“Let the Good Times Roll”-The Farley’s Vero/Boardwalk Trip - UPDATED 5/30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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.
“Let the Good Times Roll”-The Farley’s Vero/Boardwalk Trip - UPDATED 5/30
“Let the Good Times Roll”-The Farley’s Vero/Boardwalk Trip
Where: June 1-6 Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
June 6-10 Disney’s Boardwalk Villas
Who: Me, myself and I: Angela (or Angie to my family and friends), 39
My hubby: Scott, 43
My boy: Logan, 13 to be turning 14 on the trip
My mom: Sandy, 59
Our Whole Traveling Party a few trips back:
Scott, Chef Logan, My Mom and Me
Hi! It’s me again…but you probably don’t remember me much since I have been a total slacker and not written a trip report in at least a couple of years. For years, I documented our every Disney trip here on the Passporter boards. Then my son started growing up on me and my life has been filled with work, school and sports. I am basically my son’s personal assistant…helping him with all that it takes to be him and getting him to where he needs to go all the time. So I gave up and just stopped trying to do a report. It makes me sad sometimes to read everyone else’s reports because I miss documenting our memories like I used to.
SO….here I go again and this trip will be documented because it is an important one. My baby Logan who took his first Disney trip when he was a month shy of being three years old will be turning 14 on this trip! Yes, my heart is breaking but I am so proud of the young man he is becoming and it is exciting to see him grow and mature. This is will be his…WAIT FOR IT……..25th Disney Trip!!! Yes, this boy is Disney spoiled beyond belief (thank you DVC).
Here he is now:
Anyway, enough about the golden child and on with the details. I was trying to come up with a clever trip title and I was thinking about summer, school and sports being over for a while and “Good times” popped into my head…thus that old song title “Let the Good Times Roll” came about. I am so ready to get out of town and chill out for a bit!
We are DVC members so we decided to do something new and try out Disney’s Vero Beach resort. Logan has been to the beach overnight once and a few times on cruises but he has never taken a real beach trip so he is excited to spend some days sleeping in and lounging by the pool. My husband and I just want to relax and de-stress. My mom is also tagging along because we always try to take her with us on at least one trip during the summer. After five nights at Vero, we will head up to Disneyworld and check into the Boardwalk Villas. We let Logan choose the resort since his birthday will be on Friday while we are there. We will spend four nights at the Boardwalk. He really chose our dining plans and resort since the trip is all about him. He also wants to catch Star Wars weekend before we leave since we missed it last year by being in Arizona on vacation.
I’ll admit that I am a little nervous about the Vero portion of the trip. I hear that it is nice but being a creature of habit it worries me a little not to have plans. I have a few suggestions of places to eat in the area but otherwise I don’t feel like I have a clue about the area. Since I will be trying not to obsess and relax, I will just go with the flow when we get there. (Secretly I will be taking notes so that next time I can have things planned more)
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
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.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
I will have to say that after so many Disney trips, making plans for our trips seems to get harder and harder. Disney is a big place and there are still many things we need to see and do that we haven’t before but we have our favorite things and we seem to get stuck in a rut of doing the same things and dining at the same places. Honestly, it will probably be more of the same this trip because we will only have 4 nights there.
When we started talking about a summer trip and which resort to choose, Vero Beach kept coming to mind. I was really yearning for a beach trip. Growing up, my family trip every summer was going to Daytona Beach. I loved summer because I knew once school was out we would be going to the beach. As I said before, Logan has been to the beach several times but only for the day. I really wanted to him to experience a family beach trip like I used to do. We talked about it on and off and let our seven- month window pass us by. For those who may not be DVC members, that is when you can book a non-home resort. Our home resort is Animal Kingdom so we needed to try to book Vero at seven months. That didn’t happen.
After more discussion, we decided to try for Vero anyway. I think we booked at 5 months out. Of course, availability was very limited but they did have an Inn Room for the nights we wanted. Unfortunately, it isn’t ocean view but we were lucky to get anything after our procrastination. The Inn Room has two double beds so I think we will be fine with that. Our plans are mostly sleeping, hanging at the pool and beach and eating so we don’t need anymore than that really. I haven’t found a ton of information about Vero so it will be a very new experience for us. I think we will play it by ear as we go for dinner and probably hit the grocery store for breakfast and lunch goodies. I found a dip recipe on Pinterest that I am dying to try so that will be on my list when we get down there. (It is called Skinny Pool Dip and it looks so yummy) We will hit Publix to shop when we arrive to stock up since we are driving down and have a car. I want to hit at least of couple of seafood places for dinner. We heard some good reviews about a place called Squid Lips so if anyone has been there please let me know if it is any good.
We also decided that since we have AP’s burning a hole in our pockets that we had to include a few days at Disney also on this trip. We were again past our seven -month mark for that one too but we told Logan to decided in order his preferences for a resort and we would see what we could get. Again, we really lucked out!! His first choice was Boardwalk Villas and yes it was available!! We got a preferred view one bedroom for our four nights. Maybe it was because we are celebrating Logan’s birthday but things just don’t normally fall together that easy for us when we don’t book when we need to. The trip was all booked now and we were excited! (embarrassingly Scott and I were high fiving but we get all silly about Disney) I am sure Logan was somewhere in the background rolling his eyes.
I wasn’t sure what to do about dining once we got to Disneyworld. We asked Logan to choose some places he wanted to eat and where he wanted to eat his birthday meal. He immediately chose Nine Dragons for his birthday dinner. That was a little interesting. I love the food there but for a birthday, I thought he would choose one of his favorites like Tutto Italia or Le Cellier. No, it was Nine Dragons or nothing for him!
Here he is at Nine Dragons a few years ago....he looks real happy!
He also wanted to go to Mama Melrose in Hollywood Studios. It has been a while since we have been there so I was fine with that. We let Scott have a choice and he wanted Rose and Crown for dinner on our arrival night. The final choice was also left to the birthday boy and he wanted Le Cellier. Again, we were making reservations past the 180 days when we could begin booking but I wasn’t very worried about our choices other than Le Cellier. I went about the online booking process and started with Le Cellier. You guessed it…available!!! Lunch reservation was secure. Of course, the others were available too so we were set! Don’t you just love it when the Disney stars align!!
Here is our official dining plans:
Wednesday 6/6/2012: Rose and Crown 6:00 pm dinner Thursday 6/7/2012: Mama Melrose 6:00 pm dinner Friday 6/8/2012: Nine Dragons 6:15 dinner Saturday 6/9/2012: Le Cellier 12:05 lunch
We decided to just add the dining plan since we were doing a table service meal each day. It would make life easier to have it paid for upfront and we wouldn’t have to worry about it. I am also excited that we get a refillable mug included in the dining plan this year. We always buy a mug anyway so that is a nice addition!
I forgot to say that in between making the resort reservations and making the dining reservations, I called and asked my mom if she would like to join us. Of course, she didn’t hesitate to say yes. We have made her into a Disney lover as well. It is nice to have four people to split up with on rides and I enjoy having another girl with me to chat with!
Our actual arrival at Vero will be on June 1st but we will leave town on May 31st. We always drive since it is just about 9 hours from our house to Disneyworld. It is pretty much tradition for us to spend the night in Valdosta, GA on the way down and since Vero is a couple of hours from Disney it will do us good to be able to stop and spend the night. No one will work that day but me (as usual). Logan will be done with school so I will probably work until 1:00 or 2:00 and then we will head out. Scott will take care of loading the car and doing last minute errands before we leave so it works out well. Now, we need time to fly by so we can hit the road!
Glad you are writing again, Angie! Plans look terrific, too. We're eating with Allen and Ann at Mama Melrose's on the same day but 2 1/2 hours earlier than you all. But if you see us at DHS, please say !
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.