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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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02-17-2010, 04:50 PM
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#1
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PassPorter Guide
 Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,041
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Feature Article: Making the Most of Your Meal - Enjoying the Trip to the Restaurant
Making the Most of Your Meal - Enjoying the Trip to the Restaurant
by Yvonne & Sam Mitchell
The growing popularity of the Disney Dining Plan has made for a lot of questions on the PassPorter message board about Disney’s hotel restaurants and how to get to and from them. When someone asks a question about travel to one of the restaurants, it’s always about how to get there the quickest or shortest way. But going and eating at the restaurants on property can be more than a meal - it can be a truly magical experience. Walt Disney World is so vast, there are things you will never see or get to do if you always take the shortest or quickest route. So to make your dining experience more enjoyable, why not slow down and plan an adventurous or fun route around your meal plans? It gives you a chance to experience more of the wonder of Walt Disney World. Here are a couple examples you can try or use them as starting points to make up your own routes:
Example Route One: Dinner at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
Leave a few hours early and take the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Have you ever thought of getting on the monorail and riding it all the way around and back? Well now is the time to do it! If you have kids, or are a kid at heart, ask a cast member at the monorail terminal if you can ride with the driver. It is first come, first served, so you may have to wait on this seat, but a ride in the front seat of the monorail is a special memory and a great place to get pictures. We were lucky enough to get a fun "driver" who took the funniest picture with our daughter. He asked us not to tell her until the pictures were "developed" (downloaded for those of you in the 21st century). It was a picture of her (all smiles of course) "driving" the monorail with him behind her in a perfect pose of prayer (as in we pray we'll all survive).
There are some things that can only be seen from the monorail. As the monorail approaches Disney’s Grand Floridian, be on the look out for the Disney Wedding Pavilion on the right hand side. You just might catch a glimpse of Cinderella’s Glass Coach carrying the new bride to her wedding. Be ready to snap some pictures.
(Special photo opportunity: As the monorail leaves The Grand Floridian Terminal, be on the lookout for the white buildings in the trees to the left. This is the staging area for Cinderella’s Glass Coach where the white horses are hooked up to it.)
Get off at the Magic Kingdom and go to the boat docks directly in front and take the boat to the Wilderness Lodge. The boat ride is relaxing, so hold your partner's hand and enjoy. If you have kids, the boat ride will be exciting for them. At the Wilderness Lodge dock, take the boardwalk up and to the left and stop at Fire Rock Geyser. It goes off every hour from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm. This also gives you a great view of the Silver Creek Springs pool area. Follow the path up along the pool to the waterfall. Are you wondering where the water is coming from? Follow the path up to the Lodge and go inside and there on the left is Silver Creek hot spring coming right up out of the floor.
From here Artist Point is down the hall to your right. Whispering Canyon Café is straight ahead on the right across the lobby. If you have time before your dinner reservation, check out the awe inspiring 82 foot tall stone fireplace. It’s simply amazing.
For a special treat for couples after your dinner, take the same path out of the Lodge and down by the pool. At Trout Pass pool-side bar, take the path to the right down to the beach. You can take a romantic barefoot stroll through the white sand or relax in a beach chair and watch the Electrical Water Pageant that crosses Bay Lake nightly.
Example Route Two: Dinner at Downtown Disney or Pleasure Island
For those shop-a-holics, here's a route that's sure to please. Make dinner reservations at one of the many wonderful restaurants available to you at Downtown Disney or Pleasure Island. The new Raglan Road offers Irish food with a twist and live music every night. Plan on leaving your hotel a couple of hours prior to your reservation.
Start at the Downtown Disney Marketplace and enter The Art of Disney store. Spend time watching a real Disney animator doing what he or she does best, as they create characters right before your eyes. Walk around and browse the art. Don't forget to make a wish and dream about what you'd buy if you could afford anything in the store. Share those ideas with family members - maybe they can make that dream come true for you someday!
Everyone loves Christmas! How about a stroll through Disney’s Days of Christmas? Get into the Christmas spirit and buy your first ornament of the year. Who cares if it's July! Have pets at home? Disney Tails provides all kinds of goodies for your pets. Any pup would be proud to wear one of the adorable Disney "outfits" available. I personally had a ball buying Lady and Tramp merchandise for my mother, who's a big fan!
How about Mickey's Mart? Everything is under $10! How many times have we said to our kids, "OK, one thing, as long as it's under $10?" They'll have a ball figuring out what to get. You just might find a neat souvenir for yourself!
The Lego Imagination Center offers hours of free entertainment. You can take your children to the giant Lego table where they can build to their heart's content. But an even BETTER idea is leave the kiddos with one parent building the Lego’s while the other parent makes a run through World of Disney, the largest Disney Store in the world. Ship everything home for a reasonable fee and surprise everyone at the holidays! Having worked up an appetite (and most likely a hefty credit card bill), head for dinner.
These are just a couple samples of the hundreds of routes possible around Walt Disney World. Taking the “long road” to your restaurant will open up a lot more of Walt Disney World for you and your family to experience in the time that you have.
View the full article and download a free formatted PDF of it here!
Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 02-17-2010 04:45 PM
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
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