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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great meet with Tiana and Naveen! I've never met them, but then again I've never seen that movie either (even though I own it). I should watch it soon!
What superb shots from the Seas with Nemo and Friends and I was going to say it's such a treat to see photos from the Figment ride, but I guess the reason is what others have already said - that so many of us don't ride it that often.
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Great meet with Tiana and Naveen! I've never met them, but then again I've never seen that movie either (even though I own it). I should watch it soon!
You should watch it....you have no excuse since you own it...that being said I think I have a few I have not seen that we have owned for years.
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Originally Posted by chezp
What superb shots from the Seas with Nemo and Friends and I was going to say it's such a treat to see photos from the Figment ride, but I guess the reason is what others have already said - that so many of us don't ride it that often.
I think as an adult, it surely wouldn't be something I would do that often.
It was a fun show, but I have seen it enough now that it doesn’t have to be a must do for me anymore…and I think I’ll skip it in the future unless Claire insists on it.
We headed back out into the sun…..and yes it was VERY hot this day.
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.
Great photos from the Flower & Garden Festival. We caught the tail end of F&GF a few years ago and the topiaries were amazing. I hope to go back sometime but with me back to work as a teacher I don't see myself being able to go anytime soon.
Great pics! I love the sand sculptures! Just beautiful!
I think they are really neat!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Great shots of the topiaries, but personally I thought Eeyore looked cuter than Rabbit... can't think why...
HMMMM!
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Originally Posted by mcc0313
Great photos of Epcot.
Thanks
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great photos from around the F&GF!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2
Thanks
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Originally Posted by disny_luvr
Great photos from the Flower & Garden Festival. We caught the tail end of F&GF a few years ago and the topiaries were amazing. I hope to go back sometime but with me back to work as a teacher I don't see myself being able to go anytime soon.
I hope you can. Maybe a spring break trip one year....where you can fight the crowds!
As I walked up I saw that Mom and Dad were just ahead of us. I told them I would go inside and see about checking in as there was a huge line outside for a podium…..which I assumed was for walk ups. Inside I asked a guy and he said no, I had to wait outside…I said even if I have a reservation and he said yes! UGH So I walk to the end of the line and it’s about 180 degrees out and the sun is glaring and I am just sweating away. A lady comes down the line to take names and I asked her if I was supposed to be waiting in this line since I had a reservation and she said no, I was to go and check in inside. I informed her I tried to once and they made me come outside, but she told me to go back in. I grabbed the family, who was sitting off to the side and told them we were going back in.
Amazingly the person I talked to this time took my info and told me to be seated. I let her know that the guy next to her had told me to wait outside. The guy just totally ignored me….jerk!
We didn’t have to wait too long and we were called to be seated.
We were seated on the far wall and Mom and I raced for the booth part and made Claire and Dad sit in the chairs across from us, which neither was too happy about. LOL
I used the excuse that I had a bag I had to sit next to me and my camera too.
We browsed the menu and I took a few shots.
We were trying to decide what size of a pizza to get. I was pretty sure the small one was pretty big, so the next size probably would work for us, but it listed it as only feeding like 2 people….or something like that, and Dad was worried we wouldn’t have enough. We asked our waiter and he assured us the size I picked out was pretty big.
I ordered the Arancini - fried risotto balls filled with mozzarella and meat ragu for an appetizer as I loved it so much last time. I almost forgot to take a picture.
Mom had some and Claire tried it, but it wasn’t her thing.
Then our pizza came….and Dad had no reason to worry about the size.
And it was delicious!
I wish there was a place in my area that made pizza like this. I just LOVE their pizza.
Even though I was pretty full, I still had to order dessert…because I love these!!!! Zeppole di Caterina - Ricotta cheese fritters, served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
And in the process of trying to take pictures, I knocked over the chocolate sauce. Oops. I was like a big kid making a mess.
Dad also got dessert….It looks like a mousse in this picture, but I can’t find a description like that…perhaps it was just chocolate gelato.
I took a few pictures before it was time to leave too.
When the bill came, Mom told me to pay as she was short on cash now with the whole rental car disaster and didn’t want to short herself till the hold on her card was let go. She said she would pay me later…..and yeah…that never happened. LOL.
I think the bill came to around $100 for the 4 of us. I think both my parents had some alcohol with their meals as well, plus an appetizer and 2 desserts. This is one of my new favorite places, with this being my 2nd time there now. It’s one of those places I want to eat at now every time I come to Epcot.
We headed back out in to the hot sun.
My parents aren’t super big on the parks and I think they were going to finish up with a few activities and head off to check in at the Marriott in a little bit.
Claire and I found a photopass photographer and got some shots. I am not sure I am going to order memory maker in the future though, as Claire complained about every time I made her stop.
Also the photopass photographers were not creative with poses like some have been in the past and I often asked about magic shots and many seemed put out to do them if they could do them at all in the first place.
On we went.
When we got to America we went in to check out if the show was about to start. They told us the time and the guy acted disgusted when so many people asked about it and kept handing out times guides and told everyone to look in there. Oops in my hurry this morning I never even picked one up. It was going to be about 30 minutes before it started, but something else was starting…..a first for us, so we watched. I loved it, Claire was not so impressed.
I was sweating, so I can just imagine how hot these guys were.
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Playing catch up here on the boards and finally caught up on yours!!! Other than the heat and rental car mishap, sounds like you are having a great time so far! Interesting that Tiana and Naveen were in Epcot! Never seen them there!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Wow! That pizza is huge! We are eating there in October, so out of curiosity, what size was that one? I can't wait! It looked delish!
What a jerk! I can't believe even after you told him you had a reservation, he still told you to go back outside! These non-Disney owned restaurants don't always get the Disney magic!!! I hope everything after that was ok?!
Great pics of the show in America.
You are getting me so excited for our trip! 79 days, 80 to Epcot!