Living the dream and remembering the Bagman LIVE UPDATE 10/2 - Page 33 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The BoDeans are from the city I grew up in, Waukesha, WI! In fact, they just played a free concert here in the the town I live in now! It's kinda cool (for us) that they're playing at Epcot.
Oh cool!
Quote:
I'm having a heck of a time narrowing down my list for F&WF, and it's a lot larger than yours! Good luck doing that!
Ah well, mine is automatically shorter than most people's, given I don't eat meat, which rules quite a lot out...
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I have a former co-worker whose husband plays in a band part time. They are friends with someone in Starship. They go down to WDW every fall for a long weekend when Starship plays to hang out with them. I'm not a music person, so don't know anything about any of the bands, but it is fun to see them sometimes.
That sounds very neat!
I do remember a couple of Starship's songs, which is always a start if you're going to see a band.
Which means well be seeing you at the lighthouse in 2 weeks and one day!
(Plus, we are planning on being in Boston on that Saturday visiting with DD at her school. So does that count as a "near-miss PP meet"?
More nice plans for WDW! Some great choices for the F&W Fest booths. I'm sure many of those I'll be indulging in myself!
Thanks for the NYC info, but I have a conflict on that day. Perhaps, on a future trip to WDW one day!
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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!
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Pre-trip report – part thirty one: things got in the way…
Saturday 16 July
There were more comments on the Facebook group this morning about how good the black T-shirts look with Bill’s photo on it. Oh how I wish I’d now gone for black. Oh well, never mind, if that’s the biggest problem I’ve got, then really I’ve got no problems. Yesterday was the attack in Nice with the lorry that killed 84 people. It brings things into perspective, doesn’t it?
I did start looking into whether or not we should have the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan for at least part of our stay… but things got in the way… this is where I ended up…
… at the local hospital. It turned out that the medication I was put on earlier in the week by the dentist for neuralgia (severe pains in the nerve endings of your face) didn’t work too well and this was the result. I felt very off balance, to the point where everything was swimming, and my speech was slurred. Mark was worried I’d had a stroke, but fortunately, I had looked at the side effects from the tablets, and realised that was likely to be the problem.
We called the non-emergency service, and they got paramedics to come to us. They eventually took me into hospital after assessing me, and it took two of them to support me, I was in such a bad way, and there I stayed for the next six hours. I waited about four hours to be seen, and when I was, they put a paracetamol drop through me, which helped with the pain from the neuralgia, and then they also put me on an IV drip, which helped me almost immediately. Suddenly everything stopped swimming, and an hour later, I could actually walk to the toilet, something that would’ve been impossible an hour earlier – trust me.
When I got home, all I did was sleep, and then I slept 12 hours that night, but while we were at the hospital, I did see Terri (DrDolphin) had posted this:
This is a rare shot of Bill on a ride. I know Terri said that I hadn’t ridden, and I do remember not being well that day, so that makes sense, but to see a photo with Bill riding and me not is unheard of. I think that must be the only time.
Sunday 17 July
I felt so much better than yesterday. I had started to look at whether or not we should get the Disney Deluxe Dining Plan, and I’ve determined that for our final two nights at the Beach Club Villas, we should go for it, as I think it will be cheaper. Here’s the maths:
It costs $111.73/night and you get three table service meals a night with appetizer, entrée and dessert plus two snacks a day and a refillable mug
California Grill brunch – qualifies according to All Ears Net and is $80 each
BOATHOUSE – appetizer c. $20, entrée is c. $50, dessert is c. $10 - $80 total
Hollywood and Vine - $46.99/adult
Garden Grill breakfast - $26.99/adult
Tiffin’s – appetizer c. $15, entrée is $35-40, dessert is $10 - $60 total
The way I’m thinking right now, I think it will work out better for us not to use dining credits for Tiffin’s, and heck, who knows they may finally have a Rivers of Light package by then? I know, I’m hoping, but maybe… That way, we’d pay $446.92 and the meals would cost us $467.96, so we would make a saving. Ok, that’s that solved then, we’ll get the Deluxe Plan for the next two nights then…
Now would it be worth getting Tables in Wonderland membership? Most times, it would be a straight but I wanted to check whether DVC Members get the same discounts at some of the places we’re planning on eating at. I found a very useful dining comparison chart on All Ears Net where they list the discounts for DVC Members, Tables in Wonderland, Annual Passholders and Disney Visa holders. From that I was able to work out the following, which is where we’d be dining before we get the dining plan:
20% off at Crystal Palace $7.00
Extra 10% off at Boma $9.60
20% off at Morimoto Asia $9.00
Valet parking at Disney Springs $25.00
No discount at Trader Sam’s
DVC members get 20% off anyway at Spice Road Table
Now that doesn’t equate to the $150 cost of Tables in Wonderland to me so I can’t see us getting it.
We went out for dinner tonight, and I noticed there were a couple of items on the menu, both of them curries, had the word tiffin in them. Well, at least now I know what tiffin means. I felt so much more educated!
Tuesday 19 July
There was a bit more information about the Safari Spectacular in this week’s DVC News update. Kilimanjaro Safaris will be open until 10:30pm, so only the first hour of the event. I’m sure that will mean everyone’s going to head that way, but honestly, I’m not overly worried, as hopefully we’ll get a Fastpass for it, and we should have our group meet there later in the week. Expedition Everest will also be open, but we won’t be doing it, as it messes with our heads too much.
Apparently, DINOSAUR, Finding Nemo – the Musical, and Legend of the Lion King won’t be open, which is fine by me as well. There will be a DJ dance party, complimentary refreshment (cookies, chips and ice cream ) and they’re also promising “exhilarating entertainment”, which sounds interesting. Merchandise for the 25th anniversary of the DVC will also be available, and I dread to think what the lines will be like for that.
Wednesday 20 July
I figured as we could make our Fastpass reservations starting from Friday, I’d go and check everything was in order on the My Disney Experience account. Of course it wasn’t. I’d purchased our tickets, but they weren’t linked up, so I had to do that. Fortunately I was able to find the number I needed relatively easily, which was my big fear. Phew – done… at least that’s what I thought. Even though I could see the tickets linked up, and I had messages telling me they were there, the system wouldn’t recognise them. Ugh! I gave up for the evening…
Thursday 21 July
At least when I logged in this morning, finally the system was registering my tickets and allowing me to make reservations up to 30 days in advance. Ok, I thought you could book up to 60 days ahead with a resort reservation. Well, guess what? Those weren’t in our account either. I had to go and find the confirmation numbers for all three of our resort stays and link them up – no mean feat, given that I appeared to have the wrong number for the Polynesian, which really confused things. I knew they were all there originally, so goodness knows what happened to them.
I still only got the option to book up to 30 days out, which I couldn’t understand. Now it had the resort reservations, surely I should have a 60 day option? I ended up calling the UK Freephone number they give on the site, and asking. Apparently you only get the 60 day out option when it’s literally 60 days out. Ok… now I would’ve thought the system would’ve recognised you have a booking coming up imminently and would’ve given you a message saying that “you can book on xx date”. That would make things so much clearer. Then again, this is a Disney website… I’m clearly expecting far too much!
This morning, I was also listening to the Boathouse dining review on the WDW Radio podcast on the way into work, and wow, it sounds amazing. I cannot believe how many items they have on the menu, and although I’ve not yet finished it, the appetisers certainly seemed to go down a treat. I am so looking forward to trying so many new restaurants on this trip. I always love trying new places to eat at Disney, and it’s so great that there are so many new options that have opened since our last visit in spring 2015. Usually, Disney are great at adding new attractions, but it seems recently they’ve concentrated more on food, which is no problem with me.
Next: it’s Fastpass day… and there’s good and bad news…
Love the way y'all are honoring Bill. I know it means so much to Jan as well. On Sunday, July 17th, we had three police officers killed, one injured but released later in the week, and one still in the hospital fighting for his life. Senseless crimes.
Looks like your math for dining works out in your favor. It's always best to calculate for each trip to see how the numbers fall. So many new restaurants, not enough time. We have a few of our favorites to repeat and I added a few new ones.
Great update, Cheryl! You've inspired me to figure out our TIW discounts now!! We are getting it anyway because we are planning multiple trips with a year, but it will be fun to see where the break even point is!
I can't believe how much trouble you have with the website! That must be very frustrating! Here, I find I have very little trouble with the website but the amount of time wasted when it is necessary to talk to someone is ridiculous!!
No way! I guess that's what happens when you visit somewhere often, you don't do the main tourist attractions there...
Since we go to visit family, they all have done it numerous times and forget that I didn't grow up there. I mentioned it not too long ago that I had never gone and they were shocked. Dave and I have been married almost 38 years.
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Good luck doing that!
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Perhaps, on a future trip to WDW one day! 
I waited about four hours to be seen, and when I was, they put a paracetamol drop through me, which helped with the pain from the neuralgia, and then they also put me on an IV drip, which helped me almost immediately. Suddenly everything stopped swimming, and an hour later, I could actually walk to the toilet, something that would’ve been impossible an hour earlier – trust me. 
where they list the discounts for DVC Members, Tables in Wonderland, Annual Passholders and Disney Visa holders. From that I was able to work out the following, which is where we’d be dining before we get the dining plan: 
Seriously? 
Well, guess what? Those weren’t in our account either. 
That must be very frustrating! Here, I find I have very little trouble with the website but the amount of time wasted when it is necessary to talk to someone is ridiculous!!
I guess that's what happens when you visit somewhere often, you don't do the main tourist attractions there...
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