Solo and Not So Solo TR - updated with final Magical Moment! - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Thanks for all the encouragement, everybody! I love reading your reactions to my story & pics.
Of course, I walked outside to view the animals a bit, but then was ushered into Jiko. This was bittersweet for me, since I'd been inside the restaurant last May with two of my favorite aunts and an uncle. At that time, we were celebrating Aunt Ann and Uncle Bruce's 50th wedding anniversary -- I had been their flower girl just a couple weeks after my 4th birthday. Unfortunately, Aunt Ann was losing a long fight with breast cancer and started feeling nauseous soon after we arrived at Jiko, so we skipped dinner that day. We lost Aunt Ann in September. I wasn't sure if I should go back to Jiko or not -- but I'm glad I did.
When the cast member at the desk asked if I'd like to sit at the chef's table since I was dining alone, it was with a great sense of relief that I accepted. No fears of ending up near last year's table, I was able to enjoy the dining experience while interacting with the chefs.
It's a bit dark in there for photos, but I had to try.
Now I'm sitting on the end closest to the flatbread station.
I ordered the barbecued chicken flatbread, which I'd read so much about on the PP boards -- and the businessman sitting next to me was already consuming one with great relish. I deleted my photo because it was too bright with the flash and too dark without it. The barbecued chicken flatbread is AMAZING -- you've got to try it!
As you've seen in my previous photos from Monday, I was having a bad hair day -- so no way was I going to let anyone snap my pic at Jiko. So just imagine that I looked absolutely fabulous -- anyway, I told my charming server that I'm a good German girl when it comes to wines, but that I was determined to have an African one. He recommended Cedarburg Bukettraube, which is a slightly sweeter Riesling-type of wine. I absolutely it, so enjoyed TWO glasses (at $11 apiece). It was so smooth, and it was delightful with my meal.
I then ordered the beef short ribs, which were fall-off-the-bone tender, with the same African barbecue sauce that I'd enjoyed on the flatbread. I did manage to get a fairly good pic of this:
You can see the yummy bread in the background. And the butter with that was delightful as well. (I could have eaten nothing but bread & butter and that wine and been totally satisfied -- but the short ribs and perfectly-grilled potatoes were yummy, too!)
All of a sudden, my server appeared at my elbow. "You have a phone call, madame." Wh-aaat? Who knew I was at Jiko at that moment? So I picked up the phone. . . .
And what do you think I heard?
Give up?
"Gawrsh, uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh it's yore birthday!" I turned to the man sitting next to me and squealed, "It's GOOFY!" Luckily, he'd already admitted that both he and his wife are Disney nuts, so he didn't find my behavior strange at all! .
Goofy and I chatted for a couple minutes. (Well, I'm not certain he was listening to me, because he kept talking. ) Of course, I realized then that he'd seen me that morning at Tusker House and intuited that I'd be dining at Jiko later that day. That Goofy! So thoughtful!
I was too stuffed to order a dessert, but the flatbread chef said, "Oh trust me, you'll be getting dessert."
Turns out he was correct -- one more beautiful birthday dessert, on the house!
I was in no hurry to leave AKL, so after dinner I went out back to sit at the fire pit. It was very relaxing -- of course, my two glasses of wine may have had something to do with that. It was enjoyable to talk with other tourists who strolled by. Monday's weather had been pretty pleasant -- partly cloudy, with a high of 66 and a low of 53.
Now, how best to return to BW? Since I had no interest in Downtown Disney, I decided to take the tram to Epcot, where I could try getting a few night shots. From there, I would stroll to the International Gateway and then over the bridge to BW and .
Just found your report Cindy and am loving it! Great photos! Favorite story was the little girl at Tusker House who was celebrating her birthday too! Looking forward to more!
What a lovely dinner at Jiko topped off with a birthday call from Goofy! Like your night shots at Epcot, especially the cool lights on the sidewalk. Stefanie always makes a stop and look at these, but I haven't thought to take a picture.
I bet there are a few readers who are unfamiliar with part of the PP boards because it's w-a-y near the bottom of the Community list of topics. It's under a section called "General Trip Planning and Discussion," and the third item under that is called "Checking Itineraries -- Adventures Dates & Plans."
Well, I availed myself of that thread in early January and started checking regularly under the "February 2010" article. That's how I discovered some soon-to-be Disney friends. I noticed that "MGW" (Melissa from Virginia) and "njsmama" (Alison from Kentucky) would be at WDW last week, and that both expressed an interest in meeting some fellow PassPorters. So I sent Private Messages to both, which resulted in potential meets -- the first of which was coming up on Tuesday morning.
Alison and her daughter Elliott came to WDW to celebrate Elliott's 5th birthday. Since they and I planned to be at DHS on Tuesday and to dash for the FP line at TSMM, Alison and I exchanged cell phone numbers and did the "Do you see me waving in the crowd?" bit until we found each other.
Tuesday started out partly cloudy and the afternoon would be rainy, but it was a warm rain. Plus, DHS is my favorite park -- there's no down side! The daytime temperature was a fairly comfortable 60-70, which was fine with me.
Elliott was feeling shy and had been that way for most of her character meets up until that point, so I didn't take it personally. I knew she'd warm up eventually. So the three of us ran for the FP machines and then went through the regular line at TSMM so we'd be able to enjoy the game again later.
Elliott agreed that Mr. Potato Head was funny, but she still didn't want her picture taken with him.
When we got to the loading area, I managed to sneak a quick pic of Alison and Elliott.
After the ride, we all wanted to get our pics taken with the characters from "Up," especially since Elliott was wearing her special "Up" skirt. And no, she would NOT pose for a photo, so I contented myself with taking covert pics of the various panels of said skirt while Elliott buried her face in Alison's neck.
I WANT this skirt!
The front bodice sported Doug, but there was no way I could get a photo of that without causing a meltdown. Luckily, Elliott's smile came out when it was her turn to meet Carl, Russell, and Doug.
I'm sure the Photo Pass pics will be even better, but mine will have to do for now!
.
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Pixie Dust
all your pictures! I had a good laugh over the Bo Peep story, too! 
Yak Attacks are so 
! Now I'm really wanting one.
Especially Bo Beep! 
PassPorter Guide Author
) Of course, I realized then that he'd seen me that morning at Tusker House and intuited that I'd be dining at Jiko later that day. That Goofy! So thoughtful! 
It was enjoyable to talk with other tourists who strolled by. Monday's weather had been pretty pleasant -- partly cloudy, with a high of 66 and a low of 53.
.
Great pictures! 
Like your night shots at Epcot, especially the cool lights on the sidewalk. Stefanie always makes a stop and look at these, but I haven't thought to take a picture.
Susan
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