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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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It really did get quite cool some of the days and downright cold at night. Your afternoon break at the GF sounds so perfect and relaxing.
That was the coldest day for us!
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We always tend to eat at the GF Café for dinner but lunch time seems so much more quiet! We own a DVC at the GFV and really enjoy the lobby and grounds so much when we stay there. Thanks for sharing your pictures!
We've been to GF many times, but never really took the time to walk around outside. It's so beautiful!
There were a few people in line as we approached the check in area. They were separating us into two groups, and said “if your return time was 6:45, wait in this line. If your return time was 6:30 wait in this line.” How in the heck was I supposed to remember what my return time was? They said, “It was in the email.” Well, I just noted in my itinerary what time I wanted to be there, not what time I was supposed to be there! We finally figured out that one line was for Garden Plaza viewing, and the other was for Tomorrowland Terrace Viewing. Well, if they’d just said that, it would have been easy!
We waited a total of 15 minutes and then they started checking us in.
When we got to the podium, I mentioned that I had noted GF on my reservation. She made note of that and said she’d send one of the managers over with a GF plate. Then one of the hostesses took us to our table. We were one of the first few to be seated and it was pretty empty.
It looked delicious! I had heard they were using sweets from Erin McKenna’s Bakery and this is certainly a huge step up from the pre-packaged items I’d received at the Star Wars Dessert Party last year. (They were a big thumbs down.) These were wonderful! There were 4 mini cupcakes, two giant pieces of banana bread, two giant cookies, gummies, and some strawberries. However, after looking closer, I realized that the strawberries were moldy. So, I pushed them to the side, and concentrated on the other goodies.
And when Jeff came back with his plate and sparkling cider, I headed up and got some coffee and a plate of cheese and chocolate covered strawberries. Then we feasted on all our goodies! Sorry I didn’t take more photos.
I went back to the buffet at one point to get some ice cream with chocolate sauce. And I think Jeff did as well. Then when we were ready, we got an escort over to the Garden Plaza. We decided to go over early for Once Upon a Time which is the new projection show on the castle. It started at 7:15, with Happily Ever After starting at 8:00.
On the way out we told the CM at the podium about the strawberries on my GF plate and she was mortified. She said, “Wait here while I call the manager so you can tell her directly.” When the manager came over, we told her as well. She apologized, and offered to bring me more of anything I wanted. I thanked her, but said I was I was full and couldn’t eat another bite. She thanked me for letting them know and said she was headed to the kitchen to check it out.
At 7:10 we were escorted over to the Garden Plaza. We found a good spot near the back of the viewing area. There was a lot of room inside and people were pretty spread out.
After the show we had the option of going back to Tomorrowland Terrace, which many people did, but we decided to stay in the viewing area. We took advantage of a PP op.
And then we watched the hordes of people walking past the viewing area to the Main Street bypass to exit. We couldn’t believe how many people were exiting before the fireworks.
It was pretty chilly and I was glad I’d brought my gloves, but wished I had a hat as well! And then it was 8:00 and time for Happily Ever After! We both thought this was an outstanding show!
We finally decided to join the exodus and headed out toward the Main Street bypass. It wasn’t really too bad. The crowds moved along quite well, until we joined the crowds from Main Street. Then it was pretty slow moving until we finally got out from under the tunnel. We made our way to the bus stop and found the OKW stop. We waited about 15 minutes for a bus, but there was a nice couple in front of us who were also DVC members and we chatted with them all the while, so time went by fast.
When we got back to went to the room and got our gift cards out of the safe, then headed to the front desk to pay the remainder of our room charges. Then we browsed around the gift shop and Jeff found some great OKW Pilsner glasses. So, we bought two of them and we also found an OKW magnet for the fridge.
We went back to the room and started packing. Then looked through pictures, jotted down some notes and were in bed about 11:15.
The weather today was: cold and windy Brrr!
The best thing today was: our impromptu lunch at Grand Floridian Café
The worst thing today was: the long wait at the bus stop in the morning, which gave us a much later start at MK
Today we tried: the dessert party
And the result was: good desserts (except for the moldy strawberries) and an awesome view of Once Upon a time and Happily Ever After!
The most magical thing today was: Happily Ever After
A great time at Tomorrowland Terrace for both shows. Some great views and photos. They look like amazing shows. Too bad with the strawberries on your plate, but all else was good for the dessert party.
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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!
The dessert party looked delicious, and that garden viewing area is so nice. We did this several trips ago when Luke had just had his appendix removed. I felt he would need to rest by that time in the evening. Great PhotoPass pics!
A great time at Tomorrowland Terrace for both shows. Some great views and photos. They look like amazing shows. Too bad with the strawberries on your plate, but all else was good for the dessert party.
The shows were awesome and the view from the Garden was outstanding!
The dessert party looked delicious, and that garden viewing area is so nice. We did this several trips ago when Luke had just had his appendix removed. I felt he would need to rest by that time in the evening. Great PhotoPass pics!
The thing I liked most about that Garden viewing area is the roominess.
I do not like being squished in like sardines to watch a show. The Photopass was a nice bonus! We noticed a PP photographer wandering about in Tomorrowland Terrace as well, but he hadn't gotten to our table by the time we wanted to head out.
The dessert party (with the exception of those mouldy strawberries - yuck! ) sounds wonderful and I'm glad Disney at least dealt with the problem once they knew about it.
Isn't the show wonderful? We were very impressed with it.
The dessert party (with the exception of those mouldy strawberries - yuck! ) sounds wonderful and I'm glad Disney at least dealt with the problem once they knew about it.
Isn't the show wonderful? We were very impressed with it.
It wasn't something that I felt I needed to jump up and tell someone right away, but yes, they were very apologetic and wanted to deal with it immediately once they knew about it.
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We finally figured out that one line was for Garden Plaza viewing, and the other was for Tomorrowland Terrace Viewing. Well, if they’d just said that, it would have been easy! 
However, after looking closer, I realized that the strawberries were moldy. 
So, I pushed them to the side, and concentrated on the other goodies. 
: 
PassPorter Guide Author
) sounds wonderful and I'm glad Disney at least dealt with the problem once they knew about it. 
We just loved Happily Ever After!
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