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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Glad that you were able to find a quiet place to work - although bummer that you had to work while on vacation ~ and BOO for the CM!!!
And by the way - visiting my park on my birthday Can't wait to hear about it!!! I sat at work this year on my birthday remembering how the year before I had spent the morning at AK, and evening at MK - sigh............
It's so rough when you go from WDW on your birthday one year to reality the next. Happy belated and I hope some of my pics help you remenisce
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Breakfast at 1900 Park Fare looked delicious. Sorry you got to feel bad, but thank goodness it was short lived. Now the lobby of the villas makes a beautiful office!
It was, I didn't even get pics of the best food! And yeah, can't complain about that view
Quote:
Originally Posted by deerislemom
Just catching up. Great trip report!! Loved the details about your Rose and Crown dinner and all the VGF photos.
We were there at the same time and originally scheduled for the Dec. 29 Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. I cancelled it the day before when it became clear the rest of my family was only humoring me and were secretly dreading it. Now I'm so glad I didn't push them to attend! We were in the MK on the 30th as well, so I'll be especially interested to read about your experience.
What a small world! Hope your alternative plans were great!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry you weren't feeling great at breakfast. I'm glad you got everything done you needed to, but what was that Cast Member's problem?
Cody insists he was trying to "flirt" with me. But I think he just didn't like his perfect lobby messed up.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Just getting caught up! Great start, but sorry about the rain and your luggage! You've had some great eats so far!
We do love to eat at Disney!
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Great update! Glad you were able to get in to 1900 Park Fare with no problem. We have not done breakfast there, only dinner, but now I want to try breakfast too.
So sorry you were not feeling well but glad it not last the whole day. The lobby of the villas is just beautiful and I love the fountain. It is just so Mary Poppins!!
I can't believe the CM for the DVC desk was so rude. I would not have moved either. What a jerk.
Can't wait for more!
You should definitely give breakfast a try! They have the Strawberry Soup too!
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
Glad you were able to get some work done! But that CM was kind of a jerk. Glad you stood your ground.
I mean, I put the chair back when I left, I wasn't out to permanently ruin his "shortcut"
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sorry you weren't feeling well at breakfast. Glad you were able to get some work done. I can't believe how rude that CM was to you!! What you said to him made me laugh!! Glad you stood your ground with him!
Thanks, he didn't find it funny and kind of stormed off... lol oops!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Russi01
Glad that the next morning was alot better. Sorry you had to work on vacation but what a better place to be then Disney World!! Can't wait to hear about your experience at MK.
Working that one day gave me two extra days of vacation, so not too bad a trade off in my book!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Glad you enjoyed 1900 PF breakfast! We did when we went too! The characters were a hoot! Sorry you were having some female issues though. Glad they didn't last long.
Good to here you made the right choice in the Villas Lobby for work. Sorry the DVC CM was so rude about the chair being moved. Great timing for you and your friend.
Yeah it was so great to get to see her, she's really loving her new role there!
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Originally Posted by PhilsEagles08
Checking in!
I love both breakfast & dinner @ 1900 Park Fair! I'm sorry to hear you felt crummy @ 1st but thankfully it didn't last too long!
Also, I love your hair dark! You look completely different then your signature pic!
I was so glad it didn't last, as I wouldn't have been able to make it to the park And thank you! I have such hair ADD, I get bored with it so fast. I dyed it black to be Vanellope for Halloween so my hair stylist decided I should stay dark for a little (but not black, because that was not the best look on me lol!)
December 30th, 2013: Day 2, Part 2 -Just how crowded will Magic Kingdom be?
Okay so I was a bit nervous to head to MK this evening as I didn’t think Epcot was too horrible the night before but knew smaller parks did not hold crowds as nicely. Especially considering there were Phase closings at 10am I was expecting the worst. We had our first FP+ to meet Mickey (I was so excited for his new talking routine!) and timed it so we were heading onto Main Street as our window was opening up. Okay, almost perfectly, we had to wait outside in the Photopass area for about 5 minutes for it to be 5:40 (where we witnessed a very long line for these ones too!) Then we were quickly scanning our bands and on our way in! You do get a 5 minute buffer before your window opens, which was helpful for us in this case! 5 or 10 minutes later we were meeting Mickey!
Waiting for our window!
It's MICKEY!
It was so cute watching him interact with other families, although I was disappointed when I asked how he was and he couldn’t answer We went through poses for his new poster and I got to pick my favorite one!
We then headed over to the hub area to catch the last bit of the Castle Lighting show and WOW are those lights so much prettier at night. I had gone the weekend after New Year’s several times before and they were already off for the season by the time I arrived. They were on EVERY NIGHT OF OUR TRIP. So I got my fill
No lights....
Lights!
We still had some time before dinner so we headed off to the left to Adventureland and hopped into the Tiki Room which we always love, as corny as it is. Of course this time there was a decent amount of people in there, but still not too full! When we came out we noticed the wait for Pirates wasn’t too bad, and how could we not go on Pirates tonight since we were dining at Tortuga Tavern? We headed on in and again, not too long before we were on the ride! Unfortunately the person directly behind me ignored the “No flash photography” warning and kept blinding me with his flash if I was looking off to the side Some people I tell ya!
Tiki Room selfies
Our boat got backed up in a traffic jam all the way to here!
It was probably about 7:20ish at this point and our dinner ADRs were for 7:55, but we were hungry so we headed over and tried to check in. No problem at all! You pay at a register before you go into the waiting area. The limited engagement full-service eatery was about $45 a person, no TIW accepted. My mom went to the restroom and before she even came back we were seated!
Lots of empty tables actually
Cute table number placements
salad, meatballs, corn dogs, rolls, sweet potato planks
seafood chowder
dinner offerings
carving station
chicken, beef, turkey?, more sweet potato and mac and cheese
dessert offerings
all tasty!
a little more savory
It was weird being in a Quick Service restaurant for a full-service buffet, but the food was great! Like, we were surprised the food was so good great! Everything had adorable pirate-themed names like “Barbosa’s Braised Beef” and “Cannonball Meatballs” (I don’t remember exactly, but you get the idea!) Nothing was too fancy but everything was cooked VERY WELL. There was an interesting variety from corn dogs to a carving station. We loved everything we tried and even snuck some of the little rice krispie desserts to go in the coffee cup our waitress so nicely provided It was a little expensive for the small assortment but having that ADR in the park for a nice meal was worth the extra expense to keep me less stressed about capacity closings and knowing I’d have a good meal to stay up late!
And now I feel like this one is a bit picture heavy, and you have fireworks pictures coming up so I’m going to break it here The crowd didn't seem terrible up until this point. We were mostly able to move freely and got a lot done in a few hours. We ditched the parade so that's how we lucked into being able to ride Pirates but soon we'd find where all the people were...
very interesting about Tortuga Tavern - I have enjoyed it as a CS once or twice (it is rarely open, wish it was more!) - the desserts definitely look yummy!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I'm glad to hear that they did such a good job with Tortuga Tavern for the holiday meals. It's not cheap, but it looks like there was more than enough selection of good food!
Glad you were able to get into MK! Aww, Mickey! I can't wait to see him talk!
You got into the Tiki room and POTC fairly quickly, wow!
Tortuga Tarvern was turned into a sit down over the holiday! How cool! It all looked delish! I would have been like you, knowing how the crowds were going to be, I would have been better with my nerves knowing I had a place to go and eat.
I'm curious about the Tortuga Tavern, as I don't remember hearing anything about that....
They were, we just happened to get lucky and miss most of them. Haunted Mansion had crazy long waits all night so we never got to ride it And Tortuga is a Table Service at dinnertime when it's "this is nutz" level. It popped up as an option on MDE when I was just browsing around after deciding I didn't want to do Citricos anymore and just wanted to head to MK! I'm not sure exactly how often they do it, which is why I jumped on the chance to try!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
very interesting about Tortuga Tavern - I have enjoyed it as a CS once or twice (it is rarely open, wish it was more!) - the desserts definitely look yummy!!!
I never had the QS lunch there but I heard great things as well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm glad to hear that they did such a good job with Tortuga Tavern for the holiday meals. It's not cheap, but it looks like there was more than enough selection of good food!
Surprisingly good for a QS set up and little buffet!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Glad you were able to get into MK! Aww, Mickey! I can't wait to see him talk!
You got into the Tiki room and POTC fairly quickly, wow!
Tortuga Tarvern was turned into a sit down over the holiday! How cool! It all looked delish! I would have been like you, knowing how the crowds were going to be, I would have been better with my nerves knowing I had a place to go and eat.
We were surprised, as earlier and later POTC had much longer waits! Thankfully we just don't care for the nighttime parade much and had good timing! It was such a relief knowing we had a good meal waiting and wouldn't be fighting the crowds at a QS for "okay" food.
December 30th, 2013: Day 2, Part 3 - Determination to see Fantasy in the Sky
So we actually managed a pretty quick meal (for once!) and were able to make it out just before Holiday Wishes started. Tabitha was up on Main Street so we headed off to meet her after dinner… except Cast Members were diverting people from heading that way. Um excuse me, I want to watch the fireworks! “The HUB is at capacity, if you want to exit the park please continue moving towards Tomorrowland” Well this was new… I let Tabitha know we were stuck and then the fireworks started! We were in Liberty Square so we just found a little area of people stopped to watch the show and stopped with them. A new perspective but fireworks are fireworks and beautiful from any angle! It was a very cool new perspective
When that was over we headed into something that was new-to-me, the Country Bear Jamboree. Again, not a full theater but I’m sure more of an audience than those bears are used to seeing! It was a cute show and the perfect way to kill a little time before our FP+ ripened.
Their song was sad!
We headed over to Jingle Cruise and got in the FP+ line… about 5 minutes later we were scanning our bands to be told… we were at the wrong place! D’oh! I mixed up the FP+ order and we were supposed to be at Big Thunder at this point! Ooopsie and off we went! I LOVE Big Thunder at night. Just such a different experience and some great views of the park I think we stopped in some shops and stuff along the way back to the Jingle Cruise, because it didn’t take us terribly long to ride and get back. I also took this opportunity to call Cody as it was his first day at his new job! I was off to the side on the lower platform near the entrance, not realizing it was a Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom spot! I jumped about 10 feet when water started making noise behind me But he had a great first day and soon we were in line! Also checked in with Tabitha via text, we had run into her in the restroom and based on the crowds she was heading to the Main Street area and staying there. We planned to meet up for Fantasy in the Sky once our FP+ rides were done.
It was getting cold at this point so I was bundled up… but the queue area was even decked out for the holidays! The “Jingle” cruise was cute but honestly I feel like forcing the holidayness into the jokes made them worse, just forced instead of cute and corny. I’m glad we did it but don’t know if the theme will last for next year’s holiday season.
At this point it was about 10:30pm and based on what had happened for Holiday Wishes, we decided we better head up to Main Street and try to find a spot. There were spaces around the HUB but we decided to head a little further down so we could get out of there in one piece, as we were already getting tired but I was determined to see this show! There was a nice hunk of sidewalk right before the break where you can head over towards the Plaza/Tomorrowland. Mom and I sat down and I decided I would run over to Uptown Jewelers to see if they had Alex and Ani that I wanted. I asked my mom if she wanted anything but I think she was just happy to be sitting for a little bit, as it was another long day!
I worked my way through the crowd (because yes, it WAS VERY crowded up in this part of the park!) and over to the store. I found the case with the Alex and Ani and waited for a CM to help me. He kept trying to start interacting with me when the family he was finishing up with decided they wanted something else. Eventually he just stopped with them because it was obvious the kids were just grabbing things and going “I want I want” and helped me! I really wanted the birthstone bangle but he said they only had one left (you can only get very shiny gold ones at Nordstrom, and I like the duller look of the silver/gold they have and the other silver ones I have) and SCORE it was my birthstone in silver! EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED. They also had ONE gold Cinderella left and I loved how the blue stood out on the gold. So I scooped those up and headed back to meet my mom.
I settled back down and texted Tabitha where we were and she headed right over. I handed over the rice krispies I had snagged earlier for her and she loved them too we continued to camp out and catch up until the projection show started.
People started to fill in everywhere!
I love Wreck it Ralph
I love this new technology and it was the first time I got to see it that wasn’t the “memories” one of people’s pictures (I think) Such a nice little pre-show to the fireworks! Most of the pictures from Fantasy in the Sky are on my camera, but all I can say is WOW. Hallowishes was my favorite but this was AMAZING. I’m so glad we rallied and went to see it in the park from a prime vantage point Although I will say it’s very weird to count down to the new year a day early.
Tried to capture the awe - it was so hard because fireworks were happening all around us, and we had to keep looking back towards the train station and back to the castle and ahh!
Rushing out past the tree!
Mom captured a beautiful shot!
As soon as the fireworks ended we made a b-line to the backstage “high traffic” exit, which of course we were in the perfect spot to head to. We tried to head to the resort launches, but since they were 360 fireworks they were closed due to where they shoot off some of those fireworks from. Up to the Monorail we went (with Tabitha, as she left her car there from work!) and we definitely beat the masses, as when we pulled away we could see just how crowded all the exit-options were getting!
It wasn’t long before we were back at the GF and Tabitha and I said our goodbyes for now, as we weren’t sure when our paths would cross again with me changing resorts in the morning and her working a bunch (although she was off the next two days, she was looking to pick up extra shifts) Of course we didn’t miss the opportunity to pose with some of the decor quickly!
We headed to the room and got right into bed, no early morning plans but we were just exhausted!
What a great time at MK! You did well despite the crowds! Dinner at Tortuga Tavern looked great! Love all the firework pictures! Congrats on the Alex and Ani!
Love your new perspective fireworks view! It looked great to me!
Looked like you were able to make it to both your FP+ times.
Glad you were able to make it back to Main Street to see Fantasy in the Sky.
Lucky you to find your Alex & Ani exactly as you wanted it!
The meal at Tortuga looked delicious! FastPass+ worked well for you time in MK this night. Great spot for viewing the castle show and the Fantasy in the Sky.
I should've waited for your next instalment to see the crowds - wow, that was busy! Kudos for you for going there and sticking it out and still managing to achieve quite a bit in those crowds.
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Can't wait to hear about it!!! I sat at work this year on my birthday remembering how the year before I had spent the morning at AK, and evening at MK - sigh............
Sorry you got to feel bad, but thank goodness it was short lived. Now the lobby of the villas makes a beautiful office! 
I'm glad you got everything done you needed to, but what was that Cast Member's problem? 
But I think he just didn't like his perfect lobby messed up.
I would not have moved either. What a jerk. 
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Liz 
But he had a great first day and soon we were in line! Also checked in with Tabitha via text, we had run into her in the restroom and based on the crowds she was heading to the Main Street area and staying there. We planned to meet up for Fantasy in the Sky once our FP+ rides were done. 
Congrats on the Alex and Ani! 
Deb
Great spot for viewing the castle show and the Fantasy in the Sky. 
Kudos for you for going there and sticking it out and still managing to achieve quite a bit in those crowds.
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