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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Okay, don’t anybody jump me. I know I haven’t even started the job yet. I go in two days to turn in 15 pages of paperwork and set up drug testing and a polygraph.
Yes, I’ll wait to officially book the trip until after I officially start the job; but for now we want to travel to WDW March 16, staying for the first time at Art of Animation in a LM room. It will probably be 6 nights, and we’d just do base tickets, one day each park. I’ve already priced and saved it on the WDW website and it’s absolutely doable for us. I just need for AoA to remain available for another 3 weeks or so, until I can get started with work.
The only real question is whether or not to book the DDP or pay out of pocket. I’m one of those who knows the money saving benefit of paying out of pocket, but I also know I will order the cheapest thing on the menu in every restaurant. The DDP removes the issue of menu prices. I’ll get what I want. I’m thinking I’ll book the DDP.
As you can see, I’m already gearing up in planning mode. These are fun times!
Me jump on you about planning a Disney trip even before you start a new job? NO WAY!
I don't even have a job yet and I bought my airfare this past Thursday for my May trip! I am contemplating whether I should make a reservation this month or wait until I get a job. (Also still unsure where to stay POFQ or CBR)
I think it is FANTASTIC that you want to go to Disney next March! I can't imagine that the room and the deal wouldn't be available for another 3 weeks. I haven't read about any discounts yet. I think you will be okay.
To do the Dining Plan? I don't know. I rarely purchase it for myself. But I think since you are budgeting the tickets, why not do the Dining Plan. It sounds like you might have made up your mind up already...
Isn't it fun to plan Disney trips even with the unknown?.... LOL
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
Go for it!! I totally understand the desire to plan away. As long as you can get the time off, then why not?
Well, technically I won’t have benefits such as vacation time, but they already told me that time off is not a problem as long as I work it around the school calendar. The new job is mostly touring 2nd grade school groups around a miniature town constructed in our downtown area, teaching them lessons and tips about safety (bikes, crosswalks, fire, strangers, etc.). So I need to be there when school is in session, but it is a salaried position, so I’ll still get paid when school (or I) am not session.
I will work during the summers, but the job will of course be different...helping in the office, cleaning the grounds and buildings. I understand summers are really low key.
So, I will be able to take spring break week, I’m sure.
Oh, we’re going for it! As soon as I get on the job, I’m reserving a resort and tickets, and possibly dining, package. We are excited to make at least two trips next year, spring and Christmas for sure, and if we can squeeze it in, another short one in the fall. Who knows? We may even wind up buying APs!
My first question when I started my current job six years ago before I accepted it - will you honour the vacation I already have booked? That included a trip to WDW, so I get it!
We might be changing dates already! I went yesterday to do paperwork for the new job (holy smoke...30+ pages) and they told me that, after the polygraph (next week) and background check (beginning next week), it will be probably 2 more weeks before they’ll be calling me to discuss a start date, and that has to be on the first day of a pay period. Safe to say, it will be several more weeks before I start the job, possibly even the middle of November.
So, I started thinking that maybe I don’t want to do a week-long trip only 4 months after I start the new gig. If we wait until the end of the school year, it’s exactly the same money, and I will have worked 6 months and gotten through to the summer school break, when things really slow down at my location.
So, new dates are probably precisely when we always used to go when I was a teacher, May 25-May 31. The good news...we won’t have to be concerned about too cool evenings. It will be plenty warm. The bad news...I’ll miss F&G Festival. I can live with that. We were there this past March, and while I loved all the flowers, I can wait to see it again.
BTW, we got a “unique offer code” in yesterday’s mail, and the only way we even came close to our AoA, LM room price quote was to move to either Coronado Springs or Caribbean Beach in a standard room only. Both of those got me 20%, but as we know, standard rooms at those resorts can be very far from amenities, and we love our drink refills. Yes, I know LM is the farthest from AoA’s main building, but we plan to request the closest building, and we feel that walk won’t bother us. Plus, that resort is just so darn cute, we like wandering around and looking at everything,
We’re still going, just a bit later than we originally supposed. It’s still very exciting!
Well that’s good to know, Kate. We’ve been many times for that week, and F&G is really past its prime, but maybe I’ll still get a glimpse of it. Thanks for checking.
Ya know...it seems to be an "age old question" around these boards:
To DDP or not to DDP? LMAO
Personally, it always comes down to - are you going to get your money's worth? For my Husband and I - YES. He eats for three. We always make out like a bandit with the DDP. But I know others who it is not worth it at all. To his, his own.
Congrats on the new job by the way and let us know what you decide
Woo Hoo!! You're still going to Disney! I know what you mean about F&G being past it's prime. I've seen it in early March and late May and neither is ideal. I love April, early May, but you've got to do the schedule that fits the job. The topiaries should still be good though. Don't forget CBR and CS are both under a lot of construction these days, so you are still better off at AoA I think.
I agree about being better off at AoA. When it first opened, Joel just begged me to stay there, but I never gave in, because we could always do sooooo much better on the money at one of the other value resorts. Now, with the other values on their way to that pull down bed situation, I would rather pay a few dollars more and get two real beds. So, until AoA moves to the pull down beds in the LM rooms, that will be our value resort of choice. When we go back later next year, it will be for my long-awaited Christmas trip, technically celebrating my retirement from teaching. We will be splurging with a moderate resort, probably Caribbean Beach. By then, their reno will be done. I’m even planning to spring for a preferred room location.
For now, we are excited about the AoA trip. I’m already thinking that in only about 6 weeks I can make my ADRs!!!!! California Grill, here I come!!!
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That included a trip to WDW, so I get it! 
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