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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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LOL! I ate before this one too! That's ok< I'm making notes for our November trip..we will hit the last week. I will definitely look for some of the things you mentioned (though not the lamb meatball as I don't care for lamb, but I'm sure DH will take one for the team! )
I love POR…even more than FQ though that is not a popular statement. We loved Alligator Bay the best. Out there in the 'woods' very quiet and secluded. Or it could be that was our very first visit to WDW is what makes it close to my heart!
The meatball didn't have a very strong lamb taste to me - and I just realized I had a lambchop right after! I'd encourage you to try a bite of his, and just go heavy on the tomato sauce! That was the best part of the dish.
And I think I might now agree that I like POR more than POFQ. We really noticed this time that FQ had a lot of similarity to a value resort when you really look at the buildings....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The room does have a DVC feel to it! Lots of MK fun!
You can't beat MK. It was the only park there my first trip in 1980 (I think? Maybe 1981), so it always feels a bit nostalgic.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Wonderful updates and so many yummy pics!
Hoping some of the food pics help others plan for a F&WF trip!
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Originally Posted by rosanna
I was unfortunately hit with a tummy bug the night before we went to F&WF, but I did try the meatball. It was so good. I also tried my friends escargot tart. It was a different style than the first time my DD tried it there and she fell in love with it. They were simply served in a brioche bun with all that yummy butter and garlic. So good (to her...my brain said it was good, but my stomach was like "oh no she didn't!!"). I was really looking forward to the amazing lobster roll we had in America that same year, but alas, it was no longer available...
Oh no, that would be so sad to be there, but to be sick!
I like the sound of the 'old' escargot tart. I always order the escargot on DCL - sometimes I ask for 2! There it's just the escargot in garlic butter, with a breadstick on the side to sop up some of that yummy butter.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
I've stayed at POR twice and really enjoyed it! I've heard several people say that the SDMT is too short... that's a bummer. I guess they didn't have enough space there to make it longer?
I really enjoyed SDMT, but was surprised at how fast it came to an end. It doesn't rally have a very big footprint - certainly nothing like BTMRR or even Splash Mountain. I guess when you look at the size, it's more similar to Goofy's roller coaster, and that's also a pretty short/fast ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
I agree about POR having DVC feel to it
I have to see Country Bears again!!!
I hope Disney keeps Country Bears around. There was a time when I felt it was at risk of going away, but it is so cute. Not a 'must do' on every trip, but fun every now and then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
You did great with F&WF! We're going for 1 day this year and it will be hard to narrow it down! Love your new room at POR!
If you only have one day, I'd definitely spend some time studying the menu ahead of time and picking a few that you know you must have. We'd done that and each had 3-5 things we knew we had to try. And then sharing items will also be key to covering more ground. We were there on a Thursday and Friday, and Thursday was the better of the two crowd-wise (as expected).
Finally, the parade was making its way down Main Street! The wheelchair section was right at the hub, so we saw everything as it made the turn down Main Street. It had become very overcast by now, and that certainly impacted my pictures – they’re not as vibrant as they would have been on a sunny day.
The dragon was what I’d been most excited to see, and it did NOT disappoint! The details on it were so cool, and when it breathed out a big blast of fire?! WOW!
After the parade, it was time for some Mickey treats – a Mickey bar for DH, and a Mickey sandwich for me. YUMMY!
We spent some time shopping (mostly the window variety, but we did have to find something for each of our kids – DD especially was NOT happy knowing we were at WDW without her!). We rode Pirates, Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion (which kept closing down and reopening) and the train at some point I know. We had dinner at Pinnochio’s, where I LOVE the margarita flatbread. It has just the perfect amount of balsamic on it. Sorry, no pictures of any of that.
Our final FP+ of the night, and of our trip, was for Wishes. It was raining off and on by this point, and I was really surprised that the FP+ section was on the grass – and that they were allowing strollers and wheelchairs to be pushed across it. I felt terrible as I was sure we were tearing up the beautiful lawn. But the CM’s directed us to do it, so I guess they are OK with that? The only downside to the night was the group of 4 women behind us, who talked the ENTIRE time Wishes was going on, making the most obnoxious comments. I really came close to asking them to be quiet, but didn’t. And they clearly didn’t read my body language when I turned around to glare a few times.
Just a few shots from Wishes to share (as I know we all have LOTS of pictures of this, right?!):
We let the crowds dissipate a bit after Wishes ended (it is dangerous trying to negotiate a wheelchair through post-fireworks crowds, and many people are completely clueless about crossing right in front of the chair – so I worry about hurting someone), and then made our way back to our room to pack and prepare for DME in the morning. We had an EARLY pick up as our flight was at 9 am. That meant we were pulling into our driveway right around noon on Sunday, though, so we could see the kids and have a little down time before I went to work on Monday.
All in all, this was a great trip. It had been 10 years since our last solo trip, and our first time experiencing F&WF. We definitely want to do that again, but think that the next “event trip” might be to the Flower & Garden Show (especially since they now have a mini-food & wine event with it!). Our son leaves for college this Fall, and then 3 years later our daughter will follow. So, while we won’t be able to have another solo trip in the near future, hopefully it won’t be another 10 years!
Hope you enjoyed reading along! Sorry the report was so protracted. But I do think I finally mastered Photobucket, so maybe I’ll do a TR for our upcoming Vancouver/Alaska trip in July!
Colleen, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful report!. I truly felt as though I was there with you guys and, again, wonderful photos! Glad you two had such a great time!
Glad you had such a good trip and your photos are wonderful! I truly enjoyed it and it helped on this icy Sunday morning to look at the photos of the parade!! Only 251 days to go before I get to see the parade in person!
Colleen, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful report!. I truly felt as though I was there with you guys and, again, wonderful photos! Glad you two had such a great time!
Tara
Thanks for reading along, Tara! Glad you enjoyed it. I think everyone always wonders if their own trip will be of any interest to others - even when as readers, we all DO enjoy others reports. Just feels a bit more vulnerable to be the writer. Or is that just me?
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Originally Posted by NanaTink
Glad you had such a good trip and your photos are wonderful! I truly enjoyed it and it helped on this icy Sunday morning to look at the photos of the parade!! Only 251 days to go before I get to see the parade in person!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Stephanie! Isn't today's weather awful? We have quite a coating of ice on our driveway, sidewalk and road now. Hoping it's melted by morning or the commute in the morning is going to be a nightmare. (More than usual DC commutes)
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Wonderful TR, Colleen! I hope you do write one for the Alaska cruise. Your parade photos are so good-- that dragon is amazing.
Laurie, that parade is so awesome!! Glad you liked the pictures. Right now, I do have the best intentions of writing a report for Alaska. Although I'm also giving fair warning that when we return, I'll be prepping to take my DS off to college for his first year....
I really enjoyed your TR and all of your great photos!
Your experiences with all the food and drink at the F&W Fest were quite something as so much of it looked so good!
I'm with you regarding POR as I love the resort. I think it's my favorite of the mods, but I do like the FQ also with it being so compact!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Wonderful conclusion to your adventure sans kids. What a great location for the parade, too. all your pictures of it. I've enjoyed reading, and can't believe it's now over. for sharing, and I would love to read about your Vancouver/Alaska trip.
I really enjoyed your TR and all of your great photos!
Your experiences with all the food and drink at the F&W Fest were quite something as so much of it looked so good!
I'm with you regarding POR as I love the resort. I think it's my favorite of the mods, but I do like the FQ also with it being so compact!
Thanks for reading along!
We felt lucky to have such a great experience at F&WF. Part of me wonders if we'd ever be able to repeat that....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Wonderful conclusion to your adventure sans kids. What a great location for the parade, too. all your pictures of it. I've enjoyed reading, and can't believe it's now over. for sharing, and I would love to read about your Vancouver/Alaska trip.
You're welcome! And I do think I'll do a report for Alaska. Too early still to start a PTR, I think.
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Originally Posted by pamcarey
Awesome photo of the dragon breathing fire! Thanks for sharing a wonderful TR!
That dragon is so awesome! I was thrilled when she gave that blast of fire right when I could get a picture.
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Originally Posted by OhToodles!
What a great way to end a trip, with Wishes! So glad you had a great time. I hope we get to read about Alaska.
It did seem like Wishes was a great cap to a wonderful trip.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcmary
Great trip report. So glad you were able to continue your tradition.
I was glad I did pull off this trip to continue the tradition!
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Glad you two had such a great time!
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What a great location for the parade, too. 
for sharing, and I would love to read about your Vancouver/Alaska trip. 
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Glad you and Mike enjoyed your trip! Thanks so much for taking us along for the ride! 
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