A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 4/23 - Page 18 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Ok, after this post I am seriousely disappointed I wasn't able to book Palo brunch for our upcoming trip!! What do you think the chances are of getting a reservation when we get on board? I was able to get reservations for Palo dinner and Remy dinner, but now thanks to you, I really, really want brunch too!! Good thing I will be running in the CC 5k on this trip!
I say keep checking back online, then head to make a reservation as soon as you can onboard. We had to do that for Alaska and we managed to snag one. If that fails, I'd also ask at Palo, just in case. Whatever you do, don't give up - as you saw by my photos, it's worth persevering for!
The black truffle pasta purseittes - yum!! I had the same thing - I would have been more than happy to have skipped the soup and had another round of those Loved the shrimp pasta too! And yep - the sweet temptations was most delightful!
Next cruise - we are going to HAVE to try the brunch!! It looks amazing
I just spent a nice long time catching up on your cruise. I love the Europa district and all the art around the ship. You are giving me so many ideas and tips, I may have to go back through with my cruise passporter and take notes! For example: Palo brunch - sold! (If I can get a rez, that is) and check the spa for discounts - thanks!
I just spent a nice long time catching up on your cruise. I love the Europa district and all the art around the ship. You are giving me so many ideas and tips, I may have to go back through with my cruise passporter and take notes! For example: Palo brunch - sold! (If I can get a rez, that is) and check the spa for discounts - thanks!
Awww, Palo Brunch ! That was far and away the best meal we had on the Magic last November. If so many people here hadn't praised it, we would probably have skipped it. I love that you had such a good nite's sleep. This is one of the reasons cruising is so wonderful. You don't feel the need to push yourself to get up and go. There is always something you can do if you feel the need but it is nice to just stay in bed sometimes!
Dinner at Animators' Palate looks so delicious. The spa treatment does sound like a nice way to unwind at the beginning of your cruise. But how does someone confuse Cheryl with Hazel. Thanks for all the pictures of the spa, too. All the Palo brunch offerings look so scrumptious.
Awww, Palo Brunch ! That was far and away the best meal we had on the Magic last November. If so many people here hadn't praised it, we would probably have skipped it. I love that you had such a good nite's sleep. This is one of the reasons cruising is so wonderful. You don't feel the need to push yourself to get up and go. There is always something you can do if you feel the need but it is nice to just stay in bed sometimes!
Sunday 16 December – part three: what a show this is!
We headed back to the room to change before heading out to see the 3:00pm show of Aladdin. Oh wow, what a show this is! It’s very similar to the one at Disneyland, although with some changes. I was curious to know how they’d do the flying carpet, and they didn’t do that aspect the same, which didn’t surprise me, but much of the rest of it was what you see in California. It was so well done, with some exceptionally talented performers. It’s only when you watch a show like this that you remember how many amazing songs there are in the movie.
As always, the Genie absolutely stole the show. I will say that some of his jokes were totally lost on us, as they were aimed at an American audience, but we got a few of them…
I was upset at first that they’d implemented a ban on photos at the show, but I could understand why. As Mark said, you end up watching it through someone else’s screen, as a lot of cameras don’t have a viewfinder any longer, and can you imagine people using iPads here? Despite that, we counted at least half a dozen flashes during the start of the show, which was very annoying, but thankfully after that, they stopped.
When the show ended, we headed straight out, and beat the rush to the elevator, and caught it straight up to deck 11, as we wanted to spend some time in the Rainforest. The ship was still moving a bit, but it was nothing too terrible. We lucked out, as when we first arrived, there were no hot stone chairs anywhere, but literally a minute later, two people left, so we grabbed theirs. We sat there reading for the next half hour, and I briefly used the laconium and the caldomium, but both were very hot, so I didn’t stay too long.
We had a very odd experience in there. There was an older couple in the hot tub, who were in there ages, totally hogging the thing. When they came up, they tried to grab a hot stone chair next to us, and the guy had only just got in the hot tub, on the grounds that you “can’t save them”. Er, yes, if you’re going to be gone hours fair enough, but not if you’re gone for five minutes, as I did later. They finally gave up and disappeared, grumbling away.
We headed out before 5:00pm, as we needed to get ready for formal night. It took Mark longer, as his suit was creased, so he ended up running the shower, and the steam helped the creases to drop out.
While we were there, we watched a beautiful sunset:
When we got to the lobby, the place was a madhouse with lines everywhere for photos. We opted for Minnie, although we discovered she’d be going in, to be replaced by Captain Mickey. Ok, that works for us! While we were waiting, Mark got a complimentary beer (Bud Light), which was pretty gross, and I have to say the white wine was no better… I got some photos while I was waiting:
If we couldn’t meet her, I could at least sneak a shot of her! Here he comes!
Finally we got to see Mickey:
As there was nothing else on deck four, we headed downstairs, and Mark got in line for a photo with the ship as a backdrop, while I sat down. I had seen some complimentary cocktails doing the rounds that had vodka and pineapple juice in, and I thought they looked good, but the server I found told me that they were all gone, although they would be making some more in an hour’s time.
By the time we’d done that photo, it was dinner time, but of course that meant the crowds reduced, so we agreed to go late, and got the Christmas tree photo….
… and we walked straight up to have our photo taken with the statue of Minnie.
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Ok, being slightly more constructive, our is a lot sweeter.
Holly: 
! That was far and away the best meal we had on the Magic last November. If so many people here hadn't praised it, we would probably have skipped it. 
I love that you had such a good nite's sleep. This is one of the reasons cruising is so wonderful. You don't feel the need to push yourself to get up and go. There is always something you can do if you feel the need but it is nice to just stay in bed sometimes!
Mary - not enough trips!
Thanks for all the pictures of the spa, too. All the Palo brunch offerings look so scrumptious.
Despite that, we counted at least half a dozen flashes during the start of the show, which was very annoying, but thankfully after that, they stopped. 
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