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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a great location you had for the parade! So great you're able to catch up with old friends too! Such a shame about the whole experience at Bongos. I don't think I've heard anything good about the place.
Ridiculous service and food at Bongo's! I've read other bad reviews, though Luke and I had a nice meal here in May of last year. It might have helped that the night we were there Gloria Estefan, whose place it is, was also dining there.
Sorry to hear your meal at Bongos was a nightmare! I've never ate there and really never had interest as most of the reviews have been somewhat mediocre of the place.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I will definitely not be going to Bongos anytime soon! I'm so sorry your experience there was so poor & even the manager seemed to careless. That's so sad & disappointing!
I'm glad you got to see Ellie! You two look like twins!!!
It was quite disappointing, and aw thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Wow, what a disappointing meal and service! I have to say, it looks like they just threw the food on the plate-- it's all topsy-turvy and not terribly appetizing.
Right? It did not look yummy
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a disappointing meal! The presentation of the plates is just horrible. And from the sound of it, service was just as bad.
It was not pleasant at all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disneybine
Oh no, I'm so sorry about your disappointing meal It's bad enough when the food doesn't taste good but if the server is unfriendly on top of that - ugh
Yeah it was the perfect storm of awful
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Wow, I can't believe how bad your dinner at Bongo's was. I can't blame you for not wanting to go back for a long time.
There are just too many other great places to try!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I remember you saying about your experience at Bongo's, so I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't realise just how bad. My goodness, I'm not surprised you won't be back any time soon. I think we went there in maybe 2006 or 2008 and while it was Ok, it was nothing special.
By the way, I absolutely loved your shot of the glass of wine on the table, that just looked so relaxing.
Aww thank you! It was really such a great peaceful location of our room I loved sitting out there!
Quote:
Originally Posted by OhToodles!
What a great location you had for the parade! So great you're able to catch up with old friends too! Such a shame about the whole experience at Bongos. I don't think I've heard anything good about the place.
It was a bummer end to a great day, but really it was great because Ellie had made it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Ridiculous service and food at Bongo's! I've read other bad reviews, though Luke and I had a nice meal here in May of last year. It might have helped that the night we were there Gloria Estefan, whose place it is, was also dining there.
I bet that made a world of difference!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Sorry to hear your meal at Bongos was a nightmare! I've never ate there and really never had interest as most of the reviews have been somewhat mediocre of the place.
Today was supposed to be a sleep in day but I was woken up around 7:30 by Ellie going to the bathroom, unfortunately the door slams just kind of took it easy for a bit though lazing in bed.
We went for a walk up to Hospitality House to get Ellie a Diet Coke and then came back and I made us some fried eggies and bagels. Quick and easy! I wish the villas would at least have salt and pepper though because it’s really a pain to buy a whole thing of spices every time But it turned out that our room was really in a great location because it was a lovely morning walk!
We enjoyed our breakfast on the balcony and it was a beautiful morning. Then I got ready for the day (Ellie was good to go) and we headed off to Epcot after our leisurely wake up.
We previewed what was to come
Call me Master Chef Maci
We popped our head into Art of Disney upon arrival and obligatory Photopass pics. We got really lucky with a Monorail soaring overhead while we posed Most of the art in my apartment is Disney themed (I got most of it in Disneyland in 2013 actually, they seem to have more selection in my style and price range) but I’m always looking for more. I of course found one I absolutely loved but was not in the “mega splurge of the year” realm at the time so we just took a picture and continued on. I could have sworn I had a picture of it but it was a whimsical Sleeping Beauty painting. My bedroom is Sleeping Beauty themed and my office/guest room is Peter Pan so that’s usually what I gravitate towards...
Our first real stop was the pin booth for limited edition goodies since it was the first day of the festival! For some reason there was a HUGE massive line and I think we ended up here for maybe 30 minutes? When we finally got to the front the people in front of us were trying to buy up the limited edition MBs and it was just a huge hassle and time consuming. We walked out of there with a bunch of pins ourselves and I should probably take a picture of them for you all sometime…
I also popped over to Mousegears while Ellie was waiting to check on the rumor I had heard a few days prior… but no Pandora bead still
Finally we were off to use a FP+for Soarin’ at Ellie’s request, as I’m actually not a huge fan of this ride. After all of our shopping and journey over California it was time to head off for the main event!
We made our way out with somewhat of a plan… try a lot of food and beverage! I’m going to do my very best to match up what we had for you, but some was more memorable than others for sure.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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I've never ate there and really never had interest as most of the reviews have been somewhat mediocre of the place.
My goodness, I'm not surprised you won't be back any time soon. I think we went there in maybe 2006 or 2008 and while it was Ok, it was nothing special. 
. Sorry about your Bongos experience, but the rest of your adventures sound wonderful!!
how nice to meet up with old friends!!
Most of the art in my apartment is Disney themed (I got most of it in Disneyland in 2013 actually, they seem to have more selection in my style and price range) but I’m always looking for more. I of course found one I absolutely loved but was not in the “mega splurge of the year” realm at the time so we just took a picture and continued on. I could have sworn I had a picture of it but it was a whimsical Sleeping Beauty painting. My bedroom is Sleeping Beauty themed and my office/guest room is Peter Pan so that’s usually what I gravitate towards...
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