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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am going in May with 2 girlfriends.....all 3 of us named Lisa!!! 2 of us turning 40!!!
So feeling like this is a "preview"!!!! Gonna have to copy your bday button idea!!! hope you don't mind!!!
Which site do you use to get updated texts in WDW?
P.S. LOVE the stocked bar!!!
Copy away!!! Wait until you see the looks and comments you'll recieve have 3 Lisas (2 turning 40 - congrats!!) We sure did!! We picked up all the goods at AC Moore in the scrapbooking section, stuffed 'em in the Passporter. Bring stuff to decorate the non bday Lisa's button. Just ask for an "I'm Celebrating" button. Three Lisas on one trip should def bring you lots of crazy memories!
I have the Touring Plans & Undercover Tourist apps on my phone to check line times and such. To be honest, I think I looked at them twice the whole trip since wait times were non existent. They automatically sent updates when crowd levels and parade times changed. I might use them again if I went during a busier time of year.
FYI, I also signed up on Gowalla (similar to four square) so I could "check-in" at different Disney Destinations. Now I don't know if I'm on sensory overload at Disney or what, but I can't remember to check in! Same thing with taking food pics - I took three. THREE!!!! Out of the whole trip! SQUIRREL!!!
Day Four February 8th Nothing to do & All Day to do it!!!
Well, we woke up late again, started to really like that!!! Jennie 1, Joe, Al & Beata had left early for Epcot. I made french toast & bacon (Coffee w/ Bailey's of course!) for Scott, Erica & I. We decided to take the nature trail to DTD and chill there for the day.
CHILL WE DID!!!!!! We noticed the cold while enjoying coffee (&Baileys) on the patio. BRRRRR!!!! So not cool - no pun intended. We bundled up and started on our trek. Um, to say it was cold and that we were not properly dressed was an understatement. Erica, who had travelled from the tundra that was NJ at least had a winter coat. Scott & I had light jackets, I at least wore a hat!
It was a nice walk, we kept up a brisk pace along the river to keep from freezing. Once we were off OKW property, the directions got a little fuzzy. We ended up at a crossroads: a golf course & SSR. If we took a left to SSR, we would surely be going away from DTD but if we went right, we surely would end up in a sand trap. Left it was! Over a bridge, round a few turns and we ended up at another crossroads. Ugh! To the left, the golf shop. To the right, "only golfers beyond this point". To the left again! Note: this bridge is mainly used by golfers driving golf carts at warp speed. Almost lost a limb practically running towards the SSR parking lot while dodging carts! Holy Cow!
While catching our breath & checking to see if we were injured by the flying carts, we realized we were smack dab in the middle of a parking lot. ???? We headed in the direction of DTD and happened upon a resort map. There was no direct route to get to the SSR nature trail to DTD. We walked thru the lot, past the DVC boat dock (no boat, kept walking) and passed thru two bldgs (Paddock Club area), around a quiet pool (very pretty) and along the water we picked up the trail again. The trail led us to the bus depot at Marketplace, we had made it. Cold, hungry & sniffling, we ran into the Christmas shop to warm up. Can I EVER walk thru that store without buying something???? It's not even the holiday season!! Grabbed a Mickey EarHat ornament all done up for WDW's 40th. #228/1971.
We wandered into Goofy's Candy Company and I instantly gained 5lbs. just from the smell alone. I still miss the Disney Home store that used to be there! I got sucked into the Pin Traders hut and ended up with 2 40th celebration & 1 MSEP pins. I don't even pin trade!! Quick stops in Lego, Trend D, Team Mickey & Ghirardelli yielded nothing. Whew!
THEN we entered World of Disney and my wallet started screaming!!! I was in search of something unique for WDW's 40th to tie in with my 40th. A retro jacket with the 40th logo on it really caught my eye. No, not unique enough. I kept telling myself that for the following 4 days. The last room we walked thru was the Villians Room with all the really expensive jewelry & Dooney bags. No, no watches. Already had my D&B bag. Would I find something that HOLD IT!! There it was! Sitting in a glass display case between me and the exit was the coolest set of Mickey Ears I ever laid eyes on. One ear had 1971 embroidered in gold, the other the 40th logo. The Mickey Mouse Club logo on the front was not a patch but a 3D metal disc. It had a 40th celebration patch on the back. I was in LURVE $80?? Who cares? I had to have it. I asked the CM behind the counter for one and after a long wait for her to come back from the stock room she told me, there were no more! She gave me the one out of the case! Best part was the hat box it came in. It is adorned with logos, symbols & pictures from WDW attractions past & present. Inside the box is lined with gold cloth and there are three vintage patches in a pocket of the lining. Can't say what the patches are, I'm not opening the bag they're sealed in!! The hat itself is lined with a 1971 WDW map including the Persian Hotel that never came to be. Amazon.com: Disney Limited Edition 40th Mickey Ear Hat: Toys & Games
I wandered around DTD for a bit with my ears on then curiosity got the best of us and we stopped in T Rex. SO GLAD we did. It puts Rainforest Cafe to shame! Way cool! We thoroughly enjoyed a Category 5 adult beverage (kept the glass) under the octopus at the Shark Bar (fyi, the aquarium behind the bar does not have any sharks in it). There is a meteor shower, tables under a giant jellyfish, booths wrapped by a Stegosaurus & an ice cave. Definitely check it out next time you're there - note: we were there at an off time, I imagine T Rex at peak times could be quite hairy.
We stopped in front of Adventurer's Club for a moment of silence.... Also popped into Paradiso 37 to check it out, very nice! Dos Equis & Negro Modello on tap - BOOYAH!
Even though it was still cold outside, we figured a boat ride back to OKW would be nice. We figured wrong. I inquired about where to pick up said boat and was told a short walk to the Sassagoula Boat Dock. Guess the adult beverages had gotten the best of us because we walked passed the boat dock RIGHT OUTSIDE (and a wee bit behind) Paradiso 37 and went ALL THE WAY back to Marketplace to the dock at Captain Jack's. DUH! Our pennance was to learn that the boats to the resorts leave from one dock only. Guess which dock?? The dock we passed at Paradiso 37!!! Crud! So, that meant we had to sail from Marketplace to West End (behind HOB). THEN we had to sail to Pleasure Island (behind Paradiso) and disembark to wait, in the cold, 10 minutes for an OKW boat. We got on the OKW boat and had to GO BACK to West End to change captains!!!! We finally headed back to OKW, passed our building (I was seriously thinking of jumping overboard at that point) and on to the boat dock. After another brisk walk from the Hospitality House to our room we realized we had half an hour to get ready for dinner at California Grill!!!!
It had taken close to TWO HOURS to get from Paradiso 37 to OKW. WHAT?!?!?! We could have walked back or taken a bus in half that time! This meant we had to rush to get ready. Oh, and Jennie, Joe, Al & Beata weren't back either!! Our ressie for Cali was in one hour!
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.
Brrrr.....I'm feeling kindof chilly just reading this! It was def a cold, cold day! What a trek you took!!!
I love, love the ears you bought....great choice! And getting back...OMG....sounds even worse than some of our misadventures! Can't wait to read more!!!
I did the trek from SSR to DTD about 3 1/2 yrs ago in high heeled boots (don't ask why I wore them on the plane??) dragging a tired 5 1/2 year old with me... I should've just gone for the boat ride to begin with!
(So the boat doesn't leave from that dock near Rainforest anymore?)
Brrrr.....I'm feeling kindof chilly just reading this! It was def a cold, cold day! What a trek you took!!!
I love, love the ears you bought....great choice! And getting back...OMG....sounds even worse than some of our misadventures! Can't wait to read more!!!
As I was writing about our boat trip, I thought of your bus woes.
The ears are amazing!! Believe it or not, they are my very first pair of ears!!
I did the trek from SSR to DTD about 3 1/2 yrs ago in high heeled boots (don't ask why I wore them on the plane??) dragging a tired 5 1/2 year old with me... I should've just gone for the boat ride to begin with!
(So the boat doesn't leave from that dock near Rainforest anymore?)
I could not imagine that walk in heels!! I would've crawled back!!!!
There are 3 boat docks. One at Rainforest which takes you to the dock over by House of Blues basically one side of Downtown to the other. To get to SSR, OKW & Port Orleans, you must take the boat from behing Paradiso 37 next to Characters in Flight. I don't remember leaving from there when we staying at POFQ back in 09. I remember leaving from Rainforest.
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I could not imagine that walk in heels!! I would've crawled back!!!!
There are 3 boat docks. One at Rainforest which takes you to the dock over by House of Blues basically one side of Downtown to the other. To get to SSR, OKW & Port Orleans, you must take the boat from behing Paradiso 37 next to Characters in Flight. I don't remember leaving from there when we staying at POFQ back in 09. I remember leaving from Rainforest.
It was so not a fun walk. I should've taken the boat round trip. But I'm always looking for "new ways" to get to the attractions from wherever I'm staying. (I always walk (at least once) from the Contemporary, take the boat from the Poly, and I'm sure if I ever stay at YC/BC/BW I will use the IG for EPCOT and the boats for HS.)
Thanks for the 411! It will save me some footsteps on my next visit (I'm at SSR again). It was by Rainforest in the fall of 07. I guess this is Disney's way of keeping us "vets" on our toes!
Lovin your pics. Love seeing how fun WDW can be for us grown ups.
Miracle of miracles! EVERYONE was ready within 45 minutes! Unheard of! Well, we almost left a few in the room but they realized most of us were serious when we headed down the stairs yelling that we had a ressie!!! Instead of taking the bus to DTD then to the Contemporary, we took the MK bus and walked from the MK bus depot to Contemporary. Well, we practically ran, not because we were running late but to keep from freezing! It was so cold and no one wore a jacket (we were in FL for Pete's Dragon's sake!!)
The seven of us crammed into the elevator to the second floor and I checked in. We were handed a pager and told to wait. I hadn't been to the Contemporary since 1979 so it was a treat to be back. There were a lot of people wandering around waiting for the call to enter the magic elevator to the 15th floor. I must say, they really could use an update on the waiting area, it was one step above an airport - very blah!
We got the "buzz" after waiting about 20 minutes. When we reached the elevator, there were about 5 people inside so we opted to wait for the next one since there were 7 of us. Well, when we entered the next one, 5 more people got in behind us!! Talk about crammed in! Jennie 1 has close space issues and she was smushed against the back, I felt so bad for her. Luckily the ride was quick.
We were escorted to our table which happened to be smack dab in the middle of the room. We were quite crowded at that round table and Stephanie hadn't even arrived yet. Seems CM busses run 10x longer than guest busses - I don't know how they get to work on time!
The table was decorated with lots of Mickey confetti. Our server was Jenny Oh who turned out to have the knack for making us feel like royalty (yes, my lady!!) I ordered a glass of Conundrum ( one of my fave white wines) at $14/glass!! Jenny brought Erica a few samples of Merlot & Pinot Noir. Not sure which one she picked but she said she enjoyed it.
We started off with the cheese board which had 5 samples of cheese and 5 sides to compliment each cheese. Nuts, figs, dried fruit along with small pieces of bread with cranberries. Sorry, didn't write down the cheeses. I'm new to this note taking/ food pic thing and I was so nutso over the cheeses, I forgot!
Next we ordered three of the flatbreads: Mushrooms & truffles, suckling pig with apples and triple cheese. They were large ovals sliced into 8 pieces each. HUGE hit!! One could easily be an entree. Everyone picked the mushroom as the favorite.
After flatbreads, Stephanie finally got there looking pretty peeved and apologizing up & down about being late. No worries, she made it, that's all that mattered! Then we ordered 2 Spicy Kozan Rolls from the sushi menu. There was crab, shrimp, scallops, tuna in a spicy sauce. I'm not a fan of scallops but that roll ROCKED OUT LOUD!! Thankfully, we had ordered two because even the land lubbers were singing it's praises! Besides the sushi, we tried Cinderella's Pumpkin Soup and THREE orders of the famous Goat Cheese Ravioli. I love pumpkin and the soup did not dissapoint. And there is a reason the ravioli has been on CG's menu since day one, they make everyone happy!!
By then, the lights dimmed, the music began and the first booms of Wishes were heard. We decided to watch from the table rather than freeze on the observation deck since we had a great view and how often can one say they watched Wishes while seated at their table on the 15th floor of the Contemporary?? I was just a wee bit annoyed at the server of the table next to us (2 gentlemen who were obviously veterans of CG on business). The server kept coming over to them and having small talk and blocking our view! I would think that most servers would stay away from the table during Wishes (unless it was necessary like bringing hot food). I wanted to fling a ravioli at him!!
After the lights came back up, we ordered DESSERT!! Two orders of chocolate creme brulee and 1 espresso cheesecake. Of course they were garnished with chocolate pieces that said "Happy Birthday from California Grill" and candles. The creme brulee had a small lemon cake with it and the cheesecake had coffee ice cream sitting on top of chocolate covered espresso beans. HEAVENLY!
As we finished up, Stephanie went to the restroom and Jenny, our server (lot's of Jennies huh?) stopped by and accidently spilled the bbq sauce she was holding allover Steph's purse and chair! She ran to grab some soda water and a new chair. Steph came back and gave Jenny a good ribbing (Steph works at CG). All the sauce came out, no problem. Poor Jenny, when she set down the check, she spilled Steph's glass of wine all over the tablecloth! When it rains, it pours right? She ran to get another glass of wine. She was so embarrassed!! We explained that 5 out of 8 of us had waited tables and we had all been there. No harm done!!
We practically rolled out of CG and split up our party. Jennie 1, Joe, Al & Beata headed back to the room. Scott, Erica, Stephanie and I wanted to check out the monorail resorts. First stop, Polynesian (my fave!!). We made a bee line for the Volcano Pool for some pics. It was so cold by that point, there was steam rising from the water, made it look very eerie. Then we headed inside for pics with the Lilo & Stitch surfboard, the Tiki Gods and funky furniture. We walked around a bit longer and headed out to the monorail to check out GF.
As we exited, we (luckily) noticed a sign stating monorail service stopped at 11pm. Time check - 10:48pm!! OMG! To the TTC, pronto! We had the monorail all to ourselves and did an impromptu silly photo shoot as we circled the lagoon. At the TTC, we parted ways. Stephanie took one bus to her apt. we didn't know what to do! We we stranded! A lovely CM hailed us a bus (not a cab, a bus!!) We got our own personal bus back to OKW. Fantastic! What a way to end the day!!
I didn't stay up long after that, my alarm had been set for 6:15am because Wednesday was Wild Africa Trek day!!
__________________
Last edited by jennie622; 03-05-2011 at 01:52 PM..
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.
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We noticed the cold while enjoying coffee (&Baileys) on the patio. BRRRRR!!!! So not cool - no pun intended. We bundled up and started on our trek. Um, to say it was cold and that we were not properly dressed was an understatement. Erica, who had travelled from the tundra that was NJ at least had a winter coat. Scott & I had light jackets, I at least wore a hat!
We ended up at a crossroads: a golf course & SSR. If we took a left to SSR, we would surely be going away from DTD but if we went right, we surely would end up in a sand trap. Left it was! Over a bridge, round a few turns and we ended up at another crossroads. Ugh! 
To the left, the golf shop. To the right, "only golfers beyond this point". To the left again! Note: this bridge is mainly used by golfers driving golf carts at warp speed. Almost lost a limb practically running towards the SSR parking lot while dodging carts! Holy Cow!
There was no direct route to get to the SSR nature trail to DTD. We walked thru the lot, past the DVC boat dock (no boat, kept walking) and passed thru two bldgs (Paddock Club area), around a quiet pool (very pretty) and along the water we picked up the trail again. The trail led us to the bus depot at Marketplace, we had made it. Cold, hungry & sniffling, we ran into the Christmas shop to warm up. Can I EVER walk thru that store without buying something???? 
It's not even the holiday season!! Grabbed a Mickey EarHat ornament all done up for WDW's 40th. #228/1971.
She gave me the one out of the case! Best part was the hat box it came in. It is adorned with logos, symbols & pictures from WDW attractions past & present. Inside the box is lined with gold cloth and there are three vintage patches in a pocket of the lining. Can't say what the patches are, I'm not opening the bag they're sealed in!! The hat itself is lined with a 1971 WDW map including the Persian Hotel that never came to be. 
We thoroughly enjoyed a Category 5 adult beverage (kept the glass) under the octopus at the Shark Bar (fyi, the aquarium behind the bar does not have any sharks in it). There is a meteor shower, tables under a giant jellyfish, booths wrapped by a Stegosaurus & an ice cave. Definitely check it out next time you're there - note: we were there at an off time, I imagine T Rex at peak times could be quite hairy.
Also popped into Paradiso 37 to check it out, very nice! Dos Equis & Negro Modello on tap - BOOYAH! 
DUH! Our pennance was to learn that the boats to the resorts leave from one dock only. Guess which dock?? The dock we passed at Paradiso 37!!! Crud! 
And getting back...OMG....sounds even worse than some of our misadventures! Can't wait to read more!!! 
Susan
Great pictures! 
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