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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I have ADRs for Chef Mickey's character dinner and LTT character dinner. Just for fun, I decided to read some of the latest reviews for these two restaurants today on All Ears and was surprised to find alot of negative comments for both! Specifically, people didn't like the food, and there were a few comments on bad service. Has anyone who has been there recently had the same experience? We are eating at CM's on our last night, and I don't want our vacation to end on a sour
note. I am wondering now if I should try to change our ADRs.
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I would say definitely keep the Chef Mickey's ADR!!! We hated the food but it didn't matter, it was our last night and we wanted to leave with memories of Mickey and the gang dancing and laughing.
To those people who gave it bad reviews, I would say why the h-e-double-hockey-sticks would you go to Chef Mickey's for the food? Go to the California Grille for a gourmet meal. Go to Chef Mickey's for a great time.
We actually did both back in September 07 and we liked them both. While the food may not be anything to write home about, it was still pretty tasty. The character interaction at LTT was awesome, and at CM we saw each of the characters several times. The service in both resteraunts was very good as well.
hummm... Chef Mickey's was it's usual, wonderful self in May. No complaints at all. I haven't been to LTT since 2005 and the food was so so, but my only real complaint was not about food or characters; it was the restrooms! There were only 2 stalls in the ladies room and we waited at least 20 minutes, not cool with a 5 year old!
We've eaten at both and had a great time at both. Both my husband and my DD3 love the food at Chef Mickey's because it is so...generic for lack of a better word. It is all tasty and not to exotic for those with picky eaters in their families. I personally love the food at LTT. There is nothing like Thanksgiving comfort food with characters! Both places had excellent character interaction and we enjoyed good service as well.
Being in the industry, I find that most people WILL tell you when they have a BAD experience at a restaurant, and if they have a nice time, it is just not discussed. When someone is upset with something they have spent good money on, they are more insistent in sharing their opinion. Here on the boards, you'll find more favorable reviews for both these places if you do a thread search. Take my advice, if there is a place you want to try, go ahead and TRY it. FORM YOUR OWN OPINION. Disney restaurants are overall a successful dining experience considering the amount of people and food they deal with all day. Remember, you probably know a person in your life who finds something to complain about in any situation, and you probably don't value their opinion very much. Granted, I'm not dismissing any bad review, even the best restaurant can have an awful day; I'm just a proponent of deciding for yourself. The opposite can be true too--a place that everyone else RAVES about may not be the right fit for you and yours.
VERY well said. I read restaurant reviews, but people's opinions on food can vary sooooo much. I always need to form my own opinion. Take Boatwrights....most of the reviews are bad.....we loved it there!
I personally love the food at LTT....very yummy Thanksgiving type meal!! We will be eating at CM's in October.
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We personally loved Chef Mickey's when we ate there in May 2007.
The food? Fine. Not the best meal in my entire life but certainly not bad. But we didn't go for a gourmet meal ... we went for the experience. And boy did we get it! It was fun -- and magical and a great time. A wonderful way to say goodbye to WDW!
Here's the thing - everyone has an opinion and is very much entitled to it. I too have driven myself crazy triying to pick a resort for our next visit based on different feed back - Who loves it, hates it and why? Bitterchickey is right ... if there is something that seems appealing to you and your tastes try it and see for yourself! You'll be satisfied no matter how it turns out - either thrilled that it was good or at least confident that now you know what it's really like and won't need to wonder "what if?"
I agree about forming your opinion. I tend to stick with restaurants, even if I read a lot of bad reviews about them, as I'd rather make up my own mind. We loved our meal at Chef Mickey's in December - we had some wonderful character interaction and, as has already been said, really that's what you're paying for at both meals, not gourmet food. The food there was very good as well - we had no complaint with it.
We ate at CMs twice (dinner and breakfast) this time. We had no complaints either time. The character interaction was wonderful. We saw each of the characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald) several times. They were happy to pose for pictures each time and interacted with the kids each time they stopped. The food was very good. DS had his own plate prepared each time (due to a food allergy even though he wasn't old enough to have his own plan).
Haven't eaten at LTT so I can't say what it's like.
I love LTT...my family doesn't.....we had a great time at CM on our first time there, then 2 not-so-good....and my family refuses to go again.....but that's just one opinion.....
my mom and dad had a very humorous relationship...one of her great come-backs to dad was....."dear, I give you the right to your opinion, no matter how wrong you are....I stil get a kick out of that remark. My family is now older and they would rather go to more "adult" restaurants to eat....I'll probably "never" grow up so I'll just BRIBE someone to go out with me......usually when I go with my co-workers (girl's get-away) I talk them into trying something new rella
IMO, I would def. keep both ADR's. We have eaten at both places & love them.
CM's is a MUST on our trips, in fact, we do a dinner there the first night (our tradition) & also have a breakfast there. We have never had a problem with the food & we always enjoy the atmosphere there.
We tried LTT during our 2007 vacation & plan to eat there again. We enjoyed the food & the strawberry shortcake is to die for! Last time was the first time we tried it & we ended up eating there twice (a last minute thing on our last day).
Good luck in whatever you decide.
I try not to listen too much to the reviews as it's very subjective. Something they don't like you might love. I have gone to CM for breakfast and it was a good character meal. Nothing special but the food was fine and the characters were fun which is what a character meal is suppose to be. I also enjoyed LTT
I love love love LTT. I'm devastated that they're taking away the characters. It was my favorite character meal ever. We're doing CM's twice on our Feb trip (a breakfast and a dinner) and I'm sure it will be fine.
As it's been said, you're not at a character meal for the food, lol. But I did love the food at LTT.
I would keep them both! We had a blast at CM last September. To me buffet food is rarely as good as a regular sit-down meal, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. I haven't tried LTT yet, but I'd keep that once since it won't be a character meal much longer.
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Specifically, people didn't like the food, and there were a few comments on bad service. Has anyone who has been there recently had the same experience? We are eating at CM's on our last night, and I don't want our vacation to end on a sour 
I am wondering now if I should try to change our ADRs.
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Pixie Dust
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We loved our meal at Chef Mickey's in December - we had some wonderful character interaction and, as has already been said, really that's what you're paying for at both meals, not gourmet food. 
The food there was very good as well - we had no complaint with it.
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