Checking off that Bucket List ~ Disney Style! - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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Getting caught back up.......... Love the pics from the Safari...my fav. AK ride too! OMG those desserts from the party...yummmmmy! I might look into this for our next trip. What a wonderful day you had for your birthday! Speaking of birthdays...........you will be in the world on mine! July 7th, you will have to ride the Little Mermaid ride for me! I keep asking my husband to take me on my birthday but he says its too busy and he cant get the time off (which he really can't) Still cont get over all that snow!!! You need to come and spend a weekend with me! Its over 60 here today . Check your FB messages!
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Me and Cole in the Sears Tower Skydeck, 103 floors up, in a glass box hanging off the side!
Today was another EARLY day - and it's gonna be LONG day……….we had ADR’s for Chef Mickey’s at 7:40 a.m. (it was the only time we could get – and Em really wanted to eat here!) – so we got up early – ready for the day and took the bus from POR to MK and then walked over to the Contemporary.
We were seated pretty quickly after checking in and taking our photo.
We were however, sat in that back upper area by the windows…..behind the buffet……if you have been there, you know the area I am talking about – where you almost feel as though you have been “forgotten” about. I have to say, the last few times I have been to Chef Mickey’s I am more and more disappointed – this time, the same. Although the food was fantastic – and Lord knows we ATE! The service was not so great – had to ask for water 3 times before I finally got one.
Emily had a bit of carb overload with cherries on top!!!
The characters seem to take forever to get around to you here – we were well done with our meal but still had to wait for 2 characters to find their way to us.
However, we did have a good time with Mickey:
Minnie:
Donald:
Emily was showing Donald that she had a "tailfeather" today also.....she had a tie on the back of her shirt that made it look like a tail!
So then they compared!
Goofy:
And Pluto:
After filling our bellies and autograph books, we headed out – our original plan was to head back over to DHS to try to get another ride in on RRC and then to Epcot, BUT after we boarded a bus for DHS, I realized that I had left my phone on the table at Chef Mickey’s – so we got off the bus at the Poly (the Contemporary, GF, and Poly all share the same buses) and got on the monorail back to the Contemporary and up to Chef Mickey’s – and retrieved my phone . Now it was nearing 11ish, and we decided to just give up another visit to DHS and head straight to Epcot – so back on the monorail we went.
When we arrived at Epcot – the line to get in was CRAZY!!!!!! Scott happened to notice another bag check area that there seemed to be no one waiting for – so we walked over there – and it was an entrance for resort guests only – and we walked right in!!! NICE!!
We headed for the Living Seas area, as I wanted to see Turtle Talk with Crush – we noticed the line for Nemo…….over an hour wait!!! I have NEVER seen the line like that – it was all snaked outside the building – can’t even imagine what it looked like inside with all the zig zag line……..so we knew that was not happening – Scott would NOT have been able to handle waiting – but we managed to basically walk right into Turtle Talk with Crush – I think we waited 2-3 minutes. I LOVE that show!! We hadn’t been in there since it first opened I believe – a nice little entertaining, relaxing place to sit for a while!
Nice waiting area for Turtle Talk!
Nemo says hi!!
After we exited Turtle Talk with Crush – Scott happened to notice the alternative entrance to Nemo – so he asked the CM – and he said – sure! We did not think that he could use his GAC there – but the CM was very kind and let us though – so we were able to “find Nemo”……..that is another just classic fun ride that I really enjoy!
After finding Nemo, we exited back into the Living Seas and we had decided that today was going to be a slow, relaxing (as much as possible ) kind of day as we were in for a very long day! So we found a spot to just sit and watch the dolphins and fish for a little bit – we commented on how maybe later in the day if we were tired, we could come over here and take a nap!
Of course, you have to walk through the gift shop to get back outside – and Emily really can’t resist those darn make your own pixie stick spots – so of course, we let her!
Next, we headed for Soarin’! Another FAVORITE!! And again, the stand by line was 280 minutes!!! YIKES!! We still waited a good 30 minutes in the Fastpass line.
After Soarin’ we headed over to Innoventions – as it was getting close to the time for the Disney Chase Visa Character Spot to open – so while we were in line for that – Emily played some of the video games they have set up there, while Scott & I chatted with another set of parents waiting.
Soon we were meeting Minnie & Goofy!
Up Next: Traveling the world for the afternoon!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Excited to read about your loooooong New Years Eve! The lines sound terrible, but you're still managing to do a few things in a very leisurely fashion. I don't think I've ever read a detailed NYE report before!
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yikes! EPCOT was crazy! I was trying to figure out why and then I saw the date again sometimes I'm amazed I can dress myself in the morning lol Those gift shops get us every time too. We can't exit Nemo without buying Aiden lolipops. I can't tell you how many we have but I can pretty much just sell them back to Disney if they run out Can't wait to read more about your World Traveling adventures!
My uncle was there New Years eve and refused to do any research before going. He was shocked at the crowds. Sounds like you are making it work. An hour wait for Memo, that's nuts. Chef Mickey's has never made it on the to do list for us. Mainly because I,very heard such bad reviews. However now I'm drooling. Mickey Waffles! Yum!
I'm finally caught up, I can't believe how fast I fell behind. You definitely had the best birthday ever! The wait times at Epcot are insane, but I'm glad you're making the best of it. I'm looking forward to reading about the countries in the next installment. They're my favorite part of Epcot.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I'm finding out about all the 'bad' spots to eat at character meals in reading TRs! We sat at the table behind Emily on our first trip to CM's last June. I guess it helps that we didn't know better.
I can't even imagine the line for Nemo if it was outside the building!
Looking forward to see how the rest of the day goes! And if you make it back to the Seas for that nap.
Just read the TR from start till now! You guys sure did manage to get a lot in already. I cant wait to read how the rest of the trip went I am sure it was just as magical
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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And there's more coming this weekend! 
(which he really can't) Still cont get over all that snow!!! You need to come and spend a weekend with me! Its over 60 here today 
. Check your FB messages!
I have to say, the last few times I have been to Chef Mickey’s I am more and more disappointed – this time, the same. Although the food was fantastic – and Lord knows we ATE! 
The service was not so great – had to ask for water 3 times before I finally got one. 
. Now it was nearing 11ish, and we decided to just give up another visit to DHS and head straight to Epcot – so back on the monorail we went. 
have been able to handle waiting – but we managed to basically walk right into Turtle Talk with Crush – I think we waited 2-3 minutes. I LOVE that show!! We hadn’t been in there since it first opened I believe – a nice little entertaining, relaxing place to sit for a while!
PassPorter Guide Author
We need to go back to Chef Mickey's - we never had it down on our last trip and we always enjoy it there.
sometimes I'm amazed I can dress myself in the morning lol Those gift shops get us every time too. We can't exit Nemo without buying Aiden lolipops. I can't tell you how many we have but I can pretty much just sell them back to Disney if they run out 
Sammi
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