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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
We had another full day ahead of us again. And me being me, I was up early and got myself ready. I also utilized our washer and dryer and got a few things washed. My foot was already developing a hot spot between my toes and the ball of my foot so I applied some mole skin. Sadly this was too late and I ended up with a huge blister that felt like I was walking on a golf ball the rest of the week. The mole skin did help though.
Of course, since I was up early, I took a little walk and took some pictures around the resort.
Squirrel!
I never did make it over to the other side of the lake.
I got Claire up and ready as well…we had a new experience this morning. Once we were ready, we headed out. I think my parents were going to head to Hollywood Studios today, but I had a different destination. First a picture before we left.
Our destination…..the Grand Floridian.
It took me a bit to find the self-parking area as it had moved from the last time we used it. I am not sure if this is a permanent spot or not, but it is now over by the DVC villas.
This is the walkway over to the GF from the Villas.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I wish I could get myself up and out early in the morning to get photos like yours of the resort at that hour. Great shots! The squirrel is a cutie, too.
What a fun day at the MK, glad that Claire was able to get her Dumbo and that you were able to get the popcorn buckets before you headed out for the evening.
I always enjoy early morning walks when the world is still sleeping. There is something very relaxing about it and starts my day off right! I think the self parking for the GF resort is still across the street but the parking lot you got to park in is usually reserved for GFV guests. It's so much closer than where they normally make you park if you're not valet parking !
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
The resort if very nice! Very pretty!
Love the squirrel!!!
I thought the squirrel was cute too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Looks like a nice quiet morning around the resort!
It really was a quiet resort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Your resort looks very nice!
It was very nice, I wish I had more time to enjoy it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh my goodness, the squirrel shots are just adorable!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
I wish I could get myself up and out early in the morning to get photos like yours of the resort at that hour. Great shots! The squirrel is a cutie, too.
I am good at getting up early, but I need a nap on normal days. LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
What a fun day at the MK, glad that Claire was able to get her Dumbo and that you were able to get the popcorn buckets before you headed out for the evening.
Nice pictures of the resort, looks very relaxing.
We were happy with both Dumbos!
It is a really nice resort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I always enjoy early morning walks when the world is still sleeping. There is something very relaxing about it and starts my day off right! I think the self parking for the GF resort is still across the street but the parking lot you got to park in is usually reserved for GFV guests. It's so much closer than where they normally make you park if you're not valet parking !
Yes, that is where it was in the past too. I don't know if it was any closer, but thats where I thought it was, but it was blocked off then and had a sign to go to the other lot at that time. Not sure why?
Quote:
Originally Posted by iwonathomas
All caught up now, you guys were able to pack a bunch of stuff into your MK day, glad you were able to get your dumbo popcorn. Can't wait to read more
Once we arrived at the Grand F I had to talk Claire into taking some pictures out front for me. She wasn’t too pleasant about that.
Um…that’s not a smile.
Nor is that!
Oh well, I am not going to argue over the small things.
We headed inside.
And went to check in for……
The Perfectly Princess Tea Party. Yes it was mega bucks, but Claire is getting older and this was our last chance to give it a try.
I was surprised by how many people were there already and we had to wait in line to get checked in….and of course I took pictures while we waited.
We got all checked in and Claire got a name tag, which evidently is pretty embarrassing for a 9 year old for some reason.
We all crammed into a small area while we waited to be seated, but I took a few more pictures.
Ironically that was where we ended up sitting and that was our doll!
It was clear very early on that Claire was much older than most of the girls attending and that made her very self-conscious.
Rose Petal came out to greet us.
All the little kids were so excited and cute, Claire did a lot of eye rolling. Uh oh!
Then they started taking the kids in and you could take a picture with Rose Petal and then someone else would seat you. Since Claire was clearly older…..and much cooler…..than many of the other kids I told her to hang back and let the little ones go in first and she was fine with that. Rose Petal then complimented her for being so nice.
As they each child went up to Rose Petal they had flower petals sprinkled on them.
And given a crown.
Then they would pose.
We then were taken to our table.
We had another girl and her mother sitting with us. There was a bracelet wrapped in the napkin…but I think we were told not to open them yet at that point.
And we were seated right next to Baron Von Branch.
Rose Petal than began with the story of how she came to be.
A close up of the cake, which in reality I think was just a prop/decoration as I think our cake came from the back and was precut already …..and cold like it had been refrigerated.
I believe Rose Petal told the girls to put their napkins on their lap now and that is when they found the bracelets.
They served the kids apple juice, but the adults had tea. I do not drink tea, so I asked for apple juice as well. I found out later from my friend Janet that I could’ve asked for diet coke…wish I would’ve.
Claire put on her bracelet, but it JUST barely fit her….another sign that she was on the older end of kids here.
Claire kept telling me that she thought this whole thing was a little bit babyish. I was sad she wasn’t enjoying it more…for one reason being that it was so pricey…but I think if she had a friend with her things would’ve been totally different.
Our food came out next, which were cute finger sandwiches.
Claire is very picky, so she only ate the fruit and the jelly sandwiches, but I didn’t let anything go to waste and ate her other ones.
While we at Baron Von Branch came around and signed autographs.
I had a little more food on my plate and all the little sandwiches were tasty.
I noticed a lot of the parents just picked at their food and only had a few bites. I was a pig, I ate it all. First off this was expensive, so I was not about to be dainty and leave half my plate (or Claire’s) and secondly, I was darn hungry!
Claire and her new doll. Oh and I forgot to mention there were a few little boys there as well and I think they got Teddy Bears. One little boy was really too little and didn’t really enjoy the party at all.
Rose Petal talked some more and did some twirls.
And then all the girls had to gather around. Claire didn’t want to but I made her. And then Aurora arrived!
They paraded around and Claire did not look happy about it at all.
See? She was giving me evil eyes…that ungrateful child!
Claire was happy to sit back down. She and the other girl did start to talk a little bit and we found out she was 10. I was shocked because she seemed much younger than Claire, and of course Claire was the tallest of all the kids. But they did talk a bit and that made things seem a bit better for Claire.
Cake was then served.
This cake was some of the best cake I have ever had! It was darn good!
And all the kids got a back pack to put their dolls in.
Aurora came around and gave each girl a rose and signed their books.
Rose Petal did too and she gave the girls a necklace.
While all this was going on Baron Von Branch had been playing music…different Disney songs. At one point he started playing “Let It go” and Claire and the other little girl locked eyes and they both started singing every single word. It was so cute.
This guy had been helping Aurora out.
Aurora made the rounds again and handed out a thank you type card.
And then she left and it was kind of over, though Rose Petal mentioned something about getting a picture taken. Some people left, but we were gathering our things when we saw some people now were lining up to be taken to get a picture. Claire did not want one taken, but I told her too bad.
And of course she had to go to the bathroom and the mean mother that I am told her she couldn’t go till she had her picture taken.
I think she also got a wand like the one in that last picture too.
We then made a quick potty stop and went back downstairs so I could try and take a picture of her on the stairs, but there was a family in the background that let their little boy roll up and down the stairs and we soon just gave up.
I believe the party lasted about 2 hours. I enjoyed it and Claire complained a lot about it, but later on she admitted she did like it and was glad she had gone. We won’t be doing this again and if someone asks me about it, I would recommend the child be a little younger and maybe more outgoing. Claire is really becoming very shy lately and she won’t “let lose” in front of others till she knows them. I know if she had a friend her own age she would’ve been more comfortable there too.
I'm glad Claire said in the end that she did enjoy it, as it was clear that she wasn't happy at the time from both what you said and some of the photos.
The tea party seemed very nice glad that she did end up having a good time. Is this a tea party that is done regularly or only at certain times of the years?
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Liz 
PassPorter Guide Author
The squirrel is a cutie, too.
Linear Mode
