From no trip to celebrating 20 years together… planning it all in less than 100 days! UPDATED 6/30 - Page 7 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Sometimes those car rental lines can be just terrible. I've signed up for all of the rental company's Express-type services so I can bypass those potential long lines. I'm just too impatient!
Beautiful sunset! And that's not fair that they couldn't hand you a balloon! It shouldn't have been only for runners, that's silly. They didn't book any kind of special pricing package for it or anything, trust me I know!
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Love e sunset pictures, but the one that cracked me up is when you're driving through the gates, and the sign with the castle looks like it has a crane in it! Given that there always seems to be a crane by the actual castle these days, I found that so funny!
The balloons are lovely. We stayed in Old Key West October 2015 and my daughters were given balloons. They chose flower balloons, we came back the next day and found mousekeeping had put them in a vase
Oh that is so cool!
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They lasted for the whole time we were there (2weeks) and they were disappointed they couldn't take them home! Lol x
Sometimes those car rental lines can be just terrible. I've signed up for all of the rental company's Express-type services so I can bypass those potential long lines. I'm just too impatient!
Now that's a good idea. I hadn't thought of that.
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Beautiful sunset! And that's not fair that they couldn't hand you a balloon! It shouldn't have been only for runners, that's silly. They didn't book any kind of special pricing package for it or anything, trust me I know!
I do trust you on this. I figured I wasn't going to argue, as at the end of the day, the runners were doing much more activity that weekend than we were.
Love e sunset pictures, but the one that cracked me up is when you're driving through the gates, and the sign with the castle looks like it has a crane in it! Given that there always seems to be a crane by the actual castle these days, I found that so funny!
I hadn't noticed that, but you are so right, I swear that crane is pretty much there most of the year round!
Glad you had a great flight and Lauren your flight attendant took great care of you! The VAB at KSC really sticks out as it's the largest one story building in the world! I too can't believe how long you taxi at Orlando Airport as it seems to take forever as the terminals are quite a ways from the runways! Glad you made it to OKW. A nice resort, but never stayed there and know it as I've played many rounds of golf beside it on the LBV course.
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Just catching up and I'm glad you're safely in the bubble!
Sorry about the balloons being only for the runners--seems like you had certainly come far enough and traveled long enough to get there, you deserved a special treat! Those swans were very clever, imo. Hope your dinner is tasty.
Glad you had a great flight and Lauren your flight attendant took great care of you! The VAB at KSC really sticks out as it's the largest one story building in the world! I too can't believe how long you taxi at Orlando Airport as it seems to take forever as the terminals are quite a ways from the runways!
And presumably it will get worse when they open the new terminal - I think that's due to start operating in the next year or so from what I've read. I think that's even further away from the runway.
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Glad you made it to OKW. A nice resort, but never stayed there and know it as I've played many rounds of golf beside it on the LBV course.
It is a beautiful resort and we loved our stay there. I see why it's got so many fans. I know people who go to Disney and will only ever stay there and I've also heard stories of people who stay there and never even hit the parks during their stays.
Friday 24 February – part six: will we get the green Mickey light?
Olivia’s Café were as good as their word, and it wasn’t long before we were in there. We were seated in a booth, and I have to say the noise level in here was just unbelievable. It wasn’t what we needed when we were both tired and starting to get to the point where we were struggling to stay awake. The acoustics obviously aren’t that good at drowning sound out. I think that’s becoming a problem more and more at Disney these days, which I personally think is a shame. I’m not sure it’s not an issue for most people, but it certainly is for us, as we like to sit down and enjoy a conversation over our meal.
Our server was Mark, who was absolutely wonderful. He was very chatty, but not too in your face, if you know what I mean. After discussing various drink options with him, I went for a glass of Conundrum, as I fancied something… yes, I know after all the alcohol I’d already had today!
First up, we had hidden Mickey bread!
We settled on the lump crab cakes served with avocado puree and fresh mango salsa, and this was excellent. Now bear in mind on night one we’re struggling with jetlag, we usually don’t enjoy our dinners, so I did think long and hard before booking this, as I have started to wonder whether eating counter service on our first night is a better plan. Well, based on the appetiser, I would say
For entrée, I had the Mallory Square Cobb salad, which is a variation on the normal Cobb salad. This is made up of Romaine lettuce with layers of chilled shrimp, crab salad, bacon (which I obviously asked to be left off), egg, blue cheese, tomato and avocado with a key-lime mustard vinaigrette. I was amazed at how much came out! I’d deliberately gone for this, as I knew I wanted something a little lighter, and I thought this would fit the bill perfectly. I managed to pretty much eat everything bar the lettuce, but my goodness, by the time I was done, I was completely full. I would never have managed any of the other entrees.
Mark had the island barbecue pork ribs with spicy-chipotle barbecue sauce with French fries and marinated coleslaw… and look at the mountain of stuff that turned up! He didn’t want that much either. Oh well, looks like he was out of luck with that idea!
We both really enjoyed our entrees, although by the time we were done, we were completely beat and just wanted to head to our rooms, so we showed our DVC Membership cards and photo ID, got our 10% discount, and headed out. The meal came to $70 plus tip, which I did think was a little on the pricey side. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good, but I didn’t think Olivia’s was one of the more expensive place on property, and that price tag just didn’t quite feel in keeping for its more relaxed feel, if that makes sense?
Olivia’s Café
Appetiser 9 9
Entre 8½ 8½
Atmosphere 7½ 8
Service 9 8½
Value for money 8 8½
Average score: 8.45
Once we were done, we headed back to the car, and made our way over to building 25. We knew we were on the second floor, which wasn’t great with the luggage, but what could we do? Mark told me to go ahead and check that the MagicBand worked, given the problem we’d had last trip, as he didn’t want to get all the way up there with the cases only to discover that it didn’t. Thankfully we got the Mickey green light, so we were good to go.
When I opened the door, I must admit I was in for a surprise. Don’t get me wrong, the studio is still big, but I’m just sure I remember it being a lot bigger on our previous visit here in 2008? Maybe that’s just my mind playing tricks on me, and I’ve got good memories of the size of it. Anyway, it was still fine, and would suit us well for one night.
We didn’t last too much longer once we were in the room, as we’d had such a long day…
The weather today was dry with temperatures in the low 50s in London, and dry and sunny with temperatures in the low 80s in Orlando. The best thing today was dinner at Olivia’s Café. The worst thing today was the wait at immigration and Budget car rental. Today we tried the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in Gatwick And the result was we really liked it, although it’s nowhere near as good as the one in Heathrow. The most magical moment today was getting the mushroom risotto from Upper Class.
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Given that there always seems to be a crane by the actual castle these days, I found that so funny!
PassPorter Guide Author
The VAB at KSC really sticks out as it's the largest one story building in the world! 
I too can't believe how long you taxi at Orlando Airport as it seems to take forever as the terminals are quite a ways from the runways! 
Glad you made it to OKW. A nice resort, but never stayed there and know it as I've played many rounds of golf beside it on the LBV course.
Mark told me to go ahead and check that the MagicBand worked, given the problem we’d had last trip, as he didn’t want to get all the way up there with the cases only to discover that it didn’t. Thankfully we got the Mickey green light, so we were good to go. 
Anyway, it was still fine, and would suit us well for one night. 
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