Going north, south, east and west - UPDATED 12/18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Your pictures are fantastic, I took forever looking at each one of them. It sure puts things in a different perspective to see where Epcot is in relation to the CR and WL. The sunset was just beautiful too, looks like you had a wonderful dinner!
Stunning photos. Brought back some memories of when Glenn and I stayed at the CR. We also went up to the observation deck but didn't try the one with the view of Epcot. We only looked out towards MK but then that might have been because the fireworks were going off.
I really liked the photos of the sunset, the boats crossing, and the monorails crossing.
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
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What an amazing view...I have often wanted to try the CG at night to see the fireworks but seeing those photos of the sun setting over the world...breathtaking. Can't wait to hear all about your wonderful meal...
We had a wonderful and very knowledgeable server Dawn, who really did look after us during the meal. She was very good at allowing us lots of time to photograph everything, but perhaps she allowed us a little too much time, as we did end up having to race out of there to some extent, but more of that in a moment…
We decided to do what we had done the night before and share an appetiser going for the “chef’s garden” heirloom tomato flatbread with roasted garlic, provolone and arugula and the spicy Kazan sushi rolls with crab, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna and fireball sauce. Our only concern was the fireball sauce, but we found out that it was on the side and not on the sushi, so we went for it and I’m glad we did. Yes, the fireball sauce had a kick to it, but it also had a lovely flavour to it and I ate much more of it than I expected to. The flatbread was very good as well, although for me, the star of the two was the sushi.
For main course, Mark had the oak-fired fillet of beef with Boniato mashed potatoes, sautéed haricot vert and teriyaki barbecue sauce, which he seemed to enjoy. I had the seared scallops with Fregola pasta, cauliflower puree, wild mushrooms and cider reduction. It was also meant to come with bacon, but obviously I asked for it without and I can’t imagine adding another flavour in here. It was perfect without it. We later found out that this was this dish’s first night on the menu and Dawn, who had sampled it earlier in the day, agreed that it probably would be better without the bacon.
Then it was dessert time and I went for the Valrhona chocolate cake with raspberry ice cream and raspberry sauce. I didn’t realise that they alter the ice cream that goes with this dish, as I’ve always had the raspberry one, but apparently they have done coffee and even peanut butter and jelly (yuck! ) ice cream in the past. Mark had the Year of a Million Dreams dessert, cashew nut Dacquoise cake with roasted stone fruits and blackberries and again, no complaints from him.
We both felt that, as much as we had enjoyed dinner last night at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, this was still much better and second only to Victoria and Albert’s on Disney property.
California Grill:
Appetiser 9½ 10
Entrée 10 10
Dessert 10 10
Service 10 10
Atmosphere 10 10
Value for money 10 10
Average score: 9.96
By the time we had finished eating, we were running late to meet Amy and her mom, as we had been there for way longer than two hours, which I hadn’t anticipated. We had already had a call from Amy to say that she and her mom had found a spot for IllumiNations, so I rang her to let her know that we were running a bit late and we set off. Why is it that it always takes forever to get out of the Contemporary? It’s very easy to drive into, but on the way out, you have to go all the way past the Polynesian and then past the Magic Kingdom parking lot, so it takes ages to get out of the main Magic Kingdom gate, even though the two aren’t comparatively that far apart.
We finally got back to the Beach Club just before 8pm and set off for World Showcase and were with Amy, her mom and Jill (jpod523)just after 8.10pm, so not too bad going, especially as we stopped for this Photopass guy in the United Kingdom:
It was a lovely surprise to see Jill. We were all happily chatting away and the time passed so quickly. I felt like we had known all of them forever and we’ve already said that we will definitely meet up with Amy again the next time we’re in Disney. She and her mom got me a lovely present of a photo frame and Eeyore keyring. so much for those guys – that was lovely.
As you would expect, I credit my eyes out again during IllumiNations. That’s my excuse for not getting as many good shots as usual of it. I don’t really know what happened, but when I looked at them later, I just wasn’t overly impressed with them. Not my usual quality.
Mark’s photos:
My photos:
After IllumiNations, we talked for ages and, as Amy said, it’s just so hard to say goodbye. I think we did that about three times, before we finally went our separate ways with us walking back to the Beach Club in our posh shoes from dinner that were now really hurting from so much walking. Boy, were we glad to get back to the Beach Club that night!
Total: $187.97
Amount saved on Deluxe Dining Plan: $47.99
Total saving to date: $120.71
Today we walked 7.25 miles The weather today was cloudy, with more of a breeze, but still sunny with temperatures in the 70’s. The best thing today was dinner at the California Grill. The worst thing today was Mo and her family having to leave straight after breakfast. The funniest thing today was breakfast. Today we tried a new item on the California Grill menu And the result was it was divine and a great addition. The most magical moment today was watching IllumiNations.
Your meal sounds fantastic! And the pictures were beautiful. It's amazing how much you can see from places like that. Disney does such an excellent job of separating the different areas that it's easy to forget how close together everything is.
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Claytrgtshooter (Minnie Lor's Hubbie)
PassPorter Guide Author
) ice cream in the past. Mark had the Year of a Million Dreams dessert, cashew nut Dacquoise cake with roasted stone fruits and blackberries and again, no complaints from him. 
so much for those guys – that was lovely. 
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