The This TR Won’t Take Me a Year to Finish (aka Disney with Extended Family) Trip Report - UPDATED 5/22 w/ AK and Tusker House - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
The This TR Won’t Take Me a Year to Finish (aka Disney with Extended Family) Trip Report - UPDATED 5/22 w/ AK and Tusker House
I know I haven’t quite finished my trip report from last year, but it will be done before we leave, I promise. I just really wanted to get this started before we leave on Saturday.
Okay here goes. It’s a little complicated, so try to keep up, lol.
Cast of Characters: (for the first half of trip)
Lissette (me) Age 32- currently a stay at home mom trying to start my own medical billing business from home while keeping up with my super cute, super hyper boys
William (aka Will or DH) Age 37- works for the US Department of Justice and is the best dad and hubby in the world (even if I do get annoyed at him sometimes)
Jared (DS) Age 8- going to third grade; loves playing the violin, basketball, martial arts, baseball, & math wiz; the boy is adorable (very popular with the girls), but man does he wear me out. He cannot stay still for one minute.
Aidan (DS, aka Stitch) Age 3- stays home with Mommy; is obsessed with trains, Lightning McQueen, and Buzz Lightyear; he is way too smart for his age (loves telling everyone what to do), very friendly, and just plain hilarious.
Grandma (my Mom, she will kill me if I tell you her real name) Age 52 (she doesn’t mind me telling you her real age because she knows she looks much younger than that, lol). This is Grandma's first trip to Disney for longer than a day and first time staying on property.
Caribean beach 91, off site 94, Disneyland 03, Pop century 08, Saratoga springs 2009, Beach Club December 2009, Key West January 2010, Beach Club 2010, Wilderness Lodge Christmas 2011, Saratoga Springs 2012, Disney's Grand California Disneyland 2013, Disney's Yacht Club 2013
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.
As some of you know, we went on a DVC tour last August and fell in love. Our home resort is now Kidani Village. We also got some developer’s points at SSR that need to be used up this year. I’ve always wanted my mom to experience Disney the right way and always wanted my boys and my nieces to vacation together. That combined with our annual passes that will expire this August, was enough to convince me to book a trip in July. (Not sure why July 4th, but I think that’s the only time DH was able to get vacation.)
At Christmas I decided to tell my Mom and my sister about the surprise I had in store for them. That’s when we decided to tell our boys also (well we were trying to keep it a surprise, but Jared is just too nosy and figured it out, lol).
Dates- 7/4 Animal Kingdom Lodge
7/5-7/12 SSR with Grandma
7/12-7/17 Kidani Villas with my sister and her family
Plans for the first half of our trip are as follows:
July 3rd- Thanks to my fellow passporters we decided to stay at the Hampton Inn by the airport and leave our car parked there
July 4th- Me, DH, Grandma, and Boys will depart PHL @ 8:40am on Southwest Airlines
Arrive at MCO @ 11:10
DME to Animal Kingdom Lodge (Savannah view) where we added one night as a surprise to Grandma (she loves giraffes )
Lunch at Mara
Dinner at 50’s PrimeTime Café’ @ 7:20pm
July 5th- Boma breakfast @ 7:50am
Epcot till early afternoon
Lunch at Tutto Italia @ 2:15pm
Check in at SSR
Swim
DTD- dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express and snacks at Goofy’s Candy Co.
July 6th- Breakfast at Crystal Palace @ 8:15
Magic Kingdom all day
Pirate League for the boys at 1:30pm
Dinner at Chef Mickey’s @ 6:50pm
July 7th- Animal Kingdom Day
Tusker House Lunch @ 1:05pm with reserved seating for Finding Nemo (waiting for this with two boys last year was a nightmare so we decided to get the reserved seating)
Afternoon break at SSR
Wishes Dessert Party @ 9pm
July 8th- Down day- we don’t really have any plans for today except for breakfast
Breakfast at ‘Ohana with Lilo and Stitch (the boy’s favorite)
Hang out at SSR, swim, and maybe Downtown Disney
July 9th- DHS Day
Ride TSMM first thing in the morning or grab fastpasses
Mama Melrose Fantasmic Dinner Package @ 4:20pm (too early for dinner and not sure if it’s worth it anymore, but we like Mama Melrose and you get an appetizer; did I mention we are on the dining plan once again?)
Fantasmic
July 10th- Epcot Day
Dinner @ San Angel Inn (my sister, her hubby, and two daughters will be joining us for this meal) at 7pm
July 11th- Magic Kingdom Day
Breakfast @ Main Street Bakery
Boys will get haircuts at Barber Shop
Dinner @ Whispering Canyon Café at 7pm (my sis and her family will be dining with us again)
July 12th- Playhouse Disney Breakfast @ Hollywood & Vine
We will do whatever we missed or whatever Grandma would like to do again
Grandma flies back to New Jersey today
Check out of SSR
Check in at Kidani Villas (2 bedroom suite)
Dinner at Boma with my sis and her family @ 6:30pm
Great start, Liz! Your plans look terrific, too! I just realized from your cast member descriptions that I could be your mom as I'll be 51 in just 17 days.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
Thanks. I'm excited about SSR after reading your TR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by belle0517
Yeah! Another TR! Can't wait to hear about it.
Thanks. I'm so excited!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start, Liz! Your plans look terrific, too! I just realized from your cast member descriptions that I could be your mom as I'll be 51 in just 17 days.
Thanks Cam. Well, my Mom had me really young, 19 to be exact. BTW, you look amazing, more like my sister than my Mom.
Cam, you look no where close to 51! LOL That explains my confusion when I read your old sig pic about Stefanie celebrating her 23rd birthday. You look way to young to have a 20-something.
Glad to see the PTR (and yes I am actively still keeping up with last years ). Your plans sound great so far, how womderful that you will get time with your mom and your sister and family...can't wait to hear more.
Hope you all have another Great adventure especially with grandma,she will have so much fun enjoying the World with the boys. Don't loose your sunglasses this trip and don't forget to bring DH Indiana Jones hat with you LOL. LouigiAnne
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
![[SIGPIC]](signaturepics/sigpic27594_7.gif)
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
)
). Your plans sound great so far, how womderful that you will get time with your mom and your sister and family...can't wait to hear more.
Hybrid Mode
