would have all the benefits of staying on site too, and have good transportation, including the free Magical Express from the airport.
Failing that, there are many name brand hotels like Holiday Inn, Best Western, etc. that even offer breakfast or at least kids eat free. I would search Kissimmee or Lake Buena Vista area hotels. She might want to subscribe to Mousesavers.com newsletter, which offers hotel and ticket discounts that can help on a budget. The only one we've stayed in recently has been the Radisson Resort - Celebration, which does have frequent deals, especially through Mousesavers.com. But there will be some cheaper, I am sure.
Depending upon her budget, a value resort might be a good choice, especially if she gets a room discount (there are offers right now). She would have all the benefits of staying on site too, and have good transportation, including the free Magical Express from the airport.
Failing that, there are many name brand hotels like Holiday Inn, Best Western, etc. that even offer breakfast or at least kids eat free. I would search Kissimmee or Lake Buena Vista area hotels. She might want to subscribe to Mousesavers.com newsletter, which offers hotel and ticket discounts that can help on a budget. The only one we've stayed in recently has been the Radisson Resort - Celebration, which does have frequent deals, especially through Mousesavers.com. But there will be some cheaper, I am sure.
thank you, i will def. tell her, i have all my pricing worked out for her, and i also notice some of these off prop. hotels charge fee's parking fee's, so if her and her boyfriend are gonna rent a car they have to add that factor in as well.
thanks again
Be aware that the off site shuttles often run on very limited schedules and sometimes the last run is before the park actually closes. If it only goes to the TTC, they then have to figure time to/from the park they are visiting into their schedule. I know tight budgets, but a value room might still be the best bet when you figure all the transportation issues and costs.
It is my understanding that both hotwire and priceline have lots of rooms around Disney, many for under $50. I would not bid on anything less than a 3-4 star.
My other suggestion for any one who wants to do a budget trip in to stay both off site and on. Because we had three kids who would not share beds, we often did a split trip, half on site (usually two rooms in a deluxe) and half in a condo type accommodation, which was usually less that one night in a value for a two bedroom. I never had to pay for parking and we were often quite close to the parks. My boys preferred being off site because they liked being outside of Disney.
We also stayed at Homewood Suites and Residence Inns. Both have free breakfasts and many off evening snacks.
If they find an inexpensive place to stay and the shuttle times aren't good, the can try out Uber or Lyft for getting back to their rooms. It's not that expensive and more convenient.
Here is one suggested by someone that nearly always stays offsite and needs to stay cheaply. Baymont Inn and Suites at 7061 Black Lake Road in Kissimmee. I don't think it has a shuttle though.
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A stay at a value resort would get them the free shuttle from the airport. If they take into consideration staying offsite means renting a car & parking fees at the hotel, that could add up. Some are $10-11 per day. And as some folks have mentioned some of the hotels have either very limited shuttle times or often limited seating, which would be frustrating. I think I'd have them call WDW and ask for any current deals to consider. Who knows what Magic they may come up with!
My coworker just stayed at Hilton Bonnet Creek and loved it.
Yeah, but HBC is not budget. I've stayed there before when they first opened. Got a really good deal, and I loved it, too. Since then, they have jacked rates and added a resort fee, plus they have a parking fee if you have a vehicle ( I used Mears airport shuttle, $34 RT in 2011) . Hotel food is expensive and nothing else within walking distance.
My first suggestion is get a discount at a WDW value. If that doesn't work, try to get a Disney Springs area hotel w/ a Mousesavers discount (usually part of the discount is no or greatly reduced resort fees). Skip the rental car, use the Mears shuttle from/to airport (or do two one way rentals if they can get them cheaper than the shuttle), and use the Disney Springs shuttles for the parks. Shuttles from other hotels are either not free or they take forever IMO.
However, if they have way more time than money, they can stay somewhere on a Lynx bus route and take the Lynx to TTC every day. That takes a LOT of time though.
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Be aware that the off site shuttles often run on very limited schedules and sometimes the last run is before the park actually closes. If it only goes to the TTC, they then have to figure time to/from the park they are visiting into their schedule. I know tight budgets, but a value room might still be the best bet when you figure all the transportation issues and costs.
exactly!!!
i just spoke to her mom and told her mom that she's so much better off at a value, for the few extra bucks its totally worth not having to hassle with everything else
It is my understanding that both hotwire and priceline have lots of rooms around Disney, many for under $50. I would not bid on anything less than a 3-4 star.
My other suggestion for any one who wants to do a budget trip in to stay both off site and on. Because we had three kids who would not share beds, we often did a split trip, half on site (usually two rooms in a deluxe) and half in a condo type accommodation, which was usually less that one night in a value for a two bedroom. I never had to pay for parking and we were often quite close to the parks. My boys preferred being off site because they liked being outside of Disney.
We also stayed at Homewood Suites and Residence Inns. Both have free breakfasts and many off evening snacks.
thank you, if she insist on off site I will also recommend those hotels to her, thanks!
If they find an inexpensive place to stay and the shuttle times aren't good, the can try out Uber or Lyft for getting back to their rooms. It's not that expensive and more convenient.
Here is one suggested by someone that nearly always stays offsite and needs to stay cheaply. Baymont Inn and Suites at 7061 Black Lake Road in Kissimmee. I don't think it has a shuttle though.
A stay at a value resort would get them the free shuttle from the airport. If they take into consideration staying offsite means renting a car & parking fees at the hotel, that could add up. Some are $10-11 per day. And as some folks have mentioned some of the hotels have either very limited shuttle times or often limited seating, which would be frustrating. I think I'd have them call WDW and ask for any current deals to consider. Who knows what Magic they may come up with!
this is totally what i just told her mom, i pleaded for her to stay on site, lol
her daughter is at work right now, so i told her to please sit her down and tell her all the things i just told you, honestly when i did the math, staying on site was only 60.00 MORE, how can you go wrong, esp. with the transportation to and from the airport and the buses to the parks
one option is to stay at a non Disney hotel near Disney Springs. We´d done that a couple of times when we got great rates there. The hotels are walking distance to Disney Springs and from there you can get to the parks.