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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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02-26-2006, 12:17 PM
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#16
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
Great update!!! Your meal sounds fab!!
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02-26-2006, 12:45 PM
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#17
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
Another great update - I'm glad to hear you guys made it through Virginia OK, despite the weather forecast. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
That room service sounded absolutely divine - what a great way to spend the evening. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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02-26-2006, 02:45 PM
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#18
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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: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
Great update!!! Your room service meal sounds yummy, I'm going to have to splurge sometime!! Can't wait to read more!!
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02-27-2006, 07:19 AM
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#19
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
Fantastic updates [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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02-28-2006, 10:59 PM
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#20
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: new york
Posts: 9,202
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
sounds like you had a great first day at the world.
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03-02-2006, 09:05 PM
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#21
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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: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
Great Report More please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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03-10-2006, 01:23 PM
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#22
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Edmonton, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 17,823
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break 2/19-2/23
So glad you're writing a trip report!! I have to get my Fort Wilderness fix!! Can't wait to read more!!!
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03-10-2006, 07:25 PM
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#23
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: NY (just north of NYC)
Posts: 1,269
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
Day Two: Setting Up Our Surveillance Camera, Shopping in Downtown Disney & What A Great Pool!
We did indeed sleep in which is unusual for DW and I. It was after 9:00 am when I finally awoke. We had asked for breakfast at 10 so I began nudging my roomies to get it in gear. Shortly after DW was up and got our little coffee maker going, we had a knock on the door. It was the maid. Oh no! We forgot to hang the “Do Not Disturb” sign. She was very nice and said she would come back later. As we sat and sipped our coffee, we got a call from room service that they were very busy and our breakfast was going to be late. Again we were not in any hurry since our plans were very non specific and didn’t involve getting to the parks. We took turns with showers which are very nice, I might add. Having 2 sinks outside the shower / toilet was a luxury we don’t have at home. We commented how chaotic it is getting ready for school and work every morning. Our new house will have 3 bedrooms and 3 baths for 4 people. Soon it will be completed!
Breakfast arrived earlier than anticipated. As we let our CM inside we could hear the clanking of other trays being delivered to our neighbors. She commented how busy they were this morning with lots of folks checking out and opting for breakfast in room.
DS and I had omlets while DW enjoyed her pancake breakfast. Again served nice and hot with a carafe of piping hot coffee. Certainly got my caffeine fix for the day. DS headed for the balcony and I took my complimentary USA Today headed down to the lobby to wait for them to come down. We would get the van and head out to do some shopping in Kissimmee and Downtown Disney. DS just had to get a special gift for Sam (aka Samantha the friend who just happens to be a girl) at DD. While we were there we stopped at guest relations and had several old park hoppers checked for leftover days. None had theme park days. 2 of them had one extra (water park or pleasure island) and 3 others had two extras. Cool! We can use them later on this trip or some other trip.
He couldn’t decide on what to get so we headed to Kissimmee to Route 192 and stopped at the Big Orange for some fresh squeezed Orange Juice. There is nothing better. In NY we have to rely on the kind that is from concentrate. The fresh taste is lost in the process. From there we hit a couple of gift shops. Our friends and family count on us for cheesy Florida souvenirs.
As the afternoon went on, the overcast burned off and the sun came out brightly. The sun raised the temperature nicely as well. It was time to head back and enjoy the AKL pool. Once there we found the room was still unmade. Hey we couldn’t complain. When the maid was ready, we weren’t. I set up my video camera on the balcony and sat directing my movie of the AKL Savannah while DW and DS changed and headed down to the pool. I shot about half an hour of tape and changed for the pool and left just as the maid was coming in.
The pool was great although shallow. It was very busy as well. We tried the hot tub and found the powerful jets were very relaxing. I left DW and DS to enjoy the water and headed to a chair to dry off for a few minutes then headed to the poolside bar. I ordered a Mount Killamarita (aka their version of a Margarita) and sat on a barstool sipping it while watching a basketball game on the bar’s TV. I must say the drink was not bad. Although expensive it was refreshing.
I was in relaxation mode and feeling lazy after my drink and headed upstairs to shower and change and maybe catch a short nap since the busy pool was kind of noisy for me to nod off. I got in about 45 minutes of naptime when DW and DS came back. DS was complaining he was getting hungry again. DW and I didn’t want another huge room service meal since we had such a big breakfast / brunch just a few hours earlier. We agreed dinner that night would be something on the lighter side from Mara later on. Since we agreed to wait on dinner, DS decided he would try lifting some weights in the workout room for an hour then come up for his shower. DW took her shower and changed while I nodded off again. Hey I could get used to this!
DS’s short workout had temporarily kept his mind off food, but after his shower he was ravenous. He and DW headed down for some burgers and fries from Mara. Not exactly cheap eats, but the food was good.
We tuned in the Olympics for a while. Curling now what is that sport about? It was sort of hypnotic to watch while all the time trying to figure out the strategy and how it ever became an Olympic event. DS set up the portable DVD player he had gotten for Christmas and we all watched the small screen, which was surprisingly good quality.
DW and I soon tired of the corny movie he had selected (Dodge Ball) and decided to spend some time out on the balcony. Once again the Savannah had taken on a different appearance and sound. It was difficult to see animals even with the moonglow lighting, but certainly the sounds made it seem like we were back in wild Africa. Could this last forever?
Next Time: We (reluctantly) leave AKL for our Home Away From Home
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03-10-2006, 07:53 PM
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#24
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
Another fantastic update! Glad you are enjoying AKL [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img]
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03-11-2006, 08:34 AM
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#25
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 1,144
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
I just love your reports, keep it coming. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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03-11-2006, 08:43 AM
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#26
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
What an amazing time you're having - and how wonderful to be able to spend so much time at the resort! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
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03-11-2006, 09:40 AM
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#27
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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: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
Great update!!! Sounds like a really relaxing time!! Can't wait for more!!
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03-11-2006, 04:53 PM
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#28
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Eileeeeeeen!™
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 28,861
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
I love how slow and easy your trip has been - you really know how to "vacation"....
Can't wait for more - but... poor Shamrock! I miss hearing about him!
Eileen
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03-11-2006, 07:22 PM
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#29
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: new york
Posts: 9,202
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
sounds like you had a great time at akl.
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03-11-2006, 07:37 PM
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#30
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
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Re: Out Of Our Element. RocklandRVer’s Impromptu Winter Break-Update 3/10 Day 2
Great update! Glad you were able to catch some [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/snore.gif[/img]. Looking forward to more! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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