Some Food, Some Wine and Some Christmas!!! - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sounds like a fun afternoon at the MK and I enjoyed all your pictures from TTA! It's too bad that you couldn't use your Space Mountain fastpass. You're so lucky that you can ride the teacups. I can't even look at the ride when it's in operation without feeling a bit sick. Your meal at the CG looked delicious and how nice that you got your server Didi from the Flying Fish!
The Peoplemover is one of my favorites! I like to ride it first cause it always fills me with that Disney magic! The Contemporary is also my favorite resort! We have never eaten at California Grill though. It's to pricey for us plus Tom's way too picky to eat there. Looking forward to more!
You two covered quite a bit of ground after the tour. I would be the same as you in taking lots of photos once I was allowed to again. Great shots! Dinner looked fabulous!
Thanks, Cam!! Dinner was as good as always at the CG!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Nice time in the MK as you accomplished a lot with the attractions after your tour! Too bad SM was down as it is often. Nice meal at the Cali and never had a disappointing meal or experience there. It's why it's a must for every trip. Everything looks good for choices and I too had the cheese board for my app and enjoyed so much.
Thanks, Dave and same for us with the CG!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Wow, you got a lot done the rest of the day! Shame Space Mountain was down, but apart from that, what a great time. Love that you had a change of clothes in the car for the Cali Grill - good thinking! That looked like a great meal.
Well, we knew we wouldn't have time to go all the way back to OKW to change so we thought it would make things easier! The meal was delicious!!
Wow, you were able to ride quite a few attractions! Great idea to bring a change of clothes for dinner!
We did get around quite well!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Sounds like a fun afternoon at the MK and I enjoyed all your pictures from TTA! It's too bad that you couldn't use your Space Mountain fastpass. You're so lucky that you can ride the teacups. I can't even look at the ride when it's in operation without feeling a bit sick. Your meal at the CG looked delicious and how nice that you got your server Didi from the Flying Fish!
It was so fun!! I think quite a few people feel the way you do about the tea cups! Our meal was delicious and Didi is a gem!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by luvnwdwgal
The Peoplemover is one of my favorites! I like to ride it first cause it always fills me with that Disney magic! The Contemporary is also my favorite resort! We have never eaten at California Grill though. It's to pricey for us plus Tom's way too picky to eat there. Looking forward to more!
Caught back up!
First, I love taking the ferry to the MK - makes me nostalgic as that was one of the only ways to arrive in 1979, my first trip to WDW (which was only MK back then!).
That tour sounds awesome! Is it something that is wheelchair accessible?
Dinner at California Grill looked amazing! As did your dinner the prior night, but, like you, I don’t love sake.
Caught back up!
First, I love taking the ferry to the MK - makes me nostalgic as that was one of the only ways to arrive in 1979, my first trip to WDW (which was only MK back then!).
That tour sounds awesome! Is it something that is wheelchair accessible?
Dinner at California Grill looked amazing! As did your dinner the prior night, but, like you, I don’t love sake.
I love the ferry too, Colleen!! The tour was fabulous and I am honestly not sure if it is wheelchair accessible. Our dinners were wonderful!!
Today I once again got up at 5 AM. I walked down to the pool and threw some laundry in and then took a nice jog. When I got back, the clothes were ready to put in the dryer and I then walked back to our room to get my refillable mug.
I jogged to Olivia’s, filled my mug and walked back. Muffin was just starting to stir so I went back to the laundry room and folded the clothes and by the time I got back to the room this time, he was in the shower.
Today, we decided to get breakfast at Starbucks at DHS. By the time we got ourselves together, it was right around 8:40so we headed off to the Park. This was the very first week that the Park’s new entrance would be used so the road signs were a little screwy.
With the Skyliner station going in, the entrance to DHS is a bit of a mess. We parked and then had to walk and walk and walk. I think this morning between running back and forth to the laundry room, jogging and walking, I already had 10,000 steps in!
We stopped to see the progress of the Skyliner and then got some PP photos at the entrance.
Once inside, our first stop today was at Starbucks/Trolley Car Cafe for some yummy stuff! I had a grande toasted white mocha a bacon, egg and Gouda sandwich and Muffin had a tall Mint Medley, some fresh fruit and a slice of lemon pound cake.
Now we were ready to start our touring!
We headed for Toy Story Land as we had a FP+ for Alien Swirling Saucers. All I can say is thank goodness we did!!
While this area is beautiful and very pleasing to the eye, it is so congested and the stand by lines were already ridiculous for all three attractions!! Even the character meet and greets had lines outside of the area! The other problem is, as others have said, there is no shade!
While that was fine for us with a nice morning, I have to say that I am not looking forward to returning here in June with Logan. : I am very glad that we came first thing. We rode Alien Swirling Saucers, which is cute and beautifully themed, but honestly reminded us of the Tilt aWhirl at the shore. Like Dumbo, the ride lasts about a minute and a half.
We did get some cute PP photos and pictures and then beat it the heck out of there! On the way out, we checked out the line for TSMM and the standby by was at 65 minutes. No thanks.
We headed over to RNRC next. Muffin doesn’t ride, but had some business calls to make and told me to go ahead and get in the single rider line. The standby wait was posted at 75 minutes but I could tell it was much less than that. In reality, it took about 40 minutes and I was on another limo ride with one of my favorite bands!!
I found Muffin easily when I got off the attraction and we went over to ToT for our second FP+.
After going to the Twilight Zone, we headed for the Muppets. We stopped for some PP photos on the way:
Then we took a few photos along the way:
When we were being seated, the CM specifically said to go 3/4 of the way down your row so we did. This really not nice lady in back of us walked all the way to the end of her row, stepping over other people and loudly told her kids that some people just don’t follow directions. I so wanted to turn around and say something to her but Muffin gave me the stink eye and I didn’t do it. Anyway! The show was adorable as always!
Next we made our way over to our last FP+ of the day for Star Tours. We got a really cool sequence that we hadn’t seen before so that was fun.
We browsed in the gift shop but didn’t see anything we wanted and decided that we had done everything that we wanted to at DHS and made our way out to go back to OKW for lunch and a swim.
Since we so enjoyed breakfast at Olivia’s, we thought we would try lunch here today and it was again really good. This place is truly a hidden gem! Our server was Nate and he was terrific! We split a BLT turkey club and a Sauvignon Blanc and it was totally enough for both of us!
We then walked back to our room and put our swimsuits on and went swimming at the main pool for about an hour. It was refreshing and delightful as it was another hot day!
We had a late night tonight so after our swim, we went back to the room for a rest.
Next: Party For the Senses!!!!!
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Last edited by Tara O'Hara; 12-29-2018 at 04:59 AM..
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That looks like a fun day! We've not seen Toy Story Land ourselves, but from everything I've heard from people who've been since it opens, it just doesn't seem to have a good design to it with long lines and no shade.
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What a fun day at DHS! I agree with you about Toy Story Land being way to congested for the crowds that visit there each day. Maybe when Star Wars opens it might be less crowded. I am definitely trying Olivia's after your great reviews. It sounds like you totally enjoyed your stay at OKW!
Another great update Tara! I love to resort hop but have never made it to OKW. I definitely want to make it there on our next trip and eat at Olivia's.
You know I love Starbucks for breakfast! Your photos remind me how much I love the holiday decorations at DHS. I can't believe how much you all got done in your morning at the park. Great job!
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It's too bad that you couldn't use your Space Mountain fastpass. You're so lucky that you can ride the teacups. I can't even look at the ride when it's in operation without feeling a bit sick.
Your meal at the CG looked delicious and how nice that you got your server Didi from the Flying Fish!
The Contemporary is also my favorite resort! We have never eaten at California Grill though. It's to pricey for us plus Tom's way too picky to eat there. Looking forward to more!
Dinner looked fabulous! 
Shame Space Mountain was down, but apart from that, what a great time. Love that you had a change of clothes in the car for the Cali Grill - good thinking! 
: I am very glad that we came first thing. We rode Alien Swirling Saucers, which is cute and beautifully themed, but honestly reminded us of the Tilt aWhirl at the shore. Like Dumbo, the ride lasts about a minute and a half.
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I am definitely trying Olivia's after your great reviews. It sounds like you totally enjoyed your stay at OKW!
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