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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Every year I think I'm going to do this and every year I don't. We're still here and things are fresh in my mind..well, kinda...so I figured now is the time.
We left bright and early, actually make that dark and early, since it was around 5:45 am on Wednesday. We drove 15 hours to Lake City, Florida and stayed overnight. Traffic was probably the best we’ve encountered on I-75, and there was really very little construction.
Thursday morning we left Lake City around 7:00 am and drove to Orlando. We made it to our first resort, Coronado Springs, at 10:00 am. Our room wasn’t ready,so we walked around and checked the place out since this was our first time staying here.
We were getting hungry so we hopped in the car and headed to the Poly for some lunch at Captain Cooks. First meal after arriving at WDW has to be at the Poly. Tradition since I was little. Sitting out on the patio:
Sarah & Brent
Caleb
Emma
So cute.
Brent & kids
We went swimming/laid in the sun for most of the afternoon and then grabbed dinner (salads & sandwiches) at Rix. After we ate we sat down by the fountain and played cards. We were all beat from the long drive, so we went to bed early.
Friday was a pretty laid back day. We swam and laid out by the pool. Totally relaxing. Coronado Springs is a beautiful resort. We will definitely stay here again. Probably not a favorite for families with small kids who like a lot of action and Disney theming, but for us it was perfect.
Saturday was our first day at the parks, Magic Kingdom, of course. We hit all of our favorites.
Obligatory shot of the castle
Girls
Dole Whip! Wasn’t open yet, though.
Pirates
Brent & his turkey leg. As you can probably tell, crowds have been awesome. This was a Saturday morning! I love early May. Crowd levels are low and temps are HOT. It was 92 on this day. Perfect.
Churro time
Em
Me & Sarah – hair is wack, I know. I forgot my hairdryer and didn't figure out until our last day at CSR that the bag hanging on the closet rack had a hairdryer in it. DUH! Had fun anyway, stupid looking hair and all.
We really are having a great time. But it's kind of hard not to when you're at Disney.
Saturday we had dinner at Kouzzina. I was excited for this one. I love Greek food.
Kouzzina, for anyone who isn't familiar, is at the Boardwalk resort in the space formerly occupied by Spoodles, near the bakery.
It’s nice inside. Spacious dining room and big open kitchen with lots of action.
We started with fried calamari
Excellent. It was cooked perfectly tender, not chewy at all. It came with two dipping sauces, one very garlicky and the other slightly sweet and cinnamony. I loved the garlic, the cinnamon was okay, but a little odd with squid.
My entree, Spiced Briami. Oven roasted vegetables and mazithra cheese over herbed orzo. So good. The sauce is very rich and full of flavor and the vegetables were again roasted just right. I wavered between this and the cinnamon stewed chicken, and I'm glad I chose this.
Brent ordered the Kouzzina sampler (an appetizer) for his entree. He said it was so-so. I tried some of the hummus, and it was pretty bland. I had a small bite of pita, which was fantastic, warm and chewy. the tzatziki was also really, really good. Garlicky and some nice fresh dill flavor. I think he was a little disappointed at the small portions. He orders a sampler appetizer at one of our usual places at home and it's enough to feed two people as an entree. The portions at Kouzzina are small, but it didn't bother me much. I tend to eat smaller portions so my portion was plenty. I think people with big appetites might want to plan on an appetizer AND an entree.
In fairness, we live in a community with a large Middle Eastern population, and my best friend from college is Lebanese so we eat at family run restaurants, along with Teena’s family’s homemade Lebanese fare on a pretty regular basis. I think we’ve been spoiled. It’s hard to compete with a Palestinian grandma in the kitchen baking her own pita and culturing her own yogurt.
My brother had the same thing Brent did and he wasn’t overly impressed either. My sister-in-law is the most unadventurous eater alive and had a house salad. I, on the other hand, would totally go back again. I want to try the cinnamon stewed chicken.
Interestingly enough, while we were eating, the kitchen had pizza delivered, which was really funny to me for some reason.
We walked along the boardwalk for a while
And then returned to CSR and had gelato from Rix.
Coconut. Highlight of my night. This was my first experience with gelato and it will not be my last. This was incredible.
I’m glad we tried Kouzzina, but I think I'm the only one who really liked it. I still hope to eat there again.
Coming next - EPCOT on Sunday and Disney Hollywood Studios on Monday...we're off to Sanaa in a little while for dinner! They have a vegan menu for Emma, which she's very happy about.
I'm so glad you are writing a report! I can't believe how warm it was for you. I am so tired of freezing here in Ohio, it seems like it will never warm up.
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Pixie Dust
for the review. I can't wait to hear what you all think of Sanaa, one of my new favorites.
Susan
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