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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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.
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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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I am thinking of changing our reservation to Port Orleans resort. We are two adults. I have had surgery on my foot and will have difficulty walking long-distance iand will end up in my orthopedic boot before the week is out.
For those of you who have stayed at Port Orleans resort can you tell me about Riverside Gardenview is it very far from buses and food court? Do they have covered waiting areas for the buses? What are the pools like? Is it worth the extra money?
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Oh No! We are going August 11-21st, have they said what dates the food court will be closed? What will the people who are staying there do for food?
RIverside has a food court, too. The difference, if you choose Riverside, would be that guests from FQ would probably be coming to your resort for QS dining, especially since the FQ QS location is that resort's only dining option. So, your food court might be more congested.
Riverside is certainly larger than FQ. I don't know about the walking distance from a garden view room, but I suspect there's quite a variety of distance. You'd be closer if you paid for a preferred location.
The pools, especially at Riverside, are just beautiful.
They do have covered bus stops. Riverside has more than one bus stop, so you might not have far to get to a bus specifically.
Is it worth more money? I assume you mean versus a value resort. Only you can answer that for sure. Riverside is a bigger resort, more spread out, than most of the values, but of those that I have visited, I think it is the most beautiful. We visited there once for lunch and general wandering and relaxing. I just fell in love with it, but it is a good deal more money than a value, which is why I haven't stayed there...yet.
When is your trip and which part are you staying at? FQ's food court is closing next week for a refurb through I believe the fall at least.
I was wondering why we got such a ridiculously good rate for our long weekend there at the end of July. The food court being down probably has something to do with it. Good thing we weren't planning any meals there! Thanks for the info.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I was wondering why we got such a ridiculously good rate for our long weekend there at the end of July. The food court being down probably has something to do with it. Good thing we weren't planning any meals there! Thanks for the info.
I highly doubt that has anything to do with it. A few years ago when we planned on staying at AS Sports and we heard the food court would be closed, the only thing Disney offered us was a room at AS Music for the same price instead when I said that was actually going to impact our trip. The following year when we were staying at AS Music, the same thing happened - the food court was going to be closed but we decided to just stay put (and we were never offered anything by Disney - and they only told us via paperwork when we checked in, the CM didn't even inform us but I knew beforehand anyway). We figured worst case scenario was instead of walking to the food court for food, we'd just walk to the car and go to McDonalds instead. That didn't happen. We just chose to hit other food courts instead.
For those of you who have stayed at Port Orleans resort can you tell me about Riverside Gardenview is it very far from buses and food court?
Garden view rooms are located throughout the resort. If you check this link here, there's a map of the resort where you can click on each building and see what category each room in that building is:
RIverside has a food court, too. The difference, if you choose Riverside, would be that guests from FQ would probably be coming to your resort for QS dining, especially since the FQ QS location is that resort's only dining option. So, your food court might be more congested.
They can, but they don't have to. Here's a link with information about how POFQ is going to deal with the closure:
POR is a very large resort and everything is spread out. we have stayed twice in the Royal Rooms. It is beautiful and very elegant.
Not sure if you are driving or flying in. This past October we would drive around to the front parking lot, and leave our car there. I have back issues and coming in from a long day at the park was tough to walk on to the room. Normally, we would have breakfast in the food court, return our mugs to the car, then catch the bus out front.
Just returned from our first stay there and it is a beautiful resort, but huge. We stayed in Parterre Place and it wasn't too far from the food/lobby or bus stops. One thing I will mention is that the bus service is pretty crazy here, and there are 4 bus stops to make and the south one (by the lobby) was usually the last stop. We waited a lot for buses, and when we did make it on one, we usually had to stand. Just wanted you to be prepared.
It really was beautiful and peaceful and we loved the boat to Disney Springs.
Regarding the food court closure at FQ...
I just spoke with a CM last week about this when I called to modify my reservation. He said that there would absolutely still be QS available at FQ, it would just not be to the larger scale it normally would be. He said that they would still have some hot offerings during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And also grab and go sandwiches, salads, etc.
I highly doubt that has anything to do with it. A few years ago when we planned on staying at AS Sports and we heard the food court would be closed, the only thing Disney offered us was a room at AS Music for the same price instead when I said that was actually going to impact our trip. The following year when we were staying at AS Music, the same thing happened - the food court was going to be closed but we decided to just stay put (and we were never offered anything by Disney - and they only told us via paperwork when we checked in, the CM didn't even inform us but I knew beforehand anyway). We figured worst case scenario was instead of walking to the food court for food, we'd just walk to the car and go to McDonalds instead. That didn't happen. We just chose to hit other food courts instead.
IDK. I got a castmember friends & family rate & even my castmember friend who made the res was shocked by how low it was. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to have it.
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
I am thinking of changing our reservation to Port Orleans resort. We are two adults. I have had surgery on my foot and will have difficulty walking long-distance iand will end up in my orthopedic boot before the week is out.
For those of you who have stayed at Port Orleans resort can you tell me about Riverside Gardenview is it very far from buses and food court?
At Port Orleans Riverside, you can book a Garden View room and then add a room request (call it in!) stating that you have difficulty walking and/or will be in a boot during your trip and would like to stay in a building "as close to the main building and transportation as possible". We did that on our last trip and were given a room near the quiet pool in Building 17 in the Alligator Bayou section (which we prefer over the Magnolia Bend mansion section). It was *almost* as close as we could get without being upgraded to a Preferred Room(Bldgs. 14, 15, 18, and 27), and close enough to everything, yet out of the way enough that we weren't bothered by tons of people walking by and making noise. Plus, the people who used the quiet pool nearby really WERE quiet!
This trip (next week!) we have a request in for Alligator Bayou as well, "as close to the main building and transportation as possible" and are hoping that we will be able to get a room in Building 16 or in the same spot we were last time. Or, maybe an upgrade to Preferred but I am definitely not counting on that.
I recently stayed at POR in May and had a standard garden view room as well. My room was in Magnolia Bend in Acadian House. I was maybe a 3 minute walk from the bus stop and about 10 minutes from the Riverside Mill (Food Court). When I choose my room preferences at Riverside it's only room floor option or a corner room option. When I checked in I asked the CM for a specific area and they were able to accommodate but that's not always guaranteed. Standard View Rooms can be located in any area of the resort except for preferred areas (Alligator Bayor Blogs 14,15,18,27) or in Oak Manor or Parterre Place which are Royal Rooms. I personally did not utilize the swimming pools but the one's near the rooms seemed quieter than Ol Man Island. As a former WDW CM I'm sure Disney can accommodate with your request.
I'm assuming by POR you mean Riverside, and the food court is open. POFQ is the food court that's closed.
I love POR. Great resort. We like the mansion section. I'd request Magnolia Terrace. If you look at the resort map the building is H shaped. I'd request a room on the river side of the building close to the Old Man Island foot bridge. This will place you close to ammenities, and there's a bus stop behind Magnolia Terrace.
Fax room assignor 4-5 days before arrival, and request location, but more importantly, let them know why you are requesting a certain location.
Our last POR stay I was recovering from knee surgery, I had my request noted on Res and also faxed. Had a great location for me! I had reserved a Royal Room GV, and requested Oak Manor. Same H shape as Magnolia Terrace, and by the other foot bridge. I also requested 2 nd floor, so my room was in the H closest to foot bridge and close to elevator too. Very thoughtful placement. It helps if they know why you need something.
Another bonus is innMagnolia Terrace you will be very close to both the main pool and quiet pool.
Have a look at the room pics, Alligator Bayou or The Mansions- decide which appeals to you. Then make your requests accordingly.
I think POR is def worth the upgrade! It's a beautiful resort, pools are nice. And has a bit more to offer with a boat to DTD, evening entertainment in the lounge, and carriage rides.
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