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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
Sorry about the problems with the room, but glad that Kristyn was able to make things right for you. Also glad to hear that that is the end of the hiccups, besides the rain!
If it was so easy for Krystin to change things around for you, makes you wonder about the CM you dealt with earlier. That would have bugged the heck out of me I'm glad in the end it worked out, and you got a nice credit on your room to enjoy over at Epcot. Score!!
I am so happy Kristyn fixed everything that the first CM wouldn't try to fix. I would definitely call and compliment Kristyn and complain about the first CM.
Love the kids' luggage and the hats . They are adorable. I sympathize with the airline and hotel troubles. I have 3 big stress points to get through before I can really move into holiday mode. Getting through airport security , checked in the hotel and unpacked & I'm usually a little .... well let say bothered until all 3 are complete.
So glad Kristyn was a huge help and put a little Disney magic into day 1.
I agree with Kelly. I've said it before but I'll say it again...most of the times you have a bumpy time getting there and check in, you end up having a magical vacation. Hoping this is what I hear for the rest of the trip.
Great start with the room credit though, wtg Krystin!
I have to say, even though you seem to always have problems on day one of your trips, they kind of seem worth it, as they get worked out and then some! Boo to the first CM and YAY for all the Kristins out there!
We do have bumpy starts and I have no idea why........but from here on out is all fine!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
sorry about the room problem. Krystin sounded like a very nice CM. Sometimes you get the CM that just don't seem to have that Disney Spirit we are all so used to it and kind of bums you out. Sorry about all the rain but can't wait to hear more about your trip
You are so right, it was the whole...eh, IDK what we can do attitude that got me. I'm not looking for backflips but at least try to help me out would have been nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
I am so happy Kristyn fixed everything that the first CM wouldn't try to fix. I would definitely call and compliment Kristyn and complain about the first CM.
I have already done that, along with another very nice CM you will hear about later in the TR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rlb38
Love the kids' luggage and the hats . They are adorable. I sympathize with the airline and hotel troubles. I have 3 big stress points to get through before I can really move into holiday mode. Getting through airport security , checked in the hotel and unpacked & I'm usually a little .... well let say bothered until all 3 are complete.
So glad Kristyn was a huge help and put a little Disney magic into day 1.
Those 3 points are mine too.......can't settle until they are as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark
I agree with Kelly. I've said it before but I'll say it again...most of the times you have a bumpy time getting there and check in, you end up having a magical vacation. Hoping this is what I hear for the rest of the trip.
Great start with the room credit though, wtg Krystin!
I'm thinking from here on out..........rocky start, great trip!
This was our first time staying as guests at BC and walking through the IG, and I must say………..it is awesome!!! We were hungry and we had a plan, Market Place booths, here we come. Now this was going to be fun because we had just planted a garden at home with lots of veggies and herbs. Josie is so into growing things and then eating them, so I knew this might be a hit. I had told her about all the “TRY IT” items they had for kids to try, kinda like a challenge, and she was all for it. Josie is a good eater, but she will sometimes spaz over trying something new, but it’s odd. Like she will eat cold broccoli and cauliflower, but not want to try a tomato. She will chow down on sautéed onions and mushrooms but won’t eat grilled mushrooms. So let’s just say I was hopeful, but not real sure what to expect. We headed through the IG and went left and went straight to The Cottage in the UK. We came up to the booth and the stands next to each booth showcasing the items being served were a HUGE hit with Josie,
She then would run to the menu and look for the “TRY IT “sign, so here we had potato chive and cheddar cheese biscuit with smoked salmon tartare and sour cream
Heirloom tomatoes with mozzarella and basil
And both were a hit!!!!!!! She loved them and so did we!!!
We kept walking around and decided to hit up the OZ play area, where of course the kids had a total blast, but first Josie wanted to stop at The Water Wise Herbs and Veggie stand and check out what was growing……
Oh and see the skies in the background..
Next up we knew a ride needed to fit into our plans, so the request was to go ride “The Future Ride” AKA….Spaceship Earth. Which after would consist of us playing some games before we exited.
Now we were heading back to WS and Arnaud had a MAJOR stop in mind…….Mexico! But first we hit up the Florida Fresh booth and we had…….
Oops…………..no pic Watermelon salad with red onion, arugula, feta and balsamic
Shrimp and stone ground grits with Andouille sausage, Zellwood corn, tomatoes and cilantro….
Oh My Gosh was the shrimp dish AMAZE BALLS!!!! Even Josie raved over that one too. The watermelon salad was also good, but that is something that seems pretty common these days and I have versions of that quite often. Josie enjoyed that too, but mostly the watermelon. Andre was hit or miss on most of these dishes, but he was trying some here and there too.
OK, so now moving on to Mexico and our love for margaritas!!! Funny thing here is that I absolutely cannot stand straight tequila, but in a margarita…………..not a problem. So what do we order??? A flight of organic tequila?!??!??
Also Rosita margarita on the rocks
Crab tostada with chipotle mayo and valentina sauce.
Well Arnaud and I shared the shots and let’s just say my taste for straight tequila has not changed. However the rose margarita and crab tostada were incredible. Arnaud’s fave of the whole trip!!! With a stamp of approval from Josie too.
From here we just walked around the rest of WS stopping here or there to check things out. I knew it was about time to start grabbing a spot for Illuminations, but we had a long day and were planning on saving it for another night, so we started to head back to the IG. Well with a stop in France for a certain something……………we will never decide on what we like more, a GG slush or GM slush. I do think that we may have narrowed it down to me liking the GG and Arnaud liking the GM, but hey, I’d take either one.
Once we headed out of the park and Arnaud and I were chatting, I noticed I hadn’t heard much form my babies…………well this is why..
Didn’t bother me one bit. We got back to the room and changed them into jammies and right into bed they went. I believe we stayed up for a bit getting more tings in order in the room, but then soon hit the hay as well.
I'm glad you got to experience Epcot via the IG. Just great! It's very cool that Josie is into trying new foods and seeing where it came from just in time for the festival. She's a much more adventurous eater than most kids, that's for sure!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I'm glad in the end it worked out, and you got a nice credit on your room to enjoy over at Epcot. Score!!
Liz 
Glad it all worked out in the end! 
Great pics! 
Holly: 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
I've said it before but I'll say it again...most of the times you have a bumpy time getting there and check in, you end up having a magical vacation. Hoping this is what I hear for the rest of the trip. 
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
Yeah, I know. May have to rectify that next time I go.
Hybrid Mode
