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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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11-15-2005, 09:51 AM
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#76
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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: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Another great update Maureen!!! Your pictures are great! Can't wait to read more!!
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11-15-2005, 10:27 AM
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#77
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Louisville, KY
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 18,767
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
What a wonderful update!!! I'm so glad everything went smoothly!! More please!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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11-15-2005, 11:03 AM
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#78
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Eileeeeeeen!™
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 28,861
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
I think I'm gonna need more tissues!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img] You have me bawling reading your kids' reactions!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zcry.gif[/img]
Can't wait for more!
Eileen
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11-15-2005, 11:20 AM
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#79
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Robbinsdale, MN
Posts: 7,526
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Loving this so far, Mo! More, please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
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11-15-2005, 12:07 PM
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#80
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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: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
[ QUOTE ]
Emily walked with me and said, “Mama, I like it here!” Me too Emmy, Me too!!
[/ QUOTE ]
Welcome to the club Emmy!!!
Great update Mo!!! More please!
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11-15-2005, 12:21 PM
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#81
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 8,784
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Great update, Maureen!!!!!! Love your pictures!!
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11-15-2005, 12:47 PM
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#82
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 3,498
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
".....especially Emily, who didn't exactly get the concept of connecting room and yelled at Aaron to "get out of the other people's room".....
This just cracked me up to no end!!!!
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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11-15-2005, 02:13 PM
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#83
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Posts: 552
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Maureen
Another great start to one of your trip reports!! How happy am I right now!
Love the pictures!!
More, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!
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11-15-2005, 04:49 PM
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#84
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
[ QUOTE ]
Great trip report so far Maureen! I can't wait to hear about Emily and Katie's meeting with Mickey. I think I spotted one of your girls at the Ohana Breakfast with Stitch on October 30th - were you there that morning??
[/ QUOTE ]
We were Monica!! I can't believe we missed seeing you and your family! Where were you sitting?????
Thanks guys for all the lovely remarks!!! I tell you, we had so many of those misty eyed moments- it was amazing. And an interesting post script to add- Beverly mentioned something about our Christmas trip- so if she's already looking forward a year, then I know we finally converted the woman!
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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Sponsored links
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11-15-2005, 05:18 PM
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#85
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Lafayette, LA & BCV
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 4,751
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
[ QUOTE ]
We were Monica!! I can't believe we missed seeing you and your family! Where were you sitting?????
[/ QUOTE ]
We were sitting on the side of the resturant that faces Magic Kingdom (the long side) but not right up against the windows. Our table was along the walkway were the kids and characters do the parade.
I can't believe we missed you too!
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11-15-2005, 05:44 PM
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#86
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NC
Posts: 12,270
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Another great update!! I love the Aloha this and Aloha that!!
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11-15-2005, 05:47 PM
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#87
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Illinois
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 9,564
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
Yahoo Beverly!!! Great update, waiting for more!!!
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11-15-2005, 06:00 PM
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#88
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Methuen,MA
Posts: 4,499
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
can't wait for more - this is great
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11-15-2005, 10:12 PM
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#89
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
On the way to the Great Ceremonial House, Emily greeted a mousekeeper with an Aloha. And I thought the mousekeeper was going to die laughing. Luckily, I caught it on video so we can watch that moment over and over.
The kids wanted to stop at Boutiki but we actually didn’t have much time so we promised them a stop on the way back in later tonight. It was here that Kevan noticed the waterfall was very much without water- and as a result, the Great Ceremonial House was pretty quiet. It’s amazing how the waterfall sets the mood for the entire place. Hopefully, it would be back up and working soon!
Headed to the second floor monorail station to catch it- we love the monorail. The express passed by and the kids got their first up close views of it. Finally, one came through for us. From some recent trips, I had told the kids about Stitch’s voice on it- and they were really anxious to hear it. Emily’s eyes were huge, just like Matthew’s were two years ago on his first trip. Kevan sat with Katie and pointed stuff out to her.
We had the cab to ourselves so we let the kids be as loud as they wanted. We heard Stitch and got a big kick out of it, especially the part where he says “I hit my head!” as the announcer tells guests to watch their heads as they exit at the MK.
As we slowed into the concourse, Matthew sighed and said, “Mom- this is my favorite hotel ever.” Ok, slight twinge of guilt we couldn’t get a room here- but oh well. By this time, it was about 4:50 so we headed to the Chef Mickey’s podium first before doing anything else. We had our picture taken as well (uh, AWFUL) and then the CM suggested sitting in the waiting area rather than walking around to wait- we would be among the first seated and she suspected it would be really quick. None of the characters were out as of yet. Emily entertained us by dancing around even there was no music on yet, at least that I can remember.
Emily entertains
Aaron had custody of the beeper and as the CM promised, it quickly went off. We were led to a section I had never been seated in before- it’s the area right under the monorail to the very right as you walk in. I really liked it too- it didn’t seem crowded. Maybe 3 other families were seated there during the course of the meal, so when the characters came, we got lots of playtime but more on this later.
Our server was Julie and she was lovely. Brought everyone drinks and being the “non-Disney” person Beverly is, she immediately went off in search of food rather than wait for characters to appear. Sigh. You can’t win them all. I began to take the kids towards the buffet. The characters were coming out and when I saw Minnie heading our way- I took the kids back to the table. So at last Katie and her beloved Minnie meet- the picture tells it all:
Emily was rather cautious as Minnie approached- and I think the size of the characters was a little daunting at first, but she got used to it and giggled with the rest of us. Katie needed a little bit of help understanding that when the characters left to greet other people, you couldn’t um, follow and stay with them! LOL! Chip and Dale came by next and they were cute as always.
Katie’s catch phrase became “Big Hug”- meaning, I want to go see that character and see them NOW!
By that time, we looked to be clear of Disney pals, so we all escaped to the buffet. Matthew immediately asked for dessert. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/foreheadslap.gif[/img] I explained it was a great try and even though I was on vacation, my brain wasn’t and yes, you must eat dinner before dessert. He looked surprised even though I can’t blame him for trying. I went down the buffet with the kids first to get them settled, walked them back to the table and headed back myself for my food.
I tend to like dinner here better than breakfast and this was no exception- the food this evening was wonderful. I must have had two helpings of roast beef and fabulous parmesan mashed potatoes, along with citrus glazed carrots. Beverly tends to be overly critical of food at Disney and she even remarked how great everything was. As I was nearing the end of the buffet, Matthew and Emily ran up to me to tell me they had spotted Mickey coming to our section. HURRY!
Got there just in time as he was greeting the family next to us. Emily could barely contain herself:
We all got lots of time with the Big Cheese!
Matthew asked him if he cooked the roast beef. Well, of course he gestured. Matthew informed him he liked the pizza better. HA HA HA- Kevan and I busted out laughing so hard a few people looked over at us. After Mickey, Goofy came by and Matthew practically dove over the table to get to him. I guess Goof was humbled by this because he proceeded to make Aaron get up from his chair and sat down. Then he lifted Matthew on his lap and piled napkins on his head. Katie actually laughed out loud- it was perfect!
Kevin reminded us that Pluto was nowhere to be seen- and that was very true! I asked our server if he was going to be here and she smiled and told us, yes- he was a little late. Sure enough, about 10 minutes he was out and about.
All the kids made lots of fuss over Pluto- and who can blame him? So cute. I cannot find Pluto pictures at the moment- I know they are here somewhere! (Will add if I find them)
Everyone made their way over for dessert- they have these awesome key lime tarts on the pastry round- incredible! Beverly got something chocolate and raspberry but I am not sure if it was brownie or what. Regardless, it was super. The kids all went for build your own sundaes and Kevin’s had me sick to my stomach- I think he put every single topping available on it- more topping in the bowl than ice cream!
The Celebrate song started and the kids went crazy twirling their napkins.
We got in one more visit with Minnie and Chip. Kevan took all of the kids to visit with Donald, who was tonight’s greeter while I paid the bill. Beverly gave me cash for her portion and Aaron’s- so the total for the 8 of us was around $200 altogether- I can’t remember exactly. Even though I think Chef Mickey’s is a pretty good value- dropping $200 for dinner was slightly on the painful side- but then again, we were a BIG group.
Lots of fun for our first dinner- I love doing Chef Mickey’s the first night as it really puts you in the WDW spirit. The time was about 6:35 and it was time to press onward to Downtown Disney! |
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11-15-2005, 10:25 PM
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#90
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Niagara Falls
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 12,431
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Re: Stitch, Spooks, and Smiles: Pre Trip Part 1
I think you're adding pictures as I'm reading! I will have to check back, but the one of Katie and Minnie is adorible!!!
Great update!
Jennifer
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