Our First Christmas in the World - COMPLETED 3/26 - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How frustrating about them wanting to serve everyone in the area at the same time at 'Ohana - I can understand that from their point of view, but this should be about the customer and making you wait that long just isn't acceptable in my opinion....
Sorry to hear that the service at Ohana was less than stellar. I ate there in june and our server was pretty good, although I did have to tell him that some of the meats hadn't made it to the table. Food was delicious!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeL
I'm with Laurie on the service issue and more than a bit suprised We went last year an as soon as our server saw one of our plates empty or nearly so he was right there I =f he didn't have a skewer of what we wanted some one else was waved over Too bad about that bread pudding you could justify homacide for that stuff
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
That's definitely the right attitude to have and I try to do that, too! No need to let things like this get to you on vacation, but looking at the situation from home-- never should have happened!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
How frustrating about them wanting to serve everyone in the area at the same time at 'Ohana - I can understand that from their point of view, but this should be about the customer and making you wait that long just isn't acceptable in my opinion....
It's interesting that at the time I wasn't all that upset about it, but now that I look back, I'm thinking why didn't we make more of a fuss?? But like I said to Laurie, in the Disney bubble I tend to look on the bright side of everything and downplay the bad stuff. The drink was really very refreshing and delish! Just not what I was expecting. The long wait for skewered meats was another thing altogether...but we just accepted her explanation at the time.
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The food always sounds delicious at Ohana for dinner, but the service is too often as poor as you all had, too many errors without even an I'm sorry. Watching Hallowishes from your balcony is awesome!
Hallowishes was definitely a highlight! Although we could not get the audio on our television. I think that might be just for Wishes, and not for the special fireworks shows.
The food looked delish, but sorry the service was rotten. Great pics!
the food was very good! Those dumplings are the best! And my favorite of the skewered meats was the beef. It was delicious dipped in one of those dipping sauces (I forget which one!)
Sorry you had rotten service. Ohana used to be my family's favorite meal but last year we were very dispaointed. Service was really bad and the food was just okay. I love the dumplings and Steak. Cant wait to hear more!
December 1 – fourth day
We woke up about 7:00. Because today was our CP day, we’d planned on staying at Epcot through Illuminations. So we decided to have a lazy morning. We watched the rest of Mystery, Alaska while we ate our breakfast and we also ran down to the laundry room to do a couple loads of laundry. We left for Epcot at 10:20 and arrived about 11:00. Soon after we walked through the turnstiles, a couple on their way out gave us two FPs for Soarin’ for 11:35. Woohoo!
We stopped to get some photopass pics and also met up with Daisy.
Then we went to Living Seas for a look around. It’s been a while since we’d gone in here and we’ve never seen Turtle Talk with Crush, so we decided to give that a go.
Then we used the FPs for Soarin’. We ended up in line behind 5 kids from a High School marching band. Their band had marched in the taping of the Christmas Parade which was the previous day. It was fun to talk with them about their experience doing that. One of the boys said, “And today our band is having lunch with someone named Whoopi Goldberg…Whoever that is!” OMG! There is a whole generation who has not seen “Ghost” or “Sister Act”
Not quite sure what was happening here or why we were laughing so much...
Next we headed for WS. We stopped to see the Monkey King storyteller in China
Then walked around to Germany for our lunch ADRs at Biergarten.
Lunch was delicious and we sat with a couple on one side of us and a young family on the other side. Both were there for the CP package. We talked with the couple quite a bit and found out they had seen the CP 17 times! Since it was our first time, it was very helpful to talk with them. One thing they recommended was getting in line an hour before the performance even though we had our tickets. They were also very excited about seeing Whoopie Goldberg as they said she is one of the best narrators. Bill for Biergarten was $80.67. No TiW discount on the CP package.
We really enjoyed the entertainment at Biergarten. The cow bells, Alpine horns are my favorites.
Finally caught up! I am really enjoying your pictures, they really tell the story! You made great use of the photopass also. We tried on our last trip, but with three kids it is not always easy to stop for pictures. Can't wait to see how you liked CP!
Great start to the day!!! Love those mornings when you can take your time! Score on the FP's!!!
Whoopie Goldberg!!! I LOVE her!!!! Had the opportunity to see her perform in the Lion King in NYC - she was FANTASTIC!!! And walked right next to me!!! Can't wait to hear about the CP!
__________________
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Finally caught up! I am really enjoying your pictures, they really tell the story! You made great use of the photopass also. We tried on our last trip, but with three kids it is not always easy to stop for pictures. Can't wait to see how you liked CP!
Yeah, I can see where it would be tough to stop for lots of photopass pics with three kids in tow. Especially if you've got to get kids out of strollers, etc. With just DH and I, we throw our bags and/or coats on the ground under the tripod and stand where they tell us!
Great start to the day!!! Love those mornings when you can take your time! Score on the FP's!!!
Whoopie Goldberg!!! I LOVE her!!!! Had the opportunity to see her perform in the Lion King in NYC - she was FANTASTIC!!! And walked right next to me!!! Can't wait to hear about the CP!
we definitely needed a relaxing morning after getting up early for the last couple days!
I have always loved Whoopi Goldberg! Very cool that you got to see her in Lion King!
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Great pics! 
the food was very good! Those dumplings are the best! And my favorite of the skewered meats was the beef. It was delicious dipped in one of those dipping sauces (I forget which one!)
Can't wait to hear about the CP!
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