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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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01-18-2004, 01:07 AM
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#1
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Fl
Posts: 5,517
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Las Vegas
Just confirmed plans with my best friend for our girls only trip this year. We're going to Las Vegas, hopefully from May 2 thru May 6th. We hope to stay at the Excalibur.
Here is my question: You have four days in Vegas. What do you recommend? We're not huge into gambling, we're not renting a car and we don't want to spend a fortune. Thanks in advance!
Kelly
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01-18-2004, 11:14 AM
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#2
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PassPorter Message Board Manager PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Las Vegas
Kelly, I can't help you, as I haven't been to Vegas since 1987, but we're hoping to go next year, so I'd love to hear some ideas. I also just wanted to say I hope you have a wonderful time - and I want to read a trip report when you get back!
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01-18-2004, 04:24 PM
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#3
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: California
Posts: 3,021
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Re: Las Vegas
There is so much to see in Vegas that's free!
For great shopping/browsing, try the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace. The Venetian also has some great shops, as does Bellagio. While you're at Bellagio, check out the incredible Conservatory that's right by the Check In area. It's incredibly beautiful, and they change it every season.
The fountain show in front of the Bellagio is amazing and happens I think every hour almost all day, but see it at night for an amazing show.
The volcano in front of the Mirage is kind of neat. See that one at night also.
There a monorail that goes up and down the Strip on both sides of the street. There's one that goes from the MGM Grand to Bally's. There's another one that goes from Monte Carlo to Bellagio. I think they've opened up some new sections, but I'm not sure on which rail. The monorails are all free and run until about 1 a.m. (I think they open around 10 a.m.).
If you make it to Downtown Las Vegas (north of the Strip), then check out the Fremont Street Experience...it runs in the evenings only, and it's an amazing light show that's shown on a canopy that extends over Fremont Street. Be careful, though, because I've heard that pickpocketers congregate there (well, I guess it's true of all of Vegas, so be careful everywhere you go!).
There's so much more, but that should give you some food for thought as you gals plan your trip!
Have fun!
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01-21-2004, 01:18 PM
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#4
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Orlando area via Chicago
Posts: 5,424
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Re: Las Vegas
Last year we did the
Star Trek Experience at the Hilton (off strip). THey have a "museum" of memorialbilia from the show, the bridge and a flight simulator ride.
Don't miss the Bellagio fountains at night. Just beautiful.
I think Ceasars has an IMAX theater.
Madame Trussous (sp?) wax museum at the Venitian. Didn't go in, but wanted to.
Treasure Island has the Pirate battle out front. May be cancelled if it's windy.
Back in 1993, we took a grayline bus tour to the Hoover dam (over 1/2 day). I believe we had a 2 for 1 coupon from a coupon book.They picked us up at the hotel. It was a very interesting tour and since then, they've redone the visitor center there.
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01-21-2004, 01:45 PM
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#5
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Fl
Posts: 5,517
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Re: Las Vegas
Thanks for the great ideas everyone!
Have any of you taken a rental car to the Grand Canyon? Excursions from LV are around $100.00 per person but I was thinking about driving it myself. What do you all think?
Caesar's has a Disney Store. Is it huge or just your regular Disney Store?
Recommendations for buffets?
Kelly
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01-21-2004, 03:02 PM
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#6
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: California
Posts: 3,021
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Re: Las Vegas
I can't remember how long of a drive it is from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. I've never taken a rental car...only drove in my own car but to the northern end of the Grand Canyon where Lake Powell is. That was a LONG drive. Someone else will have to jump in on this one.
By the way, the Pirate Battle outside Treasure Island is gone. They've re-themed the entire hotel to have a more "adult" following, so now there's a song and dance show out front with ladies in skimpy outfits (haven't seen it...that's just what I've heard).
I can't even remember where the Disney Store is in the Forum Shops...which probably means the store's just a regular store, but don't quote me on that.
For buffets, well nothing beats the Bellagio, but it's also quite expensive. If you're willing to splurge for a fabulous buffet with gourmet type offerings, I'd go for the Bellagio around 1:30 or 2 and plan to stay for an hour or two. That way, you pay the lunch price (about $18-20) but can still fill up for dinner. I've heard the Paris buffet is decent with lots of different French region offerings, but I haven't tried it myself. The Rio has a neat buffet with lots of food stations where they prepare food fresh and serve it right away.
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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01-21-2004, 03:11 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 3,958
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Re: Las Vegas
I believe the drive from LV to the south rim is between 6 and 8 hrs one way. If you only have 4 days and really want to go, the group trip is better timewise. I believe most leave out very early in the AM and get you back around 10 PM.
Now if you can afford it, the helicopter trip is THE way to go, I've heard!
If you want to do just a little gambling and don;t want to spend much, go to Slots o' Fun next to Circus Circus. It's not a fancy casino or anything, but they have nickel slots. Most other places it 25 cents min, and they were sometimes hard to find when I was there back in '97.
Have fun!
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01-21-2004, 06:09 PM
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#8
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Community Rank: Globetrotter
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: California
Posts: 3,021
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Re: Las Vegas
Straitlover, you'd be amazed how many nickel slots there are now. They're everywhere! Thank goodness, because that's about all I play anyways. I figure it's cheap entertainment if you can make your nickels last long enough!
By the way, I forgot to mention that the Excalibur has a decent buffet, too. It's not expensive, but the food is pretty run of the mill buffet food.
One nice thing about staying at Excalibur is that you can easily walk to lots of places. Excalibur, Luxor and Mandalay Bay or connected, so you never have to leave the building to get to each.
And right outside Excalibur, you've got a great corner with MGM Grand, Tropicana and New York on the other corners. You'll have a blast!
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01-21-2004, 07:22 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4,695
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Re: Las Vegas
DH and I were just there in November and yes they have changed the pirate battle at Treasure Island. It was very cheesy and we left part way through.
There's also Sigfried and Roy's secret garden and the dolphin habitat. We saw the dolphins but unfortunately we were too late to get into the garden. You have to pay to go in, but I don't remember it costing too much. There's the lions at MGM which were fun to watch. Definitely hit the Coke and M&M's stores, we had a blast in both.
If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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01-22-2004, 09:29 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Passenger
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Buckley, WA
Posts: 41
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Re: Las Vegas
Check out www.cheapovegas.com
They have lots of tips for cheap eats, sleeps, and entertainment. Plus the site is just plain fun to read.
We did vegas last spring and are going back this spring (hubby HAS to go for work - call me tag along!). Love to read about all the hotels on cheapo site!
Have a great time!!
Jess
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