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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
Love the ring....and Chuck for being such a sweetie and knowing how to help you through the flight!
You sure managed a ton on travel day, no matter you two were exhausted. Glad you enjoyed a delish dinner, too.
Danielle
Thanks Danielle. Chuck sure did help me out!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
What a fantastic first day! The ring is so sweet. I'm glad you made it through the flight so well.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark
Yay! I found it!
How sweet of Chuck buying you that Mickey ring, and the timing...couldn't have been better IMO.
You got some great shots this day...the entrance to the world, Main St. and the Castle from the train platform. Yummy food porn....
Sounds like a wonderful start to vacation!
PS....I love the set up of OKW room you have! Very different from all the others I have seen. I really like it!
Forgot to warn everyone about the food porn. Oops. Thanks Sparks. We really liked OKW.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NanaTink
It looks like you had a good first day! the ring is soooo sweet! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!!!
It was a great start!
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldmom
nice to know there is someone else who has a 'look at the castle and cry' moment.
Every.Single.Time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChukkerB
Hello,my name is Charles,and I am a Zebradome addict!
Just had to say hello so I could be subscribed. Had a ball on our trip. I missed the driving,but being home in two hours made it worthwhile.
First thing is admitting it baby.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneyfreeeak
great start!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by mojjo
Great first day!!!
And I love the ring.
Can't wait for more.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by kingfamily1129
great start! I love zebra domes too!! and what a beautiful ring!
Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by guerns17
Great start!! I cannot wait to hear more
Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomhazel
Sounds like a fun trip. We have never had zebra domes but are staying at AKV in February so we will need to correct that. Looking forward to hearing more
You definitely need to rectify that! And be prepared to join the group of Zebra Dome addicts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
What a great first day! Glad you did well on the flight-- helped by Chuck, Duffy, and the surprise Mickey ring! I love the studios at OKW-- so big! The Boma food all looks fantastic-- especially that plate of fruit and salads... Oh, I'm hungry!
I LOVE their fruit/salad portion of the buffet! Thanks Laurie.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jandsdennis
LOVING
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by jandsdennis
Didn't get a chance to finish my thoughts somehow it posted. anyways loving the TR so far and love the ring. so sweet.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
What a cute ring. Boma looked delish. Glad the trip there was uneventful.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashli
Great first day! Your food pics from Boma look delicious! We've never been there before, but that might get put on my list of must-tries pretty soon!
Boma is a must do for us. It is so good!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Off to a great start!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great Start!!! Love the ring!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by taylan1
Fantastic start! Love the ring! Love the kissing swans towel animal! Your Boma pictures are making me hungry! Sounds like a great first day! Keep it coming!
I was glad to have ANY towel animal on the bed (Mickey head or whatever) because our stay at BLT they didn't do that. Made me wonder if the room was even cleaned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dlandmom2
Just more proof that Chuck's a keeper!
Great first day! I'm glad the flight went well! Oh man, Boma...only been there once, and I can't wait to go back!!! I'm hungry!
He is a keeper! I have many more stories to prove just that. Sorry about the (lack of) food porn warning!
Quote:
Originally Posted by goofyboysmama
"Awwww" (the dog that I just want to lay my head on)
"AAAAWWWW!" (the ring!)
"aaaaawwwww" (the swans)
"aahhww" (trip around MK)
and
"AAHHHHHGGHHH! (It's hard to take good food porn pics of buffet food. Well done. Drool.)
Awwwwwe - Thanks! Meg is our big old baby/dog and she was definitely pouting. And I know what you mean about making buffet food look appetizing in pics - just not that easy. But thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcneal
What a sweet, sweet man! Looks like a great trip so far.....looking forward to the rest.
He really is! Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by tdhc
That is so sweet about the ring. The food pics make me hungry. DH and I are probably in the minority, but we preferred the upside down pineapple cheesecake over the zebra domes.
I don't think I've every had that cheesecake but it sounds yummy! I can't have too many zebra domes because of the caffeine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Great first day! I'm glad the flight went well, how sweet of Chuck to get you that ring.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Great start!
Chuck........can you "train" my husband???
Lisa, he should make a business out of it - I've got all the girls I work with wanting the same services. LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What a great start! More please!
Marnie - I tried to resize the pics. I went even one smaller than 400x400 but I think it's photobucket. Only 2 are still "lifelike". Sorry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
more please
Later this week, I will do another installment. Have to get through my work week first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elisa1006
Great first day. Love the ring... I got all three of my girls one like it, planning to put in their stockings. Love the view from the train station!
Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mushu22
Great start.More please
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
LOVE the ring! And love the first day! I wish I hadn't looked at those food photos! It's midnight here and I'm STARVING!
Again- Oops, sorry no food porn warning!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cajunlace
Your ring is beautiful!!!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shari2137
Great start, looking forward to more. Curious to hear about your room, we are thinking of staying there for our next trip next year.
Thanks. We loved the room and just about everything about OKW. We definitely would recommend it! Chuck wants to go back there next year (I do want to try other places though).
Coop welcome home and glad you survived flights to and from. Tell the Big Guy KUDOS for me on the ring and timing to give it to you. Made a great excuse to hold your hand.
How could leave that poor unhappy girl at home???? Duffy has been there plenty of times heck he was born there Meg Has EARNED a trip IMHO. I mean as parents we are like expected to bring our kids there (even though thats just the pretext we tell everyone else so we can go)
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Coop welcome home and glad you survived flights to and from. Tell the Big Guy KUDOS for me on the ring and timing to give it to you. Made a great excuse to hold your hand.
How could leave that poor unhappy girl at home???? Duffy has been there plenty of times heck he was born there Meg Has EARNED a trip IMHO. I mean as parents we are like expected to bring our kids there (even though thats just the pretext we tell everyone else so we can go)
I know - she really knows how to lay on the guilt! And Chuck was sneaky but he really doesn't need an excuse to hold my hand!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DMA
Great first day! I love that you hit the ground running! The heck with lolly-gagging around the resort!
We kind of did take off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great start - love the ring!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Great first day! Dinner looked yummy!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
So glad your flight went fine and that you all loved Boma, especially the Zebra Domes!
We got up really early today. The alarm was set for 6:30 am. It was a little bit of a rough night. - getting used to the bed (missed my Sleep Number) and missed the fur babies too! We got ready fairly quickly and got a bus to the MK, not a long wait at all. We got in the early entry line for CRT. We had some great pics of a nearly empty MK.
Jaques and Gus-Gus!
Everyone was called “Lord” or “Lady” and we got some great interaction with the princesses.
It was a good experience. Chuck had quiche and I had stuffed French toast.
They also gave us a wand and a sword as well as a wishing star. It was a good meal with the princesses. I'm glad we got in early and got empty park pictures and had breakfast in the castle, but I can't see doing that every trip.
After breakfast, we got to go on practically everything! Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups, Raceway, TTA, CoP, Space Mt (Chuck only), Buzz were all walk ons! Alice was riding the tea cups with a little girl! It was so cool to see!
I beat Chuck at Buzz!
Then we crossed the park and went to PotC and BTMRR which were both walk ons too! We did a bit of shopping down Main St. and back tracked to Adventureland and got a Dole Whip.
Soon we were on a bus headed back to OKW for a mid-day break. We went to check out the gift shop and got some wine (they had Conundrum!). We went swimming and hit the hot tub (this would be a standard for our trip) and checked out the sauna. Then we got some snacks from Goods to Go. Sorry - no pictures of the snacks. Snacks were icky - really bad chicken nuggets and "blah" onion rings but the wine was good! Then we had a little naptime.
After our nap, we got up and got ready for our dinner with Jess and David. We took another bus to MK to take the monorail to the Poly. We were running early so we stopped at the CR and checked out the gift shops there. Then we went to the Poly and checked out their gift shop before Jess and David got there. It was a wonderful PP meet and Jess and David are the cutest couple. They are so sweet! Chuck always says that the friends I make on PP and FB are “imaginary” friends. Glad we could meet them and share a great meal at Ohana. We talked for hours! And probably could have stayed even longer if the waiters hadn’t been giving Chuck the “evil eye”.
Trying to get home was interesting though. Because we had left right after the fireworks had finished. We took the monorail to MK (thinking on getting a bus back to OKW) but there was nothing but a sea of people! So Chuck and I decided to walk over to CR and take a bus to DTD and switch to a bus to OKW. The bus from CR to DTD stops at the Poly! We were going in circles! We finally got to DTD and then onto our bus for OKW - which then stopped at Pleasure Island and bus driver shift change! Arrrggghhh - would we EVER get back?! Then when we did get back to OKW - we had some bus driver that didn’t know what he was doing. He stopped at the last stop first and never opened the doors to let anyone off, then went to the 3rd stop and then the 1st stop! I finally told Chuck that we were getting off and walking because I didn’t think this driver knew where he was going and I wanted to get off while I still knew how to get back to our room. All in total travel time - 2 hours!!! We should have stayed in line at MK or even taken the bus straight from the Poly or even called a cab. All this had Chuck questioning our trip and DVC, etc. I had to talk him down a bit and tell him that this was all due to transportation and had nothing to do with DVC. It was a long day and time for bed!
PS - sorry about the pic sizes. I really DID resize them on photobucket! I swear!
Sounds like a great day - well with the exception of the darn bus!!! That would put a damper on things! Hopefully you had some wine left when you got back!!!
So glad that you got to meet Jess & David!!! Sounds like you all had a great time!
__________________
Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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Sounds like you a 3ot of 5 day or you hit 600
Great time in MK for am t
Snacks were a miss -
Pool spa sauna an t
Dinner was greatd nap time ALLWAYS a plus t
Meet and greet with fellow PP over good meal t
Horror show getting back to OKW - -
Do that for a lifetime and they put you in the Hall of Fame. Hey at least you got the Big Guy to go for DVC DW announced recently announced that she wants to get a Mobile Home so we can go back an a more frequent basis and bring the furry ones Make the suggestion of a trade DVC for Mobile home he'll keep what he has
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Curious to hear about your room, we are thinking of staying there for our next trip next year.
Sounds like a great first day! Keep it coming! 
More please! 
PassPorter Guide Author
We finally got to DTD and then onto our bus for OKW - which then stopped at Pleasure Island and bus driver shift change! 
Arrrggghhh - would we EVER get back?! Then when we did get back to OKW - we had some bus driver that didn’t know what he was doing. He stopped at the last stop first and never opened the doors to let anyone off, then went to the 3rd stop and then the 1st stop! 
I finally told Chuck that we were getting off and walking because I didn’t think this driver knew where he was going and I wanted to get off while I still knew how to get back to our room. All in total travel time - 2 hours!!! We should have stayed in line at MK or even taken the bus straight from the Poly or even called a cab. All this had Chuck questioning our trip and DVC, etc. I had to talk him down a bit and tell him that this was all due to transportation and had nothing to do with DVC. It was a long day and time for bed!
"Sparky"(My first trip.)
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