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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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10-28-2004, 12:16 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Wayfarer 
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: North Prairie, WI
Posts: 197
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Using an Agent
I already have room only reservations for April 2005, but we're going to purchase APs and would like to get some great AP rates when they become available.
Can I now contact a travel agent for them to take over and watch for the AP rates or is it too late?
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10-28-2004, 12:22 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 4,488
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Re: Using an Agent
Absolutely! It will save you big headaches if you do that, too! The one I use is Grand Getaways and I have been extremely pleased with them! Not only did they watch for codes, but they also helped me make my PS's, which was a huge help for me! Theie website is www.grandgetawaystravel.com
Good luck!
Stephanie
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10-28-2004, 12:26 PM
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#3
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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Re: Using an Agent
A travel agent should be able to help you out.
However, if you read these boards on a semi-regular basis, you'll know when the rates come out too, as we've got a couple nice agents who post the deals, and then you'll be able to do the change yourself (if you want).
-HiddenMickey
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10-28-2004, 02:49 PM
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#4
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tulsa, OK
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 21,627
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Re: Using an Agent
I agree with Stephanie...your Grand Getaways is great. Maureen found me great AP rates for both my upcoming trips.
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10-28-2004, 05:36 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,590
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Re: Using an Agent
We got an agent from the get go. But I don't see why not get one now. They may find other discounts you may have over looked. If I get this one job, I may consider a weekend flight down. This 3 nite pkg looks tempting.
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10-28-2004, 10:32 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Southern New Jersey
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 4,013
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Re: Using an Agent
[ QUOTE ]
Absolutely! It will save you big headaches if you do that, too! The one I use is Grand Getaways and I have been extremely pleased with them! Not only did they watch for codes, but they also helped me make my PS's, which was a huge help for me! Theie website is www.grandgetawaystravel.com
Good luck!
Stephanie
[/ QUOTE ]
I booked with a "mall" travel agent who couldn't get me discount rates. Many people on these boards told me to contact www.grandgetawaystravel.com and see what they could do for me. Courtney was awesome!!! She saved us about $600.00 on our room only reservation (we got AP rates)- I think the "mall" travel agent was impressed because she let us out of our reservation with her because she couldn't get us a price even close to what we got with Courtney!!! The quote is free with no obligation.  Good Luck! |
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10-29-2004, 08:10 AM
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#7
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Community Rank: Passenger 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 47
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Re: Using an Agent
I can confirm everything being said. I was new to the boards but learned very quickly that the people at Grand Getaways Travel are definitely the people to use for any travel needs. Funny thing is I only thought about using them for Disney vacations and now have come to realize that they can handle all of my travel needs. I would check out their website for a quote: www.grandgetawaystravel.com -- they are very quick and very pleasant. Good Luck. |
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10-29-2004, 08:15 AM
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#8
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 44
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Re: Using an Agent
This is great information. Once we make our final decisions, I may contact these people for some help. I am finding that planning this trip for my family is becoming quite a task. I think it's more than I bargained for when I agreed to handle everything.
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10-29-2004, 07:55 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,357
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Re: Using an Agent
[ QUOTE ]
This is great information. Once we make our final decisions, I may contact these people for some help. I am finding that planning this trip for my family is becoming quite a task. I think it's more than I bargained for when I agreed to handle everything.
[/ QUOTE ]
Go ahead and contact a good agent now. They may be able to suggest options that change your mind about what you thought you wanted.
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10-30-2004, 12:54 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 47
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Re: Using an Agent
I made my own room ressie and then after reading other message boards I decided I would get a TA that was recommended on this other board for getting the discount codes(before I even found this board)and also on a very well known Disney information site. I thought it would be easier for them to keep up with the discount codes. But...when the codes came out I got a little nervous and to be sure that I did get the discounted rate, I called myself and got a ressie with the discount. I have yet to hear from my TA saying that she got me the discounted rate. So I plan to cancel the ressie made through the TA and keep my own. It sounds as though lots of people are very pleased with the TA mentioned on this board, so next time I'll know who to get as my TA!
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10-31-2004, 10:18 PM
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#11
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Using an Agent
Hey, better late than not at all: I'd use Your Magical Journeys if I were you. They have been around several years and are Disney Earmarked.
We just returned from a WONDERFUL land/cruise trip. THANK YOU KAREN!! |
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11-03-2004, 02:06 PM
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#12
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Long Beach, CA
Posts: 337
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Re: Using an Agent
Is there a fee charged for going through a travel agent? How do they get paid?
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11-03-2004, 03:04 PM
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#13
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 4,488
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Re: Using an Agent
[ QUOTE ]
Is there a fee charged for going through a travel agent? How do they get paid?
[/ QUOTE ]
There is no fee that you pay - WDW pays them a commission for what they book for you.
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11-06-2004, 12:35 PM
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#14
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 47
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Re: Using an Agent
[ QUOTE ]
I have yet to hear from my TA saying that she got me the discounted rate. So I plan to cancel the ressie made through the TA and keep my own. It sounds as though lots of people are very pleased with the TA mentioned on this board, so next time I'll know who to get as my TA!
[/ QUOTE ]
I just heard via snail mail that the TA did get the discount for me. I guess I jumped the gun, but I expected to hear via email, since that's the way most of our transactions have taken place, if there was any change in my ressie. I was anxious to know if I had extra money to spend at WDW and I would have preferred to know right away!
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11-06-2004, 06:34 PM
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#15
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Using an Agent
glad to hear you got the discount. I will add my kudos for Grand Getaways!!! They are fantastic.
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