A 40th celebration to end the world! COMPLETED 4/23 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Monday 17 December – part four: our first Palo dinner on the Fantasy
Once our photos were done, we popped back just to say hello to the rest of the table…
As you can see, when we came out, it was deserted in the atrium:
…. then we made our way over to Palo.
We were a bit early, so we sat in Meridian, which was fine, but the manager of Palo came out twice, and I think he insisted on us being seated straightaway. We ended up with Igor again, who had served us for brunch yesterday, which worked really well.
Igor told us that the antipasti would be brought out shortly, and I thought no more about it, as I assumed he’d be bringing the trolley to the table, but they don’t do that for the early seating apparently. When he arrived, everything was on a plate. I let him do his spiel, then had to tell him that I don’t eat meat, which I think he was mortified about, as he hadn’t picked up on that at brunch. I told him it was fine, and some cheese and peppers would do me fine, but it left Mark with a pretty large plate of food…as you can see, that suited him just fine!
Next out on to the table was the breadsticks…
For appetiser, I went for the fritto di calamari, lightly-crusted calamari served with deep fried cherry peppers, and the calamari was absolutely spot on, which was such great news, after the disappointment of Palo on the Dream, which started with the self-same calamari.
Mark had the tuna carpaccio and lemon oil dressing, thin slices of tuna brushed with their chef’s special lemon oil. Neither of us could believe how thinly sliced this was. I tried a bit, and it was superb.
Next, we both got some mozzarella and plum tomatoes, which was beautifully presented. We were very impressed with it when it showed it – this is something very new to Palo, and a good addition. As for the taste, it tasted pretty good.
For entrée, I couldn’t bear to part with my personal favourite on the menu here, the lobster and mascarpone ravioli, with a light burro blanco, and it was divine. Igor promised me four pieces, instead of the usual three, and he was as good as his word. However, I had no problem demolishing this. The taste was perfect, and it wasn’t too heavy, it was just beautiful.
Mark had the oregano and parmesan crusted rack of lamb, with Sangiovese roasted shallots, olive oil baked Roma tomatoes, potato torta, and herb jus, and he seemed to really enjoy it.
Igor came round during our entrée to check whether we wanted their famous chocolate soufflé, and of course, we both said Oh my goodness, the wonderful scent of chocolate when this arrived was just beautiful, and the taste was just as good.
During the meal, one of the ship’s photographers came round and took a photo of us:
I suggested to Mark that we should see if we could get in another meal at Palo, and the manager was only too happy to oblige. He asked when we wanted it for, and I asked about Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7:30pm. He was able to fit us in at 7:30pm on Thursday night, so we’d be back for a repeat performance – and with Igor again – before the end of the cruise!
Palo:
First appetiser 9½ 9½
Second appetiser 9 9
Entrée 10 10
Dessert 9½ 10
Service 9½ 9½
Atmosphere 10 10
Average score: 9.63
We finished dinner around 8:15pm, so we went for a short walk around deck 13 to see if the sports deck was still in evidence. It was, which surprised us, as we hadn’t heard any thuds from above, but maybe they improved that from the Dream.
We wandered down to deck 11 to see the AquaLab…
… and the Aquaduck, which was still running. Interestingly, only double riders were allowed on it due to the high winds – and there certainly were high winds, as they messed with my hair no end!
Once we’d done that, we headed back to the room…
….where we watched a bit of the Bourne Legacy before going to bed.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the high 70s. The best thing today was dinner at Palo. The worst thing today was missing the DVC celebration again this morning. The funniest thing today was Mark with his antipasti at Palo Today we tried watching Disney Wishes And the result was it was superb, and a definite must-see for any Disney fan. The most magical moment today was smelling and tasting Palo’s amazing chocolate soufflé
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they don’t do that for the early seating apparently. When he arrived, everything was on a plate. I let him do his spiel, then had to tell him that I don’t eat meat, which I think he was mortified about, as he hadn’t picked up on that at brunch. I told him it was fine, and some cheese and peppers would do me fine, but it left Mark with a pretty large plate of food…as you can see, that suited him just fine! 
I tried a bit, and it was superb. 
Oh my goodness, the wonderful scent of chocolate when this arrived was just beautiful, and the taste was just as good. 
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