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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Using Google Maps I was able to direct my Dad to the eatery at Dean Street and Underhill where we would be meeting Matt, Jill and the nugget for dinner. It was now five and traffic was picking up. It was also a bit hectic because this particular area of Brooklyn is filled with a lot of one way streets.
It was well worth it to get my first glimpse of the nugget:
Jill requested we sit outside to eat because she was tired of being cooped up indoors, and the air conditioning was keeping the inside of the restaurant pretty cold. Dad wandered through the inside of the restaurant and was excited to see the original press tin ceilings had been restored. The main room had a large mahogany bar that was also original to the building.
We were pretty starved (we'd shared some pretzels and blueberry muffins during the drive). Mom ordered the grass fed Dean Street Burger, topped with cheddar, carmalized onions and bbq sauce. It came with a side of house cut fries. Jill and Matt split the Omlet of the day - an 8 egg omelet with asparagus, portobello mushrooms, onions, peppers and some type of "foreign" cheese...I think it was a middle eastern type mozzarella cheese, but I didn't write the name down. I had locally raised pork, smoked and shredded and served on a pretzel bun with fresh apple slaw and a garlic aioli sauce Dad had the same, and both our sandwiches came with house made "french" fries - I got zucchini fries and Dad had fried green beans. I guess the "french" fry portion of the meal reflects whaever vegetable the cook grabs? Either way, everything was delicious!
The hidden secret for this eatery? The house squeezed lemonade. I had a strawberry basil lemonade, Dad, Mom and Matt had a Tom Colins virgin (1/2 tea, 1/2 lemonade) Jill had a wild rasberry lemonade - all were very, very good.
Matt and I settled the bill and decided to have Jill and nugget ride back to Matt's, and he and I would take the subway.
Matt has lived in Brooklyn for 15 years now, and lives in the Clinton-Washington area, not far from the restaraunt, but he doesn't have much in the way of directional sense. He and I set off walking the 1/2 block to the subway, only to discover we set off walking in the wrong direction In his defense, we were talking a lot about his transition to fatherhood (he thought the baby would be on a schedule and sleeping through the night by 1 week of age)
Once we got ourselves turned around, and heading in the correct direction, we found the subway and hopped on the 5 train which would take us directly to his stop. Once we were back on the street level, it was a quick 2 block walk to his co-op.
The entrance to his building is really neat - old marble floors, tall lattice work doors and it looks out onto the building's community garden
While Mom and Dad helped Jill unpack groceries, I got to have some quality snuggles with my 13 pound, 4 week old nephew. We had a good laugh because Gabe is now 25 inches, exactly 10 inches shorter than his soon-to-be four year old cousin Cullen.
My notes got a bit sketchy at this point - Dad and Matt took a quick trip over to the Brooklyn Home Depot to purchase a window air conditioner for Gabe's room, and Jill and I made up a tomato and onion salad to serve with crusty bread for a late dinner. None of us were especially hungry.
Once Dad and Matt returned, he and I went over to the place we would be staying for the next few nights. One of Matt's friends has a neighbor who purchased a brownstone and after renovation, he kept the second floor flat to rent to friends and family who visit (he is originally from Denmark). Dad's walking up the stairs in this picture - our flat consists of the three windows above the door.
While we were on our way back to Matt's place, Coach called to report on their "adventures" at the Boonshoft.
"So, I need to tell you...before the kids get on the phone....ummm, well we're all okay, but I kind of lost two of the kids for a bit" How does one "kind of" loose a couple of kids?
Needless to say, it took me a minute to relax before asking for the full story. There's a two story play structure that can be accessed from the 2nd floor or the first floor. He and the boys were on the 2nd floor when he realized Cullen wasn't with them. Nolan spotted Cullen getting off the slide, so Coach ordered Nolan and Patrick to go down the slide while he ran for the staircase. When he got downstairs, Nolan had a tight hold on Cullen, but Patrick wasn't anywhere to be found. Thinking Patrick hadn't gone down the slide, Coach ran back up the stairs and started searching the top of the play area (no Patrick) then he and the boys searched the 2nd floor (still no Patrick). Coach sent Nolan back down the slide and ran down the stairs while carrying Cullen. Nolan was stationed at the bottom of the play structure while Coach searched the play areas around the structure. Finally, he found Patrick, standing in the hallway sobbing. Coach settled him down, but Patrick refused to play anymore and kept repeating he wanted to go home now. It turns out he'd gone down the slide first, but hadn't seen Cullen. Cullen, after getting off the slide started climbing up the rope net. When Patrick didn't see Cullen, he started searching the area around the play structure. At that point, Nolan was getting off the slide, climbed up the ropes and hauled Cullen down which was when Coach caught up to them and discovered Patrick was missing.
I couldn't get mad or upset - I've lost Cullen before at Nolan's school. I've also lost the boys on that same play structure - which is why I now avoid it unless I have two adults with me to station at the various entrance/exits. When I talked to the boys?
"Mom, Dad lost Cullen AND Patrick" Nolan's version of the events
"Dad lost me and I cried and I'm NEVER going back there" Patrick's events
"Da cry me" Cullen's version meaning Patrick cried.
After hanging up with Coach (who was planning a much calmer Friday for the kids), My parents and I went back to our place. Dad went to bed, Mom used my Kindle Fire to watch something using my Prime Account...she thought that was very because she'd never watched tv that way, and I worked on some graduate school work. It had been a busy day for all!
Highlights:
Weather - dry and 86, though it was pretty overcast
Travel - pretty easy considering we had to navigate through Manhattan and Brooklyn during the start of rush hour
Stress? Hearing that Coach misplaced a couple of kids
Favorite part? Getting snuggles with the new nephew
Up next - what would Friday bring?
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The Fun, Old-Fashioned Family Vacation, 3.0 http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...ml#post4472933
Ch-Ch-Changes July 2015
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