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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am planning on going to Biergarten Restaurant at Epcot and have a question. I am understanding that the tables are designed to accommodate more then 1 family per table. I am not a fan of sharing my table with other families....Sorry. :-( Isn't this set up to eat "Family Style" ...with other families. Can anybody tell me what there experiences have been with this. TIA
We've always been sat with other people, but have had different experiences - sometimes others have been really chatty, but once we had a family who greeted us briefly and then totally ignored us for the rest of the time. We didn't mind that, we just talked to each other and got on with our delicious meal. Tables seat around 8 people, so being a couple, we always get seated with others. It's fine, you have your own individual food, there's nothing placed 'family style' on the table for you to share with them, and you can just relax and keep to yourselves if you don't want to interact with them.
The food there is FAB, we loved it, lots of choices and really hot and fresh. I hope you enjoy the restaurant!
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Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
Biergarten is one of our favorite places at WDW, so we eat there often. Our experiences have been the same as Silvercat. Sometimes people are more chatty than others, but we've always had fun. If you are really uncomfortable with the idea of talking to your table mates, schedule your ADR so there will be a show going on during your time. There is much less talking during the show, as most people are watching it. (It's really fun and definitely worth seeing!)
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
Biergarten is one of our favorite places at WDW, so we eat there often. Our experiences have been the same as Silvercat. Sometimes people are more chatty than others, but we've always had fun. If you are really uncomfortable with the idea of talking to your table mates, schedule your ADR so there will be a show going on during your time. There is much less talking during the show, as most people are watching it. (It's really fun and definitely worth seeing!)
Can you tell me how to go about finding the times of the shows. I don't see anything like that on the Disney web site. Thank you
The tables are shared but you can easily have your own "area" and stay separate from others. It is a traditional German style of eatery and the tables are long rectangles. So, your family will be seated on one end and another family (possibly, dpending on how many are in your group) will be seated at the other end. It is not a round table and you don't share food in a family style.
It is a buffet and you can easily come and go.
We have been many times and usually have a cordial moment with our table mates and then we don't really have much interaction with them because they are somewhat separate and the band's music is usually playing and prohibits conversation.
The food is good and includes a variety of traditional German comfort food with many choices for vegetarians and meat-lovers. Our group likes the food (but we lived in Germany and are fond of the food). In addition, you get to experience a little of the culture (German nationals usually serve) and enjoy some live entertainment. This is what makes this a special choice or our family.
Hope you enjoy!
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"Disneyland has that thing - the imagination and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid."
--Walt Disney
We just ate there for the first time and really enjoyed it. Both DD and I are rather shy, but our table mates were great and made a nice effort to include the whole table in general conversation. The show was adorable and did prevent any need for conversation for a while. So I imagine even if people were not super friendly at your table you could enjoy yourself. We also enjoyed the food.
Can you tell me how to go about finding the times of the shows. I don't see anything like that on the Disney web site.
They are short, about twenty minutes long at most. We saw it once when we had lunch there; took us about an hour to eat. I don't think there is a schedule printed anywhere, so just expect to see it at least once while you dine.
My husband lived in Germany as a child and he enjoyed the food, calling it home cooking style rather than fancy restaurant food. I rarely eat meat, but still had plenty with salmon, spätzle, pretzel rolls, salads, and great apple strudel. We had avoided this restaurant for years because both my husband and son are on the autism spectrum and dislike having to interact with strangers. It was the seating that stopped us, but it turned out to be no problem. We had a pleasant family seated next to the three of us - turned out they lived forty miles away from us in Virginia - but we mostly kept to our own groups. We'd definitely go back again.
Can you tell me how to go about finding the times of the shows. I don't see anything like that on the Disney web site. Thank you
If you scroll down on this page, you will see where it starts listing the countries in the WS. Under Germany, it has the times for the show at Biergarten. In our experience, they do not change much, if it all, throughout the year. http://wdwent.com/EPCOT.htm
When making your ADR, make sure to give yourself 20 min or so to be seated and settled before the showtime. Sometimes you have to wait a few minutes before being seated while they wait for everyone with your table to show up. They seat the whole table together, not one family and then another family a few min later or anything like that.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
agreed with everything here - you can be as social or not social with your tablemates. WookiePants and I will talk to anyone, so we always have a good time there. I speak German, so I usually strike up a conversation with the server and get tipsy on the beer flight. The Oompah band that we saw was pretty good, and watching the little ones dance was great. The songs are easy to learn, but it helps if you drink beer. LOL People really do have a great sense of humor there!
I think people should try it once, even if they run a little shy. Who knows? You might make some nice friends!
Our experiences have been the same as others. Several times we had very chatty table mates and it was fun to talk with them during the meal. The nice thing is you both have Disney in common, so you can ask about where they're staying, if they've been to Disney before, etc.
Last time we were seated with family who just ignored us. But that was ok too, since there were four of us so we just chatted amongst ourselves and enjoyed the show. Maybe they thought we were ignoring them!
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Can anybody tell me what there experiences have been with this. TIA
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