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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I think what you should do is give your Family a list of your plans and say this is what we have planned ad if you want to meet us around this that's great, if not then maybe we will run into each other.
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You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it takes people to make the dream a reality.
- Walt Disney
I know how traveling with family can be! Hope you can successfully just meet up with them and then take off. At least you and Arben are on the same page about this.
Thank goodness Arben feels the same way I do. Even though it's his sister, he knows how she can be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuffyCO
I can't imagine trying to enjoy a family vacation with family that didn't have the same expectations. We are thinking of inviting my SIL and her family to come with us to DLR, but it is because I know we would all respect our together and away from each other time. I hope you are able to make it work and have time for yourselves.
It'll be easier for us to get away and keep with our schedule because of FP+ and adrs. That'll be our perfect excuse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
with family additions on this trip!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
Good luck with the family additions.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
oy vie! about the family "tagging" along - at least you and hubby are on the same page about it - stick to your guns!!! It is hard to travel with a large group - so much better to just meet up say hi, ride a few rides together (maybe) and say adios!
Yeah, I'll be sticking to my guns! I'll make sure the cousins ride a few rides together but we won't be touring the entire day with them, that's for sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastYorkDisneyFan
I think what you should do is give your Family a list of your plans and say this is what we have planned ad if you want to meet us around this that's great, if not then maybe we will run into each other.
When the time comes to "formalize" plans, I'll show them , my intinerary. With our adrs and FP+ selections, our parks will be pretty much set.
1. You certainly don't need to apologize for staring your PTR "early." Many of us enjoy reading all about the planning process, and the occasional family drama
2. I remember your last report and telling the boys, so I was in suspense to see what happened this time. Sounds like it all worked out.
3. We've taken our grand kids to WDW several times - their favorite location is AKV, and their favorite pool is at Kidani - they went in the pool in January when it was freezing because they liked it so much,
1. You certainly don't need to apologize for staring your PTR "early." Many of us enjoy reading all about the planning process, and the occasional family drama
2. I remember your last report and telling the boys, so I was in suspense to see what happened this time. Sounds like it all worked out.
3. We've taken our grand kids to WDW several times - their favorite location is AKV, and their favorite pool is at Kidani - they went in the pool in January when it was freezing because they liked it so much,
Looking forward to following along.
Thanks for joining!
My kids are very happy with the resort and are very much looking forward to their pool time. At least we're going in June, so no freezing.
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Oh family! What a joy. I hope that you can enjoy the time with SiL (and possibly sister) and family, but that you set the rules and make sure you do what is fun for your family. Yes it's good to see them, but if they add stress to your vacation it's not worth it. Especially if DH agrees with you.
Oh family! What a joy. I hope that you can enjoy the time with SiL (and possibly sister) and family, but that you set the rules and make sure you do what is fun for your family. Yes it's good to see them, but if they add stress to your vacation it's not worth it. Especially if DH agrees with you.
Yeah, tell me about it! I'm pretty set on my plans and the way we want to tour the parks. Besides, my sil lives next door, why would I want to spend my entire vacation with her.
So I was talking to Arben the other day and I was telling him about how I had our adrs for the trip all set. He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to eat at lots of good places. I started looking at my adrs and thinking what I could do. I'm keeping all the ones I have but I'm thinking about adding a couple more. Of course I have to keep in mind that my family is not an adventurous eating family at all. There are some restaurants that I liked from last time, like 'Ohana, Via Napoli, and Yak & Yeti, but they were not enjoyed by all my party. So, reluctantly, those are out.
To recap, these are the ones I have so far:
- Hollywood & Vine (breakfast)
- Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party
- Rose & Crown
- Chef Mickey's (dinner)
- Sci-Fi Dine In
- Tusker House (breakfast)
I've been pouring over the menus but lots of places I'd be willing to try, have a menu that wouldn't work for the others. I'm considering a couple of restaurants, but since I've never eaten at any of them, I'm turning to you guys for advice. I know taste for food is relative but I would like to hear your opinions anyways. Here are the ones I'm considering:
- The Plaza
- Tony's Town Square
- Nine Dragons
- Trail's End (dinner)
- Liberty Tree Tavern (dinner)
Out of these I'll probably choose 2. I'm open to suggestions, again keeping in mind my picky companions. And also, no more breakfasts as I'm not a big morning eater and I already have two booked.
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The Plaza is set up a lot like an early 1900s diner/cafe, serving hot and cold sandwiches with sides plus other things. We enjoy this one for a lighter menu and a lower cost, too. We've always loved our meals at Tony's, though I know some folks have complained of slower service and disappointment with the food. We've found it similar to Mama Melrose's. We've eaten once or twice at Nine Dragons, and though I remember liking it there, I don't remember specifics about our food. We had lunch here and it was nearly deserted so very quiet. Liberty Tree Tavern is a favorite for dinner with it's homestyle service of a Thanksgiving sort of meal.
I would think the Plaza should be perfect for non-adventurous eaters. Clean, relaxing and simple but yummy food and ice cream. Speaking of ice cream, Beaches and Cream is a good choice for you as well. I'm one of those who doesn't like either Tony's or Nine Dragons. Trail's End and Liberty Tree should please anyone. Trail's End is a bit out-of-the way and would take some time to get to, so if you are still touring MK that day Liberty Tree might fit the schedule better.
Of those you have listed as possibility's we have been to Liberty Tree Tavern and Nine Dragons. Liberty Tree seems like something your family would like, it's typical American fare. Nine Dragons is not to us an "adventurous" meal. It is basic Chinese food and we didn't find it super spicy or anything like that. We actually make the Honey Sesame Chicken at home and I found our home version to be much more flavorful. I think if your family is okay with Chinese food, it would be a good choice.