Finding Walt: a DL TR: Update 2/23/12 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Breakfast with Minnie and Friends at the Plaza Inn is an interesting experience. You pay for breakfast as you enter. We had to wait a few minutes because Zack was sent off with the park tickets to get FP for Indiana Jones. We needed someone's AP to be able to get the dining discount they offer. I don't have a DL AP or a Premier Passport so it wasn't mine! I had decided that it was unlikely that I was going to squeeze another trip in to DL in a year so I didn't go with the Premier Passport upgrade and just bought a regular old park hopper online before I left.
The food area is sectioned off into pods and there are lots of offerings including omelets, waffles, french toast, biscuits and gravy, pastries and fresh fruit. There are also cereals and scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. I got myself an omelet, a biscuit with gravy and some bacon and sausage. I also grabbed some fresh melon. Breakfast was very tasty and we took our time because Minnie has A LOT of friends. When I say A LOT well--Minnie is even friends with Captain Hook! I'll let the photos tell the tale!
Perla? Yes! Perla wears purple--easy to remember right? Not so much!
Tigger!
Tigger has a crush on Sharon--too bad we know that she likes dogs better than cats!
The Mouse herself!
I can't figure out what was going on here--but the birthday girl was ignoring the Mouse.
Everyone loves Eeyore!
And here is where things start to get odd: one of the Penguins from Mary Poppins
The birthday girl gets a lecture from the Penguin
Captain Hook
Suzy--wow both mice!
What is Rafiki doing here? There is no photo of me with Rafiki, as I'm a little bit angry at Rafiki after the incident at Conservation Station where he scared the carp out of me and then didn't pose for a picture with me.
Max--who I've never seen before!
And Chip . . . What on earth am I laughing about? I don't remember, but I look silly don't I?
There were some other characters that we didn't see as well. There were some I didn't take pictures with/of too. I think we saw a total of 17 characters in the room during the course of our breakfast, which lasted about an hour. There isn't anywhere at WDW that you can see 17 characters at one meal in the space of an hour. At Crystal Palace there are 4 and if you are lucky you get to see all of them over the course of an hour. It's also a really whacky group of characters. There is no theme at all, just a random grouping. However--talk about bang for your buck in terms of character numbers and interaction! I think with the discount it was $22-24 per person and $28 without it. (Crystal Palace is $27 off season and $32 during the summer/holidays) The food was also really good! I mean it was standard breakfast buffet food, but it all tasted freshly prepared and my omelet was awesome.
I'm going to have to give Minnie's Breakfast two thumbs up and the Heather Seal of Approval. Don't laugh, but this breakfast was maybe the best dining experience of the entire trip!
It just so happens that today was Karen's birthday and she had some things she needed to check off of her birthday wish list. So off we went! More birthday festivities coming up tomorrow!
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Holy characters Batman! That sounded like an awesome breakfast.
__________________
Tanya
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Holy smokes -- Minnie has a large and random circle of friends! Looks like breakfast was a blast. What a great way to start off your day (and Karen's birthday!)
The first thing on the Birthday girl's list was a ride on Splash Mountain. Sharon and I decided to stay dry and went browsing in the Winnie the Pooh shop instead. We must have gotten our signals crossed because when we finally relocated Karen and Zack they had just gotten off of Winnie the Pooh. Sharon and I cruised through the Standby line and I took one photo.
One completely random photo. I kept forgetting to take my camera out to take pictures of the neat details that are all over Disneyland.
Up next we headed to Toontown:
It's such an amazing area and there are tons of details and interactive features. I don't want to spoil the surprises but when you get there make sure you open all the doors, drawers, and cabinets and push all the buttons. Also the FP machines for Roger Rabbit are disconnected from the rest of the park. Even if you aren't in your next FP window you can get a FP for RR! I know we did!
Birthday girl!
Sharon playing with the mail box!
Toontown has windows *just* like Main Street!
Zack gets into the act!
Everything is decorated for Christmas here too!
Anyone recognize this Christmas tree?
I stopped to get a diet coke and when I rejoined the gang they were waiting to meet Santa Goofy!
I love this photo!
The birthday girl had a family photo with the Main Mouse on her wish list so off we went to Mickey's House
Group Photo!
Then it was time for our spin on RR! Another great dark ride that is extremely difficult to take photos during! You are of course spinning!
After Roger everyone else headed out of DL for a break and maybe some lunch. I was still super full from breakfast and I decided to see some of the Disneyland attractions that I figured the others might not be interested in.
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Toontown is wonderful in Disneyland - and it's the same in Tokyo Disney. Much better than they did in WDW in my humble opinion.
Completely agree! We were at DL for opening day of Toontown and just love it there. Couldn't believe how different that area was at WDW.
Looks like you're having a great day, Heather!