Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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02-05-2006, 05:22 PM
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#16
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,136
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Final Thoughts
We love living close enough to Disney that we can meet friends when they come into town. We had a great time catching up and enjoying a nice meal together.
The drive was especially pleasant because we were able to split it over 2 days. Some people might not think a 1-1-/2 hour drive is anything to complain about but when your original plan was to live just outside the gates so you can pop in on a moment's notice, it seems huge. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Staying at a deluxe resort is practically 95% of the Disney experience for us. We've tried moderates and we feel a huge part of the Disney experience is missing. Therefore, we don't get to stay onsite all that often, although we are considering saving our Disney trips to those times when we can stay onsite. We love it that much. Also, we are romantics so all things romantic are our priority and the parks, let alone the rides, are secondary, to us at this stage in our lives. So when we had planned on a romantic room service breakfast the next morning and they couldn't deliver, it was disappointing. But the coffee and Danish sitting out by the pool was romantic enough to make up for it. While we love the ambiance of the AKL, the overall food disorganization has disappointed us every time. This might not be everyone's experience but we can only go by our own experience. People like to compare Animal Kingdom Lodge to Wilderness Lodge and we must say the service at WL is far superior - they have never disappointed us, in fact, they are full of pleasant surprises. And we like the access to the Magic Kingdom by boat.
Yes, AKL could have been extra crowded because it was the sneak preview weekend for Expedition Everest. People all over the boards are commenting on how crowded the parks have been this January; typically, a slow time. There doesn't seem to be a slow time of the year anymore. We are also happy to note that we weren't the only AP holders onsite this weekend who did not ride EE. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Check out Sue's report on RADP. Will we ride EE when it opens to the public? Probably. We don't do Disney for the coasters - our favorite "E-ticket" rides are Pirates, Indy, Splash Mtn. and Tower of Terror (don't ride Big Thunder and Space Mtn. any more.) Some people compare EE to Rock'nRoller Coaster - and we are not a fan of that ride. But we'll definitely have to check out the theming of EE on our next trip. Can never resist good Disney theming. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Thank you all for reading and/or commenting. Hope you all have some Disney magic in your future.
We don't always post our shorter trips on Passporter so check out our blog where we post other Disney-related, Florida-living-related experiences.
Til next time.
-- R&K
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02-05-2006, 07:08 PM
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#17
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Great finish [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Thanks for sharing your short trip with us [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thanx.gif[/img]
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02-06-2006, 01:44 PM
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#18
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,136
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Thank you Donna for your wonderful post. Love you guys in Seattle!!
As a native West Coaster, the adjustment has been tough. When I'm at WDW, I feel sooo at home. I can even put up with the heat, humidity, bugs, and hurricanes. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] But once I leave, I feel like I'm a foreign land. So there's always a conflict going on. As much as I love WDW, I think we probably will move back West at some point.
Glad that some of my ramblings have helped. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
- Kathy
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02-06-2006, 03:07 PM
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#19
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New York
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,960
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Great report! Thanks for sharing!
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02-08-2006, 09:21 PM
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#20
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: North Alabama
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 3,430
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Woohoo! I'm in a Trip Report! Great write-up, by the way.
It was great visiting with Rich & Kathy and, of course, experiencing Rose & Crown for the first time. I had a blast. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]
I don't think Bob & I have ever used room service at any of the resorts, although there have been times when I was tempted. That said, our experience at the AKL this trip (our second visit and by far the longest) was good service all the way around. I will note that the Lodge was much more crowded on the weekends we were there, so I am sure that was a factor for you.
We ate at all the venues--The Mara, Boma, and Jiko--and had good service at all. I felt that the attention in Boma was ever so slightly slow, but that matches my previous experience as well. And it was not particularly significant since it certainly didn't interfere with my access to food!
We got a free, unasked-for upgrade from a standard view to a savannah view AKL room and were into our room at 9:08 a.m. on our day of arrival [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img](a B&L 'World' record!).
Anyway, thanks for the making the ressie, your company, and for writing up the meal--I joked with Bob that when I get to this point in our Trip Report (see "Bob & Larry's Excellent WDW Expedition") I can just insert a link your write-up! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
And Bob & I continue to discuss getting ourselves to WDW for the Epcot Int'l Food and Wine Festival!
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02-10-2006, 06:29 PM
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#21
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,136
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Hi Larry - Thanks for dropping in. And we were hoping you wouldn't mind if we beat you to reporting on lunch. And what a wonderful lunch we had with you and Bob.
We'll be interested to read how you rank AKL compared to WL after this stay. In the past, you seemed to favor WL - our favorite of the 2. So, did AKL outdo WL this trip? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Just say "yes" to Food&Wine. It is absolutely our favorite time of year and we're hoping to do one of the signature dinners next time. Deb has some reviews on her web site.
See you over on your trip report. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
-- R&K
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02-11-2006, 12:53 PM
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#22
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,136
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Re: Weekend Getaway at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Thanks, Donna, for the link. Will check it out. And that is the problem with getting back to any of the cities on the West Coast - they've all become so expensive. So who knows what we'll do.
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