Two's company, Three's a crowd...let's make it four! TR - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 room looks very nice and nice view from your veranda! I stayed at the BWI back in 2005 for 8 nights and really enjoyed the resort being in walking distance to Epcot and Studios, which is also manageable with a 15-20 minute walk. Sorry, to hear about the minor room problems!
Yes, it was a nice view! The driveway and bus stop was right there on the other side of the trees, but barely visible, so really quite a good view! And yes! We loved being so near both Epcot and DHS!
So nice to have your room ready right as you got there, but bummer that it needed some repairs. We've had a few disappointments like that, and then I wonder where my maintenance fees are going.
That's true!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
It almost seems like there is more of the maintenance type issues in the DVC resorts than others as the housekeeping isn't always regular and perhaps this isn't always checked upon? I'm not a DVC member, but those of you who are will certainly know more about this than I do.
That could be part of it, as the only time the housekeepers are in the room to clean is after check-out. I guess for a non DVC stay they are in there daily, but it's hard to say how often that occurs.
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September 7 – part 3
After the groceries were put away, we headed down to Big River Grille for lunch.
We didn’t make a reservation there because they don’t technically take reservations, although I think you can call and make a reservation by phone. But regardless, no reservation was needed at lunch time. We were seated immediately. Our server was Tony. He was attentive and very friendly, but a bit hard to understand. He spoke very fast and very soft. So we had to ask him to repeat what he’d said a few times. He also had some odd mannerisms, and we wondered if perhaps he was on the spectrum. Not that it mattered; he was a good server and took great care of us. Jeff had the California Chicken sandwich and an APA, I had the Mushroom Swiss Burger with no roll and a soda water, Tom had the Hickory Bacon Burger and an IPA and Kayla also had the Hickory Bacon Burger and a Witt beer. Tom and Kayla enjoyed logging in their beers to the app they use…Untapped, I think. It keeps track of their beer selections and they earn badges for various milestones.
Everything was delicious! Our meal came to $76.34 and that took into account the 20% Tables in Wonderland discount.
We gave Tony our TiW card and told him we were charging it to our room. He tapped Jeff’s MB and Jeff put in the PIN. Tony came back a minute later to say it was denied. We tried again and it was denied again. Hmmm. Our only option at this point was to put it on our credit card.
After leaving BRG, we headed for the desk to see what the issue was.
The CM checked our account and told us we hadn’t set up a credit card. Well, I know we have a credit card attached to our MDE account. It’s the same Disney Visa that we’ve had attached to our account for years. However a few months ago our card was compromised and I had to go in and change the number. Something must have happened in the process of doing that which kicked out the card altogether. So we added the card and everything was fine. When the CM asked if there was anything else he could help us with Jeff asked if it was correct that the rooms had recently been refurbished. The CM proudly said yes, they had. Then Jeff told him some of the maintenance issues we’d noticed in the room and said that it certainly was not up to Disney standards. The CM was apologetic and offered to call maintenance to have them look at the issues.
Then we headed back to the room. When we got there we were pleased to see our luggage had been delivered! So, we took the time to put away our things and get organized. As we were doing that, the maintenance man showed up. He offered to come back at another time, but Jeff told him to come in and showed him what the issues were. He took a look at the loose hinge on the door under the sink and thought it would need a carpenter to come in and fill in the hole so the screw could be reset. He also looked at the other issues but didn’t really do anything. And as far as we know he did not come back at all because nothing was fixed during our stay.
Lunch looked very yummy and enjoyable. So nice to have a great place so close to your resort, too. Bummer that the problems were only looked at and not addressed.
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Your lunch looked very good! That's funny with the beer app Tom and Kayla use. I guess they're into their beers!
Just wondering if you can set up a credit card through MDE on your Magic Band, even if you are not a resort guest?
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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!
You guys look so happy!! Your lunch looks delicious, too!! I am a huge IPA fan so I hope Tom's was yummy!!. So sorry about the maintenance issues. That is a special bummer at Disney because you'd think they would be all over that stuff!! Your pictures are beautiful!!
Lunch looked very yummy and enjoyable. So nice to have a great place so close to your resort, too. Bummer that the problems were only looked at and not addressed.
Lunch was delish! We tried Big River Grille last year when we stayed at BWV and loved the convenience of it, especially for our arrival day lunch.
You guys look so happy!! Your lunch looks delicious, too!! I am a huge IPA fan so I hope Tom's was yummy!!. So sorry about the maintenance issues. That is a special bummer at Disney because you'd think they would be all over that stuff!! Your pictures are beautiful!!
First day at Disney! Gotta be happy!
I'm sure the beer was good, but I'm not a beer drinker myself, so I wasn't paying too much attention!
As for the maintenance issues, yeah, you'd think they'd be on those things.
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I'm sorry about your room. Not devastating but certainly a disappointment.
. I would let them know about that.
I stayed at the BWI back in 2005 for 8 nights and really enjoyed the resort being in walking distance to Epcot and Studios, which is also manageable with a 15-20 minute walk. Sorry, to hear about the minor room problems! 
I'm not a DVC member, but those of you who are will certainly know more about this than I do.
Bummer that the problems were only looked at and not addressed. 
. So sorry about the maintenance issues. That is a special bummer at Disney because you'd think they would be all over that stuff!! Your pictures are beautiful!!
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