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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It is the Paradise Point Resort and Spa. It is gorgeous and the service was about as close to Disney as possible. I will be posting more pics of the grounds and such in my next update. We booked the original basic room through Hotwire (after Kent figured out which one was tis hotel) and we paid a small amount for the upgrade so we got a great deal on an amazing room.
Ah OK. I know exactly where that is located. Great choice you made and am glad they helped make it an even better stay with the upgrade. Our weather was good for you as well,
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That's a very nice hotel - I looked it up online too. I added it to a list I have as we'd like to go to San Diego (with DL thrown in of course) in 5 years or so.
I hope you were feeling better soon.
The next morning I was starting to feel less pain but was very dizzy and weak. I rested and watched some TV while the boys sent off with Kent to explore. They found they could feed ducks in the ponds and bought some duck food. The grounds were beautiful and they had a blast.
A good pic of the pond area. Lovely winding paths and trees and benches. So peaceful. I hope we can go back someday soon.
Although I was really not feeling well I thought I should eat something but looking over the room service menu did not inspire me. The boys returned and they wanted mommy to go see the resort with them. I was slow moving but off we all went. Ty loved all the lilypads and we watched for frogs and rested in chairs. We went over to the harbor type area and picked up some info on renting a boat for later maybe. I was really feeling woozy so I decided I needed to eat and hoped that would help. We stopped at the waterside restaurant and got some brunch. I ate eggs and toast and several glasses of cranberry juice. Kent was in heaven with a Carnitas Benedict and coffee. They boys had some French toast and fruit and juice. Everything was very good and the service was great. They even handled it well when one of the boys spilled juice on the table and floor. I did feel better with some protein and carbs in my system.
We decided that the boat was probably something we would need to pass on considering how I was feeling. Next time maybe. We went back past the gift shop area and stopped in to see about firewood and s’mores kits. They had both and could deliver the wood for us too! It was a very cute shop and I bought several things including tshirts for the boys and a skirt and bag for me. We went back to our room and it was warm enough for the boys to play on the beach. They played for hours chasing daddy and running circles around mommy. I just enjoyed the warm sun and watching my silly boys.
I had found a BBQ place close to our hotel before we left on the trip. It is supposed excellent food but also crazy popular and busy. I had read several reviews and many said the takeout window was the same food but faster. I thought this would be the ticket for dinner. I do not like smoky BBQ but my boys LOVE it and since my appetite was not so great I convinced Kent to get some for dinner. He was very concerned that I was not getting something I would enjoy while I was also so sick. He is very sweet and caring. He finally agreed and went off to pick up ribs and chicken and sides from Phil’s BBQ.
We spread out at the table and the boys were so happy with ribs in their bellies and sand on their toes. As it got darker we saw that one of our neighbors had staked out the firepit. We decided to do the same for the next night. I was starting to slowly feel better. Still not great but well enough to do SeaWorld the next day as long as we took it slow. This day involved a lot of napping and taking meds and some of them making me kind of loopy. My sweet boys and hubby were so great about letting me rest and just relax and enjoy our great resort.
Sorry I am not looking my best in these pics. I was truly not feeling my best either. I still love this pic with my Ty guy!!!
This pic is to show you our room. That little building in the back ground is ours. It is our suite and one other. That is how close to the water we were.
As you can see we had a great day and that is despite my being so ill. I hope we can go back here soon when I can really run and play and explore with my boys!
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I had found a BBQ place close to our hotel before we left on the trip. It is supposed excellent food but also crazy popular and busy. I had read several reviews and many said the takeout window was the same food but faster. I thought this would be the ticket for dinner. I do not like smoky BBQ but my boys LOVE it and since my appetite was not so great I convinced Kent to get some for dinner. He was very concerned that I was not getting something I would enjoy while I was also so sick. He is very sweet and caring. He finally agreed and went off to pick up ribs and chicken and sides from Phil’s BBQ.
We spread out at the table and the boys were so happy with ribs in their bellies and sand on their toes. As it got darker we saw that one of our neighbors had staked out the firepit. We decided to do the same for the next night. I was starting to slowly feel better. Still not great but well enough to do SeaWorld the next day as long as we took it slow. This day involved a lot of napping and taking meds and some of them making me kind of loopy. My sweet boys and hubby were so great about letting me rest and just relax and enjoy our great resort.
More pics to follow.....
Lady, if you ate Phils BBQ, you ate the BEST San Diego has to offer and i mean THE BEST.
Lady, if you ate Phils BBQ, you ate the BEST San Diego has to offer and i mean THE BEST.
I guess I do good research! Yes the boys and Kent were so happy. I should have taken a pic of the three of them and their bbq sauce faces after we ate. I was only able to nibble on sides which were all very good. I am so glad I insisted they got some for dinner. Next time when I am better I will eat more myself. Kent said I would like the chicken.
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I guess I do good research! Yes the boys and Kent were so happy. I should have taken a pic of the three of them and their bbq sauce faces after we ate. I was only able to nibble on sides which were all very good. I am so glad I insisted they got some for dinner. Next time when I am better I will eat more myself. Kent said I would like the chicken.
Phils BBQ has been featured on two different TV shows, Man vs Food on the Travel Channel and On Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. It is no wonder they are so busy.
What a fantastic resort! I'm glad you were able to go outside and enjoy the weather. Relaxing sounded like just the thing to do that day!
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I do not have any notes for this day and it appears no pictures to help piece it all together. We must have left the camera behind. Probably due to mommy not being in top form. I know we saw the Dolphin show and Ethan slept through it. I know saw the Shamu show. I know we tried the Otter show but the boys did not think much of it so we left and got something to eat instead. I know we tried to go see the Manatees and they were no longer there. Moved all of them to FL I guess. Ty loved them and was sad. I had read about a place on the board here for a meal that was good food and fun. Corvette Diner.
It was close to us and seaworld and fun for kids. The food was high end “diner” food and super yummy. They do “custom” milkshakes and we did a peanut butter and banana and it was awesome, the boys loved it. There is a cool restored corvette as you walk inside the diner and Ty was all about it. He kept going back to check it out. There is an arcade too I guess but our boys being little we skipped it. We headed back to the hotel and started to slowly pack up and get ready to leave the next day. This usually does not take me very long but I was still moving slow and we had spread out a lot in our big room.
We got ourselves all packed and drove to the airport and got stuck in a little traffic. We just barely made our flight but we made it home just fine.
I usually do final thoughts but this was a while back now and it was not a usual trip due to my health issues so I will keep this short. We loved all of our hotel choices and I hope we can do back to each of them. The dining options I researched ahead of time for each leg of the trip were great and I was very pleased that the whole family enjoyed then all.
I hope I did a decent job of pulling this TR out of the trash and finishing it up although much later than planned. For anyone who might want to read a newer and more detailed trip of ours I started one for the trip we just returned from. It was amazing and no health issues this time!!!
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
Cassie
It was a very cute shop and I bought several things including tshirts for the boys and a skirt and bag for me. We went back to our room and it was warm enough for the boys to play on the beach. They played for hours chasing daddy and running circles around mommy. I just enjoyed the warm sun and watching my silly boys. 
Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
PassPorter Guide Author
Glad you're starting to feel a bit better! 
Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us! 
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