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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Today was our San Francisco day! We started out in China Town where we ended up eating because Maddie vetoed Italian that everyone else wanted. That was the last time that the little one got a vote because she barely ate anything. We finally figured out that the only reason she wanted Chinese food was so that she could eat with chopsticks and out of a take-away container. We let her hop up and ask for her own box and then she was happy as could be.
We then walked down to Pier 39 and Ghirardelli Square for dessert. A line was out the door at the big store, so we went around the corner to a smaller location and soon were all sitting in front of huge ice cream sundaes. Apparently we were all feeling territorial because none of us shared a dessert . . . as a result, a lot of ice cream was wasted, but it was so good!
Once fortified, we headed across the street to one of the cable car stops. This was by far the longest line of the entire trip, but we hung in there and finally found ourselves on a cable car after a good hour wait. Of course, we’re good at filling time with talking, but the problem was that it kept getting colder and colder. Zack was a sweetheart and even gave Mary Devall his jacket.
It was a hilarious ride back up to our car because we were packed in like sardines. At least we all had a seat and everyone really enjoyed the ride.
Maddie requested one last picture on the way back to the car.
You can be sure that we all relished in the warmth of the car on our drive back to San Mateo. We stopped at the house long enough to feed the dogs and then we turned around and headed out to a wonderful Italian restaurant. I think we all decided that we really wanted Italian after Maddie put the kibosh on it at lunch.
When we weren’t touring or sleeping, you could usually find us in Karen’s breakfast room. That’s exactly where we ended up that night after dinner . . . drinking some more wine while we watched the kids play video games and watched a bit of the Olympics.
__________________
Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 12-09-2012 at 11:28 AM..
Love Chinatown in SF! Especially since Chinatown here in DC has shrunk to nothing.
Sounds like another fun day. But I just noticed Thom's beard - is that new, or am I completely unobservant?!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
After a leisurely morning, we ventured over to Palo Alto to tour a little place that Karen calls “work”, Stanford University. We loved walking around this beautiful campus and taking in the sites.
Karen escorted us up to the top of the tower where we took in the incredible views from that vantage point.
She then took us to her building where we were able to see her office, meet several of her co-workers and then take a peek in Condoleezza Rice’s office which was full of treasures.
We ended up at the bookstore so that we could all buy our Fear the Tree t-shirts! Maddie has had so much fun sporting hers around Columbia and answering questions about what it means.
Karen had a little accident with her iPhone at Disneyland so next we headed to a swanky mall where they had an iPhone store. We grabbed a quick late lunch at a French bakery and then browsed around while Karen got a new phone. With one last stop at a cupcake store, we hopped in the car and went back to their house.
Once again, we choose to have our dessert before dinner and dug into our cupcakes before we went out to eat. Karen read my mind by pouring glasses of wine for us to go with our cupcakes.
That night we went to Rainbow pizza which is Zack’s favorite place. They specialized in Greek and Italian food and had the biggest menu that I have ever seen in my life.
Everything was big about this place - - my glass of wine was filled to the brim and my water glass was ginormous. I think I was the only one who went with Greek food and it was so good.
We relaxed again that evening in the breakfast room before turning in.
We had waited until today to try and see the Golden Gate Bridge since the fog had quickly rolled in on Thursday afternoon when we were in San Francisco. Unfortunately, today no was better but at least we got to see the top. We went up to an overlook spot where we seemed to be at eye level with the top of the bridge. The wind was pretty fierce, so at times I felt like I was going to fly away - - or watch little Maddie fly away. Despite the cold, foggy and windy conditions, it was a great experience.
Once back down, we drove to Golden Gate park. After stopping for pretzels, we found a play ground and let everyone - - including Thom and Zack (see first three video clips for evidence) - - play until their hearts were content.
Zack was constantly telling me that I was filming in the wrong ratio perspective or perspective ratio or something like that, so I turned the camera mid way through filming.
We then headed for the coast and drove down a piece of the Pacific Coast Highway. I’ve heard about it, read about it and seen it on tv, but seeing that beauty is something else entirely in person. We stopped once on one of those hairpin turns and got out quickly to take pictures.
Karen then took us to a bar/restaurant at Half Moon Bay that had an outdoor seating area. We each got a drink and then got everyone else hot chocolate. I honestly could have sat there in front of that fire pit all afternoon, but eventually we drug ourselves away.
We stopped by a public access beach at Half Moon Bay to stick our toes in the Pacific Ocean! It was sooo cold! Poor Maddie took a dive at one point, but we quickly got her covered up.
We went out for seafood that night and had another great meal before settling in at our usual spot at Karen’s house. I couldn’t believe that tomorrow was our last day.
__________________
Sometimes words aren't needed . . .
Last edited by Jillybean; 12-12-2012 at 12:49 PM..
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We let her hop up and ask for her own box and then she was happy as could be. 
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Holly: 
PassPorter Guide Author
We loved walking around this beautiful campus and taking in the sites. 
Despite the cold, foggy and windy conditions, it was a great experience.
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