Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
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03-27-2006, 07:12 PM
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#16
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 942
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Love it! More, please????
Debbie
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03-27-2006, 08:18 PM
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#17
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The Original BagMan
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Shalimar, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 22,002
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
[b]Excellent!!!
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] the pics...
MORE!!!! [img]http://smileys.*************.com/cat/23/23_31_4.gif[/img]
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03-27-2006, 09:07 PM
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#18
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: second star to the right
Posts: 13,308
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
You guys are just too cute together. SO which dress was it - I remember pictures a long time ago. A cruise to wear it again is definately a great idea - I know a great TA if ya need one [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]
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03-27-2006, 09:22 PM
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#19
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: North Carolina
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 5,666
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Keep it coming, Maureen! Great so far!!! I love the pictures!
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03-27-2006, 09:31 PM
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#20
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PassPorter and WDW Addict
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Texas
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 12,489
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
[ QUOTE ]
The drive to Fayetteville is actually a really scenic and beautiful one.
[/ QUOTE ]
It is a very beautiful drive. I so remember this tunnel when we went to Branson 2 summers ago. |
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03-28-2006, 01:52 AM
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#21
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
 PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
I'm loving it - and that photo of Emily twirling in front of the mirrors is too cute! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
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03-28-2006, 03:08 AM
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#22
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Community Rank: Adventurer
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Wentzville, MO
Posts: 818
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Sounds like a great trip so far, can't wait for more!
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03-28-2006, 08:15 AM
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#23
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: SW MO
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 10,461
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Emily is a doll!
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03-28-2006, 09:35 AM
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#24
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Community Rank: Legend Extraordinaire 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Ohio Football Hall Of Fame
Posts: 42,304
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
I am all caught up now and it looks like you and Emily are really having a wonderful trip!!! Love the pictures of her in the bridal shop!! Can't wait to read more!
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03-28-2006, 10:38 AM
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#25
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Facebook Addict
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Philadelphia
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 39,682
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Adorable pictures!
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03-28-2006, 06:07 PM
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#26
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Looks like a great start!!
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03-28-2006, 09:29 PM
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#27
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
Posts: 10,721
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
We pulled into the Residence Inn at 2:40 and headed to check in. Not super impressed with the front desk agents- they were pretty snippity, especially when she informed me that “Your room is not ready yet. Check in is at 3:00- you are early.” Gee, sorry I showed up a whopping 15 minutes early!! I informed her I would be happy to wait for the room and check in at 3:00. Another agent advised me it would be 30 minutes at least. I politely informed them I was happy to wait in the lobby and would be checking back at 3:00- as they had said, that was check in time and I would expect the room to be ready. If they had been nice about all this, I would have been happy to wait as long as they needed to me to- but their attitude set the tone for the entire process.
Emily and I got our stuff and helped ourselves to a table in the breakfast serving area to color.
At about 3:05, I approached the girl again and asked her to check the status of the room- she sighed and picked up the phone. To my delight and her embarrassment, the room was ready. She handed me the keys without saying a word and off we went.
I was really pleased with the room – a nice bedroom, full kitchen and then a full bathroom and dressing area. Emily was thrilled and did the inaugural bounce on the bed! I guess she liked it, because she crawled up on it, helped herself to the remote and asked for her pajamas!!
I got us settled a bit and we both freshened up before we went out to explore. My first point of interest was to the Merchants Factory Outlet- so we headed down 76 to get there. On the way though, I found the Grand Village Shops- which reminds me a bit of the Disney Marketplace. It’s very quaint and has some lovely stores so we stopped there first. I remember coming here on my last trip during Christmas 2001 and it was absolutely packed- this time around, there was hardly anyone there!
Our first store was a pet boutique where we counted the beagle things for display in honor of our dog Gabby. Next up was a Coke store, where Emily made friends with the polar bears out front. They had some incredible things on offer- including an antique Coke refrigerator for $4500.
Then we found the amazing Christmas stores- there were at least four or five of them. A wonderful window display caught our eye:
One store had about half its floor space devoted to Disney items- all the Lenox pieces and plates as well as ornaments. Emily excitedly found the Lilo and Stitch storybook set and then also the EPCOT Millenium CD’s. I began to wonder if they bought some of their stuff off Disney Deals?
The store also had some terrific children's trees, including Spongebob ones, a board games themed one and this Dora the Explorer one- which Emily loved. Not sure what's going on with her facial expression though! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]
On to the next section, where it was villages galore- Dept 57, Coke, Disney- many different collections. Emily was in heaven, she found something she liked about each one and was fascinated by pieces that moved- like skaters and trains. I found a city collection that featured a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge- which we will be seeing for real very soon!
Still another building with even more holiday delights:
The last store had absolutely exquisite trees and even though I could see her little hands just aching to reach out and touch ornaments, Emily kept them to herself and I told her a million times how proud I was of her. The shopkeeper in the ornament/trees store became quite fond of her and took her over to some of the giant wooden Santas.
After the Christmas stores, we found a toy store on the way back to the parking area- and I found tons of stuff for my future classroom- and Emily kept herself busy on a Thomas Ride On..
At about 5:30, we headed out from the Grand Village and I called Barb- we talked briefly and agreed on our meeting time. She sounded lovely and I couldn’t wait to see her and Bob in the am!
Speaking of Barb- I know my trip report is taking a bit longer than hers and I am dragging this out a bit- I am hoping my new signature picture will tide ya'll over.
Coming Up: Mislead at the buffet... |
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Sponsored links
Check out the many e-books by PassPorter. The e-books are free to download if you have a PassPorter's Club pass.
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03-28-2006, 09:43 PM
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#28
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Illinois
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 9,564
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Your TR is great, I loved hearing about all your pre-meet activities!
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03-29-2006, 12:47 AM
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#29
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PassPorter Message Board Manager
PassPorter Guide Author
Community Rank: Legend VIP
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Maidstone, Kent, UK
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 190,285
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Another great installment - I loved the way you 'won' over the room being ready in the end! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Emily was really well behaved in the Christmas - I bet you were so proud of her. And just think - in a month's time, we'll be seeing that Golden Gate Bridge for real! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]
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03-29-2006, 06:14 AM
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#30
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Living Seas wannabe
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 31,940
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Re: Emily and Mom\'s Big Branson Adventure- Pre Trip
Great update Mo!
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