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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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01-08-2006, 06:45 AM
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#1
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3 COMPLETE
This is the third thread of this trip report. You can find the previous installments here:
Thread 1
Thread 2
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01-08-2006, 06:45 AM
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#2
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
Wednesday 30 November – part one: breakfast turns into a shopping spree!
Our original plans:
Head for Epcot for opening – aim to go on Soarin’ and Test Track and possibly Mission : Space for me. Spend the morning in the park.
1.30 Lunch @ Teppanyaki with Tara (Tara O’Hara), her daughter Katie, Donna (GoofyMom), her daughter Paige, Sue (rescusk) and her DH Steve
Spend time in World Showcase or head back to the Beach Club Villas for a swim, depending on the weather.
Pick up the car and drive over to the Boardwalk and valet park
5.00 – 6.30 DVC PassPorter meet at the Belle Vue Room, Boardwalk – joint hosting with Sue and we’re hoping to see a few other DVC PassPorter members! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Drive over to MGM
7.30 Osborne lights meet at MGM – meet by Mickey’s hand
Drive over to Downtown Disney
Dinner @ Cap’n’Jack’s
Having not got to bed until midnight last night, I was not necessarily planning an early start today, but when you wake up and it’s 5.55 and it’s your first morning at Disney, well what else can you do, but get up! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
The first job of the day was running water through the coffee filter a number of times, so that we could eventually get a cup of tea that didn’t taste of coffee and the plan pretty much worked.
Just before 7.00, I decided to head out to get some breakfast. As we had been in such a state last night, this was something that had been forgotten about – we hadn’t even got any milk for our tea! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I set off for the main building, but first went for a wander around the Villas to get some photos of our home all decorated:
    
 
Then I headed towards the Beach Club:
The Solarium
 
The Christmas decorations in the lobby
Last night when we arrived, I thought that there was something missing from the lobby, but I couldn’t quite figure it out. Well, now I could. Where was that lovely big Christmas tree that we’ve always had in previous years? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/pout.gif[/img] This was quickly going to become a recurring theme for our vacation – the lack of Christmas decorations, compared to previous years. I don’t know what Disney were thinking, but I know we weren’t the only ones to notice it. It’s not a good thing to cut back on. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img]
By now I had realised that obviously nothing opened until 7.00 (can you tell it had been some time since I’d last been awake so early at the Beach Club?! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] ) There were about 15 people in the lobby, waiting for the shop to open. When I saw everyone moving, I followed them and was greeted with a very different sight from the last time I had been into the shop a year earlier.
I really liked what they had done to this place, not only extra food, which is a real bonus for those of us staying in the Villas, but I also loved the design. It’s now a lot more open and airy. As well as the food, I just about fell over when I saw the scrapbooking stuff. I knew that I needed a new scrapbook and there was one with the Winnie the Pooh characters and “05” on it. Sold! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] Also sold were the 05 stickers and I couldn’t resist the 40 pages of 12 x 12 paper, just the sort of thing that I’m going to need. Mark is going to love me when he sees this little lot! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] I didn’t forget the food though and got a chocolate chip muffin for him and a cinnamon pastry for me as well as the crucial milk for the tea. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
I grabbed one or two more photos on the way back to the room. I don’t think they came out badly, considering that I had an armful of goodies at the time they were taken!
 
Next: time to go Soarin’ and the worst guide ever…
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01-08-2006, 07:25 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South East London
Posts: 5,164
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
Lovely photos, I [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] the Beach Club. How sad that Disney cut back on the christmas decorations this year [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Looking forward to hearing about Soarin, it's my favourite [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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01-08-2006, 07:52 AM
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#4
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The Original BagMan
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Shalimar, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 22,002
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
[b]Wonderful photos Cheryl!!!
Disney did skimp on the decorations this year, I hope they fix that!!!
More Please????
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01-08-2006, 09:56 AM
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#5
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
Great update Cheryl [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] We too missed the tree at BC, as I finally figured out something was missing as well [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]
Great pictures [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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01-08-2006, 09:57 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Posts: 9,619
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
Chez- I love the BCV pictures- my camera wasnt working well for the entire trip and I didnt really get any of my favorite place! Love them!!!! Waiting for more-
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01-08-2006, 10:38 AM
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#7
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
Posts: 12,270
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3
How beautiful is the BCV and BC!!! Andy really wants us to stay at the BC the next time we go deluxe. Wonderful photos Cheryl!!
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01-09-2006, 12:43 PM
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#8
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 35,829
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
We, too, were disappointed at the Christmas decorations at BC. But we did love the carousel
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01-09-2006, 02:04 PM
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#9
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
Wednesday 30 November – part two: time to go Soarin’ and the worst guide ever…
Once back in the room, we had breakfast outside on the balcony and got ready to head out:
 
We walked over to International Gateway and it was a pretty painless process to get our Annual Passes activated. The Disney Dining Experience card was another matter though. The guy told us that we’d been given the wrong information when I phoned a few weeks earlier and they told me that I could just get one at Epcot guest services. Apparently I need to call DDE to get one organised and then I can pick it up at Epcot guest services. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif[/img]
Anyway, never mind, we’re at Disney and at our favourite park. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] As we walked in there, there was no-one around, so I took the opportunity to grab a few photos of World Showcase while it was quiet. I love coming into the park this way for exactly this reason.
 
 
The United Kingdom
  
 
Canada
Into Future World
 
The Land pavilion
Our first stop today had to be Soarin’ before the wait for it got too long and that was a good choice. By the time we got there, it was showing a 20 minutes wait, but I reckon it was more like 10 minutes and then we were in, stowing our carry on luggage and then Soarin’ into the air. This ride is magnificent and I loved all the Disney touches, particularly the lovely smells of pine and orange during the film. They’re very subtely done and I think if you don’t know that they’re there, you might miss them altogether. The only thing I thought was a shame was that I wasn’t quite clear where we were soaring over. Perhaps some captions would be good, as I’d liked to have known where all the locations were.
When we came out of there – and my goodness, what a walk to the exit, that must win some sort of prize! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] - there was only a five minutes wait posted for Living With The Land, so we walked straight on to that. We did pay the price for that though and had the worse guide known to mankind. Trust me, I’ve been on this ride a lot in the last 20 years and I’d never had such a bad guide before. He had obviously learnt his script thoroughly and was just sticking to it. We couldn’t understand half of what he said, as he was talking so fast. Unfortunately he’ll carry on that way for some time, as the rest of the boat gave him a round of applause at the end of the ride. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]
Next: big changes at the Living Seas and a new character experience
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01-09-2006, 02:24 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
Another wonderful update Cheryl and your pictures are so beautiful!!! I can't believe how empty World Showcase is! Can't wait for more!!
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01-09-2006, 02:42 PM
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#11
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
I have to agree with the caption idea of some kind on Soarin' . . . because even though I was born and raised (for the most part) in California, I wasn't even sure what a couple of the places were! Although, I definitely know the difference between Northern CA and Southern CA! And I KNOW that the aircraft carrier was in San Diego! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )
Great photos!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
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01-09-2006, 02:55 PM
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#12
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wishing I was at WDW
Posts: 2,384
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
Great pictures!!
More pls!!!
Cindy
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01-09-2006, 02:41 PM
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#13
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Mateo, CA
Posts: 2,490
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Re: Tea, Mouse and House - THREAD 3, UPDATED 1/8!
[ QUOTE ]
He had obviously learnt his script thoroughly and was just sticking to it. We couldn’t understand half of what he said, as he was talking so fast. Unfortunately he’ll carry on that way for some time, as the rest of the boat gave him a round of applause at the end of the ride. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif[/img]
[/ QUOTE ]
Maybe they were applauding because the misery was over? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] Another wonderful update, Cheryl. I've never been on Soarin' at WDW, but in California before the pre-show comes on they flash the locations roughly in order on the TV screens above each line.
I'm trying to remember each scene because we've been to most of the places shown. When you're sailing over the rafters and fisherman, you're over Redwood Creek in Northern California near the Giant Redwoods on the coast. The alpine scene with the skiers is the back side of Heavenly Valley (I actually think it's technically in Nevada because I've skied that exact run) and then when you crest the mountain you are looking at a fog covered Lake Tahoe. The golf shot is in Palm Springs, and the shot of the horseback riders and the Blue Angels is in the 29 Palms area north of Palm Springs. The aircraft carrier is docked off San Diego, and I can't think of anymore "obscure" California sites. I've been on that ride in California so much I'm sitting here humming the music that goes with each scene as I type! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Can't wait to hear about the rest of your Epcot day!
Karen
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