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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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.
PassPorter Guide Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Ballston Lake, NY
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 46,162
Post Thanks / Like
Likes (Given): 94
Likes (Received): 241
Thanks (Given): 0
Thanks (Received): 139
Pixie Dust (Given): 3
Pixie Dust (Received): 4
That's so disappointing that Mary skipped out before you got to meet her. I feel bad for the little girl sitting next to you. I hope too that that family got a FP to meet her. Otherwise a very good day!!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
What a disappointment that Mary didn't greet all the families there for breakfast. Not right at all. You got some great photos with the characters you met, though.
It was - but we got to meet her later in the trip...........and we had fun with those we saw!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
All caught up.
Let me just say about the car - gross. AT least they tried to make amends and gave you some money back. But still - yuck. Usually the first thing you see the staff do when you return a car is get in and start cleaning it.
Too bad about Mary leaving, I too hope that little girl got the FP to meet her later.
Thanks - I do too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
That's so disappointing that Mary skipped out before you got to meet her. I feel bad for the little girl sitting next to you. I hope too that that family got a FP to meet her. Otherwise a very good day!!
I know - I hope so too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great update - I love the shots from Big Thunder!
Thanks!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
How sad about Mary Poppin's disappearing act! Otherwise a great day so far. Looking forward to seeing your tshirts!
Yes it was - and it was a great day!!! You will see the tees when we head to the MNSSHP!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sc507
Way to go on the shopping Em! . A good day so far except for the Mary Poppins disappointment
She did do good!!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
WARNING: MAJOR Food Porn...........you might want to grab a snack & an adult beverage !!!!
After some shopping for the girls (which I have to say that it was nice to spend quality time alone with my girl!) and a nap for Scott (lazy boy!!!) we got ready and headed to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival!!! I was SUPER excited about this!!!!
Em had purchased a Halloween outfit for Duffy and a new backpack that she carefully placed Duffy in to carry him around the world and she was anxious to find the “Big Duffy” and have a meet and greet!
And we found him…….and he was excited to see Em and her Duffy all dressed up!
Okay – now it was time to get the tasting going on!!
First stop was Mexico…………..I have to say that it was soooooooooo tempting to get the Tequila flight, however, it was early and I hadn’t had anything to eat since breakfast……….so I passed and we settled on the Crispy Shrimp Taco we had heard so much about!!! It was delicious!!!!
Along the way, we met Donald!
Scott & Em stopped in Scandinavia to sample the Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberries.
We continued our stroll and stopped in China to meet Mulan!
Then we were ready for another bite!! In South Korea we had the Lettuce Wrap with Roast Pork and Kimchi Slaw………YUM!!!! Emily also had the kids fruit punch here (which she was disappointed as it was pretty much a Capri sun type drink).
Letting that settle a bit, we continued strolling and stopped at the Cheese booth and had the Cheese Fondue with Sourdough Bread (it was just okay) and I had a glass of Sterling Vintner’s Collection Pinot Noir……now that was Yummy!!!
While Em & I were sampling our cheese fondue, Scott visited the Brewer’s Collection and apparently was more than ready to start tasting……..as he got a flight of beer…….Sion Kindl Dark; Altenmunster Oktoberfest; Schofferhofer Weizen; and Altenmunster Dunkel.
While Scott was enjoying his flight and me my glass of Pinot, we realized that we were in Germany and Snow White would be presenting herself soon, so we got in the already forming line and chatted with other DVC members (who were also enjoying a “flight”) and then Emily was able to meet Snow White – and then got very excited when she realized that she was meeting Snow White while wearing her Snow White shirt (I Love that the little things like that make her happy still!).
We then spotted a Photopass Photographer – so stopped for a family pic – the photographer was quite interested in Scott’s beer flight!
Next stop was Italy…..where we shared the Ravioli di Formaggio all’Emiliana (this was just okay for me – in my opinion – it had too much cheese on top, I think there was more cheese than pasta and sauce); and Emily had the Cannoli al Ciccolato (a chocolate covered canola) – now I found this odd, as my child never used to eat chocolate – and she devoured this!!! And I of course, had to sample the Pinot Grigio Mezzacorona – which was quite tasty!
While we were in Italy, we stopped in the wine gift shop – as on our last trip last summer, I had purchased a couple of wine bottle stoppers (with Mickey Heads on top) and the corks had broken off of them ~ Scott did not think that they would exchange them, but me knowing how Disney is – I simply asked and the manager said ABSOLUTELY!!! I was so happy and I presented her with one of my cast member thank you cards – and that apparently made her night!! She insisted we take a photo with her – of course this was taken on her phone and we did not take one – so no photo for me.
We continued on our stroll – and Scott stopped at the Florida Local booth and grabbed a Florida Beer Company Key West Southernmost Wheat beer – he said this was one of the best beers he has had!
Next, we stopped in Japan for a California Roll – and Emily grabbed a Japanese Soda – she loves these things!
Then it was time for France ~ Emily had really been looking forward to this one! Emily had the Escargots Persillade en Briochen – she loved it!!
Scott & I were holding out for Ireland – we shared the Lobster and Fisherman’s Pie – OMG!!! YUMMY!!!!
We then had to do some serious walking so we headed over the Festival Center hoping to visit the Chase Visa Lounge, however, it was closed.
So we headed over for a quick trip to space on Mission Space – on the Green side of course (which can I just say that I honestly believe that the spinney side should be called the Green side as Green reminds me of……..well, you know…….spinning……green……..you got it!).
Then we went for a flight over California………………ah…………….I can smell those oranges just thinking about it!!!
It was starting to get late, but it was EMH so we headed to the Character Spot to meet some friends! Emily had grabbed an ice cream cone to enjoy while we waited to meet our friends!
Mickey:
Pluto:
Minnie:
Goofy;
Donald:
Now, we were beat, and started heading out –
but of course, stopping for a few more Photopass Photos along the way!
Finally we made our way back to the room – and you would have thought that we had eaten plenty……….but when we went shopping I had picked up this fabulous tray of apples, caramel and cheese, so we dove into that for a bit of snack (and Scott and I enjoyed an adult beverage before bed) while watching Stacy before turning in.
Up next: An Animal Kingdom morning!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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.
Those were some good food choices - you were right to give a warning at the start (even though I didn't listen, and am now STARVING!). I want the escargots in brioche!!!
AAAArrrrghhhh! You're killing me here! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Duffy! And your F&WF pics are great! I just told Chuck - we need to go back during F&WF and actually eat AT F&WF!
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.
Wow! What a terrific day! I love how Em reacts like a little girl (in the best sense) when she meets characters and the like. She is so sweet! I love the beer flights too and Mike doesn't drink beer so, sadly, I must drink ALL the beer myself what is a girl to do? I can't wait to read more, but I am very happy I had just had a snack and some cocoa before reading this
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.
Loved pics from F&WF definately have to go for that one year as i used to love going OCT crowds back then where low discounts high and weather warm but not hot
GREEN could it be somebody was hoping for a secret meeting with a certain Little Green fellow
Those were some good food choices - you were right to give a warning at the start (even though I didn't listen, and am now STARVING!). I want the escargots in brioche!!!
Thanks! I warned you!!! Those were Em's favorites!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop
AAAArrrrghhhh! You're killing me here! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Duffy! And your F&WF pics are great! I just told Chuck - we need to go back during F&WF and actually eat AT F&WF!
I knew you would love the photos of Duffy!!! He is so darn cute!!! And Em is already hoping that he will be out in Holiday attire in 2 weeks when we visit!!! Yes - you do need to go and eat at the F&WF!!! We literally just got one of each of those and shared - so basically a bite for each of us - well except the escargot
Quote:
Originally Posted by shazza
Oh my - a perfect update. Just finished dinner, and your descriptions still made me hungry.
Love the pics - Emily looks to be having a great time.
Thanks!!! She certainly was - and that girl loves to try new foods!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
Wow! What a terrific day! I love how Em reacts like a little girl (in the best sense) when she meets characters and the like. She is so sweet! I love the beer flights too and Mike doesn't drink beer so, sadly, I must drink ALL the beer myself what is a girl to do? I can't wait to read more, but I am very happy I had just had a snack and some cocoa before reading this
Thanks!!! I love it too - reminds me that she is still my baby girl!! Not just a snotty teen!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Ok, should know better to read an update about food before breakfast - now I'm hungry!
I warned you! Hope you had a great breakfast this am!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdobereiner
Wait- Emily likes escargot??? She has a sohpisticated pallette, eh??
Just looking at all of your food (and wine ) pictures is making me anxious for next year's F&WF!
Can't wait for the next update!
Mel
Yes - she does!!!! I feel sorry for her first real dinner date!!! That boy better have some $$$ as she has great taste!!! She is certainly not your typical kid when it comes to eating - and that is why she loves Epcot so much!!! We got really lucky!!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
. A good day so far except for the Mary Poppins disappointment 
!!!!
for Scott (lazy boy!!!) we got ready and headed to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival!!! I was SUPER excited about this!!!!
).
) pictures is making me anxious for next year's F&WF! 
Linear Mode
