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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Well it looks like getting an ADR at Hoop Dee Doo Revue is not meant to be. I was super excited when I received a text from touringplans.com that their ADR finding had found one for our date of December 21 but once I went online they were all gone - every show and every category for that date - all within 5 minutes!!! A bit bummed as we have a 50th and 25th wedding anniversary and my, <big gulp> 50th birthday - thought HDDR was the perfect choice!
Anyway, moving onto plan B. Since we have a Holiday Sleigh Ride booked for 8:30 at Fort Wilderness, we thought we would have dinner at Trails End. Any reviews? I know it's a buffet but the food looks similar to what they serve at Hoop Dee Doo.
Hope I'm making the right choice - every time was available at Trails End!
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Goofing around at Tusker House Spring Break 2016
Michelle
So sorry to hear about the Hoop Dee Doo. I haven't been to Trail's End, but your holiday sleigh ride should be wonderful - we did that a number of years ago and loved it.
Haven't ever eaten there but have considered it several times due to so many raves for its having really good traditional American foods.
Sounds like a pretty good substitute since the food is similar to what you'd get at HDDR.
Sure is unfortunate you haven't been able to snag HDDR, but I'd still try now and then. Maybe the Disney magic is working a wee bit slower than usual?
We've often seen some hot ADR's available early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Have you looked then? After all, only we hardcore Disney addicts are likely to get up early on traditional sleep in days in hopes of snagging an elusive ADR.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Haven't ever eaten there but have considered it several times due to so many raves for its having really good traditional American foods.
Sounds like a pretty good substitute since the food is similar to what you'd get at HDDR.
Sure is unfortunate you haven't been able to snag HDDR, but I'd still try now and then. Maybe the Disney magic is working a wee bit slower than usual?
We've often seen some hot ADR's available early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Have you looked then? After all, only we hardcore Disney addicts are likely to get up early on traditional sleep in days in hopes of snagging an elusive ADR.
Thanks. I will definitely keep trying but given that it's close to Christmas I don't hold out much hope. Think it might also be the last day of free dining. The Disney Dining agent said she thinks a bunch of travel agents snagged all of the remaining reservations when they opened up.
I'm up at the crack every day so checking on a Saturday or Sunday is no big deal. Thanks for the tip! And also thank you for all of your incredible food reviews. Certainly has convinced us to try some new places!
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Goofing around at Tusker House Spring Break 2016
Michelle
Meant to add that when tracking BOG dinner availability well before our 180 a couple years ago, I remember seeing some hot ADR's late on Friday and Saturday nights, around 10:00 or so.
"Awww, gawrsh!" (doing best Goofy impression ) Delighted that you find my reviews helpful. Thanks for saying so.
About ten minutes to our getting up time, so I know the feeling well.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Aw, we LOVE Trail's End - it is our traditional 'first meal at Disney' every time we go now!
They use the same kitchen as the one for the HDD, so the food is the same, but they have so much to choose from! DH usually starts with some salad and a ton of dressings, whereas I dive straight into the fried chicken (soooooo good!), mashed potato, corn, gravy, pulled pork, and beef brisket. They also have pizza, green beans with bacon, ribs, pasta, and fish. Oh, and cornbread. Oh, and mac & cheese, which I love!
For dessert we go for whatever warm fruit cobbler they have (usually apple & cinnamon), with a swirl of self-serve ice-cream (plus toppings!). But there are also cookies, lots of different cakes (red velvet etc.), and fresh fruit available.
We have eaten there on the free dining plan, and have also paid out of pocket, we love the place that much. One year, we went twice in a fortnight!
Anyway, have a great trip, and enjoy the World at Christmastime.
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Silvercat
(Enjoy reading trip reports? Why not try my books, "Tiggerific Travels Parts 1, 2, 3 & the new volume 4" - available now as e-books)
We like Trails End but didn't go this year only because it gets to be a pain with a scooter user. As mentioned, HDD and TEB share the kitchen and some of the food is the same but you'll get far more choices at Trails End - for a lot less cost too.
This past December we ate dinner at Trail's End with my aunt and uncle, who were spending the night at the Fort so they could visit us (we were staying at WL).
To be honest, I wasn't impressed. While certainly fine to eat, I found the food reminded me of Denny's or Grandy's. Don't get me wrong, those have their place (I used to love Grandy's when living in Texas). Just not I guess what I was expecting.
An option to consider, if you decide trail's End is not what you want or you cannot get an ADR there:
Have dinner at Wilderness Lodge (e.g. Whispering Canyon) then take the boat over to the Fort. A nice leisurely boat trip and with all the lights it is quite pretty, IMO. If you leave enough of a time cushion, you can wander the Fort and see some of the holiday decorations (both official and what the guests have put up) or just relax.
Finally, if the timing works after your carriage ride, I recommend watching the electric water pageant from FW. We watched it from the beach (there are LOTS of people!!) and quite enjoyed it and it was a different atmosphere than we were used to at WL which had a smaller group watching usually.
So sorry to hear about the Hoop Dee Doo. I haven't been to Trail's End, but your holiday sleigh ride should be wonderful - we did that a number of years ago and loved it.
Thanks Cheryl. We will keep trying. The sleigh ride should be awesome. Had to reserve two because we have 6 adults.
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Goofing around at Tusker House Spring Break 2016
Michelle
Aw, we LOVE Trail's End - it is our traditional 'first meal at Disney' every time we go now!
They use the same kitchen as the one for the HDD, so the food is the same, but they have so much to choose from! DH usually starts with some salad and a ton of dressings, whereas I dive straight into the fried chicken (soooooo good!), mashed potato, corn, gravy, pulled pork, and beef brisket. They also have pizza, green beans with bacon, ribs, pasta, and fish. Oh, and cornbread. Oh, and mac & cheese, which I love!
For dessert we go for whatever warm fruit cobbler they have (usually apple & cinnamon), with a swirl of self-serve ice-cream (plus toppings!). But there are also cookies, lots of different cakes (red velvet etc.), and fresh fruit available.
We have eaten there on the free dining plan, and have also paid out of pocket, we love the place that much. One year, we went twice in a fortnight!
Anyway, have a great trip, and enjoy the World at Christmastime.
thanks. sounds yummy. guess we better skip lunch that day
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Goofing around at Tusker House Spring Break 2016
Michelle
My husbands favorite table service is trails end.
We go every time. The food is pretty basic, but good. They have salads, carving station, friend chicken, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and some yummy desserts.
On our honeymoon we were asked to compete in a kissing contest with a couple that was celebrating 40 years of marriage. We won a strawberry shortcake.
The sleigh ride is also awesome!! Such a fun experience.
I say the same thing as HerDotness said... Keep trying! Someone will cancel, they always do....
But gosh if you have to go to Trail's End... I tried it for the very 1st time in May 2015 and it was the BEST fried chicken... (CinderAbby's husband actually pushed me to go there....who can resist Great Fried Chicken, not me!)... but yeah and all the fixings are great too. Creamy mashed potatoes and veggies.... YUM! And dessert is YUMMY too.... plan on visiting next year too! Best little secret to enjoy.....
Like I said, keep trying to get HDDR...you never know!
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Kate in PA All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney
We also really enjoyed Trails End. We have eaten at the HDDR several times and it's the same food except with extra options. Plus, it's one of the cheaper buffets on property. We've always had great service too.
Trails End is on our list of must do's for every trip. As we prefer to stay in Ft W we book it for our arrival and departure dining location. This year we have booked no only on our arrival and departure days but for Christmas dinner as well, Added Bonus as you plan on doing Carriage ride they load right in front of entry way
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I haven't been to Trail's End, but your holiday sleigh ride should be wonderful - we did that a number of years ago and loved it. 
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