Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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03-15-2003, 07:45 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 15
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Reservations! Spa/Dinner
I have read my passporter cover to cover, I have been on at least 4 web sites (this is definitely in my top 2) and I still can't get the full grasp of the reservation thing!
Is it going to be like a stampede [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img]
We have 2 kids ages (7 & 5 at sail time) they are signing up for the club (I think we can do this in a casual way not "get there quick" [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] but definitely sign up after lunch (day 1)
DH and I thought we would like to do 2 things Palo and the Spa (the one that has the mineral mud? [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ) "Surial" I think it is called!
If we arrive at the port (from the Budget Shuttle) by 10:00 what time do people line up to check in? If we get there at 11:00 how is the line? How about 12:00? I think it will be about a 90 minute drive from WDW and we could sleep in or swim before we leave the resort for our long drive provided we don't lose out on our cruise resi's [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Do we have to be first at check in to get onto the ship first to then get to reservations first (Aaaahhhh!!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] )
You get my vibe!!! I don't want to start this vacation on a stressful note! We were hoping for reservations on a non formal night as we plan to get all "gussied up" [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] for formal night!
Do people line up at the resi desk before it even opens?
Thanks
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03-16-2003, 08:11 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: jacksonville, fl usa
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 5,790
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
Hi Tinksfriend! Welcome to the PassPorter boards! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img] Are you doing a seven-night cruise? If so, there will be much less stress in the reservation sign-up process, as there are more days to work with. The spa appointments are definitely easier to get during times when the ship is in port. If that's an option for you, plan on one of those times. I've also heard Palo has been easier to come by in recent times as Disney has many repeat cruisers, which means less people trying it out for the first time. It's still a must for many, so still a tough seat to come by, but again if you're on a 7-night cruise, more spots available.
One thing you may want to do, is split up between your husband and you...one handling the spa reservation and one handling the Palo reservation.
Check-in begins around 10:30, but you can arrive a bit earlier. DCL check-in lines are pretty manageable, so even arriving at 11:00 will be ok. The ship will board as early as 12:15, and as late as 1:00 p.m. If you do get to the port early to check-in, there are seating areas to rest and also a small coffee and pastry stand.
Take a deep breath before arriving, and know you are going on a relaxing and wonderful Disney cruise!
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03-16-2003, 10:19 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Poinciana, Florida
Posts: 9,422
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
We registered for the wine tasting seminar. (I had to cancel it when I got sick though.) I went and did the registration while the family was at the departure party. Not much of a line at all then.
[ 03-16-2003, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: Disnydad ]
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03-16-2003, 03:16 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 15
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
We are doing the 7 night cruise and we at this point don't have a preference for in port or at sea days for either Palo or the spa. Some of my concerns are the "stress" [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
I don't really want to split up, I envision us being curious about the ship and wanting to initially explore together as a family. Also, I don't want the kids to have to be pulled throughout the ship to stand in lines! Obviously I will do what needs to be done [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] I will make a pak not to complain to much [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] about lines!
Thanks for your help!
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03-16-2003, 06:07 PM
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#5
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 14,427
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
You have three stops to make - Palo reservations, spa reservations, and sign-up for the kids clubs. If you board early, you won't even be able to get into your stateroom for another half-hour to an hour.
I suggest that you do split up - have your husband take care of the Palo reservations while you and the kids go to the spa for sign-up. That leaves you and the kids on Deck 9, site of the lunch buffet. Have your husband meet you outside the spa, then you can all get a bite, tour the ship together, and sign-up for the kids club sometime before 4:00pm (during the course of your tour).
If you do want to stay together, no big deal. Palo signup is usually on Deck 3 Aft, not far from where you board the ship (Deck 3 Mid). After you're done with Palo, either head to Deck 3 Foreward for lunch at Parrot Cay and grab the Foreward elevator up to Deck 9 for spa signup, or sign up for Palo, head up to Deck 9 Foreward for the spa, then walk to Deck 9 Aft for lunch.
You could also take a little risk on the spa by skipping it as part of your early dash. You can make spa reservations by phone once you're on board. Plan to phone the spa from your stateroom once you have access to it.
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03-16-2003, 11:03 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 9
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
On our first cruise my dh and I split up but stayed in contact via two way radios, he was at Palos and I in the spa line because I really wanted cabana massages at Castaway. When he was done at Palos he radioed me that he would take the kids to topsiders and where to meet them. The radios were a saver many times.
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03-17-2003, 08:21 AM
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#7
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 15
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Re: Reservations! Spa/Dinner
great idea about the radios, we will have ours with us for our 2 days at WDW prior to the cruise! I never thought to use them on the ship!
Thanks to all!
Carolyn
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