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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How does the Disney Cruise Line accommodate food allergies? We have booked our first-ever cruise for next year. My twins are allergic to eggs. When we go to Walt Disney World, I fill out an allergy form, alert it on our reservation, and remind them when we check in at the podium. We have never had a problem. How would this work for Disney Cruise Line?
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Last edited by Dave Marx; 05-06-2010 at 10:06 AM..
Reason: podcast05042010
When you do your on-line check-in (75 days out for first-timers), you fill out a medical information form (pdf attached) and mail it to DCL. Then, at your first dinner, I would talk to your head waiter, who follows you every night, and I'm sure they'd be more than willing to help.
At the buffets, don't be afraid to ask for help, everyone on the cruise really wants to help you have a good time.
We just took our first cruise in February and had to deal with this issue. My son is allergic to milk protein and peanuts. We filled out Disney's medical form and faxed it to them. When we check in I asked and they said they knew about the allergies and to talk to our waiters when we ate. That first night I mentioned it to our waiter and he brought over our head waiter/maitre 'd, Richard. Richard knew all about this before we ever showed up. He had already alerted the chef and told me there was nothing to worry about. He was right. The chef came out immediately and talked us through everything that first night. He asked my son what he wanted for dinner and he prepared it and it was served along with all of the other meals at our table. This included all courses. The day before we were headed to Castaway Cay Richard called our cabin and asked if we were going ashore. I told him we were and he said he knew what foods Jim likes and would have a special meal waiting for him. Unfortunately, the weather was too windy for us to dock, so we never made it to shore. The night we had a last meal onboard Richard had the chef prepare escargot and a chocolate cake just for my son because he know Jim wanted very much to try both but had never been able to due to his allergies.
After you check in you will be sent to a line for the Oceaneer Club or Lab. When we went over there I told them about the allergies because they occasionally prepare cookies or other snacks with the kids. They asked if Jim could bring an epi-pen whenever he checked in to play. One time I didn't sent it with him as he told me he didn't want to participate in any food activities. I got a call in my cabin requesting that I bring it by the club while he was there.
In the end, I think they were more conscientious about the allergy issue than I probably was. They were fantastic.
Yes, the DCL is amazingly thorough in their allergies check.
My sister has several and the very first day of our Cruise one of the head waitress came personally to interview her, get all the facts and kept coming every single meal during the cruise to make sure she was ok and everything was well. They are amazing! if you see their interest at the resort in the Cruise is magnified and more thorough.
Yes, if you do the form, you'll be set for the dining room. However, you still have to watch out at other venues.
On our cruise last year on RCI's Liberty of the Seas I accidentally got some pastry that had apple in it. I don't know how it got into the "unfilled" section, but it took me about two bites to say (keep lips together and push tongue to lips and roof of mouth) "Carol, does this look like apple?" Well, we found the sick bay, which is well equipped. The chief medical officer was from Columbia, but did his ER residency at Johns-Hopkins and spent a year at Ben Taub in Houston before going back to Columbia and then joining RCI. He said every ship in all of the major lines was similarly equipped and staffed.
So you still have to live life like always, watching what they eat.
Have fun, I know you will, so that's a wish, not a command.
My mom is allergic to Peaches and I am allergic to Bananas which seem odd to notify about but after dining at WDW at one of their restaurants and learning that they use banana puree in their cajun chicken soup we learned to tell everyone before hand so we avoid any issues.
When we cruised, we notified our servers and they were amazing both at Palo and in the main dining room for making sure our meals were prepared safely and very tasty! You would be surprised but we found at least 1 meal a night we had to avoid because something had either peaches or bananas tied to it.
They went out of their way though to make whatever we would like that was safe and never made us feel like we were causing them any trouble.
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