Forums Closed
|
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
|
|
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.
|
 |
|
06-03-2006, 08:28 PM
|
#106
|
Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Methuen,MA
Posts: 4,499
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
great update
more please
|
|
|
|
06-04-2006, 11:11 AM
|
#107
|
Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Carolina
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 5,666
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
Great Update, Jill!!
|
|
|
|
|
06-04-2006, 02:05 PM
|
#108
|
Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Greenville, SC
Posts: 1,019
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
just getting caught up Jill!!
What a great time you girls are having! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] the two Belles!!!
Can't wait for more!
|
|
|
|
|
06-04-2006, 06:39 PM
|
#109
|
|
RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
Great update Jill [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Love the face paint, and so glad Mary Devall got to make cookies [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
My aunt had issues with the postcards coming late too. She went the beginning of May, and they showed up 2 weeks after she got home [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
|
|
|
|
|
06-04-2006, 08:00 PM
|
#110
|
Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
Love the update! I get such a kick out of Mary Devall! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
|
|
|
|
|
06-05-2006, 11:15 AM
|
#111
|
Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New York
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,960
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
Great update, Jill! Now I want a cookie! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] Love Mary Devall's face painting (and especially love the hammy picture of her showing it off [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]). Can't wait for more!
|
|
|
|
|
06-05-2006, 02:11 PM
|
#112
|
Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Illinois
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 9,564
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
All I can say is WOW! You sure did your homework on what to do, see and try! Keep it coming!
|
|
|
|
|
06-05-2006, 02:29 PM
|
#113
|
Community Rank: Jetsetter 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Posts: 2,739
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 2 Updated 6/3
Great update Jill! Love the pics!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/Flash.gif[/img] We were thinking of doing the cookie making at The Land during our upcoming December trip and now after reading about your experience, I think we will definitely try it! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/chef.gif[/img]
Can't wait for the next installment and the margaritas... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 07:37 PM
|
#114
|
Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Columbia, SC
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,014
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
Day 2 Part 3
After a morning spent having breakfast with the princesses in Norway and having an absolute blast in FW, it was time to head back to WS for a leisurely stroll around the world. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] The day was simply gorgeous - - clear blue skies and warm, but not sweltering hot.
We began at Mexico (I’m pretty much of a clockwise girl, so I always begin at Mexico [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]). I asked Mary Devall if she wanted to go inside and she immediately answered “No thank you. I don’t like that smoke in my face.” I don’t think that we had stepped foot inside the Mexican pavilion since our January ’05 trip yet she still remembered the smoke from the boat ride (now we did ride it approximately 15,000 times in one evening so she probably had the memory stored in some sort of rapid recall portion of the brain [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]). Every time that she recalls one of her Disney memories, I feel like pulling out my cell phone and calling John Rosemond to gloat [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img] (remember the article he wrote a year or so ago about the uselessness of taking a small child to Disney because they won’t remember?).
Okay, gloating was not on the agenda for such a gorgeous day, so I decided to enjoy Mexico in my own little adult way. I pushed Mary Devall right up to the margarita stand where no one was waiting (it’s a sign, I tell you! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]). I do admit to a moment of panic when I didn’t see it in its normal place [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img], but I quickly saw its new home across the way (they really shouldn’t mess with a person needing a margarita like that [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]). I ordered my mango margarita and felt myself becoming a little teary-eyed when they sat on almost overflowing one in front of me[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]. I quickly discovered that drinking a margarita and pushing an umbrella stroller were not compatible, so I contained myself until we reached China where we were going on a Mulan hunt.
I parked the stroller and followed Mary Devall to the back of China where she immediately set her sights on a kiosk set up in the courtyard. She went back and forth trying to decide if she wanted an umbrella or a puppet (I had told her that she could have one souvenir from Epcot). Since this was the first shop along our way, I suggested that she look in every country and then make her decision. I think she considered for a moment whether I was trying to trick her and then agreed. As I sipped away on my margarita, Mary Devall touched pretty much everything in the stores. I had to laugh when I saw that the price on an identical dress to the one that I had bought her in NYC in March was double the price that I had paid (maybe NYC isn’t so expensive after all!). [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]
Next Mary Devall discovered the Kidcot station and began working on a mask. She colored it for a bit and then discovered that she was born in the year of the snake when she had it stamped. Mulan never showed up, but we certainly had fun in China!
Notice the tiny little figure holding the mask!
Next we stopped at the African Outpost station where drummers were making some beautiful music. Mary Devall pulled up a chair and began playing her own drums. Before long, a group of people who were apparently “counter clock-wise people” [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img] and started drinking in Canada appeared. Most of them sat in chairs, but one guy joined the drummers up front (I would imagine that they keep an empty third drum for audience participation) and he was entertaining to say the least[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]. The drummers and the audience really enjoyed his performance. Mary Devall was having a blast because she stayed until the drummers took a break.
When we approached Germany, we spotted a short line for Snow White but since Mary Devall had seen her earlier that morning at PSB she declined. Perhaps the nearby playground had something to do with this decision though. Mary Devall was having fun playing on the slide and in a little boat, so I took the opportunity to call my mom and Thom. Once I was off the phone, I continued to watch her from the side as she investigated the cut outs of deer and cougars that were in the play area. Now, I must preface the rest of this story with a little background. Not too long ago, I was driving the girls to daycare and Mary Devall hit me with this question “Momma, do the reindeer give us their meat?” She continued on to tell me that one of her little friends had told her that - - apparently his dad is a hunter. I really don’t do well with these types of questions before coffee [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img], so I told her that God gives us animals for food but that we did not personally eat reindeer in our house. She answered that we shouldn’t eat animals because they are good. Okay, fast forward to Epcot. By this time, she has commandeered a few little friends in the boat. She looks through the little telescope on the front, points at the cutout ahead and yells “Kill the deer!” [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] I’m not sure if any other parents heard her, but I stepped back a little and took a seat on a nearby bench[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/whistling2.gif[/img]. She ran up to me a little later all excited “Come on, Momma. Let me show you the big cat that we’re going to kill next.” Um . . . time to go.
Once in Germany proper we found the Kidcot station with no problem. Mary Devall colored her mask a little more and I enjoyed sitting down for a bit. We looked in the Christmas shop where Mary Devall picked up several glass ornaments before I could get to her, but thankfully she put them all back down very carefully. A CM was standing by and smiled at her very sweetly, but I knew that it could have turned ugly with the first “CRACK!” While everything was still intact in Germany, I decided that it was a good time to leave. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]
On to Italy where Mary Devall was immediately entranced by a skit being performed in the courtyard (a hilarious take off of Romeo and Juliet).
As I stood watching her enjoy the skit (and probably not understanding half of what was going on), I realized that this is exactly what I wanted from our day at Epcot[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img]. It is my favorite park (especially WS) and I wanted to share with my daughter my love of it. At four years of age, I think she totally grasped it. After the skit, we stopped by the Kidcot station to get her stamp and color her mask and then a very nice couple offered to take our picture together.
 
Next up was the American Kidcot station. While she worked on her mask, I decided to give Disney Dining a call to see if I could push back our ADR. We were having such a good time on our trip around the world that I hated to take a break from it. At first, the CM had a 5:40 and a 7:30 for GG, but as soon as I said 7:30, she announced that it was gone [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. Oh well, the 5:40 would give us a little more time.
It took us quite a while to find the next Kidcot station in Japan. We browsed through every inch of the stores until we began to see Kidcot signs pointing us to the left back corner. Once we found it, Mary Devall was determined to make the trip worth the journey because she spent a great deal of time refining her masterpiece. I didn’t have a watch on, so I had to keep sneaking peeks at people’s watches. We still had about an hour until our Garden Grill ADR and the watch that I was able to see at the Japan Kidcot station indicated that it was time for us to get moving.
Next up . . . Morocco
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 07:59 PM
|
#115
|
Community Rank: Jetsetter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Wishing I was at WDW
Posts: 2,384
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
Great update!!!
I LOVE visiting each country--especially w/ a
margarita in hand!
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 08:02 PM
|
#116
|
Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
Wonderful update!!! Can't wait for the next one! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 08:58 PM
|
#117
|
|
Eileeeeeeen!™
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 28,861
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
[ QUOTE ]
I pushed Mary Devall right up to the margarita stand where no one was waiting (it’s a sign, I tell you! ). I do admit to a moment of panic when I didn’t see it in its normal place , but I quickly saw its new home across the way (they really shouldn’t mess with a person needing a margarita like that ). I ordered my mango margarita and felt myself becoming a little teary-eyed when they sat on almost overflowing one in front of me. I quickly discovered that drinking a margarita and pushing an umbrella stroller were not compatible, so I contained myself until we reached China where we were going on a Mulan hunt.
[/ QUOTE ]
Stinkin' hilarious! You totally got me snorting with that one!
Even without the coffee (and the addition of the marguerita), you did a good job with the response to "do we eat reindeer?"
Can't wait for more, Jill. Your daughter is a riot!
Eileen
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 09:11 PM
|
#118
|
Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Lafayette, LA & BCV
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 4,751
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
I too was tricked by the moving of the margarita stand! We happened to be coming around counter clockwise and I almost passed out when I didn't see the stand in its usual spot. Luckily, my sister spotted its new home and pointed it out to me (at that point I was able to stop hyperventilating)!
Epcot is my favorite park as well especially World Showcase!
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 09:24 PM
|
#119
|
|
Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
Great update Jill!!! Miss Mary D is quite the smart little girl [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]!!! Can't wait to read more!
|
|
|
|
|
06-06-2006, 11:25 PM
|
#120
|
Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Methuen,MA
Posts: 4,499
|
Re: Girl Power - - Take Two Day 2 Part 3 Updated 6/6
great update
more please
|
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
|
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Linear Mode
