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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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03-26-2003, 01:16 PM
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#1
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Chapel Hill, NC USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 36,592
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Re: Gatlinburg help
No suggestions here but we are considering a visit this summer so I'll be interested to see any responses. I'm hankering to see Dollywood again (after seeing the show on Travel Channel the other night) as well as seeing other things in the area and thought Gatlinburg would be a good place to stay. -HiddenMickey
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03-26-2003, 03:49 PM
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#2
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Salem, VA, USA
Posts: 15
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Re: Gatlinburg help
The Greystone Lodge is located right next door to the Ripley's Aquarium, and is one on the nicest hotels on the "strip", but if you don't mind a few extra minutes drive I recommend renting a cabin on the outskirts of town.
My family and I usually go at least once a year in late spring. We normally rent cabins that are located off the parkway between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We like to do the tourist stuff during the day and then go back to the cabin, grill out some steaks and then sit in the hot tub and take in the views. I think my 7 year old would be content to spend the whole time in the hot tub.
PrinceCameron
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03-26-2003, 04:26 PM
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#3
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Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: York, PA , USA
Posts: 2,022
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Re: Gatlinburg help
We are also considering a trip to Gatlinburg this summer. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]
I've gotten so many brochures and flyers for different places to stay, that I really didn't know where to start, so thanks for posting this thread!
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03-26-2003, 06:14 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Passenger 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Alabama
Posts: 33
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Re: Gatlinburg help
We just came back from Gatlinburg. I would suggest staying in a cabin or chalet. We rented through Jackson Mountain Homes they have a lot of chalets that are very close to downtown.
If you want to stay in a hotel they have some of the major chains...Holiday Inn, brand new Fairfield Inn, Comfort Inn and Hampton Inn all within walking distance of the shops.
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03-26-2003, 07:19 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: knoxville t.n. GO BIG ORANGE!
Posts: 564
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Re: Gatlinburg help
I live in the BIG ORANGE [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] state of TN. If I can be of help let me know.There are several chains on the strip. (Hampton Inn,Clarion Inn and Sleep Inn - all of these are not very old)The Greystone Lodge is closer to the end of Gatlinburg toward Pigeon Forge. We are going to stay in the Bearskin Lodge on the river it is closer to the Great Smokey Mtns. National Park on our next trip. It is hard to convince DH to stay overnight since we live only a hr. away [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] . Feel free to PM me for any other questions or about my favorite resturants! [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img]
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03-27-2003, 12:40 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Rochester, NY, USA
Posts: 204
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Re: Gatlinburg help
We have stayed at the Sunterra resort there - Bent Creek Golf Village. Very nice.
Went to Dollywood over Veteran's Day weekend. It's all "Dolled" up for the holidays. Loads of fun.
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Sponsored links
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03-27-2003, 12:47 AM
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#7
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 6
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Gatlinburg help
Any suggestions on where to stay downtown?
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03-27-2003, 08:05 AM
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#8
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 6
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Re: Gatlinburg help
Thanks to all. I was thinking about staying at Bearskin or Midtown Lodge. My teens want to stay close to the action so a chalet or cabin is out. How far down the parkway is Bearskin lodge? We want to be able to walk to everything. Restuarant suggestions would be helpful. We also received many brochures, some of the pictures looked they were taken in the 70s! I have also heard a lot of the hotels that are not chains are run down. Any help is appreciated.
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03-27-2003, 09:52 AM
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#9
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Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Wawayanda, NY
Posts: 2,177
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Re: Gatlinburg help
I know this isn't helpful in reference to your question, but we went there on a day trip once and went to the Heidelberg restaurant. It was a lot of fun. They had an oompa band and made my DH (DF at the time) leader of the band and renamed him Hans. That was when we had our first dance - the chicken dance! It was like a small dose of Disney - reminded me of Biergarten, though the inside was definitely not as well themed.
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03-27-2003, 06:00 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Alabama
Posts: 33
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Re: Gatlinburg help
Bearskin is one block off the main road. Close to a lot of restaurants and attractions. Make sure you eat breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (don't let the long line scare you) it is wonderful and well worth the wait. Have a good time.
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03-27-2003, 06:56 PM
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#11
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: knoxville t.n. GO BIG ORANGE!
Posts: 564
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Re: Gatlinburg help
Bearskin Lodge on the river is down near the end of the strip. Midtown Lodge is in the center of downtown.Midtown is the older of the two. My personal favorite eating spots are: Burning Bush for breakfast or lunch ask to sit in the atrium and you will have a woods view of the national park. Maxwell's Beef and Seafood for dinner- excellent! Try the bannanas foster prepared at your table. My favorite for breakfast is the Parkway Pancake House for a truly southern breakfast. For super steaks try the Peddler. You are able to pick your steak out before they cook it-you decide the cut and your choice of meat.If you need any more info. or need me tofind out anything let me know!! [img]graemlins/wavin.gif[/img]
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03-28-2003, 07:47 AM
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#13
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Community Rank: Wayfarer 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Brooklyn,NY
Posts: 165
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Re: Gatlinburg help
Several years ago we did a whirlwind tour of Tennessee---Nashville, Memphis, Lynchburg and then to Pigeon forge. Aftger dragging my DD thru Grand Ole Oprey, Graceland and theJack Daniels Distillery, we promised her Dollywood.....Did you see themovie "National Lampoon Vacation"? Well we got to Dollywood on a Thrusday morning before Labor Day and it was closed!!!! [Visions of Chevy Chase} [img]graemlins/cry2.gif[/img]
Call just to make sure it will be open when you go!
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03-28-2003, 11:07 PM
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#14
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Saint Charles, Missouri
Posts: 16
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Re: Gatlinburg help
I may have not been to WDW yet, but I have been to Gatlinburg numerous times. The Bearskin Lodge is an excellent choice. Try to get a room with a king size bed because the room will also contain a very large hot-tub. You will also have a great balcony. The decor is very woodsy and you have to rock in the rocking chairs out front. They are extremely comfortable! Also, they have a great pool in front of the lodge that has a lazy river.
I hope this helps. I am just hoping that the Wilderness Lodge at Disney can compare to this lodge. I know that it won't have the hot-tub; that is a bummer. Because we will be there for three days in May.
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03-28-2003, 11:24 PM
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#15
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Saint Charles, Missouri
Posts: 16
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Re: Gatlinburg help
Almost forgot! Please be sure to dine at the Applewood farmhouse restaurant for lunch or dinner. Absolutely fantastic! We go there several times while we are in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. It is just over the city line of Pigeon Forge into the town of Sevierville.
Also, look up the NASCAR cafe. It's really neat.
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