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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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My dh and I are planning to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary in Disney in May 2009 (I know, I know, I'm planning a little early...our 14 year anniversary was just last week! But, I figure, I'm under 365 days out, so better get started!). Anyway, we have always been more enchanted with the Magic Kingdom than Epcot. But, I've heard so many good things from all of you guys about Epcot (heck, just reading the TRs from mestitch is enough to make ANYBODY want to spend some time at Epcot!) and I want to plan an evening there. We will probably only get 2 nights in WDW total (we have 3 young children who we will be leaving with their grandparents, so our time is limited!), so each one needs to be extra-special. If you had to plan a fun and romantic night in Epcot, what would you do? Where would you eat? Where would you watch Illuminations? (BTW, as many times as I've been to WDW, I've never seen Illuminations!) Anything else you can think of?
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While I wouldnt say the rose and crown is an exaclty romantic dinner place, the outside tables cant be beat for the illuminations show.
Lecellier is an excellent choice for a nice dinner and so is Italy.
For a romantic dinner, I recommend the San Angel Inn. If you ask for a table by the water, the ambience is especially incredible. After all, what could be more romantic than dining in a starlit Mexican plaza with a Mayan pyramid and smoking volcano in the background. For a very special Illuminations experience, I suggest booking an Illuminations cruise. Your boat captain will take you on a short cruise around the lake first before settling into a lovely viewing spot for Illuminations.
Joy
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Congrats on your upcoming anniversary! My DH and I will be celebrating our 20th next year at WDW, so I can definitely empathize with the whole "planning ahead" thing - I already have a list of ADRs ready to go and I can't even book the trip for another few months
From personal experience, I would definitely recommend Le Cellier for a romantic dinner at Epcot - my only caution on that is to try to get an ADR for at least 2 1/2 hours before Illuminations starts so you'll have plenty of time to enjoy your meal and find a good place to watch Illuminations. On our last trip, we weren't seated at Le Cellier until 45 minutes after our ADR time, and we felt like we had to rush so we wouldn't miss Illuminations!
On the other hand, if you're looking for something fun and different, have you considered Restaurant Marrakesh? The entertainment sounds great, and I've heard nothing but good things about the food. We're going to give it a try for the first time during our trip next June!
Slightly OT, our anniversary dinner will be at California Grill - I figure we can splurge since it's our 20th
Good luck deciding, and have a magical anniversary trip!
- Laurie
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Laurie (aka LeapDayBaby) having a blast with Mickey and Goofy at Epcot, August 2006
Seven trips to WDW (1975, 1982, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2013, 2014)! Next trip: Soon, I hope! I've been jingled! Thanks Sandy!
I would definitely watch Illuminations - it really is a stunning show. As for dining, we enjoyed our meals at Chefs de France and Tutto Italia - I wouldn't say either are overly romantic, but then, I'm struggling to think of any restaurant that is at Epcot. We just love wandering around World Showcase in the evening, taking everything in and visiting each country in turn. That's one of the special things to us about Epcot.
Thanks for the comment in your post I do LOVE Epcot and see it as the most romantic place that we spend our time. While I will say that I think Le Cellier is a GREAT choice for a nice romantic meal I will add that we are planning on the Bistro de Paris for our 5th wedding anniversary this year. It'll actually BE our anniversary night and we want it to be special. We've never eaten here but I've heard good things about it.
And YES DEFINITELY see Illuminations. We enjoy grabbing a spot somewhere between the UK and France. Those places get grabbed up but you could grab a spot, grab some champagne, and sit with your sweetie until the show begins.
And that'll be during the Flower and Garden Festival next year so take a little time to stop and "smell the roses" so to speak
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My DH and I think Epcot is an incredibly romantic place, particularly world showcase. Take the time to stroll together and really look at the amazing theming. Stop to watch the performances in each country as you go. Indulge and buy yourself a drink or a snack and sit together somewhere and eat it. Go out on the Isola in Italy, watch the sun dance across the water and remember why you fell in love. Wherever you choose to eat, if you're seated at a 4 person table, sit together on the same side of the table and create your own little space.
I have to agree with others here that the atmosphere in Mexico (San Angel Inn) can't be beaten for romance. That dim, cool lighting with the river in front of you is pretty darn amazing. However, it all depends on your budget and the kind of food that you like.
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Originally Posted by LeapDayBaby
On the other hand, if you're looking for something fun and different, have you considered Restaurant Marrakesh? The entertainment sounds great, and I've heard nothing but good things about the food. We're going to give it a try for the first time during our trip next June!
Just a personal experience here...my DH and I ate at Marrakesh for dinner at Christmas, planning on a romantic dinner together. We were placed at a tiny table sandwiched in between other parties. The noise level prohibited conversation, and we found ourselves enduring our neighbors' conversations as we hurried to finish dinner. It may have been an anomaly - I've had great meals there before - but it definitely was NOT romantic.
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But when grabbing a spot for Illuminations be mindful of the wind direction. Once we had a wonderful crepe in France that got covered with firework soot b/c of the wind, not too romantic...or tasty.
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Melissa and Andy, Charleston SC, February 2008.
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Coming up: July 2010 - Animal Kingdom Lodge for Mel's 30th Birthday!!!!!
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Thanks, everyone! I'm not sure yet what we'll do, but I really appreciate your input! At this point in life, just being in the same room together and getting to spend time focusing on each other will be absolutely wonderful! I'm really, really looking forward to this trip AND to our Epcot evening! Thanks again!
One of our first trips to WDW as a couple had my husband and I eating at San Angel Inn. I researched the menu before we went so I knew that it was not going to be sterotypical Mexican food, which helped out a lot. I absolutely loved what I, and my boyfriend at the time ordered! I thought the atmosphere was incredibly relaxing and romantic as well. That night we watched Illuminations and were lucky enough to grab a bench to ourselves. That is the only night that sticks out from that trip because it was so very perfect. Do not worry about planning "too early" I love the planning part because it gets me pumped up for the trip!
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!). Anyway, we have always been more enchanted with the Magic Kingdom than Epcot. But, I've heard so many good things from all of you guys about Epcot (heck, just reading the TRs from mestitch is enough to make ANYBODY want to spend some time at Epcot
!) and I want to plan an evening there. We will probably only get 2 nights in WDW total (we have 3 young children who we will be leaving with their grandparents, so our time is limited!), so each one needs to be extra-special. If you had to plan a fun and romantic night in Epcot, what would you do? Where would you eat? Where would you watch Illuminations? (BTW, as many times as I've been to WDW, I've never seen Illuminations!) Anything else you can think of?
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- I already have a list of ADRs ready to go and I can't even book the trip for another few months 
I've been jingled! Thanks Sandy!
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Thanks for the comment in your post 
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