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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
The rest of your SeaWorld day looked great! The Dine with Shamu looked really cool! I loved your male whale urinating story! Too funny! Glad you got to ride the Antartica ride finally! the view for the Sky thing was beautiful.
Great shots of AoA at night!
I am loving you pics of your views from your balcony! Really making me want to scrounge up the extra to stay there.
Love all the Roan Antelope outside your window! And those Red River Hogs are so much fun to watch. Too funny that the squirrel wanted to have breakfast with the princesses. Reminds me of the time a squirrel rode the train with me out to Rafiki's! Great photos around Epcot.
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.
Love reading all about your trip. As I am going in June this year with my family I have a couple of questions about Sea World. 1. What were the crowds like? Do you feel that quick que was worth the money? Trying to debate about purchasing it for our trip. also how long did it take you to get from Disney to Sea World?
Thanks! The crowds were okay - not any worse than at WDW - we felt that the Quick Que was worth it - we were able to do Journey to Atlantis, Kraken & Manta all in 45 minutes!!! It was maybe a 15 minute car ride? Not far at all. Hope that helps!
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Love how the phone case turned out! And how cute are those Mickey cheese and crackers?! LOVE IT!
Thanks! She had fun with the phone cases! Aren't they the cutest!!! (the cheese and crackers!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
I am so looking forward to relaxing on the balcony at AKV. Maybe I won't have the same view as you but it'll still be great.
OH, any view there is peaceful and serene!
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Originally Posted by JenniferLynneRose521
Just joining in... and all caught up! So glad you started this Lisa!
The phone case is a super adorable idea!!
Thanks for joining!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Sounds like a great day so far. Love the story about the squirrel running into Akershus! Em's phone case is awesome!!
It was! The squirrel was just crazy! we laughed so much about it!
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Originally Posted by DMA
I love trying to touch heads (or treetops) with my toes too!
Wow, breakfast and dinner in a castle! Breakfast sounded great! Can't wait to hear about dinner!
Isn't that fun?!? I just realized, yes, we did have some royal meals that day!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
The rest of your SeaWorld day looked great! The Dine with Shamu looked really cool! I loved your male whale urinating story! Too funny! Glad you got to ride the Antartica ride finally! the view for the Sky thing was beautiful.
Great shots of AoA at night!
I am loving you pics of your views from your balcony! Really making me want to scrounge up the extra to stay there.
It was a great day! The view is so worth it - not to mention - it made us take the time to relax!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Love all the Roan Antelope outside your window! And those Red River Hogs are so much fun to watch. Too funny that the squirrel wanted to have breakfast with the princesses. Reminds me of the time a squirrel rode the train with me out to Rafiki's! Great photos around Epcot.
Aren't they cute! We discovered that it seemed as though they had "assigned" sleeping areas, as there were 3 in particular that slept in the same spot every night!
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Emily's phone case autographs! Too funny about the squirrel. You all are making the best use of an AKL balcony!
She has a great creative mind! can't wait to see what she decides to have autographed next trip! We LOVED that balcony! Can't wait to get back there!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
After some relaxing on the balcony, we got ready for our special dinner. Tonight we were going to Be Our Guest in Magic Kingdom. We had done lunch at Be Our Guest during my birthday trip on New Year’s Day and we loved it! So we were really looking forward to trying dinner!
We arrived at Magic Kingdom in time to check in for our dinner, and were soon led to our table ~ in the main ballroom, right next to the snowy window (almost exactly where we sat for lunch back in January!)!
We started off dinner with Emily and I sharing a French Onion Soup, very good, same as last time! I could probably just eat this and a cupcake and be good!
Scott had a Kronenbourg 1664 beer, while I had a glass of Conundrum (recommended by Tracy….aka….Coop), both were very good. Emily had the special non-alcoholic punch (without the souvenir goblet).
For dinners, Emily and I each had Sautéed Shrimp and Scallops in the puff pastry with creamy lobster sauce ~ we both enjoyed this.
Scott had the Thyme-Scented Pork Rack Chop ~ he said he was quite tasty – he ate every bite!
the dessert cart:
For dessert, I had the Lemon Meringue Cupcake:
Emily had the Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake:
And Scott had the Tropical Fruit Cream Puff:
And our server had brought Scott and I a plate of the Grey Stuff (we were celebrating our Anniversary!)………………and it was quite delicious as the dishes told us it would be!
While we were eating dinner, the Beast made his grand entrance and walked through the Ball room! He would be waiting for guests to join him for photos after you were done with dinner.
So of course, after our bellies were full, we found the Beast and had a great visit with him!!! He danced with Emily. Of course, I had a moment there, remembering when she was so little and was so frightened the first time she met the Beast (with Belle) and Belle took Em by the hand and placed the Em’s hand in the Beast’s paw and explained to Em that he really was a nice Beast, that she shouldn’t be frightened. Sigh……….the memories……………and now here she was dancing with him!
After Emily had her dance and photo, we had a family photo taken!
Then it was time to head out into the Magic Kingdom, however, shortly after we did, the skies decided to open up! And let me back up for a moment here, while we were having dinner, Scott received a phone call from his mom ~ she was upset because his father had had a bad day, and this really put a damper on dinner for us. It was hard to really thoroughly enjoy it knowing what was going on back home.
So with the rain, we walked down Main Street and strolled through the Emporium to look around and see if the rain would pass, after a short while it didn’t look like it was going to let up, and our moods were pretty somber at this point, and Em and I had an early morning tomorrow, so we decided to call it a very early night for us and head back to AKL.
When we arrived back at AKL, we had started to head back to the room, but somehow started up a conversation with DVC rep Abel who was at the DVC desk and he was very talkative and friendly and he had asked if we had ever seen the Concierge Level, of course we hadn’t (we had been wait listed for this trip, but didn’t get it) and he took us a for a quick tour up there! It was very nice of him and it was nice to see the offerings up there! Someday………..
After our tour and visit with Abel, Emily and I went to the gift shop to borrow a DVD – we chose Toy Story 3, figuring we would watch a movie in our room tonight.
When we arrived back in our room, we were very surprised to find a tray of goodies waiting for us!!! A very special PP friend had sent them!!! We enjoyed our goodies – Scott and I devouring the zebra domes, along with a glass of wine, and Emily devouring the chocolate covered strawberries (well, I believe Scott might have had 1 or 2 of those!). All the while, we were each in our jammies enjoying this in bed with the movie starting…………….I don’t think we saw much of the movie! We all crashed!
Up Next: An Early morning Trek for us girls!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I'm glad you enjoyed your BOG dinner, but so sorry you got the phone call and reminder of all that was going on at home (not that you needed reminding). What a lovely surprise to get the tray of beautiful goodies in your room. A bittersweet trip with happy and sad moments following so close together.
Glad you enjoyed dinner and were able to go back to the lodge for a more relaxed evening to digest what was going on at home and get your rest for the morning!
You brought back some great memories of our dinner at Be Our Guest with your report there. How cool that you got an impromptu tour of concierge level!
Glad I could help with the memories
It was very nice of Abel to take us on the tour!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I'm glad you enjoyed your BOG dinner, but so sorry you got the phone call and reminder of all that was going on at home (not that you needed reminding). What a lovely surprise to get the tray of beautiful goodies in your room. A bittersweet trip with happy and sad moments following so close together.
Thanks - it was a tough reminder of what was going on - but yet, another reminder that we needed to enjoy life. That tray certainly brightened things up for us!!! the sender is quite special!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a great dinner at BoG! I'm hoping to try this for lunch in June.
It is a fantastic place! we have done lunch and dinner here and enjoyed it each time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Glad you enjoyed dinner and were able to go back to the lodge for a more relaxed evening to digest what was going on at home and get your rest for the morning!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks - it was a very relaxing evening back in the room!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sounds like you had a great meal at BoG!! Everything looked delicious
thanks - it was delicious!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
I'm just finding your trip report...I love all of your pics of SeaWorld! I don't think we've been there in about ten years so I have to say I don't remember a lot of it. I think we may have to make room for it in one of our next trips! Looking forward to reading more.
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Emily's phone case autographs! Too funny about the squirrel. 
You all are making the best use of an AKL balcony! 
Not far at all. Hope that helps! 
PassPorter Guide Author
the sender is quite special!! 
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