Feature Article: Miami, Florida - A Unique Place - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
For as many years as I can remember, I've wanted to visit Miami, Florida, but it was only recently that I finally made it there. Although we took our time getting there from Walt Disney World, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy the journey was down there. It's not somewhere you'd head to for the day from Orlando, but from Disney's Vero Beach Resort, well, that's a possibility. So why would you want to visit Miami? Anyone who's seen Miami on the small screen over the years may well wonder that, with the famous Miami Vice show and now CSI: Miami, but for me, there was one over-riding reason why I wanted to see this city for myself – Art Deco buildings.
If you love this style of architecture, like I do, then you'll be in heaven in Miami, with over 800 preserved buildings in the Art Deco District, which is centered on South Beach. Stroll along Ocean Drive and almost every building you see is of that style with vibrant colors, such as blues, pinks and yellows. They're a joy to see and bring the beachfront to life. Many of them are, unsurprisingly, hotels, with names such as the Colony, Avalon, Clevelander, Leslie, and Carlyle amongst those that you should make sure you catch on your visit. Mainly centered between 6th and 14th streets, this isn't traditional Art Deco, but a fun Florida interpretation of it. Look at some of these properties and you'll be reminded more of a cruise ship than a building, and that makes for a very unique place.
Art Deco is, of course, not the only attraction on South Beach. As the name suggests, many people are attracted here by the lure of the amazing expanse of sandy beach, but even on the beach you can't escape the Art Deco feel. One of the highlights for me was seeing for myself the lifeguard huts, again with their fun colors. Everywhere you look around here, you get the feeling of fun living. I had read that this beach is very much home to the Beautiful People and we certainly saw some who could fall into that category, but it was nice to see many who didn't. It's a place to hang out and relax, and perhaps indulge in many of the activities offered here, such as parasailing or banana boat riding. Despite what you may have read or heard, not all of Miami's main visitor attractions lie in South Beach. Head over one of the bridges connecting it to the mainland and you'll see a very different side to Miami and one that's common to every city in the world, that of skyscrapers in the downtown district. It is home to the unique Metromover, a driver-less shuttle that runs in a loop above your head around downtown Miami. It makes for a unique sight and a different way to get around.
Downtown is also home to the Bayside Marketplace, an entertainment complex on the shoreline, which gives some beautiful views over the bay. It's home to a wide range of places to eat and shop, including the Hard Rock Cafe, which is an impressive sight, and for all us Disney fans, a Disney Store, which we, of course, had to visit during our stay!
Head west out of downtown and you'll come across the area that reputedly pays more tax than anywhere else in the whole state of Florida. Coral Gables was George Merrick's idea, who wanted to create a part-Spanish, part-Italian city. It cost something like $100 million and that was an even bigger sum of money back in the 1920s, when Coral Gables was established. Sadly, following the Wall Street crash, the city was never completed, but what's there is quite something. The houses here are all superb, although not ridiculously grandiose.
Perhaps the best known building, which is exceptionally grand, is the Biltmore Hotel. Staying here must be a real treat for anyone, like me, who enjoys swimming, as it is home to the largest hotel swimming pool in the US. It's like having your own lake in your backyard. Think of any Disney hotel and this place matches it. The architecture is striking, making it a landmark in Miami. It's a shame that it's no longer part of the Disney Vacation Club's Concierge Collection, as I would've loved to have stayed here on our DVC points.
Another very unique neighborhood, which everyone who comes to Miami should see, is Little Havana. As the name suggests, it's home to a vibrant Cuban community and that's clear to see throughout this superb area. It was delightful to walk through here and see the vivid murals, watch the older men playing dominoes in Maximo Gomez Park and to see the cigar shops.
The multi-cultural feel continues at the city's number one visitor attraction, Vizcaya, which was completed in 1916. Designed as a winter retreat for the industrialist James Deering, he wanted to re-create a 16th century Italian estate and he did a superb job of it with this building. It's possible to explore both the interior and the gardens outside, although sadly when we were in town, the rain put paid to us seeing the latter, which is a shame. From the quick glimpse we got of them through the torrents, they looked beautiful. Inside is an amazing array of stunning rooms, including the music room with its striking chandelier, the dining room, which is modeled on a Renaissance banquet hall, and the master bedroom, with its marble walls and silver plaques. It's easy to see, as you pass through each room, why most of Miami's visitors make sure to stop here on their tour of the city.
Miami certainly has plenty to offer the visitor, with boat trips out through Biscayne Bay to see the city from the water and the Everglades nearby, offering a day out with a difference. We found our time here flew by, as there was just so much to see and do and it's a city we hope to get back to one day, as it's enchanting and full of life and, of course, Art Deco buildings!
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Hybrid Mode
