Jeffrey made me do it, but it’s almost free for our three!! **Updated 5/19** - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Dizzparkmom I was waiting for a kids to say that about them for years not once I had a student tell me that. I always wonder that to but I just thought of them being bathing suites with wet suites on.
I love your updates! U guys were so productive! I am at work and cant see your pictures but I really cant wait to get home, where photobucket isn't blocked to take a peak!
I am sorry the rains put a damper on your visit to Legoland....it really looks like an amazing place to explore. Hope you dry out in time for downtown!
Danielle! We’re drying…we’re drying…
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Originally Posted by Kenny
The "Plastic Lady"... hmmmm, after all the nice things you've said about me lately, I can't see where that fits you...!
Awww, Kenny!
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Originally Posted by Kenny
I didn't know there was a bigger display of Legos than WDW! That must have been facinating!
Believe it or not, it’s more than just a display – it’s a full fledged amusement park with rides and everything!!! I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure most of the displays at WDW have come from Legoland parks. LEGOLAND
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Originally Posted by Kenny
Did that family ever decide to go on in to Legoland, or were they still out in the rain when you left?!
Nope! My guess is they are still out there standing in the rain!
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Originally Posted by TNTWheels
Boy that was one raining weather we had I couldn't go to work for a few days since a puddle develope close to were I go out the front door. By the way the space craft are from Star Wars Space Craft one is the Millium Falcon, space craft two is the Death Star.
WOW, Todd! I’m to hear that the weather can keep you from your job sometimes. for the info on the ships…I’m pretty clueless when it comes to SciFi stuff!
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Originally Posted by chezp
What a shame about the weather, but I'm amazed at how much you managed to see in half an hour there!
I know it, huh? If I wasn’t there, I swear I’d think I was making it up! Cheryl!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures of LEGOland Dyan!! Sorry it rained for your visit!! You really made the best of your time!!
Marnie! It’s actually pretty comical looking back at it now. I can’t believe how fast we were zipping around that place!
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Originally Posted by dizzparkmom
When my son first saw the Batman figure, he asked why his underpants were on the outside.....now giggles about the same thing when he sees Superman. When we watch Spiderman, he points out that Spiderman knows where his underpants go.
Heather! It seems like just yesterday when Kyle was that 4 year old! Boy, does time fly! Great Superman/Spiderman story!
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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Thanks for the videos of Billy Hill & the Hillbillies, I never got to see them and wanted to. Next time for sure. They're hysterical.
OMG, Sharon! They were soooo much fun! You must see them next time!!
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Originally Posted by Kristen C.
OMG! I love Lego land...BTW Star Wars...LOL
Kristen! I’m a dork!
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Originally Posted by Meggera
Legoland looks like it would have been a lot of fun without all the rain. Too bad. But, I'm glad you got your parking fee back.
Laura!
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Originally Posted by MyRapunzal
I love your updates! U guys were so productive! I am at work and cant see your pictures but I really cant wait to get home, where photobucket isn't blocked to take a peak!
Melissa! Do you find yourself getting more & more irritated with the filters at work? I understand the need to block certain sites from the kids, but when one can’t even access a newspaper or news site with the students it’s bordering on ridiculous. Grrrr
We planned to have dinner at the ESPN Zone and spend the evening in Downtown Disney. We ventured back out around 4:15pm. The weather had cleared up nicely. We wondered if we should have just stuck it out at Legoland. Oh, well. I took a photo of the outside of the Dolphin’s Cove, just as we pulled out. Our room was up there somewhere – the balcony area is set in a bit from the main exterior.
We parked on the Donald level of the Mickey & Friends garage.
We took the tram and then walked to the ESPN Zone, which is at the far end of Downtown Disney. This worked out great, as we got a lay of the land as we walked there.
I had to take a photo of this for our saxophone playing son!
We gave our name at the desk and we received a vibrating flashy thing. I took some pictures of the ceiling, which was really cool looking. The photo really doesn’t do it justice.
Since it was fairly early, we didn’t have to wait long to be seated. Upon entering the dining room, I was thrilled to hear they were playing “Boston.” I looked over at Jeffrey & grinned. Jeffrey said, “Of course, they’re playing THIS!” while I was dancing & singing in place. (Bronson added this song to his set during his last visit – only he changed the words of the final verse adding that he needed to ‘get out of Cincinnati.’ I found this on YouTube – it’s not his best, but I must visit this person’s video every so often Bronson singing “Boston” My favorite part starts at 3:57, with his own lyrics, but it also makes me feel very sad for him. And, as of today…there are only 37 days until my next weekend of the Arroyo!!! )
Anyway, now that we thoroughly confused our waitress, who was laughing at us, we sat down. We ordered drinks, which must have been our soft drinks (Sprite for Jeffrey, Diet Coke for me and a Diet Roy Rogers for Kyle) as I don’t have any notes on them – I’m sure I would have noted any adult drinks – we don’t have those very often and I would have been off-the-wall with giddiness! (Like I need that…I’m giddy enough on my own!)
While we were waiting for our waitress to return with our drinks, I took a photo of the Nolan Ryan display.
And, I asked Kyle to take a photo of this neat Tiger Woods art collection.
When our waitress returned, we ordered our meals. Kyle only ordered cheese fries, so I’m convinced he was eating something at the resort beforehand. Jeffrey ordered a burger and fries, which is a big treat for him. I had the chicken & avocado wrap with fries.
Kyle messing with his Rubik’s Cube, while we waited for dinner. The waitress had been kind enough to mess it up for him. (Jeffrey & I like it when other people offer to do that. I tend to mess it up the same way every time. )
We enjoyed our meal. There weren’t a lot of people in there, so we were able to take our time. Once we settled the bill, we explored the gift shop a little bit. We didn’t purchase anything, but we did find this guy! MatsuZAKA!! (Spring training had begun the day we began our vacation, so I was dying to get a good dose of the Red Sox……who am I kidding, I’m always dying to get a good dose of the Red Sox! )
And, with that, we were out the door to explore Downtown Disney.
Up Next: Exploring the West Coast’s Downtown Disney
Now that you have see our DTD what do you think. I wasn't to impress of the WDW one when I was there in 07. Maybe because I saw a lot of bars there who knows.
Princess Sharon!! I'm glad you asked about the diet Roy Rogers, 'cause I was afraid it was something I should know about! But, if you don't know what it is, then I'm in good company!
OMG...I had a chance to see Nolan Ryan pitch in one of his last few games, but my DB got sick :-(
apperently I'm the bigger Dork for knowing that it was Star Wars....
Great update, Dyan! That's a cool ceiling and a couple of good shots of the boys!
Kenny!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Sounds like you had a great time at the ESPN Zone!
Cheryl!
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Originally Posted by TNT Wheels
Now that you have see our DTD what do you think. I wasn't to impress of the WDW one when I was there in 07. Maybe because I saw a lot of bars there who knows.
I think that the flow of DTD is much better in DL, as well as the variety of retailers. We do like the one in WDW, as it’s what we’re used to, but I do think that DL wins hands-down!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you had a great time at the ESPN Zone!! Sounds like it felt just like home!! More please
Marnie! I did feel at home!
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Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Glad you enjoyed the ESPN Zone. But I'm curious - what's a Diet Roy Rogers?
You may know it as something else – I know different areas called them different things. A Diet Roy Rogers is a Diet Coke with non-alcoholic grenadine & usually some cherries…sometimes an orange slice….with all that added sugar, I guess it’s not very diet-like though. Kyle & I prefer the taste of diet sodas, as regular sodas taste syrupy to us, hence the ‘Diet’ Roy Rogers. Kyle’s gotten many a strange look from servers when ordering these!
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Originally Posted by Kenny
Princess Sharon!! I'm glad you asked about the diet Roy Rogers, 'cause I was afraid it was something I should know about! But, if you don't know what it is, then I'm in good company!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristen C.
OMG...I had a chance to see Nolan Ryan pitch in one of his last few games, but my DB got sick :-(
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristen C.
apperently I'm the bigger Dork for knowing that it was Star Wars....
So to hear you didn’t get to see Nolan Ryan! How cool would that have been!?!?! Guess we can be dorks together!!
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Originally Posted by disneydani
Glad you enjoyed a nice meal at ESPNZone and had a little Bronson time, too!
Danielle! And, in just 36 days I’ll be stealing myself some more Bronson time!!