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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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One common thing you will see is a lot of people on the strip passing out cards for escort services. These people will try to give the cards to anyone walking by.
I'd been warned about the cards!!
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Both of my favorites are off strip. The first would be the seafood buffet at the Rio.
For breakfast or dinner, The Orleans. Hands down, the best buffet I've ever had in the 10 years of living in Vegas.
I LOVE Las Vegas. I find when I book, I like to visit VegasMessageBoard.com. I love the Forum Shops at Cesar's and Miracle Mile at Planet Hollywood. We did the Hoover Dam once and I'll be honest, I hated it.
Oh and one more warning. I don't know if you are going to be there on a weekend, but the casions, Excaliber included, have dancing girls above the poker/blackjack pits. Scantily clad ladies dance suggestively on platforms above the tables. You can see them when going through the casino. They usually start around 9-10.
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
It's been a few years, but I LUUUVED the breakfast buffet at Paris. Worth every penny! I could have lived on the fruit, Belgian Waffles and Nutella . The made to order crepes and omelettes were great, too.
Oh yes, that Paris buffet. I could eat there for every meal. All of the Cesar's properties now do a 24 hour buffet pass. It is now $44.99, I think. When we got it, we ate a fairly late (9ish) breakfast at the Paris buffet, lunch at Harrah's, dinner at the Rio buffet (you can do the seafood buffet for an additional $15, but I've heard it's not worth it, the regular buffet was awesome, and then did breakfast at like 7 the next morning at Paris. Yeah, we got our money's worth.
A man alone will be approached with cards. Sometimes a couple will be, but not generally. If you have kids with you, they'll leave you alone. Not sure about the law, but they know their market. Single men.
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~Joby/Lil~Me stealing Capt. Jack Sparrow's treasure!
Oh and one more warning. I don't know if you are going to be there on a weekend, but the casions, Excaliber included, have dancing girls above the poker/blackjack pits. Scantily clad ladies dance suggestively on platforms above the tables. You can see them when going through the casino. They usually start around 9-10.
The Rio has a free "show" as well. At certain times they have a carnival (Mardi Gras) themed "floats" and they toss beads. It's neat.
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~Joby/Lil~Me stealing Capt. Jack Sparrow's treasure!
I have not been to Vegas (yet)- but we will also be visiting for the first time in June also. My oldest is 14 and this is what we have planned: (I know you mentioned budget, so I'll list approx costs as well)
Hoover Dam $9 vis center or $11 power plant tour
Madame Tussaunds $35 aprox adult price; I think $28 teens
M & M Factory $free
Volcano @ the Mirage $free
Don't forget to watch the Sirens show at TI. It doesn't play on windy evenings but the pirates will pose for pix near the hotel entrance if it's cancelled. They used to do several shows per night but it's been a few years since we last watched.
World buffet at Rio and the buffet at Flamingo were big hits with my DH and kids. I know it's cheap but I liked the buffet at the garden restuarant at Circus Circus (just the sorts of simple foods I like).
We take the bus when we need transportation while there. the cost used to be $5 for a 24 hour pass. I'm sure it's more now though. Just walking through the resorts is fun. There really is a lot to see. There was a mall beside the now Planet Hollywood, used to be call Desset Passage for some such thing. They had a little body of water in the mall and every so often the is a storm that brews over the water. It was really neat to see. I haven't read all the other comments, but I'm sure others have mentione the Volcano @ Mirage, the Sirens show @ Treasure Island. At the Flamingo we went to check out the pool it was neat and there were come animals to see there, birds, turtles as such. Living statues at Ceasars and Venetian were fun to watch.
Check out the chocolate fountain in the chocolate store at the Belagio ( I think). there is a shark aquarium at Mandalay Bay. They charge admision but it wasn't too expensive.
One word of caution. They have LOTS of people handing out cards for call girls and they are explicit. They are shamless with reaching over "junior" to give them to dad! many people will take them possibly not knowing what they are and then through them on the ground. Just a heads up. Your 14 yr old might get an eyeful quick.
A man alone will be approached with cards. Sometimes a couple will be, but not generally. If you have kids with you, they'll leave you alone. Not sure about the law, but they know their market. Single men.
I've personally experienced and seen quite the opposite. I don't know how many hands I had flung in my face trying to give my DH a card who was deliberatly walking on the side furthest away from them. Also I've seen then hand them to a dad walking down the street holding his kids hand.
Dessert Passage was the name of the mall when the PH hotel was called Aladdin.
I believe the Aladdin was the oldest or last? hotel on the strip to be renamed. I remember going to an exhibit at the Tropicana hotel maybe in 2002 or 2005 and reading all sorts of interesting tidbits. (Shame I can't remember them-lol)
I have not been to Vegas (yet)- but we will also be visiting for the first time in June also. My oldest is 14 and this is what we have planned: (I know you mentioned budget, so I'll list approx costs as well)
Hoover Dam $9 vis center or $11 power plant tour
Madame Tussaunds $35 aprox adult price; I think $28 teens
M & M Factory $free
Volcano @ the Mirage $free
Hope you have a great trip!
Don't pay full price for Madame Tussauds. you can get tickets 1/2 price at any one of the multiple tix 4 tonight locations around town. If I had paid full price, I would've been upset. It was nice, but I won't rush back there.
Dessert Passage was the name of the mall when the PH hotel was called Aladdin.
I believe the Aladdin was the oldest or last? hotel on the strip to be renamed. I remember going to an exhibit at the Tropicana hotel maybe in 2002 or 2005 and reading all sorts of interesting tidbits. (Shame I can't remember them-lol)
The mall in the PH is Miracle Mile Shops. I remember the exhibit at the Tropicana as well. It was like the Vegas Museum or something. It was free admission and was really cool. It's too bad they shut it down. They did however just open a Vegas Mob Museum.