Going north, south, east and west! **Updated 1/25** - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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That's great to hear. I don't think you'll be disappointed and I genuinely believe that every Disney fan who's able to should go to Disneyland at least once, as it was the park that started it all.
I've actually been there, but it was 20 years ago, and it's SO different now. And I know so much more now that I would appreciate it more.
Great update!! That drawing of Mary Poppins is simply beautiful!! WOW! (I also love the expression on her face in the photo that you took, while Mark was waiting) Can't wait to hear more
This is so great! I totally agree about Pirates...it is phenomenal at DL, isn't it? I'm so glad you liked the HM all decked out with Jack. We fell in love with it when we were there. I can't wait to see it again. Your pictures are, as usual, fantabulous! Back to your TR...I need to catch up...
Monday 27 October – part six: a great meal with good friends
We got off at Downtown Disney and walked back through it. It’s a shame that the Grand Californian doesn’t have its own monorail stop, as it’s quite a walk from the Downtown Disney one.
We got some Sprite and Coke on the way back to the room, as we were gasping for a drink and then we had some down time. We were finally able to get shots of the monorail coming through underneath us, which was pretty neat.
We were going to go and see the parade in Disneyland, but we both decided that we were just too tired, so we spent the time relaxing, which was probably a good plan, as it had been a busy day so far.
We headed down to the Napa Rose for dinner with Carrie (Elastigirl) and her DH Patrick, just a few minutes before we were due there, as it was only about a three minute walk from our room. How cool is that?
After taking a few photos outside, Mark spotted two people inside that he thought could be Carrie and Patrick and with my poor eyesight with my glasses on, I thought it might be there. It was, as Carrie came across the second we entered.
It was so funny, as the first words from Carrie were “nice to see you” and I had to think, replying “It’s great to meet you” and it was then that we both realised we hadn’t met before. That’s what I love about the boards. When you meet someone for the first time, you feel like you’ve already met them.
We were taken straight through to our table and they really weren’t busy at all, which fitted in with our experience today in the parks.
After lots of chatting, finally our server was able to get our order out of us. I went for the grilled black grouper with parsnip puree and lobster butter, but asked them to leave out the cabernet braised beef cheeks. Mark had the sautéed veal loin with chanterelles, tiny green beans and Yukon gold potatoes. None of us had appetisers or started, as we noticed they were called on the menu. Very unusual to see that in America. Mine was superb, I really couldn’t fault it at all and I got similar feedback from Mark.
As for our server, he was amazing. He was very attentive and, when he heard Carrie say (very quietly as well ) that perhaps we should have dessert at the Haagen Dazs store, but she didn’t know when it closed, he went to find out for her immediately, doing them out of a dessert order from us in the process, but he didn’t mind at all. Our bill came to $85 and a very good tip for our server and then we headed out for the Haagen Dazs store.
Napa Rose:
Entrée 10 10
Service 10 10
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 9½ 9
Average score: 9.56
Once there, Carrie and Patrick treated us to dessert. My, we were spoilt for choice there, but eventually I settled on Bailey’s ice cream. Very traditional, I know. It was a bit richer than we get at home, which doesn’t surprise me anymore, as I know from previous experience that tends to be the case.
We walked back to the Grand Californian and sat in front of the fire there, eating our ice cream, which was really neat. It was so nice to be able to spend some time in that beautiful lobby, with people who had already come to be great friends in the course of a couple of hours. Sadly, we had say goodbye to them all too soon, then we headed back to the room and off to bed.
Today we walked 5.39 miles The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the 80’s. The best thing today was the Nemo ride and the Haunted Mansion Holiday version. The worst thing today was the line at Pixie Hollow. The funniest thing today was Mark with the characters. Today we tried the new Nemo Submarine voyage And the result was it was amazing. The most magical moment today was meeting Mickey in his Halloween gear.
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Wow, the Napa Rose restaurant looks beautiful! I'd love to dine there someday. Glad to hear you guys had a great time together. Aren't PP meets the best! Can't wait to read more about your trip!
I just the photopass picture with you sitting on the curb next to Mickey!!! That's one of the cutest ones yet. . . . . How nice to have another great meal with fellow PP's. Are you keeping track of how many PP's you've met this trip?
I love the views from your room! DH wants to stay at GC next time we go if we can swing it. Do they consider that a park view room?
Thanks for the report on Napa Rose. That's one place DH and I really want to try, but since we had the girls with us last time we were at DLR we decided to save it for another time when it could be just he and I.
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My Happy Place
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"When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable." ~ Walt Disney
I just the photopass picture with you sitting on the curb next to Mickey!!! That's one of the cutest ones yet. . . . . How nice to have another great meal with fellow PP's. Are you keeping track of how many PP's you've met this trip?
I've come up with 22 - and no, I'm not naming all of them! - but I think that's about right.
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I don't think you'll be disappointed and I genuinely believe that every Disney fan who's able to should go to Disneyland at least once, as it was the park that started it all. 
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Aren't PP meets the best! 
Great pictures!! 
the photopass picture with you sitting on the curb next to Mickey!!! That's one of the cutest ones yet. . . . . 
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
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