From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 52 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I love those beluga whales. They have some at the aquarium in Chicago.
I remember seeing them, although the ones in Mystic were way more active. We stood there for ages watching those guys.
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How disappointing it would be if you were there only one day and found rides not running because of low crowd levels. Wonder what crowds would need to drop to for Disney to do that?
Honestly? I can't imagine Disney having low crowds levels these days, even in the middle of an "off season". I put that in speech marks, as there doesn't seem to be one these days at Disney, which is probably good for them - not necessarily so good for us as visitors.
Great photos from Sea World and can't believe how quiet the place was! Wild Arctic looks like a good and interesting attraction! Love the bird photos of the parrots and macaws!
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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!
Wednesday 1 March – part five: I wonder if we can get in here…
We were all feeling the need for food by now, so we decided to try Sharks Underwater Grill on the off chance, given how quiet the park was, and sure enough, they could seat us immediately. I told you this park really wasn’t that busy. We were seated in a booth and, even though we were about as far from the tanks as it was possible to be, we were still able to get a good view…
Janine and I both ordered a Mako colada, which was stronger than I expected, and not as sweet as I’d have liked. However, we got souvenir glasses (and they were genuinely glass) to keep, which made up for that somewhat.
After checking out the dessert menu, we all decided to just stick with appetizers, and Mark and I had two each. I started off with the lobster bisque, which was delicious…
… before moving on to the Godzilla roll. Now both Mark and I swear we had this when we were here two years ago, but we remembered it being a small dish. Oh my goodness, this could never be described as small! This was fried maki roll stuffed with shrimp, cream cheese and shredded carrot, topped with spicy Japanese mayonnaise (I asked for mine to be left on the side in case it was too spicy for me) and miso mayonnaise.
Mark also had the coconut chicken tenders served with banana dipping sauce, and spicy Florida citrus mayonnaise…
Rather stupidly, having seen the size of the appetizers, I decided I’d have a dessert, and I went for the Sharks loaded brownie sundae, a brownie with hot fudge, caramel, vanilla ice cream, pecans and whipped cream. Once again, look at what turned up!
Needless to say, I did not finish it, and gave up about halfway through, having made what I felt was a valiant attempt…
All in all, I really enjoyed our return visit to this place, although my goodness, the menu items have definitely grown in size, something to remember for any future visit…
Sharks Underwater Grill
Appetiser 1 9 9½
Appetiser 2 8½ 9
Dessert 8½ N/A
Service 8½ 8½
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 9 9
Average score: 8.86
When we came out of there, the sun was really beating down, and it was unbelievably hot. We made our way back towards the park entrance, trying to duck into the air conditioning of shops on the way, which tells you something…
We sadly said our goodbyes to Janine at the entrance. It had been so much fun to do SeaWorld with her.
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It's been so long since I've seen that show, but I don't recall it being so educational. I guess that's pretty neat. I do wonder how much longer Sea World will be around. A local Orlando friend of mine bought the food promotion for passholders they offered for this year - $79 for the year for 1 quick service meal a day or something like that. He lives like across the street, so.... they're losing money on him! They just can't seem to get the people in the gates. But then , like you say, they charge more for this and that once you're inside!
Those were appetizers?! Wow, definitely the right choice in making it a meal! The dessert may not be the size of the kitchen sink... but maybe the bathroom sink? That's a lot of ice cream!
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Tanya
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Wow! Lunch looked amazing!
Can't believe the size of that sundae! Reminds me a bit of the one I had at Antoinette's, when you guys all (smartly) ordered a cone!
I see your next installment includes a warning but your last one needed a warning about those portion sizes. Wow. It all looked good though. I've just made myself a note to add a day trip to sea world for my 2018 WDW birthday trip. It's been way too long.
Sorry about the heat. I know you and Mark make and effort to avoid it, but it seems to find you.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Don't let your heart be filled with sorrow, for all you know, tomorrow, the dream that you wish will come true.
It's been so long since I've seen that show, but I don't recall it being so educational. I guess that's pretty neat.
No, you're right - this is a new show. Their existing show is still going on alongside this one.
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I do wonder how much longer Sea World will be around. A local Orlando friend of mine bought the food promotion for passholders they offered for this year - $79 for the year for 1 quick service meal a day or something like that. He lives like across the street, so.... they're losing money on him!
We might know the same person, as I've seen similar posts about that on Facebook. I was a bit shocked by that deal. I guess they're expecting people not to make the most of it.
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They just can't seem to get the people in the gates. But then , like you say, they charge more for this and that once you're inside!
Those were appetizers?! Wow, definitely the right choice in making it a meal! The dessert may not be the size of the kitchen sink... but maybe the bathroom sink? That's a lot of ice cream!
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If only Disney was like that sometimes...
Wild Arctic looks like a good and interesting attraction! 
We were seated in a booth and, even though we were about as far from the tanks as it was possible to be, we were still able to get a good view… 
How fun to see Janine!!
They just can't seem to get the people in the gates. But then , like you say, they charge more for this and that once you're inside!
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