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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Hmmm.... note to self ... Don't eat at Olive Garden on our Even Greater American Road Trip...
...which is fine, we have Olive Gardens here (never noticed problems with the servers though). I'd rather eat at a place we can't eat at at home anyway.
Sorry your meal was not a great experience, Dawn. I hope you get some resolution worked out with the company.
Yeesh! Such horror stories. I'm sorry too, Dawn, that your daughter's birthday wasn't as special as it should have been. I hope you will call, as Steffe suggested, and possibly spare future customers the same fate. I just want to echo what others have said. If my appetizer arrived that late in the meal, I would also have said I was no longer interested in it, and to remove it from the bill.
But, to keep Steffe from having an aneurysm I want to let you know that I went to an OG in Concord, NH w/ DSIL and had a decent meal. The server was attentive, no one sat w/ us. That's just weird. That happened to us at an Outback Steakhouse years ago, when they first opened in the area. "Oh, is this your first time here?" They drag a chair over to sit and get chummy. Just bring my food and go away. I'm here to relax, not be BFF w/ the waitstaff.
I think it would be werid to have a waitress sit at your table. However when I was single and living in Europe sometimes a waitress would sit down with me. I don't think it was because of my great looks--I think they were just tired!!! LMAO!!
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We had a couple of bad experiences at our local OG a few years back, and my hubby put them one the boycott list. I've been back, but not to that particular OG. I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I hope that you get a good response from your complaint.
I have to say that the Olive Gardens I have frequented here in the Twin Cities are excellent! There is a server at one of them who knows my DM, so when we eat there he always makes sure that we have excellent service and he brings us extra mints! The other one I go to fairly often is actually in Phoenix (when I am visiting DD), and the food there is outstanding. The last time we were there, the waiter brought us out an entire basket of breadsticks to bring home along with our leftovers. They were even still warm out of the oven!
I'm sure it is like most things, you can get good or bad service anywhere. The best thing you can do is address it at the time, including giving kudos to a server for exceptionally good service. There is one server at Outback Steakhouse who is outstanding, so we always tip her well and have mentioned to the manager on several occasions how impressed we are with her service. I think servers need to hear when they are doing a good job, not just when something goes wrong.
I'm so sorry your DD's birthday dinner didn't go as well as you would have liked.
I almost always get a salad (a side or house one) and a baked potato for dinner/lunch, no matter where we go. I am getting sooooo tired of having to say "Can you please take the potato BACK, and bring out a NEW one when I'm done with my salad?" They always bring them out together! I don't want hot and cold food at the same time!!
Sorry you had a bad experience! I agree, I would call & let someone know.
We had a different bad experience & looking back, wish I had handled it differently.
We (DH, DS12, & I) stopped at Outback and had dinner the night we flew back from WDW. It's one of our favorite restaurants. We had 3 teens (looked very young, maybe 15-16) sitting in the booth behind us. They talked very loudly & cursed (the F word) the entire time they were there!!! I was so mad! DS was sitting on the opposite side from DH & I and said he couldn't here them, but I think he was just embarrassed. I wanted to say something the entire time & didn't! I know one of us should have said something, but waited until they left(BTW, they only ordered an appetizer, & a dessert for 3 people). After they left, I told our waitress, who was there's as well about their language. She said if I had said something to them they would probably have asked for the manager & gotten her in trouble for saying something!! I still regret not saying something. Was I wrong for not speaking up? Or would you have done the same thing?
Was I wrong for not speaking up? Or would you have done the same thing?
IMHO, Our $75 dinner was ruined!!
Ok, THAT would have had me speaking up. We were in an Outback after a show last year and they seated us in the bar area in a booth. 9yo DD and I were facing a TV that had an R rated movie (full-frontal, sex, and all) I nailed the manager for it, totally embarassed hubby and DDs, but I'm sorry, that's just WRONG. The service was terrible, too, and when the manager came and checked back with us, I told him about that also and he comped 1/2 our bill. I turn into total Mama Bear when it comes to foul language or inappropriate behavior around my kids.
Just bring my food and go away. I'm here to relax, not be BFF w/ the waitstaff.
You would really hate going out to eat with my family. There is not a place we go into that the waitstaff dont sit and chat with us. If my sister and I dont know them then my mom and step-father dose and if the 4 of us dont know them then my nephews know them. We will be eatting and servers from the other side of the place will come over to talk to us. If that aint bad enough other people eatting come and talk to us also. Right before Christmas we went to Outback and 6 servers came over to the table, 2 busers, 4 cooks, and about 15 people that was eatting there that we know. The up side to it though is that even if there is a line we get in really fast.
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You would really hate going out to eat with my family. There is not a place we go into that the waitstaff dont sit and chat with us. If my sister and I dont know them then my mom and step-father dose and if the 4 of us dont know them then my nephews know them. We will be eatting and servers from the other side of the place will come over to talk to us. If that aint bad enough other people eatting come and talk to us also. Right before Christmas we went to Outback and 6 servers came over to the table, 2 busers, 4 cooks, and about 15 people that was eatting there that we know. The up side to it though is that even if there is a line we get in really fast.
That isn't so bad if you or somebody you are with actually know the waitstaff. It is when a total stranger sits down at your table and intrudes that it is crossing the line. I go out to eat to spend time with my family and friends-not to provide counseling to the waitstaff.
Having said that, it reminds me of a funny story. One of friends and I were out to eat at the restaurant of a local grocery chain (which has a wonderful homemade pot roast by the way! ) We had just ordered and were chatting when I heard a familiar voice at the table directly across from us. I looked over, and it was a mutual friend from the hospital where my friend and I both worked. We greeted this friend and invited her to join us at our table. Well the host seemed to be thrown off by this. He kept asking us "Are you sure?" before "allowing" our friend to be seated at our table. I don't know if he thought we were inviting a total stranger to sit with us! We ended up having a great lunch, and we still laugh about it!
Not being asked for a drink refill is annoying! And as for that second appetizer, that waiter/waitress should have been in the kitchen waiting for it (so to speak).
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The other one I go to fairly often is actually in Phoenix (when I am visiting DD), and the food there is outstanding. The last time we were there, the waiter brought us out an entire basket of breadsticks to bring home along with our leftovers. They were even still warm out of the oven! 
I still regret not saying something. Was I wrong for not speaking up? Or would you have done the same thing?
Susan
Kimberly
) We had just ordered and were chatting when I heard a familiar voice at the table directly across from us. I looked over, and it was a mutual friend from the hospital where my friend and I both worked. We greeted this friend and invited her to join us at our table. Well the host seemed to be thrown off by this. He kept asking us "Are you sure?" before "allowing" our friend to be seated at our table. I don't know if he thought we were inviting a total stranger to sit with us! 
We ended up having a great lunch, and we still laugh about it! 
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