Everything is Subject to Change Updated 7/6 - Page 44 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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The first time I went to Prime Time was the year it opened and I loved it. The food was good and the servers were really into the theme. I've been only twice more because the quality of the food and service went down each time. It's a great concept, but they need to liven things up--food and service.
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The fried chicken is my choice at the 50s as well, I find it is probably the best out of their main dishes...but I did find that when we went in February, the food was not as good as it was when we had gone a few years back. The best part of my meal...the onion rings and the chocolate shake
It is on our list for July only because my sister wanted to go...not even sure if we will end up at DHS on our last day (or if we will swap it for Epcot) but I have already decided that it will be a snack meal for me.
Sorry the meat was so dry this time around...but your dessert looked delish
Fun morning at the Studios! Those photos with the characters are too cute. I've seen them stopping people taking of photos with characters at SWW before - something about taking photos of strangers. SWW is the only time I've ever seen them stop people, though, so I'm not sure that's really the reason. And that fried chicken looked pretty good (even at 9 in the morning).
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First of all, I loved all your photos from the Studios...and yes, I'm a bit jealous that you got all those great hugs and photos with the characters. I'm also glad someone else could back me up on the looonnnggg lines for the SW meet and greets. Crazy!
And I'm sorry 50sPT didn't get your seal of approval. We've only been once and enjoyed our food - but I'm wondering how much the server you get contributes to your perception of everything. We had a CM who was very much in character and I think we'd have said it was a great meal just because she had us laughing so much.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Apparently they are expecting LOTS of people who want to meet Pooh when the movie comes out. (Honestly, what were they thinking opening that movie the same weekend as Harry Potter? Really?)
I wonder the same thing Heather. Although, I will see both movies that weekend . Sorry you meal at 50's left a lot to be desired, but those S'Mores,
all the pictures from the Star Tours queue! I feel the same way about Prime Time. For some reason Stefanie likes it so it stays in our rotation, but I tend to wait 3 years or so before we head back.
I agree about 50's and Sci-Fi. Great concepts, but the food isn't that great, and especially at 50's, if your server is a dud it just makes it so-so food you could have at home for less money. That's why we struggle with ever doing ADR's at DHS. I'd love to do HBD, but we usually are being stingy with our T'S credits on the DDP.
HBD is great and we usually do it for lunch and just order a bunch of appetizers. It usually ends up being a really reasonable meal for a signature!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
The first time I went to Prime Time was the year it opened and I loved it. The food was good and the servers were really into the theme. I've been only twice more because the quality of the food and service went down each time. It's a great concept, but they need to liven things up--food and service.
I completely agree---it's time for a "do over"
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
The fried chicken is my choice at the 50s as well, I find it is probably the best out of their main dishes...but I did find that when we went in February, the food was not as good as it was when we had gone a few years back. The best part of my meal...the onion rings and the chocolate shake
It is on our list for July only because my sister wanted to go...not even sure if we will end up at DHS on our last day (or if we will swap it for Epcot) but I have already decided that it will be a snack meal for me.
Sorry the meat was so dry this time around...but your dessert looked delish
I should have had a shake! It probably would have made the meal better! Dessert was totally yummy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry about your meal at the 50s Prime Time and that it didn't get the Heather seal of approval.
It was okay--just not spectacular!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Fun morning at the Studios! Those photos with the characters are too cute. I've seen them stopping people taking of photos with characters at SWW before - something about taking photos of strangers. SWW is the only time I've ever seen them stop people, though, so I'm not sure that's really the reason. And that fried chicken looked pretty good (even at 9 in the morning).
I just thought it was strange because I was taking pictures of the Jedi Training, which I had taken a ton of photos of from the front earlier in the trip.
I love character photos!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nimros
First of all, I loved all your photos from the Studios...and yes, I'm a bit jealous that you got all those great hugs and photos with the characters. I'm also glad someone else could back me up on the looonnnggg lines for the SW meet and greets. Crazy!
And I'm sorry 50sPT didn't get your seal of approval. We've only been once and enjoyed our food - but I'm wondering how much the server you get contributes to your perception of everything. We had a CM who was very much in character and I think we'd have said it was a great meal just because she had us laughing so much.
I didn't have a great server, but the large group next to me, with a different waiter, looked like they were having a great time. I imagine it is better if you have a group.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
I wonder the same thing Heather. Although, I will see both movies that weekend . Sorry you meal at 50's left a lot to be desired, but those S'Mores,
The s'mores are worth the trip!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
all the pictures from the Star Tours queue! I feel the same way about Prime Time. For some reason Stefanie likes it so it stays in our rotation, but I tend to wait 3 years or so before we head back.
I love the new Star Tours queue! They did a great job with the rehab!
After my meal at 50s I headed out for the buses! I grabbed a bus to the TTC and the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, where I headed directly for the Pirates League. I wanted to see if they could fit me in! Guess what? The could! I took some photos of the area, as I haven't seen very many. I think I waited about 30 minutes before I was called, but I spent the time reading on the Kindle App on my iPhone!
This is the book your pirate name comes from. I was doing the Mermaid Package, so I didn't get a Pirate name. I'm hoping to remedy my lack of a Pirate Name soon!
I came out of the Pirates League just at Jack Sparrow started the Pirate Tutorial, so I grabbed a few shots.
I headed out of the Magic Kingdom after another ride on Pirates. I needed to go back to the hotel to collect things for the Memorial and change my clothing.
I caught a bus to Epcot after freshening up a little. That's right! Three parks in one day.
I barely made it in time for my ADR at Via Napoli. My first visit to Via Napoli was only okay. I thought I'd give it a second chance because I love Tutto Italia so much.
I had the Calamari
The recipe seems to be the same as at Tutto, but it appeared that someone forgot the salt at Via Napoli!
I did enjoy my Italian margarita!
I was seated in the little side room with the windows, instead of the main dining room.
Bread was dropped off at the table, but without butter or anything else. I had to ask three times to get some olive oil and a glass of water. It was clear that my server was overwhelmed by the number of tables she had--which included at least one larger party.
I also ordered the melon and prosciutto pizza.
My pizza was a little more than wood grilled, parts of it were wood burned. The melon lacked sweetness and was just kind of flopping around on there. I ended picking the prosciutto off of the rest of the pizza and eating that after I discovered that the second piece I picked up was just as crispy as the first. Don't get me wrong, I love thin, crispy pizza, but not blackened on the bottom. IF I had more time I would have sent it back, but my server completely disappeared. I had to flag her down, waving my credit card in the air. She was totally absorbed with the party of 10 in her section.
Via Napoli, which I was originally so excited for before they opened, is officially off the list for return visits. We thought Tutto was over priced before we ate there the first time. It isn't the quality is just that good. I don't understand how the same restaurant company can run two restaurants right next to one another that have completely different quality standards. We now eat at Tutto every single trip and LOVE it! The service is fabulous and so is the food.
Up next, the Passporter Memorial for Lorie and Glenn and Illuminations.
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I'm really sorry to hear that Via Napoli didn't measure up. I'm booked for my first meal there in November, but may opt to go back to Tutto, which I love. Was Pirate League fun?
Excellent photos of the Pirate's League!!! I've wanted to do that since it first came out! But we need to see a photo of your Mermaid transformation.
Sorry your meal at Via Napoli did not live up to your expectations. I was so excited when I saw the melon and prosciutto pizza; my little chef Kelley has a recipe for that (minus the pizza) that she has been wanting to try. But no burnt crust for me, either.
I hope the Meet for Lorie and Glenn went well. I haven't read about it from anyone else (yes, I am still a bit sad over it) so I will hear it from you first.
Bummer about the not so great meal. I love calamari, and one of my fave summer snacks is asian pear slices wrapped with prosciutto! It's a shame they burned the pizza. I don't blame you for taking it off your list, but I think I'd still like to try Via Napoli. I tried Tutto Italia when we were there last, but I found it to be just average, mostly because it was at the end of a very tiring evening when I didn't even have the energy to form an appetite! Still, I want to give it another shot, hopefully when I'm super hungry!
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I'm also glad someone else could back me up on the looonnnggg lines for the SW meet and greets. Crazy!
all the pictures from the Star Tours queue! I feel the same way about Prime Time. For some reason Stefanie likes it so it stays in our rotation, but I tend to wait 3 years or so before we head back. 
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