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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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10-03-2006, 08:50 AM
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#121
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Thirteen - Updated Oct. 3
Great update Joy and a great dinner [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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10-03-2006, 09:03 AM
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#122
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Thirteen - Updated Oct. 3
Sounds like another great day!!
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10-03-2006, 10:11 AM
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#123
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Songtan, South Korea
Posts: 4,681
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Thirteen - Updated Oct. 3
What a great day. That red carpet event must have been neat to see. You accomplished a lot in a short amount of time!
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10-10-2006, 12:19 PM
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#124
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Community Rank: Globetrotter 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: California
Posts: 3,878
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Thirteen - Updated Oct. 3
Just getting caught up again. Your trip sounds like you had alot of fun. There is still no shade at SW, bummer, that's a shame. I have not been there in years but that was also the one big draw back for us.
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10-11-2006, 10:58 PM
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#125
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Go Red Sox!! :D
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Rhode Island - Red Sox Nation
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 27,451
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Thirteen - Updated Oct. 3
Sounds like a great day! You managed to get a lot done in the morning!! Catching the Teacher Awards & the characters in formal wear must have been a site to see!
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10-12-2006, 01:46 AM
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#126
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
This morning we were to try the last of DLR's character breakfasts so we ambled over to the Paradise Pier Hotel early in the morning for the first seating of the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. Although it was a nice meal, it was by far the worst of our character meal experiences. It had about half the characters we had become used to seeing at the other DLR character meals. During our breakfast, we saw Lilo, Stitch, Pluto, Max, and Minnie. All of them seemed to breeze through rather quickly. This was still a good character meal but just not quite up to the standard we had become used to at the other DLR meals. After breakfast we explored the grounds of the Paradise Pier Hotel and then took a stroll around the grounds of our own hotel, snapping some photos of all the beautiful surroundings.
We headed over to California Adventure at opening and rode Mike and Sully to the Rescue before catching the first show of Drawn to the Magic. It's a cute show with some opportunities for character meet and greets at the end of the show (Cinderella, Mickey and Woody). We saw Turtle Talk again - I really can't get enough of this highly entertaining presentation. Then we saw Aladdin one last time as well, this time from the mezzanine seating area. For an overall look of this fabulous show, I think this is probably the best of the viewing areas.
By the time Aladdin was over, it was time for us to scoot over to the Magic Kingdom for our Birthday Party at the Plaza Inn. Today was Kirk's birthday celebration so we had thought, what better way to celebrate than partying with Mickey and Minnie? The birthday party was a lot of fun, particularly so for children. It was hosted by Pat E. Cake, a very funny comedian who improvised all over the place. We got to decorate our own individual little birthday cakes and then the guests of honor arrived - Mickey and Minnie. The kids joined the Mice for a grand parade all around the outdoor patio of the restaurant and then Mickey and Minnie posed for photos with all the birthday folks. All in all, the party was a big hit.
We returned to our hotel for a nice break and then wandered over to California Adventure for our last kick at the can over there. We grabbed fastpasses for Soarin and then did the wine tasting experience. The CMs who supervise the wine tasting are very knowledgable and we learned a lot about different wines while trying some delicious new vintages. We visited the Tortilla Factory where Kirk was given a whole bag of tortillas in honor of his birthday. We also got to each taste a tortilla right then and there. I was surprised by how yummy a tortilla could be without even having any filling in it. We resisted breaking into the bag and demolishing more of the tortillas in order to save room for our scheduled special birthday dinner. I had saved this restaurant for Kirk's birthday celebration as I had expected it to be the best one we had tried. And I was not to be disappointed.
Dinner at the Napa Rose was nothing short of phenomenal. The ambience was calming and restful, the service was impeccable, and the food was amazing. Kirk had the "lamb two ways" and I had their short ribs. Our entrees were brilliantly presented and so mouthwateringly delicious that we practically scraped our plates clean. Kirk had the flourless chocolate cake for dessert and I had this fabulous strawberry confection. It consisted of 3 different strawberry desserts all served on a beautiful crystal platter. Kirk also tried a glass of wine from Diane Disney's winery. He pronounced it to be excellent.
We spent so long lingering over our fantastic dinner that we barely had time to zip over to ride Soarin before California Adventure closed. Then we returned to our room just in time to watch the fireworks from our "balcony." That viewing was particularly poignant as we both realized this would be the last time we would see the fireworks.
Joy
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10-12-2006, 02:39 AM
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#127
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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: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
I couldn't agree more about dinner at Napa Rose - that was one of the highlights of our trip. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] In a way, I feel better about having missed the Lilo and Stitch breakfast, having read your comments about it. I was really upset at the time, but I think we'd have probably been disappointed too, as we'd been so impressed with how many characters there were at all the other meals. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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10-12-2006, 08:33 AM
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#128
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 1,144
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
What a wonderful update! Happy Birthday to Kirk [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]
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10-12-2006, 09:33 AM
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#129
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
What a great day Joy, and so many birthday celebrations for Kirk [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/birthday.gif[/img] I'm glad it was a magical day [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
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10-12-2006, 10:23 AM
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#130
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
Sounds like a wonderful way to celebrate Kirk's birthday!! All your meals sounded so delicious!!!
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10-12-2006, 11:31 AM
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#131
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New York
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,960
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
Great update, Joy! Sorry you were disappointed with the Lilo & Stitch breakfast, but glad Napa Rose was a hit. Looking forward to more!
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10-12-2006, 04:42 PM
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#132
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Go Red Sox!! :D
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Rhode Island - Red Sox Nation
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 27,451
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
Sounds like a wonderful day, even though the characters ran through your breakfast!
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10-12-2006, 09:32 PM
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#133
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Songtan, South Korea
Posts: 4,681
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
Sounds like a wonderful birthday. I am glad I didn't schedule the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. Thanks for the review. Sorry you were a bit disappointed. Napa Rose sounds wonderful! Any more for us?
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10-14-2006, 05:36 PM
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#134
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Day Fourteen - Updated Oct. 12
I just caught up - and wow - your trip sounds phenomenal!!! Napa Rose was a yummy dinner for Cheryl and I when we were there in 2005 - and I just added Granvilles as a must do.
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10-18-2006, 12:01 AM
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#135
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,386
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Re: Dynamic Duo Tackle Disneyland - Last Day - Updated October 18
Since this was our last day and we'd had such a wonderful experience there before, we went to the Critter Breakfast over at the Grand Californian again this morning. Although we still had a nice time, it wasn't nearly as wonderful as the first time around. That only serves to demonstrate how quality at a character meal can fluctuate wildly. One difference this time lay in where we were seated in the restaurant. This time we were seated off to the side and away from the main area whereas on our first visit, we were right in the thick of the action. I heartily recommend that anyone interested in doing this meal requests a table in the main area.
We finished our breakfast quite early so while I returned to the hotel to finish packing, Kirk headed off to Fantasyland to do the early entry thing there. He arranged to meet me back at the hotel at 11:15 and in that short time, he managed to cram in Peter Pan, Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, It's a Small World, the Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean and two rides on his ultimate favorite, Haunted Mansion.
We then just relaxed around our hotel until time to go to the airport. For this trip, we used the Disneyland Express run by Grayline and got to the airport easily with no muss or fuss. We had used the early airport check-in service at Guest Services at our hotel so everything flowed very smoothly. I was also extremely impressed with both the efficiency and the friendliness of the security staff at LAX.
We had a pleasant flight home and I can safely say that both of us were extremely sad to be leaving DLR, even after two whole weeks.
Next up: Some final observations.
Joy
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