Living the Dream and remembering the Bagman COMPLETED 5/16 - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great pictures on your trip up to NYC. Glad you made it safely. Your room is quite large for a hotel room in NYC.
I thought that too. The room we had on our honeymoon was tiny. We literally could only lay the suitcase out on our bed, as there wasn't enough space around the bed to put it anywhere!
LaGuardia is absolutely awful and they should have done this construction project 30 years ago. I avoid it and fly out of JFK and Westchester, when possible. That cab driver was horrible and kudos to you for not leaving a tip! Your room looks nice with a great view. What hotel is this?
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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!
Friday 30 September – part five: can we find dinner on a Friday night with no reservation?
We had about half an hour before we were due to meet Meg, so we just chilled, and I took a shower, which made me feel better. I certainly still wasn’t 100%, but I was getting there.
We headed down to the lobby a bit before we were due to meet, and boy, it was busy. We found somewhere to sit, and settled down to wait for her.
She was running late, so I messaged her to say not to worry, as we weren’t going to be doing Cirque after all. I didn’t want her rushing on our account, as she thought we had that to get to. She arrived and hugs were exchanged, and we tossed around a couple of ideas, before settling on the Hard Rock Café, if they could get us in of course. I figured they’d have a long line, but if they did, there were other options… after all, there’s always McDonald’s!
We headed outside, and the rain was coming down pretty hard now. It was hard to tell it was evening, given the bright light from all the neon around here. It was so funny, as Meg was saying she didn’t really appreciate all this, as she works here (we actually passed her building), and she looks at all the tourists, and feels like “why would you want to come here?” I can understand that. It is a bit of a crazy city, and it’s definitely an acquired taste. Getting here from the airport is certainly not simple.
We made our way over to the Hard Rock Café, and I wasn’t sure they’d be able to seat us, given it was a Friday night, but we walked in with no reservation with no issue.
I played it safe and just stuck with the Caesar salad with salmon, as this would be my first meal in 24 hours. That was fine, although I did notice some of the latter pieces of my salad were looking past their best, shall we say, so I left them…
Mark had the original legendary burger, apparently the burger that started it all. It was described as a juicy ½ lb certified Angus beef burger topped with smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, golden fried onion ring, crisp lettuce and vine ripened tomato.
Our server was good, although not to be seen towards the end of our meal, when we wanted the check. It was a bit hard to chat in here, as the music did get quite loud at times, but we made the best of it.
We can’t give you a verdict on value for money, as Meg picked up the check – naughty, we were going to do that for you, especially after you did it for us eight years ago when we were last in New York City, but
We got our photo taken on the way out:
Hard Rock Café
Entrée 7 8
Service 7½ 7½
Atmosphere 8 8
Average score: 7.67
We headed outside into the bright lights of Times Square, and honestly you could not tell it was dark here! I swear this place has got worse over the years… mind you, I don’t think we’ve done Times Square at night since our honeymoon on 1999, so it probably has!
It was still raining quite heavily, hence the drops you can see in some shots.
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 think NYC and Times Square is something everybody should see at least once. But I can totally understand her thinking - why would someone go there repeatedly?! To each his own, I guess!
Good choice for dinner, maybe it helped you feel better? I'm sure the non stop rain wasn't helping much!
Oh - and have a great time in Iceland!
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Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
I love Times Square - every few years. Our next time is February as we scored Hamilton tickets!! We're actually staying at the same hotel as you in this trip!
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.
La Guardia Airport is truly disgusting. Unfortunately, NYC in general has gone down hill in the last few years. I wish you had gotten better weather while you were here. Sorry you had to experience such a rude cab driver. When I go into NYC to visit with my daughter, we only take Uber rides now which are cheaper and so much more pleasant. Glad you enjoyed your dinner at Hard Rock with Meg.
I love Times Square - every few years. Our next time is February as we scored Hamilton tickets!! We're actually staying at the same hotel as you in this trip!
La Guardia Airport is truly disgusting. Unfortunately, NYC in general has gone down hill in the last few years.
I must admit that was my first thought...
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I wish you had gotten better weather while you were here.
Nothing we can do about that...
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Sorry you had to experience such a rude cab driver. When I go into NYC to visit with my daughter, we only take Uber rides now which are cheaper and so much more pleasant.
I'm generally against Uber, as over here, taxi drivers have to do a lot to qualify to do that job and they go through security checks, which I don't think Uber do, but I am beginning to think in NYC, it might be worth a try....
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Glad you enjoyed your dinner at Hard Rock with Meg.
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I avoid it and fly out of JFK and Westchester, when possible. That cab driver was horrible and kudos to you for not leaving a tip! 
Your room looks nice with a great view. 
What hotel is this?
It was described as a juicy ½ lb certified Angus beef burger topped with smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, golden fried onion ring, crisp lettuce and vine ripened tomato. 
Alaskan Mom aka Bonnie
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