Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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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.
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03-22-2003, 06:54 AM
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#1
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Sasquatch Territory, Pacific Northwest
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 17,166
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What Did You Learn?
I know there are classes, seminars, etc. offered onboard. What kind of classes, etc., did you participate in? Was it worth your time? Thanks!
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03-22-2003, 08:30 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Re: What Did You Learn?
We've read up on this and I'd be curious about other DCL cruisers first-hand experience as well.
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03-22-2003, 09:42 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 1,031
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Re: What Did You Learn?
We went to two seminars by Ducky Williams, the character artist for Disney Marketing. He was really cool and explained what he does and how he does it, etc.
We also went to the dessert seminar. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] We learned how to make a really sweet glaze for fruit, and how to cut cantalope really prettily.
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03-22-2003, 10:35 AM
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#4
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: jacksonville, fl usa
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 5,790
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Re: What Did You Learn?
I haven't done a seminar on DCL, but I did do a dessert one on RCCL and loved it. Definitely a not miss thing on cruises.
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03-22-2003, 10:38 AM
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#5
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Poinciana, Florida
Posts: 9,422
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Re: What Did You Learn?
We were supposed to take the wine tasting seminar, but I got sick prior to the seminar. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
Guess I'll have to take the "Home Study" course. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img]
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03-22-2003, 10:40 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,365
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Re: What Did You Learn?
Quote:
Originally posted by Disnydad:
Guess I'll have to take the "Home Study" course. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/dizzy.gif[/img]
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<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Whoo! Nuthin' wrong that! [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] |
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03-22-2003, 10:56 AM
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#7
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Florida Big Bend
Posts: 17,133
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Re: What Did You Learn?
Quote:
Originally posted by katerkat:
We went to two seminars by Ducky Williams, the character artist for Disney Marketing. He was really cool and explained what he does and how he does it, etc.
We also went to the dessert seminar. [img]graemlins/yuma.gif[/img] We learned how to make a really sweet glaze for fruit, and how to cut cantalope really prettily.
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<font size="2" face="Comic Sans MS, Arial">Katerkat was it someone from one of the Disney Restaurants doing the dessert seminar? |
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03-22-2003, 01:07 PM
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#8
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Sasquatch Territory, Pacific Northwest
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 17,166
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Re: What Did You Learn?
Thanks for the information so far everyone. Anyone else?
Don, let us know what your grade is when you complete that wine home study course! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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03-22-2003, 11:44 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Tourist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Chicago
Posts: 19
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Re: What Did You Learn?
The food prep seminars (appetizers, desserts, etc.) are typically given by one of the chefs. On the four-day Wonder, we went to one given by Chef Vinnie from Animators Palate and got to taste his excellent scallops...mmmmm!
On the 7-day day they also do things like an informal chat with the cast from the Walt Disney Theater, the Making of the Magic (about building the ship), and a chance to ask the Captain and other officers questions about the ship, the cruise line in general, life on board, etc. We've really enjoyed every one of the seminars that we've attended.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castway Club at: www.castawayclub.com |
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03-23-2003, 12:27 AM
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#10
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Faith, Trust, Pixie Dust
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Sasquatch Territory, Pacific Northwest
Concierge Level: 8
Posts: 17,166
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Re: What Did You Learn?
Thanks for the information Barb!
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03-24-2003, 07:35 AM
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#11
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 1,031
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Re: What Did You Learn?
Yep, the dessert thing was done by a chef onboard. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
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03-25-2003, 12:28 AM
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#12
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Michigan
Posts: 284
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Re: What Did You Learn?
While on the Western Caribbean Cruise 3/1-3/8/03 I attended the Art of Entertainment series. Most of them had food and wine. You were given a sample of the food (appetizer, main course and dessert)and then it was prepared for you by the appropriate chef on board. Then the wine steward explained why he/she selected the accompanying wine (which you were also given a sample of). There was even a session where they taught you plate decorating and cake decorating; how to fold the napkins they way they did on the ship - the tuxedo shirt from Palo's was really easy; the bird of paradise was harder. One session included mixology and the bartender demonstrated several of the daily specials and handed them out to those in attendance after it was made. If you didn't get a full drink, there were samples of the Bahama Mama. Each session was about an hour; 3/4 on the food and 1/4 on the wine or drink. (You did have to be legal to get the drinks). I think there were 5 sessions in all.
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03-26-2003, 12:15 AM
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#13
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 14,427
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Re: What Did You Learn?
To paraphrase a famous American, I haven't attended a seminar I didn't like.
The Art of Entertainment was quite enjoyable. They hold the cooking demonstrations in Studio Sea, which has a Cooking Channel-style portable kitchen and is fully-equipped with video cameras and large monitors so everyone can see what's cooking. And who can complain about a tasty nibble and a free sip of wine?
The Navigator Series includes something very near to this reporter's heart - a Q&A Session (can you say, Press Conference?) with the ship's senior officers. Between the information they present at the start, and the great questions from the audience, I consider that a must-see.
The wine tasting seminar at Palo is also quite pleasant. While it's tough to cover a lot of ground in a one-hour session, they do a good job of opening a novice's palate to the world of fine wines. Palo is also a gorgeous setting for a class.
When there's a special guest aboard (as Ernie "Pumbaa" Sabella was on the first Western Caribbean sailing) he/she generally does several public appearances, the nature of which vary based on his/her particular talent.
Ernie Sabella did a talk in the Buena Vista Theatre. Part of it was a chance to hear "Pumbaa" speak (the kids loved that), and the interview (by the Cruise Director) and Q&A session included a few juicy tidbits for those who love to peek behind the scenes.
Animators like Don "Ducky" Williams may hold a how to draw Mickey workshop. While we've also "learned" to draw Mickey at DisneyQuest, Don takes a lot more time to discuss technique, shares tips, and encourages interaction in a way the instructors at DisneyQuest can't touch with a 10-foot brush. He's a very "giving" instructor.
I don't know what guidebook authors might do--they haven't asked us yet. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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03-26-2003, 10:37 AM
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#14
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: SE Texas!
Posts: 4,882
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Re: What Did You Learn?
These seminars sound great! Is there anyway to know before boarding what will be offered and when?
Thanks!
Michelle
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03-27-2003, 02:35 PM
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#15
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Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Ann Arbor, MI USA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 14,427
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Re: What Did You Learn?
They don't announce schedules before you cruise. You may know about special on-board guests in advance, but they don't announce actual event schedules. As to regular seminars, you'll get some idea by looking at past copies of the Navigator (available online at http://www.castawayclub.com , thanks to Barb & Tony), but schedules are always subject to change. |
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