From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 93 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Oops, I commented a bit too early. Didn't see 2 more updates Time for me to call it a night I think
Loved your funny commentary about Captain Clueless and having your own private viewing of Illuminations from the other side of everyone else Lovely that Cali Grill really wanted to celebrate your 20th. Just sorry to hear Mark wasn't feeling too good. Hope things improved for him.
Oops, I commented a bit too early. Didn't see 2 more updates Time for me to call it a night I think
Oh trust me, been there, done that before!
Quote:
Loved your funny commentary about Captain Clueless and having your own private viewing of Illuminations from the other side of everyone else Lovely that Cali Grill really wanted to celebrate your 20th. Just sorry to hear Mark wasn't feeling too good. Hope things improved for him.
Sunday 5 March – part one: who is that knocking at 8:30am on a Sunday?
We were up early, which is just as well, as there was a knocking at our door at 8:30am on a Sunday! What the…. I wondered if it was housekeeping, and figured if it was, they had a darned nerve. However, worse than that, it was a guy with our receipt in his hand. I couldn’t believe it! I was so shocked that I didn’t have time to say anything, but honestly Disney, don’t you email everything these days? Why on earth do you have someone banging on people’s doors when they could still be asleep? It’s really not on.
We called bell services, and he got loaded up, while Mark went to get the car, and I followed along slowly, taking photos as I went.
We made our way out, and over to the Grand Floridian…
I said we’d valet park, as self parking is just so far away here.
We headed inside, and admired the lobby. I never cease to be blown away by it. It’s beautiful.
We got a bit lost trying to find the entrance to 1900 Park Fare, as the last time we were here, you walked in right by the entrance to the lobby, but that’s now the exit – for reasons we would eventually work out. You now walk through the lobby, turn left, and it’s right by the shop, and the Grand Floridian Café.
Once again, we were asked to give an American cell phone number. Well tough – I didn’t charge it, so I don’t have one. We were told to take a seat, and now we know how they spot those sitting around… look at this!
We didn’t get a chance to go up to the buffet straight away, as Tigger bounced by…
I did ask him whether he’d bounced Eeyore, and upset him again, and was that why he wasn’t there, but he assured me he hadn’t. Ok, I just about believe you Tigger…
Finally, I could go up for some food, and there was a very expansive selection here…
I was particularly pleased they had the strawberry soup, which I love, although I thought the way you got it was a bit odd.
Mary Poppins was the next up, and she soon recognised our accents, and asked whether we’d travelled over by umbrella. We told her we had, and it was a painfully slow journey, something she could sympathise with. She asked us if we’d been out recently dancing on the rooftops of London, and I asked her how on earth you can dance on some of the new skyscrapers like the Shard. Her reaction? “Positively awful place”! How perfectly Mary Poppins!
Alice was up next, and we had a great time with her as well, particularly when she found out we were actually drinking tea, and the proper British stuff! She told us she preferred “curiosi… tea” – get it? Very good!
Now I’d asked for some egg benedict to be done for me without the ham earlier on, and I was told it was no problem, and they’d bring it over to me. Time ticked by, and after being told it would be “two or three minutes”, and we were closer to 10, I asked our server to find out what had happened. I suspect that they’d forgotten completely about it, as eventually it came out with apologies. Oops… It was nice, but honestly, not worth the wait, as the eggs weren’t that runny.
Our final character to rotate through the meal was Pooh…
Now there was one final character, the Mad Hatter, who posed for photos on the way out. He was a lot of fun, but I was a bit annoyed with the Photopass photographer. He snapped loads and loads of photos of the group in front, including all their interaction together, but he only took our “formal” photos. What? It does annoy me when they do that.
1900 Park Fare
Food 9 9
Service 7˝ 8˝
Atmosphere 9 9
Value for money 8 9
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I've never eaten at 1900 Park Fare but the buffet selection looked delicious. I love all the characters that they have at this buffet too. Your interactions with Mary Poppins and Alice were classic. I just booked a trip at Boulder Ridge for January which will be a first time for us so I really enjoyed seeing your pictures.
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I've never eaten at 1900 Park Fare but the buffet selection looked delicious. I love all the characters that they have at this buffet too. Your interactions with Mary Poppins and Alice were classic. I just booked a trip at Boulder Ridge for January which will be a first time for us so I really enjoyed seeing your pictures.
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So the Mad Hatter doesn't come table to table anymore? He was the highlight of our last breakfast there. He had the kids misbehaving (blowing bubbles in their milk and the like) and Mary Poppins came over and really set him straight. The kids thought that was hilarious.
So the Mad Hatter doesn't come table to table anymore?
sadly not.
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He was the highlight of our last breakfast there. He had the kids misbehaving (blowing bubbles in their milk and the like) and Mary Poppins came over and really set him straight. The kids thought that was hilarious.
It was a long, long time ago, but I seem to remember Mary Poppins was the one who didn't come to the tables on our last visit.
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Time for me to call it a night I think 
Lovely that Cali Grill really wanted to celebrate your 20th. Just sorry to hear Mark wasn't feeling too good. Hope things improved for him.
PassPorter Guide Author
I wondered if it was housekeeping, and figured if it was, they had a darned nerve. However, worse than that, it was a guy with our receipt in his hand. I couldn’t believe it! 
I was so shocked that I didn’t have time to say anything, but honestly Disney, don’t you email everything these days? Why on earth do you have someone banging on people’s doors when they could still be asleep? It’s really not on. 
Very good! 
It does annoy me when they do that. 
1900 Park Fare!!
I love all the characters that they have at this buffet too. Your interactions with Mary Poppins and Alice were classic.
sadly not. 
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