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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sounds like a very nice time at Epcot. I imagine the boys really enjoyed Test Track, especially beating Mom and Dad.
The photos of the boys napping were cute - even big boys need a nap!
The boys loved that. It's not everyday they're able to beat Mom.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures from AKL! Glad you had a great time at Epcot!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonK0527
Looks like a fun day! I like the family photos you guys took on the way out of the park. How nice that you got to meet up with your friends and do the Visa M&G (with touchy-feely Mickey!!)
Yeah, the touchy-feely Mickey... Good times, good times.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
What a great day you had at Epcot! Your meal at the R&C looked delicious
R&C was delish!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
I will certainly try R&C, but having so many great choices at WDW makes it difficult! I've had the Fish and Chips next door at Yorkshire, which I really enjoyed and my friends there, who decided to drop by at my outdoor table (those with the webbed feet), enjoyed some of the chips on me! They could of at least offered to buy me something! When I go to Rose & Crown, it will be something other than Fish and Chips as I'm a pretty big foodie and want something more than that for dinner! To me, that is a good lunch item!
Those ducks are CRAZY! On our trip in 2011, my youngest (6 at the time) climbed on top of the table because one of them came a little too close. It was quite a scene.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Nice little highlights of Epcot! Glad you were able to be seated early
Thank goodness they took us early as we were starving.
Finally having some time to catch up. So sorry to hear about the troubles at home but at least you can look back on this trip with smiles. I sounds like everyone is having a great time.
All caught up! Can't wait for more. Quality time with your son must have been nice.
It was nice!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Finally having some time to catch up. So sorry to hear about the troubles at home but at least you can look back on this trip with smiles. I sounds like everyone is having a great time.
Before going into this day, I'm going to backtrack a little. When planning this trip I discovered that Gay Days would be taking place from June 5-8. When making my itinerary I was trying to avoid the designated parks, not because I have a problem with the event but because I wanted to avoid the extra crowds.
Well when my sil decided to go to Orlando, she wanted to celebrate her son's birthday at MK, which happened to fall on June 7 the designated park for the day.
As I wrote in my PTR, I've talked to my kids about the different kinds of relationships and families and told them what to expect for that day. Ok, back to the TR.
You all know the morning drill by now. Showers, breakfast, get dressed. We were in no hurry this morning as our first FP+ was at 11ish. We arrived at the park at around 10, but not before my sil had called us about a hundred times asking at what time we'd be arriving.
Our first fastpass was for Jungle Cruise, so we headed in that direction. There were lots a people dressed in red. Only a couple of people were overly dressed. I remember a group in which they all had parasols. One of them had a big Minnie Mouse bow on his head. We saw them a couple of times, they were hard not to see. I really enjoyed reading some of the t-shirts.
Well we got to JC and were boarding our boat soon after. Our skipper was very funny and had us laughing the whole time. I love corny jokes!
My sil was in Tomorrowland, riding Space Mountain. We went over to wait for them. After a while they still hadn't come out. I was getting a little stir crazy and our next fastpass was approaching so we left. We texted them to wait for us at Frontierland.
We headed over to BTMRR. We had a great, bumpy ride as usual.
There was still no sign of sil so we just looked for a shaded place to wait for her. We sat at a bench in front of the Frontierland Shootin' Arcade and soon after my sil appeared. We sat there for a while and just relaxed. Sil decided to ride Splash Mountain via stand by line. It wasn't time for our FP+ yet so we stayed put.
When our time slot arrived we headed on over there. We passed sil and waved goodbye. We got on our log and were on our way.
This is the best I could get.
Here's our ride photo.
AJ took a little nap. Silly boy!
Shortly after getting off, my sil was out. She wanted the boys to ride something together. We went to BTMRR, which had a 40 minute wait. My boys and I were kind of against it because of the long wait but she insisted. We gave in and got in line. Sometimes, you gotta learn how to choose your battles.
I don't know how but I ended up riding with sil, while Arben rode with her hubby. The boys rode together.
I shaded my nephews' faces as I don't know if she'd be comfortable with me sharing their pic.
She wanted another ride, so I suggested Haunted Mansion. Well, when we got there the wait was 45 minutes. Again, we reluctantly went on. I took some pictures along the way.
By the time we got out of the ride we were all hungry. I suggested Cosmic Rays because it has something for everyone. It was kind of busy and they had CM letting people in towards the seating area when they had their food. We made our orders and thankfully were seated quickly.
AJ had a chili-cheese hot dog, Arben had a burger, Abniel & I shared a burger, and Adriel ate AJ's fries. Sorry, no pictures.
After our lunch we decided to head back to the resort. We were tired and the heat and crowds were taking a toll on us. We said our goodbyes for now, as we had an adr later in the evening. If you're wondering, it was 2:40 pm. We didn't spend a lot of time at MK but we did quite a few things.
We got to our room, showered and settled down for a while. I'm pretty sure some of my crew took naps. We headed out at 6 arriving at MK shortly after.
We walked over to the Contemporary, as I figured it would be faster that way. We found sil and sat for a while. Finally, it was time to check in. I asked to be seated at the same section as sil and they said no problem. I got in line for the photo.
We were led to our table only to find out that we weren't seated together. I went back to the counter and told them the situation. I told them that I didn't want to cause any unnecessary trouble and if it wasn't possible we'd be ok with it. They found 2 tables next to each other and told me they could seat us there but we'd be charged an automatic 18% tip. I said no problem. I thanked them profusely and apologized for the extra work. The CM were all very nice.
We were led to our table. Of course, we quickly made our way to the buffet line. I had a little of everything, but I have to say the highlights for me were the salmon and the lobster mac & cheese. Oh my word, they were delicious! Dessert left a little to be desired. I wasn't too thrilled with the offerings.
Characters came by and we had our pictures with them.
Having fun with Mr. Serious.
My nephew (the birthday boy) is kind of an obnoxious little boy. So when the characters came to our table, he kept coming over and tapping/hitting the character on the back. He did it a couple of times until I told him to stop. AJ was visibly annoyed by this.
Anyways, the CM came out with a cupcake for my nephew and we all gathered around the table and sand "Happy Birthday" to him. My sil had the impression that the characters would come out and sing to him. I don't know where she got her info, but she swore it had been done before. Alrighty then...
We settled the bill and headed out. Sil was going back to MK but we were done. We walked back to the bus stop and on the way it started sprinkling. Thankfully, the rain held up and we were able to get there dry. Waited a bit for a bus to arrive. It was another early night for us.
A side note: I wasn't too thrilled with the Contemporary. The times I'd visited Chef Mickey it had been through the monorail. This time I was able to walk through the lobby and the style and decor doesn't appeal to me. When I entered, I didn't get the same feeling as when I visited AKL, GF or Poly.
Great way to spend the day! And still setting your own pace - sort of...... Got a few rides in with the extended family, but still doing for your own family.
The next update sounds bit nerve wracking
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Sounds like a nice day at MK. Your meal at Chef Mickey's looks like fun. Sorry your nephew was a bit obnoxious with the characters though. I agree with you about the Contemporary. I always wanted to stay there just because I thought it was cool that the monorail ran through it. But the overall style doesn't appeal to me.
Nice day! And even though you had a few longer waits you still got a lot done for the amount of time you spent at MK. I love the pictures with the characters at CM! That is one character meal we have not done. Maybe some day.
Great photos with the characters at Chef Mickeys. Can't believe how tall AJ is now.
I know right. I think he's almost 6' tall now. I ordered him to stop growing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Great way to spend the day! And still setting your own pace - sort of...... Got a few rides in with the extended family, but still doing for your own family.
The next update sounds bit nerve wracking
That was something I had talked to Arben about, before we even went on the trip. Even though we did 2 rides with long waits, we still did our thing. I should thank FP+ for that.
As for the next update nothing to worry about, it isn't that bad. I'm just kind of over-panicky.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sounds like a nice day at MK. Your meal at Chef Mickey's looks like fun. Sorry your nephew was a bit obnoxious with the characters though. I agree with you about the Contemporary. I always wanted to stay there just because I thought it was cool that the monorail ran through it. But the overall style doesn't appeal to me.
The lobby didn't have that WOW factor that other deluxe have. It is cool that the monorail goes through it and the short walk to MK can't be beat. But it would be the last deluxe I'd choose to stay at.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Nice day! And even though you had a few longer waits you still got a lot done for the amount of time you spent at MK. I love the pictures with the characters at CM! That is one character meal we have not done. Maybe some day.
I've done both breakfast and dinner, and I must say I prefer breakfast. It's a fun meal, they do the dance with the napkins and the characters are great. But it is very busy and noisy.
All things considered, the day with extended family went pretty well! You still got a lot done at MK, and had time alone with your family as well. I'm in agreement about the style and ambience of the lobby area at the Contemporary, but it really is a nice place to stay. To me, the location, and having walking access to the MK puts it above the Polynesian or Grand Floridian. I think it's cool having the monorail right in the hotel, but I'm not a big monorail fan. I know I'm in the minority, maybe a minority of one, but I'd choose a bus over the monorail any day!
Seems like you got in a lot of attraction in at the MK! Looked like a fun day and the weather seemed to hold out! I guess you had a good meal over at CMs but too bad the desserts didn't seem that good. I've never ate there as I've never had much interest. I think better character meals can be found at the CP and 1900 PF. I've never stayed at the CR, but have always wanted to, even though it doesn't have the theming as other resorts do.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Glad you had a great time at Epcot! 
I've had the Fish and Chips next door at Yorkshire, which I really enjoyed and my friends there, who decided to drop by at my outdoor table (those with the webbed feet), enjoyed some of the chips on me! 
They could of at least offered to buy me something! 
When I go to Rose & Crown, it will be something other than Fish and Chips as I'm a pretty big foodie and want something more than that for dinner! 
Holly: 
We got on our log and were on our way.
The boys rode together.
Oh my word, they were delicious! Dessert left a little to be desired. I wasn't too thrilled with the offerings.
He did it a couple of times until I told him to stop. AJ was visibly annoyed by this. 
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