“We didn’t do THAT!!” “Well, there’s a 1st time for everything!!” PTR - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sorry I haven't posted in awhile!! We have a lot of healthcare clients at our firm (nursing homes, hospitals) and because they receive Medicare and Medicaid from residents/patients they have to have cost reports (basically the NY state wants to know every financial detail). Well, Medicare reports have to be in by May 31, so we were scrambling to get the reports to clients for review, get them signed, and off to the state. And here you thought accountants only had one deadline to worry about!! Plus I have been trying to study for the REG (Business Law and Tax) portion of the CPA exam which I'm taking July 2nd.
But anyway, back to whats important here...Disney plans. We are at 81 days to go, so here is the next installment!
February 25 was the 180 day mark, so I got online at 6am to begin making my reservations. For our arrival day, I wanted to have dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. I figured what better way to get into the Dinsey mood than to have dinner where the antics are more of a draw than the food! (BTW, Sis is going to pay for not reading the Passporter! Oh, she’ll be sorry when I tell her to ask for KETCHUP!! Or to try this awesome tasting soda from Club Cool called Beverly!! )
However, the only reservation that was available was at 8pm and that’s just too late for us to have dinner. So, I booked a 5:30 at 1900 Park Fare. I was bummed, but I decided to keep trying everyday and maybe, oh maybe, someone would cancel their ressie and I would be in the right place at the right time for once.
The rest of the restaurants I wanted were available at the times we needed. We are staying a total of 11 days so I was wondering if I would be able to book a reservation at Crystal Palace for breakfast on our last day. The online site says that at the 180 day mark you can make reservations “for the entire length of your stay”, so I didn’t think I would have a problem. Well, I think the online system was getting mad at me or something because it would not let me make a reservation for that day, anywhere, for anytime. Hmmmm, weird. I decided to try and call about this one. The representative from Disney agreed that it was weird that I could not make the reservation, but she said she would try. Lo and behold, she was able to make the reservation for 8:05am. Disaster averted!!
Back to Whispering Canyon: Persistence pays off!! Two weeks after making my other ADRs, I tried again on Saturday to get an earlier time for our 1st day. I nearly whooped with joy (I was at work so that would have been embarrassing!) when two choices came up instead of just the one for 8:00pm I had been getting previously. Well, of course I snatched up that 5:25pm reservation and now felt at peace that all my dining plans have fallen into place.
Our Plans & ADR’s
Day 1: Arrival Day! We will arrive at MCO about 11:45am. We decided that we would rent a vehicle for each family. We were debating this for quite a while because of the free Magical Express. However, we decided that having the car would give us a little extra time when we went back to the resort for midday breaks. Also, if we did decide to go to the other park that shall remain nameless, we would need some form of transportation. (Also, it was only $200 for 11 days, so I thought that was a pretty good deal.) We will probably stop at Wal-Mart on the way to get some breakfast items, drinks, and snacks. Then it is off to ASMu! Since we are staying for 11 days, but only bought 10 day park passes, I figured we could spend a few hours in DTD. Ever since I told DS that there is a Lego store there he has been asking at least once a week if we are still going to go there!! We have dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Café at 5:25. We are a goofy family and I just love the antics that I have read about at this restaurant! Then it’s time for relaxation and early to bed because tomorrow is EPCOT!!
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Day 2: EPCOT I am so excited to go to Epcot. On our first trip, we didn’t even know that there were things to see within each country and we didn’t even ride Spaceship Earth (I have to take the blame for that last one. We were going to ride, but I was not feeling to well and just want to go back to the condo.) Breakfast will be something light in the room and we have an ADR for lunch at Coral Reef at 11:30. DH wanted to eat here, but I am a little nervous based on all the mixed reviews I have read online. Dinner will be at the Liberty Inn. (I realize this last choice does not seem very adventurous, but DSis and fam are not adventurous eaters.)
I created my own personalized touring plans on Touringplans.com based on a mixture of the plan for tweens and the one for touring with 4-8 year olds, so I hope they work out ok!! Here are some of the highlights: (All the 1st are listed in green.)
Soarin’ (This wasn’t an attraction at Epcot when we went the last time, so I’m excited to give it a try!)
Living with the Land
The Seas with Nemo & Friends (I don’t believe that this was there either.)
Turtle Talk with Crush
Journey into Imagination with Figment
Captain EO
The Circle of Life
Lunch
Ellen’s Energy Adventure
Gran Fiesta Tour & Mexico Pavilion
Maelstrom & Norway Pavilion
Break
Spaceship Earth
O Canada! & Canadian Pavilion
The American Adventure
Illuminations
(And squeezing dinner in at the Liberty Inn somewhere!)
As I’m looking at all the green, I’m thinking “What the heck did we do when we were at EPCOT???!!!” I remember spending a lot of time at Innoventions…
I have another day and ½ planned for EPCOT during our stay, so we will get to things that are missing (like Test Track, Innoventions, and I want the kids to do the KImpossible missions)!
Any suggestions that could make the plan better?? How about meal suggestions for Coral Reef or Liberty Inn?? (I am so type A I printed out the menus from Allears.net so we could look at them in the room and get an idea of what we would want!! Is that bad??)
I would suggest doing Kimpossible as you do each of the lands at Epcot. Get that when you get ready to head into the countries at Epcot. That way you can see each of the different countries and the younger ones are wanting to see them because of Kimpossible. Soaring is great! Everyone in your group should love it. We are going to Coral Reef for the 1st time this year (in August), we have done the Liberty Inn and it was good. Funnel cakes are right beside the Liberty Inn (in case anyone in your group likes them as much as I do). Even though you have plans, make sure you just go with the flow. I have always made pretty specific plans until last year where we just went with it except for the dining. I think that year was the most fun we have had A little tip that I use with my DS (now 11), take a deck of cards...while you are waiting for things like Illuminations you can play cards. It makes the time go by faster and gives the kids something to do besides ask how much longer till it starts . My DS wasn't really into thrill rides (roller coaster type stuff) last year but he did like Test Track. But just remember if there is a storm approaching they can and will shut this one down since the ride goes outside. Have fun! I am sure you are counting down the days like we are till August
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Plus I have been trying to study for the REG (Business Law and Tax) portion of the CPA exam which I'm taking July 2nd. 
at 6am to begin making my reservations. For our arrival day, I wanted to have dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe. I figured what better way to get into the Dinsey mood than to have dinner where the antics are more of a draw than the food! 
(BTW, Sis is going to pay for not reading the Passporter! 
Oh, she’ll be sorry when I tell her to ask for KETCHUP!! Or to try this awesome tasting soda from Club Cool called Beverly!! 
) 
We are staying a total of 11 days so I was wondering if I would be able to book a reservation at Crystal Palace for breakfast on our last day. The online site says that at the 180 day mark you can make reservations “for the entire length of your stay”, so I didn’t think I would have a problem. Well, I think the online system was getting mad at me or something because it would not let me make a reservation for that day, anywhere, for anytime. 
Hmmmm, weird. I decided to try and call about this one. 
The representative from Disney agreed that it was weird that I could not make the reservation, but she said she would try. Lo and behold, she was able to make the reservation for 8:05am. Disaster averted!! 
We have dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Café at 5:25. We are a goofy family and I just love the antics that I have read about at this restaurant! 
Then it’s time for relaxation and early to bed because tomorrow is EPCOT!!
MMSPORTSMOM
(I have to take the blame for that last one. We were going to ride, but I was not feeling to well and just want to go back to the condo.
) Breakfast will be something light in the room and we have an ADR for lunch at Coral Reef at 11:30. DH wanted to eat here, but I am a little nervous based on all the mixed reviews I have read online. Dinner will be at the Liberty Inn. (I realize this last choice does not seem very adventurous, but DSis and fam are not adventurous eaters.
)
Here are some of the highlights: (All the 1st are listed in green.)
I remember spending a lot of time at Innoventions…
)
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