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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We finally found my dad, Belle, and Scotty and introductions were made while hugs were exchanged. I went to get lunch with the fam at Studio Catering Co while Ellie went to look for something for her mom in future world.
Kids veggie sandwich
I was really not overly impressed, plus all the seating is outside. But what was nice was getting to catch up with my family! This part was short lived though because Ellie and I were heading over to Epcot for the afternoon and we would reconvene for dinner. (This is what happens when my dad changes plans last minute!) Dad and fam stayed and enjoyed Hollywood Studios for a bit since they had just arrived.
I went off to meet up with Ellie (who had already headed to Epcot) for the last of the shopping for gifts I needed to purchase and called my mom on the long walk from DHS to Epcot. I found out we probably wouldn’t get to spend Easter together this year -sidebar: mom had her hip replaced a few days before Easter so she couldn’t come down to Dallas. Her parents went up for the holiday even though she was stuck in bed! I was able to go a few weeks later due to my work schedule flying me to DC every month I extended and drove the 4 hours up to see her and we did a belated holiday.
Found Ellie in Japan and got the gifts I needed for Mallory (my kitty sitter). Sake, incense, and a sake cup set but the last is actually part of her wedding present! She got married to her long time boyfriend back in May and it was a gorgeous ceremony! We continued our adventure around the World Showcase together and stopped for some snacks along the way.
Non-festival drink from Japan - Tokyo sunset I believe?
Some of the food booths had crazy long lines but thankfully the ones we really had left to try that we wanted weren't too bad. Stopped at Primavera Kitchen for Manicotti and Moscato. I wanted this the other day but it was too hot outside for heavy Italian! Then off to Florida Fresh where they had the gin in stock this time to try the watermelon slush. DELISH! It was light and refreshing but with a kick of the gin for sure.
Primavera Kitchen for Manicotti and Moscato
Florida Fresh - Watermelon Slush
Right across from FF was my favorite garden shop where they have these cool little beads that you can grow a plant in and it will feed it for weeks! Got some for my mom and Mac’s mom because it seems like there's a very high likelihood I will be joining his family for Easter in Houston! (I did go to his family’s in Houston and she loved them and then he got super weird and we ended a few weeks later. Blah, clingy men) My mom has her flowers up in the beads, I should have taken a picture when I was home a few days ago, sorry
We continued our journey with our last real stop being China for spring rolls and the bun. Ellie loved the spring rolls and I loved the jig pow chicken bun. But really everything from lotus house was great! We browsed through the store and found some great Alex and ani esque bangles with zodiac signs and Buddhas on them. They didn't have our signs but I did grab a Buddha
Spring Rolls
Jig Pow Chicken Bun
Selections from the booth by China
Then we did a breeze through Norway for a Leila spritz and this is when I started to hit my wall of sleepy. We went to Mousegears for one last gift Ellie wanted for her coworker and her baby and I waited on a bench while she paid because the line was a little lengthy. We headed out to the front after this and back to Old Key West!
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Did you have the kids veggie sandwich or did someone else? If you ate it, how was it? Does the "I wasn't overly impressed" refer to the sandwich or to the eatery in general? Sorry, don't mean to be confusing but from the looks of it, that sandwich would be something I'd order so I was wondering if I should. Thanks!
Did you have the kids veggie sandwich or did someone else? If you ate it, how was it? Does the "I wasn't overly impressed" refer to the sandwich or to the eatery in general? Sorry, don't mean to be confusing but from the looks of it, that sandwich would be something I'd order so I was wondering if I should. Thanks!
I did! My little brother doesn't really eat fruits or veggies The sandwich was pretty good, it was a nice change of pace. I would possibly order it again but I wasn't impressed with the eatery in general. I think my dad got a sloppy joe or something and it was fine too, I just think there are better options.
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Some quality time in HS and Epcot! That was odd with the delay on TGMR. Seems like you packed a lot in there. Some great eats and drinks in Epcot, which you seemed to enjoy!
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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!
Awesome, thanks Maci! Do you happen to know if that's the only place where you can get that kids veggie sandwich or do other eateries have it also?
They have an adult version so I think that's the only place, but I can't be sure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Some quality time in HS and Epcot! That was odd with the delay on TGMR. Seems like you packed a lot in there. Some great eats and drinks in Epcot, which you seemed to enjoy!
It was busy but a good day so far!
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_bernard
all those cookies sound delicious. i wish i were a good baker and could make all those. that butterfinger cupcake looks so yummy.
They were all pretty easy, the shortbread was only 3 ingredients
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great day at DHS and Epcot! Glad you were able to find your family! Love the pictures!
We got to our room around 4 and I immediately went down for a nap after my rough nights sleep I needed it! We were back on our way by about 6:20 and a DHS bus came a few minutes later. We decided to do the walk over so I was really racking up the steps today! It was about 7pm when we got to the resort area so I asked Ellie if she'd mind a wander over to Yacht and Beach so I could get my fill of lobby scents. My old friend Patrick was working the Yacht side so I also stopped and said hi to him real quick! Looked around the shops for any resort merch but they still don't have shot glasses here Nothing really sparked our interest so we wandered back over to the Boardwalk just about the same time as the fam arrived!
On the agenda tonight was new to us, Trattoria al Forno. It’s bittersweet for me because I loved Kouzzina and was very sad to see it go, so I found myself craving her “Greek lasagna” over the traditional Italian offerings we had in store tonight. I think this was my real problem with it, if I had ordered something else I would have loved everything about this meal, but my entree was just so so.
In no time we had found everyone, checked in, and found ourselves seated in a booth at the far side of the restaurant. Our server was wonderful and friendly and quickly took our drink orders. I believe I had some sort of Italian Long Island, my dad a Rum and Coke. We opted for some appies as we were all quite hungry and decided on calamari and caprese salad. These two items were divine! Bread service also came out and the bread was pretty good although a little crusty for my preference. I did order marinara sauce for the calamari, but Dad claimed it was some of the best he had ever had!
Sicilian Iced Tea - Amara Averna Liqueur, Caravella Orangecello, iced tea, agave nectar and fresh lemon juice
Fried Calamari - with Balsamic Agrodolce
Caprese Salad - with house-made mozzarella
Next up were the entrees. Belle had shrimp, dad had chicken parm, Ellie had a salad, Scotty had kids pasta, and I had risotto. Dad’s chicken parm was delish, my risotto was so so, and I don’t like shrimp or caesar salad but everyone seemed pleased!
Belle’s dish appears to no longer be on the menu
Chicken Breast alla Parmigiana - with tagliatelle
Pasta Marinara with Turkey Meatballs - Served with your choice of beverage and dessert
Seasonal (Pea?) Risotto
I don’t believe we had dessert as I have no pictures. We finished up and settled our check. Our server was great, I don’t know if I had mentioned. I’m not sure how much we saved since this one was on Dad but he did get to use my TiW! We parted ways shortly after as we were all beat and full of yummies! Ellie and I headed back to OKW as she had an early flight in the morning. I had plans to meet back up with the fam tomorrow at MK!
Day 7 -
Total Steps: 23,915
Highlight: Getting to enjoy a great meal with my family
Something New: Trattoria Al Forno - YUM!
Tip for Next Time: Split that giant cupcake with someone else, they are HUGE
All caught up again - great updates! I'm glad you were able to meet up with the family, after getting stuck like that on the Great Movie Ride. I don't think I know of anyone else getting stuck on that....
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Sounds like you had a great day, aside from getting stuck on The Great Movie Ride. That Butterfinger cupcake looked delicious, as did your dinner with your family
Glad you still got some family time in this day while still getting to enjoy Epcot. We loved Trattoria al Forno, so I'm sorry that your entree wasn't all that great.
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This part was short lived though because Ellie and I were heading over to Epcot for the afternoon and we would reconvene for dinner. (This is what happens when my dad changes plans last minute!) Dad and fam stayed and enjoyed Hollywood Studios for a bit since they had just arrived. 
-sidebar: mom had her hip replaced a few days before Easter so she couldn’t come down to Dallas. Her parents went up for the holiday even though she was stuck in bed! I was able to go a few weeks later due to my work schedule flying me to DC every month I extended and drove the 4 hours up to see her and we did a belated holiday.
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The sandwich was pretty good, it was a nice change of pace. I would possibly order it again but I wasn't impressed with the eatery in general. I think my dad got a sloppy joe or something and it was fine too, I just think there are better options.
I'm glad you were able to meet up with the family, after getting stuck like that on the Great Movie Ride. I don't think I know of anyone else getting stuck on that....
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