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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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07-26-2002, 09:15 AM
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#1
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 16,825
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Vegas Highlights
I know I promised a trip report but Vegas was just to overwhelming to take it all in! So here are the basics of what I did and saw.
Getting There (and Back): I got last minute airfare on Continental for $251 roundtrip with stops both ways in Cleveland. I saw "Big Fat Liar" on the way out and "High Crimes" on the way back. The movies are free if you have headphones, they sell earphones for $2 if you don't. They are yours to keep and you can use them on other Continental flights. The food was really bad and they still serve peanuts as snacks. (I am allergic.) I would fly Continental again but pack food in my carry-on!! We did not check any luggage, I brought a purse and a 19" suitcase. The suitcase did get gate-checked on one leg but that was it.
Staying In Style: We stayed at Caesar's Palace. Caesar's is currently undergoing HUGE renovations and building a new Coliseum for Celine Dion. She will be performing there for three years starting in 2003. This caused major headaches with the elevators. Due to 3 large conferences, one of which Shawn was attending, Caesar's was very full and it took forever to get an elevator. There were literally lines in the morning, at lunch and at about 5:00. We stayed in the Forum Towers. We had a view of the parking lot but our room did have a HUGE bathroom with a two person whirlpool bath, a shower and seperate toilet area. The tub MORE than made up for the view!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Touring the World: As I was on my own most of the time, I basically wandered. I shopped at the Shops at Caesar's Forum, wandered over to the Venetian and the Bellagio and checked out their shop. Tiffany, Chanel, Versace, Oh my!!! (And yes, I did come home with 2 pairs of shoes. But that's it! I was good!) I also spent one morning in the Spa at Caesar's. I had a facial, manicure, pedicure and scalp treatment. It was wonderful - probably one of the best spas I've been too. On Shawn's one afternoon off, I dragged him over to the Venetian and we went on the Gondola ride where the Gondolier sang "Bella Notte" from Lady & The Tramp!! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]
Feasting and Snacking: Shawn ate at Spago before I arrived and said it was amazing. He had the Pancetta-wrapped Meatloaf. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] When I arrived I was starving but didn't know what I wanted so we went to the Palatium Buffet at Caesar's. Wow!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Rock Crab legs and claws, amazing Prime Rib (of course), and everything else my little heart could desire. And that was before I saw the dessert buffet! [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] The next night I was on my own for dinner so I just went to the Food Court (La Piazza). Tuesday, we had dinner with Shawn's boss and his co-worker at The Cheesecake Factory. It was great!! I had never been to one so had no idea what to expect. Had some sort of pasta thing for dinner and had the Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake for dessert. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] The last night was the Closing Ceremonies for Shawn's conference so it was a catered dinner. Steak and not that great.
Oh!!! And we also had our first Krispy Kremes!!! All I can say is WOW!! We nearly got mugged on the way back to the room with those - we were on the elevator (crowded as usual) and someone goes, "Krispy Kremes! Get' em!!" LOL
Making More Magic: The Closing Ceremonies (the only part of the conference I attended) had a special performance - a concert by K.C and the Sunshine Band!! Ok, don't hurt me but I had no idea who they were. (Born in '74 [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img] ) Then they started playing and I recognized "Shake your Booty", "Do a Little Dance", etc. They were a lot of fun!!!
So that's it! We would probably only go back to see Celine and/or Cirque du Soleil. You'll notice there was no mention of gambling in this report until now- we did lose about $60 over 4 days but just in the slots. We just aren't big gamblers. It was great to get away though and a lot of fun!!
[ 07-26-2002, 02:36 PM: Message edited by: Belle* ]
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Sponsored links
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07-26-2002, 09:23 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: Vegas Highlights
Sara, sounds like a good time. The room bath sounds awesome! Aren't those buffets the best? That's about the only thing I remember from Vegas. And the gondola ride...how romantic is that!?!
Thanks for sharing with us! Glad you had a nice getaway. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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07-26-2002, 09:30 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,365
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Re: Vegas Highlights
Sara, I just LOVE the way you did that report!! Sounds like a nice getaway - we're glad you are back, though!!
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07-26-2002, 09:48 AM
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#4
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Newtown Square, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 23,859
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Re: Vegas Highlights
Sara, it sounds like you had a ball! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] It also sounds like you packed alot in!! Loved your report!
Tara
[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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07-26-2002, 10:00 AM
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#5
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: WI
Posts: 17,126
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Re: Vegas Highlights
Sara, thanks for sharing with us. I liked how you wrote your TR. I enjoyed reading about your gondola ride. Glad to hear you had an emjoyable time! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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07-27-2002, 12:44 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 1,281
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Re: Vegas Highlights
Quote:
Originally posted by Belle*:
Tuesday, we had dinner with Shawn's boss and his co-worker at The Cheesecake Factory. It was great!!
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<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">There is one in Baltimore, and I love it. No trip to Baltimore is complete without either lunch or dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. |
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