Our Stop and Smell the Roses (a.ka. ditching the itinerary) Trip Report- COMPLETE!! 2/16 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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 update! Your dd looks too cute with her BBB hair-do! Glad you guys enjoyed tea time! Looking forward to more......
Thanks! More comin' right up.
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Originally Posted by debrabrown
What a fabulous trip report! Great pictures and your DD looked so sweet hugging her twin.
Aw, thanks! SB was so sweet with DD -- she took quite a bit of time to talk to her, much to DD's delight.
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Originally Posted by kundel
I love your story yes more would be could.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
What a beautiful princess! And the tea looks lovely!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lissybri
Great update! I love your DD's hair. It's so beautfiul. I can't wait to try the Garden View Lounge, but I know my boys would not sit there that long.
I highly recommend tea -- it was one of our favorite things of the trip!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a wonderful day for your princess - I love her hair!
Thanks! I love the 'do too -- too bad I'd never be able to re-create it! I'm not as talented as the FGITs!
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Originally Posted by TheMadonna3
Wow. Fabulous. Love reading this TR.
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Originally Posted by SARAHROO42
Loving your pictures and TR!! Your DD is too adorable.
Thank you both!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckles
My heart melted when I saw that sweet pic of your daughter with Sleeping Beauty! And she looks so cute drinking her "tea"!
Once DD got "into" the whole tea experience it was funny to see her demeanor totally change -- sitting up straight, holding the cup all dainty! We had a few touch and go moments when we first got seated -- especially when she saw it was a couch and figured she could plop down like she does at home.
Around 6 p.m. we bundled up and headed back to MK- the temps were dropping quickly as the sun went down .
I asked DH to come to Uptown Jewelers with me to see if maybe he could spot a D&B with "the perfect" pattern placement. Wouldn't you know he picked the one I'd found earlier (the one with the defect). Ack! We kept looking through all the options and I was finding fault with all of them (I tend to be a perfectionist when picking out things like this). At this point all the bags were looking the same to him and DD was getting antsy so I decided to resume "the hunt" the next day.
We went outside and found a spot for Spectro. We lucked out and got behind a group sitting on the curb and they stayed seated during the parade. The fairies from Sleeping Beauty are my favorite part:
And some Captain Hook for DH:
Once the parade was over we moved up a bit to get a spot for Wishes. We ended up by one of the stone pillars right near the wait time board. It ended up being a really great spot. And much to our excitement, Tinkerbell flew tonight! (I was worried about the wind since she hadn't flown our first night.)
One thing I regret is that I tried to take pictures of Tink flying -- my camera is really not fast enough to catch this kind of photo but in the process I missed out on the full experience because I was monkeying with the camera.
I did end up with a few good shots of the fireworks though.
Once the fireworks were over our bellies were rumbling a little bit so we decided to get a snack from Casey's while we waited out the crowds leaving the park. Since we were right near Casey's, I was the first one in line but moments later it seemed like everyone else had the same idea and the line was out the door!
We found a table outside and there was something just so magical about sitting there as the park emptied out, looking at the castle and enjoying our hotdogs. That memory just makes me smile whenever I think about it!
After about 20 minutes I figured we'd let enough time go by for the crowds to thin out. Boy was I wrong! The lines for both the boat and the monorail were massive. We decided to try our luck with the boat. After about 15 minutes another boat came -- one that was bigger than the ones we'd had all week -- and it was able to take everyone in line.
When we got back to the hotel, DH tried to take DD to watch the EWP while I browsed in some of the shops (one of which just so happened to have the D&B purses -- nothin' to see here!).
We met back up in the lounge and I found out that DH's plans had been foiled because as soon as the found a spot DD announced, "I need to use the potty!" and that was the end of that outing.
After having a little dessert in the lounge -- chocolate covered strawberries and cupcakes -- it was off to dreamland.
Up Next: Day 7 -- meet the newest member of our family
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.
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Deb
Liz
And the tea looks lovely!
![[SIGPIC]](signaturepics/sigpic27594_7.gif)
PassPorter Guide Author
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We kept looking through all the options and I was finding fault with all of them (I tend to be a perfectionist when picking out things like this). At this point all the bags were looking the same to him and DD was getting antsy so I decided to resume "the hunt" the next day.
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-- nothin' to see here!). 
Deb
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