Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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09-10-2005, 10:35 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago Illinois
Posts: 5,421
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Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *COMPLETE 9/23/05*
Even though I have been a passporter for over a year now I have never done a trip report! So this will be my 1st attempt at one. It may be very short if I can’t get the hang of this but I wanted to give it a try. Here goes:
The Cast: Me (Kathy 34) DH (Tim 32) DS (Matt 10) DS (Ryan 4) My Mom DM (Sharon 63) & My Dad DF (Bill 67)
The event: 14 day Panama Canal Cruise on the Disney Magic
Dates: 8/20/05 to 9/3/05
Day 1 8/20/05
Our day started out very early with a 7:30am flight out of Midway airport in Chicago. My Mom believes in being at the airport very early so by 5:15am I was at the airport. The flight was uneventful & due to the 2 hour time difference in our favor, we touched down in L.A. about 9:40am local time. We claimed our luggage & found the Disney rep in baggage claim; before we knew it we were on a bus & headed to the Port of Los Angeles. We were to the port by 11am & checked in with hardly any wait. We were assigned a boarding group #16 & they had just started with group #1! I had registered both DS’s for the kids club on line so I went to the check in desk & claimed our pager, before joining the family to wait to board. It wasn’t too long & we were hearing our names announced as we boarded the Magic for the 3rd time.
DS’s wanted a picture with the Mickey statue in the atrium. 
They also had a lovely ice sculpture of the Magic. 
Then it was up to Topsiders for the embarkation buffet. We took a picture of the port. It sure is different from Port Canaveral. 
After lunch we explored a bit before heading to our stateroom then of course the mandatory life boat drill. If you have never done one it is an experience. You have to wear your very uncomfortable life jacket & walk to your muster station. You then have to stand very close together while attendance is taken & a few announcements are made. It is hot, sweaty, & many kids are usually crying, but safety first! After the drill it was on to the sail away party on deck 9.
A lot of people turned out to say goodbye to the Magic
After we sailed away we headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. We were on the APL (Animator’s Palate, Parrot Cay, Lumiere’s) rotation. Tonight’s menu was “Let the Magic Begin” & we met our server’s Glendene from Trinidad & Joy from India for the 1st time. Dinner was great. After dinner we headed to the Walt Disney Theatre for the “Let the Magic Begin” variety show. We saw a juggler David DiMuzio & a ventriloquist Taylor Mason who was fabulous, as well as a couple numbers by the Disney main stage performers. After the show we were all very tired so we headed back to our stateroom to unpack & get some sleep. We had 2 weeks of fun ahead of us!
Next up: Our 1st day at sea |
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09-11-2005, 10:28 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 18,767
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
What a great start Kathy!!!!! Can't wait to hear about your fist day at sea!!!  |
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09-11-2005, 11:45 AM
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#3
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Great start Kathy 
More please  |
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09-11-2005, 01:01 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago Illinois
Posts: 5,421
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Day 2 8/21/05 Sunday
Today was our 1st day at sea. We woke up about 7:30am & headed to Topsiders for breakfast. We enjoyed the buffet for breakfast every morning. I tried to keep it light sticking with a bagel, or Danish & maybe hash browns. DH liked the scrambled eggs & toast. DS #1 stuck with bagels & several donuts. DS #2 usually had pancakes & bacon. DS #2 is very picky about his pancakes. At home the only microwave pancakes he will eat come from Market Days. If I try to give him any other brand he tells me they are the wrong color, so we were very happy to see the “Mickey Boat” had the right pancakes. After breakfast my Dad took the boys to the pool, & me DH & my Mom headed to the DVC member celebration. We received DVC baseball hats, lanyards & luggage tags as gifts. I also won a great DVC tote bag in a raffle. There were a lot of DVC members on board. After the celebration we headed to the Mickey pool to meet up with the boys & my Dad. The Mickey pool became one of our favorite hangouts during the cruise. The boys had a great time playing in the pool.
Matt & Ryan ready to jump in
Ryan trying out the Mickey slide
Matt in the pool
Ryan in the pool
DS #1 also tried out the Oceaneer Lab today which would become his 2nd home for the next 2 weeks. He was in the 10-12 age group. He went to a session of Mickeymation & learned to draw his favorite mouse. Spent time Stormin’ the Lab, which is basically free time where the kids can use the computers & the play station. Skipped the evening show to go see the Incredibles in the Buena Vista Theatre & attended a Carnival Party. He basically stayed in the Lab every night until they kicked him out, usually at midnight! We all joked he had the best night life of all of us.
Dinner tonight was in Parrot Cay. It reminds me of the Tiki Room at MK. It is very colorful & busy. The menu tonight was “Taste of California” & was great as usual. After dinner we took in the evening show which was “Art Imitating Art an Acrobatic Adventure.” The performers were very talented, especially when you remembered they were doing acrobatics on a moving ship!
We roamed the decks & stores a little after dinner, and then headed back to the room for some rest.
Our room steward Derrick always left us a towel animal, & DS #2 loved them.
Up Next: A stop in Cabo… or not; & will this ship ever stop rocking?? |
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09-11-2005, 04:46 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Traveler 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Frakes, KY
Posts: 470
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Great trip report!
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09-11-2005, 05:50 PM
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#6
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
What a cool towel animal! Glad the kids are having a great time More please |
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Sponsored links
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09-11-2005, 08:58 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Chicago Illinois
Posts: 5,421
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Day 3 8/22/05 Monday
DH & I both woke up at about 5:30am & boy was the ship rocking. This is our 3rd cruise & this was the most I had ever felt the ship move. I went out on the veranda to check the weather. It was raining & gloomy & the seas looked really rough. I came back inside & we turned on the voyage channel that tells you the course, how far you’ve gone, how far to the next port & the weather. The channel still said we were stopping at Cabo San Lucas so we decided to get dressed. About 7am Captain Tom made an announcement that we had passed Cabo earlier that morning. Due to hurricane Hillary it wouldn’t be safe for us to tender in. We would be spending a day at sea & stopping tomorrow in Manzanillo, Mexico (where??) Instead of our scheduled day at sea.
We quickly had a revised Navigator delivered to our room by our steward. The Navigator is a guide to all the day’s activities, & they had scheduled a lot to keep us busy. While we checked out the Navigator we received a phone call from Palo, the adult’s only restaurant. I had us scheduled for brunch for tomorrow, but since our day at sea changed our brunch would be today. They only serve brunch on sea days. I went next door to see my Mom & Dad & Mom was kind of seasick. She said we should still go to brunch though & she would take the boys to the family craft session at 10am, then back to the room while we did our 11am brunch, so that was the plan. Brunch at Palo is amazing. They have a buffet set up with breads, crackers, cheeses, shrimp, crab legs, & tons of other things not to mention desserts. You can get flat bread pizzas & other things like pancakes, & filet made to order. DH & I both had some items off the buffet & ordered a cheese & tomato flat bread pizza to share. We also both ordered the filet & it was yummy. We were too full for desert, but the buffet looked great.
After brunch we headed back to the room to meet my Mom & the kids. We decided to take the kids to the Buena Vista Theatre to see the Pacifier at 12:30. Mom was still not feeling well so she decided to lie down. We had never seen the Pacifier & thought it was a cute movie. Mom met us outside the theatre when the movie was over & said she felt a little better. We then headed to the Promenade Lounge for the David DiMuzio juggling worships at 2:30pm. The kids had fun trying to learn to juggle. After that DH, Ryan & I headed to room so he could take a nap, & Matt headed to the club to hear Gary Landrum an Imagineer speak & the Storm the Lab. I should probably mention that while I could not get DS Matt (age 10) out of the Lab I could not get DS Ryan (age 4) into the Club. Now this is a child who has been in daycare since he was 6 weeks old, but he wanted no part of it. I went in with him & told him I’d sit in the corner while he played, figuring after he got acquainted I could sneak out, but no dice. One of the counselors said a lot of kids are like that, even though they are in daycare at home they figure they’re not missing anything because you’re at work. On vacation they’re afraid they might miss something if they’re not with you. Oh well maybe next time.
Dinner tonight was in Lumiere’s. We had the “Around the World” menu. Great food & service as usual. The evening show was Taylor Mason a ventriloquist who uses puppets he makes himself. This guy was so funny. I think most of the kids on the ship spent the rest of the cruise quoting lines from his act. After dinner we headed up to deck 9 as we had hardly been outside all day. They had the pools closed & the water was sloshing out because the seas were still so rough. I don’t get sea sick, but DH & I both agreed we were ready for some calmer seas & smooth sailing. Matt headed back to the Lab & the rest of us headed back to the room to get some sleep.
We didn’t take too many pictures today, but here are a few of our stateroom.
Me by the bed
Matt by his & Ryan’s bed
Today’s towel animal from Derrick
Up Next: We’re in Manzanillo Mexico? Anyone ever heard of this place? |
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09-11-2005, 10:00 PM
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#8
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Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Whitefield, NH
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 13,599
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Lovin your report so far! Keep up the great work - your boys are adorable - and I LOVE the towel animals!
Can't wait to read what happens next! Glad you enjoyed your brunch.
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09-11-2005, 10:19 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Dreaming of the Future
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 24,867
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Love the Report Keep it coming!
Amy
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09-12-2005, 06:36 AM
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#10
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic
Another cool towel animal Sorry you missed Cabo San Lucas  Can't wait for more |
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09-12-2005, 07:31 AM
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#11
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Newtown Square, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 23,859
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *Day 3 added*
What a  report and great pictures!! Sorry that you missed Cabo San Lucas! I hope the stop you do make is great! |
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09-12-2005, 09:00 AM
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#12
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Massachusettes
Posts: 503
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *Day 3 added*
Thank you Kathy, I am enjoying your report. More please!
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09-12-2005, 03:30 PM
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#13
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Near Seattle, WA
Posts: 1,183
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *Day 3 added*
Kathy:
Great report!
So sorry you're having rough seas!
Can't wait for more!
Tina |
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09-13-2005, 12:18 AM
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#14
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *Day 3 added*
Great report Kathy!! Sounds like you are having an awesome time so far!! Can't wait to read more!!
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09-13-2005, 09:02 AM
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#15
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 18,767
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Re: Our 14 day Cruise on the Magic *Day 3 added*
Sounds like an incredible time Kathy!!  the towel animals! |
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