Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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02-11-2005, 04:00 PM
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#61
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PassPorter Message Board Manager PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Great addition Marie - and I love your new signature pic!
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Sponsored links
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02-11-2005, 08:07 PM
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#62
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Hurry with more please!!!
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02-11-2005, 08:10 PM
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#63
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Great updates ladies Love the pictures too More please
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02-11-2005, 11:32 PM
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#64
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Posts: 27,691
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Thanks for your update, Marie!
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02-12-2005, 12:14 AM
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#65
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,478
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
[ QUOTE ]
Come on, Nancy! They need a picture of Mr. Whiskie!
[/ QUOTE ]
I was thinking the same thing, Lynn. No one got a picture of him, but I searched around online and found one of him!! Who's cuter than this??? Mr. Whiskie!!!!
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02-12-2005, 12:38 AM
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#66
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Great updates . . . you all sound like so much fun to hang out with!!!
Enjoying every hilarious word and photo (and Mr. Whiskie is too cute!!! )
More please!!!
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02-12-2005, 12:56 AM
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#67
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,478
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
That's a lovely picture!! Which I richly deserve after putting you through that night with me!
[/ QUOTE ]
Uhhh - Lynn - is there something I should know about being Tara's roomie??????
[/ QUOTE ]
Just tell her to "BACK AWAY FROM THE CORONAS!"
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02-12-2005, 01:07 AM
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#68
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,478
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Cindy and Tina, I'd love to hear about your visits to Amish country and, in your case Tina, their visits to your neck of the woods.
Hi Marie and Janine, glad to see you have both recovered from Passporteritis. What scares me is the four of you got a nasty dose of something. How did I manage to dodge that bullet?
Crystal and Chez, thanks so much for your generous compliments. (Did I mention what good taste you all have?)
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02-12-2005, 09:53 AM
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#69
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Posts: 7,478
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
We returned to our rooms at the hotel to freshen up for dinner. This didn't require much, as much to my delight, dinner was a casual affair. I am always happiest when dressing up is not required. I can do it when I have to, and it's fun for about an hour, but after that I get a little antsy to get back into my jeans. We had reservations for 7:30 at Ralph's, a nearby Italian place. We decided to cab it, but since the cabs would only fit four people, we made the decision to split into groups of three and two. Tara and Janine grabbed the first one, Marie, Lynn and I followed in the second. It was a short ride and then we were at Ralph's. I felt comfortable instantly. (Thanks Lynn, for choosing and making the reservations at such a great place. ) Ralph's is a small brick rowhouse building and lays claim to being the country's oldest family-owned Italian restaurant. It's been serving meals to Philly for over 100 years! It's even been featured on The Food Network! The joint was hopping when we entered, and as we had about a five minute wait, we walked up to the bar on the second floor for beverages. When faced with this question I almost always go into crisis mode. "What should I have? What should I have??" I always feel like I need to try something new and delicious. I let everyone else order first so I could use the extra time to think....margarita? nah...cosmo? nah...wine? possibly...well, I ended up spazzing out and just ordering my usual Corona with a wedge of lime. We barely had our drinks in hand, when we were being called to our table on the third floor. I liked it there very much. The atmosphere was perfect, not as loud or as crowded as downstairs and very attentive service. We had a couple of young waiters who were just adorable. The first one, Sam, tried to give me a pronounciation lesson when I ordered the "gnocci." "It's enyawki" he said. The more I tried to pronounce it correctly, the less success I had. My tongue didn't want to cooperate. But that was okay, he got my order correct and that was what mattered. Tara and Janine also had coronas, and I believe Lynn and Marie both ordered wine. Then, one of the waiters tried to show me some neat trick where you put the lime wedge in the bottle, stick your thumb in, and then turn it upside down. I don't know what's suppose to happen, but I gave it a try anyway. I am such a goober. I did something incorrectly and managed to give everyone a laugh at my expense. That was okay too, the beer was great! Anyway....
Tara suggested we try the...was it grilled peppers?...for a starter. It was so tasty! I don't remember everyone's entrees, but Lynn, who was seated next to me, ordered a chicken in mozzerella and white wine and butter sauce that was to die for! After we had been eating for a while she made the mistake of offering everyone some of her plate (the servings were a good size). I tried one bite of her chicken, and I couldn't stop eating it! It was that good! Backing up a bit, before we were served our meals, the other young waiter saw us getting ready to take a group picture and offered to take one for us. You can see the results in Tara's signature photo. He did a great job! Before coffee and dessert Tara and I each had one more corona. Then young waiter number two came by with the dessert menu and we each ordered something different so we could all have a taste of different, yummy desserts. I know I had a cannoli, Janine had an incredible chocolate cake, Lynn had an oreo pie, and I'm drawing a blank on Marie and Tara's dessert. Anyway, we had our coffee and dessert and then went outside to wait for our cabs to bring us back to the hotel. I remember chatting at length with Marie while waiting for our cab. We discovered that in some ways our lives are quite similar. It's funny, because long before we ever met, I use to read Marie's posts, especially her TRs, and I would think "I bet we'd get along great if we ever met." I was absolutely right too!
So back to the hotel we went, and the decision was unanimous that we would stop in the hotel pub for a couple more before calling it a night. When we got inside, it was sort of quiet, which was perfect for us to sit and chat. We were told to sit wherever we felt like, and we ended up at a table by the ceiling to floor plate glass windows that gave us a view of downtown Philly at night. Now, I was still drinking coronas, as was Janine. I'm pretty sure T had switched to Sam Adams. The joke now was, the lime wedges served here were too fat to squeeze into my bottle. Janine was having none of that and managed to force squish her lime wedge into her bottle. For some reason (probably the three beers I'd already had) I found this quite hilarious. I think at this point they asked us to move down one table, as much to Tara's delight, they were getting ready to set up for karaoke. Ugh! This is one thing, IMO, the Japanese got so wrong! I am not a fan of karaoke. Well for some reason, it took them forever to set up, and so we managed to have a great, long chat. I do remember discussing singers we do and do not like. I remember Lynn and I agreeing on a big thumbs down for Celine Dion. I remember mentioning that the nasal whining of Shania Twain makes me homocidal. (She is very popular, very pretty and her life story is very inspirational - so if I've offended anyone, let me know when to duck please.) Tara had some comical "old boyfriend" stories that she shared with us too. I know I'm missing lots of other interesting bits here, so once again I'm counting on the other ladies to fill in the gaps. A couple of limeless coronas later, I knew I needed to call it a night. Lynn was ready to crash also, so we bid the others goodnight and headed upstairs to get our beauty sleep. This bar was on the smokey side too, which had a terrible effect on just about all of us. I couldn't get away from that fast enough. When I reached my room I called home to check in and update Paul on all the fun I was having, and to make sure the house was still standing. For three guys on their own, they did alright! Chris even got on the phone and asked me how to put fabric softener in the rinse cycle - he did laundry!! I should go away more often. I am calling on the others to fill you in on what happened at the pub after Lynn and I left. Lynn and Tara will have to provide the details of the rest of their evening, as they shared a room. All I can tell you is, after perhaps a bit too much ale, Tara got "the flu". The next morning, when I got out of the shower, the other girls told me that Lynn had not gotten much sleep that night.
At this point, I already felt, and I'm sure the others did too, like we'd had about five Passporter meets rolled into one day. It was awesome - and we hadn't even done the official meet in Allentown yet!
Coming up: THE ALLENTOWN PASSPORTER MEET!!!
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02-12-2005, 09:57 AM
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#70
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PassPorter Message Board Manager PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Wow - what a great night you guys had! I can't wait to read about the "official" meet, but I agree - it sounds like you've already been through a heap of meets so far!
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02-12-2005, 10:42 AM
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#71
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: second star to the right
Posts: 13,308
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Next time I am definately not going to miss the premeet!! Great so far!! So Tara had too much ale...gee, I had NO idea!!
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02-12-2005, 01:32 PM
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#72
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Another great update Nancy! Sounds like quite the evening you ladies had
Hurry back wtih more
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02-12-2005, 01:53 PM
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#73
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: North Central Ohio
Posts: 21,629
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Awwwww Tara, I'm so disappointed.....you can't hold your beer! You'll just have to practice more!
Looking forward to more!!!
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02-12-2005, 01:57 PM
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#74
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Robbinsdale, MN
Posts: 7,526
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
Oh my gosh, what a weekend!! Great updates, everyone -- and love the pictures. Mr. Whiskie is so darn cute!!
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02-12-2005, 03:38 PM
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#75
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Community Rank: Legend
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Michigan's Upper Peninsula
Posts: 27,691
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Re: The Philadelphia Story
What a fun night you all had. Uh, Tara, where's your update to this evening?????
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