A Dream That Came True! The First Timers TR - COMPLETED 9/10 - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I only just found this and have read both the PTR and caught up here!!
What a wonderful thing your son did in giving your and his brother this fabulous trip!! You guys are really having a great time, it shows in your writing.
For your Mom, and you've got me really worried about your next update!! Yikes!
Thanks for the tips about Fantasmic! My parents have never been and want to go. We are going to do the lunch and tickets and Mama Melroses. i'll be sure we sit up a bit higher away from the nosie, so my little one is not bothered. Hope the thing that went wrong turned into something good!
You are a wonderful mom! Scottie is such a lil'gentleman! I didn't know Fantasmic had a dessert party... I would love to go to that one day! I cry at Fantasmic & Illuminations…we are just very grateful ladies who happen to love Disney!
Your pictures and descriptions from The Garden Grill have made me so hungry and ready to eat there soon, but I've still got over 100 days before we will. Illuminations is my absolute favorite nighttime show at WDW. And I cry every single time.
Garden Grill was fantastic! I have to say I think Illuminations was the best show we saw!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great PP pictures! And great pictures from dinner!
I was so happy with the PP pics! I am glad I ordered it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shanmac
Wow! Scottie is quite the gentleman! I am so impressed by him! You should be proud. It sounds to me like you're raising an incredible young man!
I love the alphabet game and I may steal it myself in April! Thanks for the tip!
Scottie is my heart, he is such a blessing for me. The alphabet game has always saved us frustration in almost any situation lol.
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Originally Posted by Disney4us2
Great pics. Love the Garden Grill. We can't wait to go back again. Love the idea about the alphabet game.
I wish we could go back again! The food alone was worth the trip lol.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Great photos and update! I don't like the sound of the next installment.
All I can say is, when life gives you lemons....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wendyismyname
I only just found this and have read both the PTR and caught up here!!
What a wonderful thing your son did in giving your and his brother this fabulous trip!! You guys are really having a great time, it shows in your writing.
For your Mom, and you've got me really worried about your next update!! Yikes!
Thank you so much for following! My boys are such blessings to me and I am so proud that they love and give freely. Thank you for the pixies as well, my mother's health worries me so much right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG
Scottie sounds like a great kid! You should be very proud! Dinner at GG looked so yummy! I HATE bread but like it from there with the butter added!
I am trying to recreate that maple butter, it really was fantastic!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ttnmama
Thanks for the tips about Fantasmic! My parents have never been and want to go. We are going to do the lunch and tickets and Mama Melroses. i'll be sure we sit up a bit higher away from the nosie, so my little one is not bothered. Hope the thing that went wrong turned into something good!
I'm sure your parents will love Fantasmic! It is one fabulous show!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThumperBunny
Your son sounds like quite the little gentleman! You should be proud!
Great update, love the pictures. The birthday card is so cute
Thank you so much! He really is a great kid, a little hyper at times but good lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by countrykid
You are a wonderful mom! Scottie is such a lil'gentleman! I didn't know Fantasmic had a dessert party... I would love to go to that one day! I cry at Fantasmic & Illuminations…we are just very grateful ladies who happen to love Disney!
Grateful ladies indeed!! The dessert party was a special Mousetacular event that they did in 2010, I'm not sure what they're going to do in 2011.
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Originally Posted by lazanya
Great updates and pictures!
Thank you so much for following!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Great Photopass pictures!!! Dinner at Garden Girl looked
As some of you now know, I suffer from migraines. I usually get them about twice a month and have to take heavy pain meds to get rid of them. The only drawback to these pills are that they make me sleep really heavy for at least 6-8 hours. So, when I awoke at around 2am the next morning with a pretty bad migraine, I was debating whether or not to take my pills. I was afraid of missing our breakfast reservations at Kona Cafe for 7:30am. Within 20 minutes or so, I had no more options as I was in such pain. I took my pills and of course I didn't wake until 10am! I jumped out of bed and started to rush around but then I realized that I would have to stop and think about how this would change my plans. I woke Scottie up and explained to him what had happened and in true Scottie fashion, his immediate reaction was to ask if I was alright and did I need anything! I must say, he is such a help to me when I have these headaches, he knows to be quiet and keep the lights low, and he brings me a cool rag and some water. I am amazed at what a considerate and sympathetic child he is. Anyway, I told him our options and we decided to go straight to Hollywood Studios and see if he could make the Jedi Training. I still felt pretty yucky, I always do for at least a few hours after waking from a migraine, but I really didn't want him to miss out. We both got through our morning routine quickly and after I doctored my feet with plenty of moleskin and a pair of thick socks, we grabbed a bus as fast as we could get ready and we're off to Hollywood Studios!
By the time we got to Hollywood Studios, it was just after 11am. We headed straight for the Jedi Training sign ups only to find out they had been full by 9:30!! Scottie was so upset, he knew this was the last planned day for Hollywood Studios. To make him feel a bit better we decided to stand in line so he could ride Toy Story Midway Mania.....a 60 minute wait time! But it was worth it, he loved it so much! (So much so that we bought the game for the Wii!) Scottie really enjoyed the queue, with all the huge toys.
My favorite part was when he was listening to Mr. Potato Head and he looked at Scottie and said "Hey you, in the red! Have you every met my friend Woody?" Scottie was amazed that Mr. Potato Head was talking to him! Scottie told him that he hadn't met Woody, to which Mr. Potato Head replied, "Well, he's a great guy and you're gonna meet him soon, tell him I said hi!"
It was such a fun ride and I'm so glad we waited.
After the ride we jumped on the Backlot Tour.
It was so cool, we started out learning how a water battle scene (like you might see in Pearl Harbor) was actually pulled off.
Then we walked through a huge movie prop room where Scottie especially liked the bird cage from Prince of Persia.
Then it was on a bus where we rode around the backlot looking at various props and such.
Then you're in the middle of another movie scene, this time it's a flood in a canyon and a gas tanker catches on fire!
The bus brings you past more props,
then all the way back to the Streets of America and lets you off at another building full of movie props.
Scottie's favorite was the alien from the Alien movies
and the organ from the Pirates movies.
As we walked on around, we stopped at the Tatooine Traders so Scottie could make his lightsaber!
He was so happy that he said it didn't even matter that he missed the Jedi Training. When he was through shopping (he also bought several star wars items lol) and we had arranged them to be delivered to our resort, we decided to eat a bite at the Backlot Express. I totally forgot to get pictures of our meal, but he had a burger and fries and I had a turkey and cheese melt. We both had a strawberry parfait for dessert. I thought the food was really good, I really enjoyed my melt and the parfaits were delicious. We headed on to the Great Movie Ride where we got ambushed by a gangster!
Scottie loved it, he was laughing right up until we hit the alien ship lol. Then he was hiding! We decided to say goodbye to Hollywood Studios and head on to the Magic Kingdom for an incredible night at Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party!!
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I don't like the sound of the next installment. 
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