Of Mice and Margaritas--The Box is Growing **Updated 8/22** PTR COMPLETE!! - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Of Mice and Margaritas--The Box is Growing **Updated 8/22** PTR COMPLETE!!
Its coming . . . . the beginning will be here soon . . . its a Heather and Brandon Deluxe Disney Dinning and Drinking Extravaganza!
Coming soon to a message board near you:
Of Mice and Margaritas: A Pre Trip Report
from your friendly neighborhood bartender and chef!
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WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Welcome to the official beginning of the Of Mice and Margaritas Pre Trip Report!
We leave for Disney on August 24th! Exactly 1 month after my birthday! And now on with the show!
THE MAIN CHARACTERS
Heather: Me! I am about to be 28 years old and this is my 6th trip to WDW: 3 trips as a child, one very terrible trip with ex boyfriend, and one wonderful trip with current roommate Brandon. I am a New Orleans bartender (former high school teacher) who is obsessed with all things Disney! My entire casual wardrobe involves Disney Ts, bags, jewelry etc etc. (I wear a uniform at work.) I spend my free time on the boards and planning my next vacation(s) and reading . . . and now playing with the brand new Wii on my brand new 32" flat screen TV. (Yes bartending in New Orleans is a good gig!)
Brandon: My roommate. He's about to turn 23 this week. He's the lead line cook at our hotel which involves supervising and cooking for our Shula's Steakhouse, my Lobby Bar, and room service. He's not as much as a Disney addict as I am . . . sometimes he thinks I should be committed, but he's slowly being turned. His wardrobe of Disney wear is currently expanding . . . funny how the number of Disney shirts he owns multiplies after my day off . . . He's currently at work on the overnight room service shift and wearing a Donald Duck T shirt under his chef jacket. Hopefully I'll be able to get him to contribute to this trip report . . . at least on the dinning side once we get back. (Or I'll make him recite and I'll type him in.)
About us: We've been living together for just over a year and we really are best friends, roommates and co-workers. That means we spend about 22 hours a day breathing the same air and we don't kill one another. How? You may ask . . . its easy . . . we don't share the same taste in men. Every girl needs a Queen! he's mine--you can borrow him if you are desperately in need, but you have to give him back! We spent 5 days together in Disney last September and had a blast. Brandon immediately knew he wanted to go back. (for me it was a given) The trip didn't end up as initially planned, but hopefully we'll be able to do that next year--more on that in the next installment.
THE SECONDARY CHARACTERS: (likely to show up in the PTR but not in the actual trip report with one minor exception)
The Evil Ice Princess: Just Kidding Deborah--my boss!
Carl: My big boss, who may show up in the trip report because Shula's corporate is making him go to Orlando to the Dolphin for training the exact same week we are in Disney. Just can't seem to get away from work!
Dad: Otherwise known as Lou or Brandon's Boss.
Rachel: My cat sitter and closest neighbor friend!
Abel and Jezebel: My evil, now only outdoor kitties, otherwise known as my children
Leslie Gwen: our closest friend . . . now who names their male child Leslie Gwen? "Its a family name . . . I swear!" He's a big ole red neck from Yazoo City Mississippi!
So thats the cast of characters you have to look forward to in the coming weeks. In the next chapter I'll tell the story of how this trip came to be . . . and I promise to bore you with all the scary details!
I love this PTR the name is so clever. I am from around New Orleans and lots of my family live in NOLA...were do you tend Bar?
Can't wait to hear all about the plans!
I love this PTR the name is so clever. I am from around New Orleans and lots of my family live in NOLA...were do you tend Bar?
Can't wait to hear all about the plans!
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Pixie Dust
the margarita aspect of this trip!
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