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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We're going on the 10/27 - 11/3 Eastern Caribbean cruise, and aren't sure what we need to pack, beyond the obvious (swimsuits, crocs, shorts, tees, etc). We'd like to try Palo out, but don't want to have to get all gussied up if we can help it. We're taking 3 kids with us, and their stuff takes up plenty of room without adding dress shoes, slacks, coats, dresses, etc. We're a very casual family and like shorts & t-shirts most of the time. Are jeans acceptable at Palo? Is Palo the only place we'd have to be concerned about dressing up? If they're not okay, how about sneakers with dress slacks & a dress shirt? Shoes take up lots of luggage space we can use for souvenirs...
Given the above, should we just cancel our Palo reservations now?
Thanks!
Rich
Jeans are only marginally acceptable at the regular shipboard restaurants (a few years ago, I'd have said unacceptable), and definitely not cool at Palo unless (maybe) you're overdressing in all other regards - the designer jeans/Bally loafers/silk shirt/tasteful bling look. Just plain old theme park casual... you may feel more uncomfy at Palo dressed casually than you would if you dressed things up a bit - you'll almost definitely feel out of place. Sneakers at Palo? It doesn't happen, even when the sneakers cost $250/pair.
Part of the reason Palo is a special experience is because people treat it as a special experience - people bring their expectations with them. There are certainly upscale restaurants in most cities and major towns that cater to people who dress casually, but the idea there is that great food ought to be an everyday experience (even if it's outside most people's budget). Palo, however, is specifically setup to not be an ordinary experience, and it's clear that the vast majority of cruisers want it that way.
My dirty secret is that I wear sport sandals constantly on cruises and when traveling to warm places (black footbed, black straps - so they "wear" sporty but don't look sporty until someone looks closely). However, at dinner, from the ankles up, I'm wearing something dressier. The exceptions are formal nights (I do tux-up) and visits to Palo when I'm wearing a sport jacket - then I've got appropriate shoes. I usually travel with just two pair of shoes (including the shoes on my feet) - my sandals, and one pair of dress loafers. In colder weather, I also have a pair of casual shoes. Imelda Marcos would have considered me a barbarian, I'm sure.
I've got a wardrobe full of linen slacks and shorts, so even though they feel light and casual, I can still dress them up with the right shirt. For me, it's a basic matter of comfort. Jeans are the second thing I leave behind when I travel during the summer or head south (coats are #1). I think jeans are uncomfortable when compared to light summer trousers - the fabric is relatively stiff, has less "give" and feels uncomfy in humid conditions. Yeah, I grew up in jeans, and once fall and winter weather hit Michigan, my jeans get a real workout, but on a cruise, or at the parks? No way.
So, my recommendation is, ditch a pair of jeans in favor of one pair of linen slacks. Bring a nice buttondown shirt or two. You'll be comfy and be dressed well enough for nearly any circumstance, and it won't over-stuff your suitcase.
__________________
Co-Author, PassPorter's Walt Disney World, PassPorter's Disney Cruise Line, and PassPorter's Disneyland and Southern California Attractions
A little secret I have is that you can usually double up on slacks. You'll likely only be wearing them for a few hours, so why take so many? I do pack a suit for the formal nights, since I think of it as fun and we get a lot of formal pictures taken that way. I think we're taking a cruise on the MSC Lirica in December and I plan on renting a tux for that one.
I pack one pair of dress shoes for the whole week. They aren't "real" dress shoes, just a very comfortable and attractive pair of black SAS loafers.
t-shirts and underwear usually take up a great deal of our luggage space. We may wind up wearing two pairs of t-shirts a day and after a hot day on the island, putting on the same undies after a shower just doesn't seem right.
This is always one of my bugaboos. Formal nights and fine dining are just what the names imply. If you don't want to dress up, there is always the 24 hour buffet or the pizza spot or the Bistro to eat at and stay casual. Some of the cruise lines are getting firm about their dress codes now. I still always ask the question, why would anyone want to wear jeans in the tropics? When the boys were little for formal night we put them in khaki pants and tropical shirts and sandals. Now that they are grown, they love to throw on a gorgeous suit and tie and dress to the 9s. It is one of the great pleasures of cruising to show off your best clothes on formal night. In fact, I am a little dressy every night. It's nice to get out of those all day clothes and clean up. Plus I love to look great for all of those formal pictures we have taken. All in all, getting all dolled up makes for great memories. Bigred
We were on a Celebrity cruise last year and there were two boys, 10 and 12, who wore tuxes (or what we call tuxes, for the pedantic) on formal nights, and school blazers the other nights (one "dresses for dinner" on Celebrity).
Most of the AIs, like Sandals, Couples, Beaches, Reef Club, Iberostar all require slacks (not jeans) collared shirts and close toed shoes for men at dinner in the formal restaurant. And usually flat out turn away anyone not properly dressed.
All of these rules are in the brochures and on the websites, it's not as if people don't have a chance to see them. This is a case of terieny of the minority. Read the rules and don't ruin it for most of us.
I just wanted to say that it really is worth taking the extra clothes so that you can go to Palo - it is an amazing restaurant and, in our book, a not to be missed experience.
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