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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I'm thinking of changing our Whispering Canyon Cafe bfast to either Akershus or Crystal Palace. We are all adults but still like to have a pic with characters and breakfast buffets make it so easy!! What are y'alls opinions of these two restaurants? We have eaten lunch at Crystal Palace before (about 12 years ago) and have never eaten at Akershus. Do they have regular American breakfast fare there as well as Norweigian?
We ate at Akershus before the change from a varied buffet containing fruit, baked breads and rolls and Norwegian foods with a platter of standard breakfast items family-style, all you can eat.
We'll not return now that the Norwegian items are platter and everything else on the buffet. I liked a number of the Norwegian foods but very much disliked a few that now are on the platter. I enjoyed being able to try just a wee bit of unfamiliar ones, avoiding others. DH wanted nothing to do with any of those so we'd have to specify none for him. (This describes what I was unaware was a limited-time test. See my later post: http://www.passporterboards.com/foru...0&postcount=12)
The Princesses were okay. We got a fair amount of time with all of them and had great fun with Ariel. The ones there were exactly the same as at CRT except for the photo with Belle as we arrived, now discontinued.
All in all, we prefer being able to choose what and how much we eat, largely why we didn't enjoy Akershus as much as Crystal Palace. CP, we do every trip--best buffet food at WDW and terrific character interaction, we think.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-02-2016 at 09:51 AM..
I would decide based on what characters you would like to see. If that is not the factor, I have found that the food as well as the interaction was much much better at CP than Akershus. I felt very rushed at Akershus and the food was ehh. The princesses paid little attention to us and we were all adults. I would highly recommend as adults the buffets at CP, 1900 PF, Cape May, 'Ohana, and while we haven't done the bfast yet the other meals at Garden Grill have been great. As a group of 2 - 4 adults for any years now we have had awesome interaction at all of those I listed. We have eaten at all the character meals but not all have been as good. We do like CRT also but for bfast I feel it is very overpriced.
As for specifics for CP - it is a huge buffet so lots of options even at bfast. The characters have always been very outgoing and interactive. We have never been rushed and usually seated early if not on time for ADR. We have felt the CMs have been attentive but not atrusive - offering refills and clearing dishes timely as well as available to snap group pics. We also didn't care for much of the Norwegian food which also was served via family style and actually asked for it to be taken away. I also didn't like the large sausage links that were served when we were there. We will not be back unless it is requested by a family memeber.
If you have any specific questions I might be able to help more.
Last edited by cattailmarsh; 11-30-2016 at 12:12 PM..
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I honestly would stick with Whispering Canyon. Better food, IMO, than either CP or Akershus and they also have an unlimited option if that's important to any of your party. I know there are no characters, but the servers there always are a blast!
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MNSSHP 2015: DH (Bane), Me (Batgirl), Genie, and our friends
CP breakfast is probably our favorite breakfast buffet in all of Disney World. We've always had good food with plenty of options for everyone, great servers, and the characters were great even when it was just DH and I. They always seem to take their time at each table and we never feel rushed there. The only downside is they always seem to be running about 20 minutes past your ADR time.
Also think about what activities you have planned for the day. Which park do you want to be near? Whispering Canyon is not in/close to a park so I would not be choosing it for breakfast (we like to be there for rope drop). I would personally choose CP as we love the food choices and being right there at the hub without a crowd of people is great for photo opportunities.
We did Akershus in June (not sure if things have changed since then?) and for breakfast, there was a buffet with a mix of American and Norwegian items, but then the plated platter that they brought to you was all American food. This was a great combo, as with a little kid we didn't have to keep going up to the buffet. I believe the buffet was cold items (pastries, fruits, etc.) and the items brought to your table were hot selections. We loved it, as we aren't adventurous eaters either! It was also a great opportunity to see many princesses at once.
We did Akershus in June (not sure if things have changed since then?) and for breakfast, there was a buffet with a mix of American and Norwegian items, but then the plated platter that they brought to you was all American food.
Thanks for your more recent info.
A little googling revealed that the buffet closeout with everything served family style was a test that apparently resulted in Akershus returning to the style you experienced as had we in 11/2014.
As you'll see in the final post on the thread, the change wasn't made permanent, and the buffet soon returned as it was when we ate breakfast there. Another reason to answer surveys Disney may request of you to give your feedback on any such things you like/dislike. I'm betting guest responses to the platters-only service style were largely negative.
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“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.” —Winnie-the-Pooh
Last edited by Her Dotness; 12-02-2016 at 09:55 AM..
We did CP for the first time last trip. Loved the character interaction! Also loved the early ADR which was before park opening and we finished just at park opening so we were able to walk on a few rides. 1900PF is still my fav breakfast buffet though
We love CP and would recommend it. The food is always good and there is a plentiful variety. hcharacters are cute and make really nice pictures...even for adults. It is hard to beat a picture of an adult with Tigger or Piglet. Makes me smile!!
Plus, you can enter MK early...great Main Street or Castle pictures without strangers! How can you beat that?
CP has such a nice, peaceful environment. It is fun to get full of good food and watch the park fill up with excitement. I love that feeling as I sip my third cup of coffee and hug Pooh...
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"Disneyland has that thing - the imagination and the feeling of happy excitement - I knew when I was a kid."
--Walt Disney
Akershus in August was back to the buffet but with all adults, it's going to be VERY expensive (it cost us something like $160 for 3 adults) . Crystal Palace is good and less exepnsive (for us about $70 cheaper, that's how expensive Akershus has gotten). Another option I'd like to throw out only because we enjoyed it so much was the breakfast at the Garden Grill with Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. It's served family style but you can get as many platters as you want. We went to all three on our trip in August and I do have to say we enjoyed GG the most and the food was really good.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
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