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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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11-24-2005, 11:59 PM
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#1
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Community Rank: Scout 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Lafayette, LA & BCV
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 4,751
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Macy\'s Surprise Trip - Updated 1/30
It is hard to believe that it has been nearly a month since our trip. Time has really flown and things around here have been BUSY! Since my friend [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Terri (DrDolphin) is anxiously waiting to read about the surprise, I am going to try to get started with my trip report and hopefully I can have plenty of it up by the time all the Mousefesters return from their trip and start their reports! I won't post any pictures this weekend since I am writing from home and using dial-up internet (remember I live in the boonies and dial-up is all we get - ahhhh the joys of country life). Ready?? Here we go...[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img]
Trip dates: October 27th to November 2nd, 2005 (not the original plan but we'll get to that shortly)
Adventurers: Me, my sister, Kim and my daughter, Macy
Last fall, after reading so many great things about Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and the Food and Wine Festival, I knew I had to experience these events .[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] The annual passes I bought in May gave me the perfect excuse to plan a short trip - gotta get my money’s worth, right? Knowing that Charlie wouldn’t be interested in another trip to Disney so soon, I asked my sister if she would be interested in going to Disneyworld with Macy and I for Halloween. She had only been to Disneyworld once when she was 4 but had very little memory of that trip and I knew she would love to experience Disney with Macy. She said [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] and the planning began.
The first thing we decided was that the trip would be a surprise for Macy. Next, we decided we would fly out of New Orleans on Saturday, October 29 and stay in Orlando until Wednesday, November 2. We also decided that we had to spend Halloween in Magic Kingdom at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party even though we knew it would sell out and the park could get crowded. I rented DVC points for a studio at Beach Club Villas and purchased our tickets to the Halloween Party. Thanks to a great Ding rate from Southwest, we purchased our airline tickets for $82 roundtrip per person [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]. Yes indeed, things were falling into place for this surprise trip and we were going to have so much fun!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
Many emails were exchanged while we decided where to dine [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/hungry.gif[/img] and what things my sister most wanted to see in the little time we had. Somewhere along the way I started emailing her a Disney Picture of the Day. This came to be the highlight of our mornings while counting down the days until our trip.
Next up - August brings lots of changes. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jack.gif[/img]
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11-25-2005, 02:31 AM
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#2
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: South East London
Posts: 5,164
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Oooh a great start, it sounds really good - those photos in your signature of Macy are so cute [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] More please!
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11-25-2005, 07:45 AM
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#3
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Community Rank: Adventurer 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Foothills of Maine
Posts: 784
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Great start...keep it up I wanna hear what happens next! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
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11-25-2005, 08:17 AM
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#4
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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: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Great start Monica!!!!! Can't wait to read more!!!!
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11-25-2005, 08:45 AM
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#5
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But why is the rum gone?
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Needville, Texas
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 12,286
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Great start Monica!! Waiting for more!
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11-25-2005, 09:43 AM
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#6
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Lafayette, LA & BCV
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 4,751
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
I have a little extra time this morning so here is another installment.
By mid-August things started going downhill. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Well, actually, we had a brief uphill climb and then came the downhill part. First the uphill climb: When I received my school calendar from Macy's school I noticed that Macy would be out of school on October 27 for Parent/Teacher Conference (we were planning to leave for Disney on October 29). I struggled, briefly, with pulling Macy out of school one additional day so we could leave on the 27th instead of the 29th. My sister said two more days at Disney was fine with her so I went to work on adding two days to our trip!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] WhooHooo!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Our airline tickets were not a problem since Southwest had been Dinging the New Orleans to Orlando flights pretty regularly. I lucked out again and got a $32 Ding and immediately changed our tickets! The problems started when I found out that none of the DVC resorts had a studio available for October 27 [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] so we would have to find something else for our additional two nights. No problem right? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] Wrong! I am sure everyone is familiar with the Best Rate fiasco and the end of regular AP codes. My sister had made a room ressie at Port Orleans French Quarter at rack rate and I had run across a great deal for a room at the Sheraton Safari near Downtown Disney for $65 per night including tax while we were waiting for Disney to release AP rates. At the time, I decided this would be good to have as a back up in case Disney discounts did not pan out. I was really glad I did when Disney announced at the end of August that Best Rate was now the only way to get AP rates and they must be booked at least 60 days in advance - our trip was now 58 days away - so we were out of luck [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]. We decided we did not want to pay rack rate for Port Orleans [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] and canceled that ressie [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. We would much rather save the money and stay at the Sheraton for 2 nights, right?? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img]
If that was not bad enough, I am sure everyone is very familiar with Katrina and her little visit to New Orleans. Katrina’s devastation meant we no longer had $82 flights to Orlando and no one had any idea when the New Orleans airport would reopen. Since our tickets were booked with a credit that I had from Southwest, I really needed to rebook with them and I did not want to wait and see what would happen with New Orleans. I feared waiting would mean much more expensive flights because it would be too last minute. Our options now were either drive to Houston, TX and deal with the traffic or drive to Jackson, MS. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/questionicon.gif[/img] Both are about a 4 hour drive for us. Ding made the decision a no-brainer with $29 one-way fares to Orlando out of Jackson. I quickly canceled New Orleans and bought 3 roundtrip tickets for $71 per person. Who would have ever believed we would be flying for less than $75 per person. Even when you consider the cost of gas and parking, this was still more than $100 per person cheaper than flying out of Lafayette or Baton Rouge.
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Things were in place once again.
Now all was well right? Wrong! I was still not content with staying offsite at the Sheraton even if it was a really great deal and only for 2 nights. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502no_prv.gif[/img] With the help of my friend Jill (Jillybean) I tried again to see if any studios were available through DVC. No luck. Then, out of no where,[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/announce.gif[/img] Disney released codes for the general public. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] I took a very deep breathe and, for the very first time ever, I called CRO myself and made room reservations using the code!! In the past I had always used a travel agent but this time I decided to try it out myself. I really felt like a big girl! I was able to get right through and yes, the discounted rate was available for our dates at Port Orleans French Quarter!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] We were now staying at Port Orleans French Quarter for twice what we were paying at the Sheraton but it’s only money, right?? Whooo Hooooo - six night on-site!!!!!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] Now I was feeling very content. Yes, this surprise trip was going to be fabulous! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/thewave.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/woot.gif[/img]
Next up - You want to do what????
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12-03-2005, 10:46 PM
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#7
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Community Rank: Day-Tripper
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Northern NY
Posts: 9
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
I love to read these. More please.
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12-04-2005, 06:38 PM
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#8
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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: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Just getting caught up. Love the surprise! I can already tell, this is going to be magical!
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12-05-2005, 12:25 PM
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#9
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: the Burbs outside of Philadelphia
Concierge Level: 1
Posts: 12,093
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
Just got caught up. Can't wait to read more.
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12-09-2005, 12:22 PM
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#10
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Community Rank: Scout
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Lafayette, LA & BCV
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 4,751
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - The Adventure Begins
On our way to the French Quarter!
Macy was really excited to be back in Orlando. I could hardly keep her still while waiting our turn to exit the plane. She is like her mommy and doesn't have a whole lot of patience!
Once we were off the plane we made a quick potty stop and then headed toward baggage claim. Renata from Tiffany Towncar was waiting for us on Level 2 and helped us get our luggage. In no time we were loaded in the car and on our way to Publix. Renata was really friendly and we enjoyed chatting with her during the drive. We made a quick stop at Publix for bottled water and Dr. Pepper (at Macy’s request). After being at Disney for 10 days last May with no Dr. Pepper, Macy decided that was WAY too long to be without her favorite drink. She requested that we make sure to pick up Dr. Pepper before getting to Disney on every trip in the future. We were in and out of Publix in no time and on our way to Port Orleans French Quarter. This was our first time trying one of Disney’s moderate resorts. we chose this one because it is small and because we love visiting the French Quarter in New Orleans. It was a great choice and I am so glad we tried it. It was so worth the extra money. Macy said “It looks just like New Orleans except its not destroyed!”
Check in was quick and thanks to the room request poem I had faxed a couple of days earlier we got a REALLY GREAT ROOM!!! Thanks to Marnie (Colexi’s Mom) for the idea of putting our room requests in a poem!!! We were upgraded to a pool view room on the first floor looking at Dabloon Lagoon! Our room was 5109 and it was a corner room with the extra window which I liked. Here are a few pictures:
Our corner room
The room number
Looking to the right out our door
Looking to the left out our door
Inside our room
Walkway to our room. We were right on the side of the stairs on the 1st floor
We did some unpacking and discovered that the fridge in our room was not working. I made a quick call to maintenance and asked that they replace it. No problem they would take care of it shortly. Our plan was to spend the evening shopping at Disney Marketplace. Since it was just after 4:00, we took our time wandering around the resort a little before getting on the boat. Here are a few pictures of the resort:
Since the boat to Riverside was just about to leave and the boat directly to Downtown Disney was nowhere in sight, we decided to ride to Riverside and check it out and then catch the boat there to Downtown Disney. We took a few pictures on the way and really enjoyed the relaxing ride. When we got to Riverside the boat to Downtown Disney was boarding so we changed boats and headed for the Marketplace.
More pics:
We had alot of fun shopping and each bought a few things. Our plan was to have dinner at Earl of Sandwich and this proved to be a great idea. It seems like a very popular spot (not nearly as popular as Rainforest Cafe which had a two and a half our wait!!!) The line was pretty long but moved quickly and the food was really good. After dinner, we shopped a bit more and then took the boat back to Port Orleans French Quarter. We got back to our room shortly after 9:00. The fridge had been replaced by maintenance and this one was working properly. We were really tired by this point and it had been a long day. It was lights out just after 10:00.
Next up: Day 1 – Magic Kingdom here we come! |
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02-01-2006, 08:20 PM
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#11
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Columbia, SC
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 7,014
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Re: Macy\'s Surprise Trip - Updated 1/30
Aaaah! Back at home at BCV! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
Jill
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