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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
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After a rather eventful drive, we finally made it to Walt Disney World yesterday!
We left home early in the morning, as always, and it rained almost the whole way down. Luckily, the rain was light and not a bother at all.
I remarked to my wife how empty I-95 seemed today, and how much progress we had been making, only a while later to find I-95 completely blocked by an overturned truck in Brunswick, Georgia. After waiting an hour and a half for the road to be cleared, we were on our way.
When we got to the I-4 turnoff, we found it was closed due to an accident. After a little detour further down I-95, we cut across SR 44 to rejoin I-4.
We finally arrived at Bay Lake Tower at the Contemporary Resort around 1:30 pm, but our room wasn't ready until 3:15 PM.
We got a Magic Kingdom view room on the 7th floor South side. We look straight out at Seven Seas Lagoon with the Grand Floridian in the center.
To the left is the Contemporary with the new, huge Mickey wreath. To the right is the MK, with a great view of the Castle and Space Mountain.
It was cool, cloudy and overcast yesterday, but the weather is supposed to get up into the upper 70's later this week.
Our dinner reservations this week are:
Sat - The Wave at the CR
Sun - Citricos at the GF
Mon - Narcoossee's at the GF
Tue - Liberty Tree Tavern at the MK (followed by MVMCP)
Wed - Kona Cafe at the Poly (after the DVC Annual Meeting)
Thu - California Grill at the CR (after the Merry Member Mixer)
Fri - would have been V&A at the GF, but we cancelled it and will probably eat offsite that night
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I watched Wishes last night from my balcony, then woke up early to gaze out at the beatiful morning.
Although I greatly enjoyed the Lake View on my last trip, I think I prefer the MK view - it's priceless.
We really enjoyed our meal at The Wave last night. This was our third time eating there. It's a great casual TS where we both walk away satisfied. I enjoyed some organic beer and the flank steak. My wife was actually able to order off the menu (the vegetable stew), since it didn't have any gluten, soy, etc in it.
We'll eat there everytime we stay at BLT, since it's so conveniently close.
Great to hear from you! Maybe we'll see you there, as we're flying in on Thursday afternoon - we'll be at Bay Lake Tower, so maybe our paths will cross?
So glad to hear that the MK view is worth it. We have a 2 bedroom villa reservation for August 2010, 8 nights. It is alot of points but we had alot banked. Is the south side near the elevators where the path to the Contemporary is? I saw a map and it said south elevators near the path. I want to make a room request if this is the case.
So glad to hear that the MK view is worth it. We have a 2 bedroom villa reservation for August 2010, 8 nights. It is alot of points but we had alot banked. Is the south side near the elevators where the path to the Contemporary is? I saw a map and it said south elevators near the path. I want to make a room request if this is the case.
My DW loves the Magic Kingdom view at Bay Lake Tower so much that she told me to sell some of our points at the other resorts so we could own more BLT points. She says the MK view is so much better than the Lake View. When we stayed in a Lake View room, she never just sat and stared out at the view. Here, she can't get enough of the view.
We watched Holiday Wishes last night from our balcony. Wow! I love the end where they fill the sky horizontally across the park with fireworks. We're going to MVMCP tomorrow night, so we'll looking forward to seeing Holiday Wishes while sitting in front of the Castle.
Based upon this stay, my new ranking of the best DCV views is:
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Maybe we'll see you there, as we're flying in on Thursday afternoon - we'll be at Bay Lake Tower, so maybe our paths will cross? 
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