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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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We were supposed to be going to Disney next month, but once again plans were stomped on....I will not get into the heartbreak, serious tragedy, and ultimate reconcilliation that brought us to this point other than to say our #1 reason for going will be for Mark to reunite with his sister and father whom he hasnt actually seen in 20 and 25 years respectively. This reunion will take place in Houghton Lake, MI for a couple of days, but then we are on to Frankenmuth near where Mark gew up, but since it has been so long since he has been home, we arent sure what it is like now...Sooooo, has anyone been recently or within the last couple of years? What must we do and see while there? We are going to be staying at the Bavarian Inn for a couple of days,so will be right in the middle of Frankenmuth, I think, lol. We will then be off to Sandusky, Ohio to spend a little time at Cedar Point, something Mark insists the kids experience since we will be so close to it anyway(btw, if there are any ride favorites you can suggest, Id appreciate it)
Sorry to ramble...
TIA
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We go all the time. It's little obsession of ours. We have been known to drive 3 hours for the all you can eat chicken dinner at Zehnders.
In the summer time I think they have a boat you can go on near the Riverplace shopping.
Under the Bavarian Inn Restaruant ( unfortunatly, not connected to the actual hotel) and downstairs at Zehnders there are some nice little boutique shops. Up and down the main strip around these to restaurants there is more little stores. Don't forget Bronners "Christmas store". If you've never been it is something to check out. If you can't find it there, it doesn't exist. lol
If you like cheese you can go to the "Cheese Haus" and try chocolate cheese. I'm not kidding either. (I'm not a fan but DH really liked it).
If you really like to shop, BirchRun outlets are only 10 minutes away off the I-75.
The chicken dinner is better at Zhenders (in my opinion) it's a much debated issue here in Michigan; we don't care how you vote...we do care where you eat your chicken dinner!
The hotel has a bunch of fun things for kids, there's Splash Village there as well (indoor waterpark thing), Bronners is your Christmas store, Birch run right down the road, lots of little shops, the riverwalk, etc. Mosey around and enjoy!
Bronners, birch run, chicken dinners, and chocolate cheese(dont know about that,lol)? Hmmmm, sounds like we may have some fun there.
Thank you for your input
I'm jealous! I've never been to Frankenmuth, though we've talked about it many times. My BIL and SIL used to have a place at Houghton Lake.
It sounds like this is a trip you can only do now -- Disney will be there when you're ready.
Love it there. We went there last Fall. You have to go to Bronners and there is a great outdoor outlet mall near by too. It is such a cute town and lots of fun shopping to do. Make sure you stop and eat your fried chicken meal!! It is all part of the experience
We live a couple hours from Frankenmuth and go there occasionally. The big thing there is Bronners Christmas Store and the Chicken Dinners. In my opinion its no more than a one day adventure. There are numerous shops to visit on the main street in Frankenmuth too. The outlet mall is east of town off I-75 in Birch Run.
My sister lives near Lansing and we're going to visit her in August. I only had a few things I said we "have" to do:
- Go to Frankenmuth (she has pictures and it looks really cool), even though it's 2-3 hours away.
- Go fishing (the kids want to and my BIL's parents live on a lake)
- Pick fruit. Doesn't matter what - whatever's in season (it's debatable this year because the weather delayed a lot of crops), so long as we can pick ripe fruit right off the tree/vine/bush/etc.
So, I'm excited to see Frankenmuth and apparently sis is already planning on us eating at Zhenders and I simply HAVE to visit the Christmas store!
My sister lives near Lansing and we're going to visit her in August. I only had a few things I said we "have" to do:
- Go to Frankenmuth (she has pictures and it looks really cool), even though it's 2-3 hours away.
- Go fishing (the kids want to and my BIL's parents live on a lake)
- Pick fruit. Doesn't matter what - whatever's in season (it's debatable this year because the weather delayed a lot of crops), so long as we can pick ripe fruit right off the tree/vine/bush/etc.
So, I'm excited to see Frankenmuth and apparently sis is already planning on us eating at Zhenders and I simply HAVE to visit the Christmas store!
Frankenmuth is not that far from Lansing. About an 1:15 drive.
I've been many times. My sister lives in Charlotte (middle of the state), and goes all the time, but we made several treks to Frankenmuth when we visit her on our way to Caseville, MI, and often stopped on the way back.
Depending on when you go to Frankenmuth, you can keep going north and head to Caseville for a little Jimmy Buffet celebrating with their "festival". It runs two weeks in August and it's a total blast.
We've eaten in both chicken restaurants and found them both to be good. Lots of shops to wander in and out of.
Bronners is FABULOUS. There is a hotel near there with a water slide and we always talk about staying there once, but have yet to do that.
Also, near the Birch Run Outlets is a diner called Tony's I-5 Diner. They have the largest BLT I've ever seen and it's been featured on a few food and travel shows.
Bronners is FABULOUS. There is a hotel near there with a water slide and we always talk about staying there once, but have yet to do that.
Also, near the Birch Run Outlets is a diner called Tony's I-5 Diner. They have the largest BLT I've ever seen and it's been featured on a few food and travel shows.
Hope this helps!
Tony's is AMAZING! Great food, giant portions and cheap! It is across the street from the outlets, just outside of Frankenmuth. It is a must do!
I loved Frankenmuth, but I think it is a bit of a girly vacation spot. Lots of fun small shops! My husband refuses to go back with me and when my mom finally got my dad to go with her he hated it....and I really thought he'd like it. I would agree with a previous post, it's about a day and a half destination.
We also stayed at Bavarian Inn, and loved it! Several pools to relax in and I think they also had mini golf inside. Cedar Point is an AWESOME park full of thrill rides and plenty of things for young children too, enjoy!
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Last edited by carters_mom; 08-10-2011 at 08:17 PM..
Frankenmuth seems to get bigger with age. Everything that was always charming continues to be charming. There's just a little more of it every year. Of course, my memory only goes back about a dozen years. Before that, it would have been "Franken where?" (What do Jersey boys know?)
For me, it's not a question of which chicken dinner, but chicken vs. wurst, schnitzel, etc. So, given my druthers (which I rarely get, since in-laws usually get out-voted), it'd be Bavarian Inn every time. Most of the time, the votes go in favor of Zehnder's, which is perfectly fine, too, as long as I can get a crack at the cheese spread and chicken liver. (Fortunately, Ann Arbor has a couple of good German restaurants.)
Years ago, at Book Expo America, the big, annual book convention, I saw Wally Bronner running around the exhibit floor in his trademark blazing red blazer, undoubtedly in search of merchandise (No, he didn't seem to be interested in guidebooks to Walt Disney World. Might have stood a better chance if we had a guide to Jerusalem and Bethlehem ).
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and when my mom finally got my dad to go with her he hated it....and I really thought he'd like it. I would agree with a previous post, it's about a day and a half destination. 
Of course, my memory only goes back about a dozen years. Before that, it would have been "Franken where?" (What do Jersey boys know?)
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