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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Cast
Me (Kerry) narrator and trip planner
John my husband
Ross age 9 (10 now)
Owen age 8
Kathleen my mum and kids Nana
Bryan my dad and kids Dada
Joanne my sister
Chris my brother in law
Cameron age 7
Katie age 4
I set my alarm for 3.50 but woke up at 3 and couldn't get back to sleep! John said I woke him up with me snoring. First job of the day was to feed the cats (Rory and Dixie)and change the cat litter. Rory and Dixie are both 5. This is Rory now
and here she is as a kitten
Here is Dixie
and here she is as a kitten
I had my shower whilst John and the boys had breakfast, too early for me so I just had a coffee. Said goodbye to my girls Rory and Dixie and we left at 5.15. Our next door neighbour Yvonne was coming to look after the cats and she was so good to them whilst we were away, visiting 3 times a day to see and care for them. We had a good journey and got picked up by the bus at the airport car park as soon as we arrived. Wrong car park as it turns out but that's another story for the end of the trip report! Once we got to the airport we met Mum, Dad, Joanne, Chris, Cameron and Katie. They were a bit ahead of us in the check in queue but we were all soon checked in and met up again in the departure lounge. Joanne, Mum and myself had a latte whilst we waited for the plane which was on time.
The plane left at 8.40 and we had a nice breakfast of bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomato.
The plane landed ahead of time despite have to queue over London as lots of planes were coming in to land at the same time.
Once we landed Mum, Dad, Joanne, Chris, Cameron and Katie has to board their plane to JFK which was leaving at 11.20.
We were flying via Philadelphia and that didn't leave until 12.45.
Got the kids a kinder egg and an Ok mag for me at WH Smith and then waited for our plane.
In hindsight we'd never get 3 planes to Orlando ever again as it was much too tiring. We normally fly direct from Gatwick and land about 3pm US time. We didn't get to our hotel until 12.45 am US time having been up since 3.30 UK time!
The flights were all good though but it's not for us.
I enjoyed the films during the BA flight and watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, Shallow Water and Finding Dory.
The kids were very good during all the flights.
They played computer games and watched tv and the angry birds film.
I had vegetable lasagne and john had chicken curry. We had chocolate mousse too. The kids had chicken nuggets, peas and mash.
We enjoyed several drinks onboard, I had 3 red wines and a whisky and lemonade. John had 4 beers.
Landed on time and didn't take too long to clear customs. Our flight to Orlando was delayed until 8pm was supposed to be 6.20.
We were hungry and had some tasty cheeseburgers and fries from Wendy's.
Eventually got on plane to Orlando and met up with everyone at Disney's Magical Express.
They didn't care much for JFK and had problem with buses at airport.
We had nice journey on Magical Express bus and finally reached Saratoga Springs Resort.
To end a stressful day, the kids bed hadn't been made up so was doing that at 1am! Apart from that we were very happy to be back at Disney World.
See you soon with Day 1
Last edited by Saratogasprings; 02-24-2017 at 03:52 PM..
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Had a good sleep and woke up at 8.15, I think we were the last ones up as we met everyone else at breakfast at the Artists Palette.
With the kids dining plan, children can get an adults quick service meal which gives them more choice.
The boys had scrambled eggs and bacon with some strawberries to have after.
I had the bounty platter which was very nice. It had bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, a biscuit and a Mickey waffle with syrup.
As on every holiday we went to the Magic Kingdom for our first day. It was lovely and hot, in the 90's.
I always love seeing the main entrance and was delighted to be here again. Cameron and Katie had never been to Disney before so was lovely to see their reaction.
Out first fast pass was for the Haunted Mansion
We love this ride and it's one of our favourites. Katie didn't like it as there were no princesses and it was scary!
You always see new things no matter how many times you ride it. I saw legs under the ghostly dining table at the banquet which I hadn't noticed before.
Next up was mum's favourite ride, It's a Small World. It was good as usual and the kids all enjoyed it.
Mum was funny boarding the boat and stepped into the wrong row as she was getting on��
Had some water as we were thirsty with the heat and then ice lollies and Mickey ice creams for the kids.
Messy faces all round after the Mickey ice cream! ����
Pirates of the Caribbean didn't have too long a line, so we went on that. Few little changes since 2013. Great ride which everyone enjoyed.
We were all racing drivers next as we went on the Speedway. Ross and Owen drove their cars with John and Dad as passengers. Mum was my passenger. Fun ride.
Splash Mountain was next and I always love this ride. Love having the memory maker and all the great photos you get with it.
Mum doesn't like the big drop in Splash Mountain so her and Dad were going to go to see the Country Bear Jamboree whilst we went on Splash.
Didn't quite go to plan as Mum went to the toilet and then couldn't find Dad when she came out. Poor Dad was waiting 45 minutes before he finally met Mum again! They tried to find each other but eventually Dad went to the "if you get lost" meet up point beside the Walt and Mickey statue. After we came out of Splash Mountain we went over to the Country bears but didn't see them come out. By this time the Festival of Fantasy parade had started so stopped to watch that. It was a good parade and I liked the fire breathing dragon, you can tell I'm a Game of Thrones fan��!
Once traffic had cleared we went down to the hub area and saw mum and dad at the meet up point. We heard what had happened and Dad said he didn't even get to see the bears!�� Felt sorry for poor mum being lost that length of time.
We all then decided to go back to the hotel and John and the boys went swimming�� whilst I finished the unpacking.
John couldn't find his swimming shorts and was hunting all over for them when he discovered he'd been wearing them as "normal" shorts all day ha ha ��
We all had showers and got ready for Disney Springs (DS), it was funny calling it that as it's always been Downtown Disney to us. Had lovely boat ride down and walked to the Rainforest Cafe. It was pouring rain ☔️ once we got to DS so we sheltered in the Lego shop until nearer our reservation time.
Got our table after 10 mins or so.
Mum, Dad and myself had
Jungle Steak and Shrimp
Fiat Iron steak, steak butter, Shrimp Scampi, Caribbean Coconut Shrimp, choice of a side
$28.49
It was lovely but my steak was very rare and not medium as I'd asked. On our second visit there, right at the end of the holiday, the waiters were asking diners to cut into their steak when it arrived at the table to check if it was cooked correctly. They must have had complaints as I've never seen them do that before.
My steak was very nice though and the shrimp was lovely. Ps everyone else's steak was fine.
John had
Primal Steak
Aged USDA choice center-cut NY strip steak, char-broiled, steak butter, red skinned mashed potatoes, choice of a side
$34.99
Joanne had
Ribs, Steak & Shrimp Trio
Caribbean Coconut Shrimp, Mojo Bones Ribs, flat iron steak with steak butter, coleslaw, Safari fries
$30.99
Chris had
Rainforest Burger
Lettuce, tomato, pickle, cheese, topped with a fried onion ring, choice of a side. Add bacon or sautéed mushrooms 1.49
$15.99
Ross had
Hot Dog
Traditional favorite served with mac and cheese and drink
$8.99
Owen had hotdog and fries
Cameron had
Rainforest Rascals
Char-grilled mini burgers served with choice of side and drink
$8.99
Katie ordered
Macaroni & Cheese
Pasta with cheese sauce served with choice of side and drink
$8.99
Poor wee girl fell asleep so Jo and Chris took it back to the room.
I had
Tribal Cheesecake
Our traditional cheesecake served with creamy whipped topping and topped with raspberry sauce
$8.99
This was nice but only managed a bit of it as it was very filling.m
The kids had an ice cream sandwich
Got boat back to Saratoga Springs. Lovely first day��
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Nice start to your trip even with a long flight. Lot of fun in the MK with some fun and attractions! Looks like an enjoyed dinner at RC in the Springs!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Great start and I am very happy to hear that you have made it to the bubble!!
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