Home is Where the Mouse Is TR (June 1 - 11, 2017) - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
You certainly have not had an easy year, have you? I'm so, so sorry for you and your family and all that you've been going through. Please know that you have lots of friends and support here and vent, take breaks, do what you need to do knowing that you are thought of often and are being sent pixies everyday!
When we got back to the room, Abniel and Adriel wanted to go for a swim. I decided to do some laundry while there. Yes, it was only day 3 but with 5 people, laundry accumulates rather quickly.
After some fun and chores, it was time to head back to the room and get ready for the evening. We showered and got ready, and headed out at 5:30.
This was the view from outside our room.
We arrived pretty quickly at Epcot.
We were all starving again and our ADR wasn't until 8:05, so we decided to have a snack. AJ and Abniel went their separate way and got some Fish 'n' Chips to share. Arben, Adriel and I got some nachos and an order of churros. Sorry, no photos.
By this time it had started raining. I called the boys and told them to stay put where they were and if they had a chance, to head over to the Mexico pavilion. Meanwhile, the eating area at La Cantina de San Angel was full. We had our tray of food and nowhere to sit. There was this family that had two tables for themselves and although they were done, were taking the time of their life to get on going. Finally I saw some movement and went to ask if they were leaving. They were, so I took the table, which by the way was meant for 2 people. Adriel and I had to squeeze on one side to fit.
After we finished, it was still drizzling so we headed in to the pavilion. The boys met up with us. Since we had nowhere to go, we decided to get in line for The Three Caballeros.
We got out of the ride and started heading for the exit. But, we had to stay put because it was pouring. It was packed in there and there was nowhere to sit.
This is what my kids did to pass the time. Sorry for the blurry photo.
After about half an hour, the rain had died down to only a drizzle, so we decided to head out. We went into the China pavilion and watched the movie. AJ was none too happy. We browsed around the store and while there, the skies decided to open up again. Ugh! We stayed put for a little while, but our ADR time was fast approaching and it was in Italy, so we had quite a distance to walk. Let me tell you, the idea of running towards Italy in the pouring rain was not something I wanted to do. After seeing that the rain wouldn't stop, we decided to bite the bullet and purchase 5 ponchos. Oh well...
With ponchos on, we headed over to Italy. I had a long skirt on so I had to tie it up. I was also in flip flops, so my feet were slipping. We finally arrived at Via Napoli and the check in area was packed. I checked us in and settled in to wait. 10 minutes later our name was called and the most flirtiest server ever, Francesco, seated us. He was cute, so I didn't mind.
Our server was Claudio and he was great. He asked us where we were from and when we told him we were from PR he proceeded to speak Spanish to us. He was super attentive and took great care of us. We already knew what we wanted. Arben and I ordered a soup - Pasta e Fagioli. We also ordered a Mezzo Metro half 4 cheese and half pepperoni and an individual Capricciosa.
Arben started off with a glass of wine, which Claudio recommended - Gavi. Arben liked it very much and he rarely drinks white wine.
Our food arrived shortly. I forgot to take a picture of the soup but I did take some of the pizzas.
You may think this was a lot of food but we managed to finish everything. Of course, there was no room for dessert. We settled the bill and headed out. It was raining, AGAIN, so we put our ponchos on. Illuminations was finishing up, so Arben wanted to head to the bus stop and beat the crowds. It was still raining so we couldn't exactly hurry much because of my stupid flip flops.
When we got to the bus stop, it was full. The bus came and it filled up quickly, we had to wait for another one. The second one arrived shortly and we were able to get on and most importantly, get seats as my back was starting to bother me again.
We arrived at POR and quickly made our way to our room. We changed and hopped into bed.
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Dinner looked delicious!
Too bad you had to deal with rain! I know exactly what you mean about flip flops and wet pavement! I slipped and fell once at Epcot because I was wearing flip flops and trying to hurry along on wet pavement.
Dinner looked delicious!
Too bad you had to deal with rain! I know exactly what you mean about flip flops and wet pavement! I slipped and fell once at Epcot because I was wearing flip flops and trying to hurry along on wet pavement.
The flip flops were a nightmare. I was afraid they'd break and I'd fall flat on my face.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
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Can't wait to read more of your TR!
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
Sorry, no photos. 
We browsed around the store and while there, the skies decided to open up again. Ugh! We stayed put for a little while, but our ADR time was fast approaching and it was in Italy, so we had quite a distance to walk. Let me tell you, the idea of running towards Italy in the pouring rain was not something I wanted to do. After seeing that the rain wouldn't stop, we decided to bite the bullet and purchase 5 ponchos. Oh well... 
We finally arrived at Via Napoli and the check in area was packed. I checked us in and settled in to wait. 10 minutes later our name was called and the most flirtiest server ever, Francesco, seated us. He was cute, so I didn't mind. 
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