”Really……you are ALL named Lisa???”……… - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Love the start of your trip .... I could so see me doing this with some girlfriends and acting like I was in high school again --- now all I have to do is find another couple of 'Suna' to be my friend
Love the nails, love the drinks ... can't wait to read more!!!
My DMom's grandmother decided that all female children in my Dmom's generation had to be named Maria. So my DMom, my DAunt, and all their female cousins on their mom's side of the family are all named Maria. There's about 40 of them since their grandma had 17 kids, and 15 of them had at least 3 kids each. Luckily they all have different middle names, so we can call only one at a time. LOL
That reminds me of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" When John Corbett's character's parents were meeting Tula's family. Nick, Nick Nick, Nickie, Nick, Nick ....
Wednesday May 18, 2011……….3:00 a.m. the alarms started going off……..of course there was NOT MUCH sleep………too worried we were going to sleep through alarm………….too excited to get on that plane………..so up and at em’ without a hitch………..3 women showered, hair and makeup done, dressed, and out the door ahead of schedule! (okay, only by a few minutes…..but hey…this was GOOD!) We made good time and got to the airport parking lot with plenty of time to spare.
Took the shuttle to the airport, checked bags, record time through the TSA line (Oh yeah….quick side line here……kinda funny …….I had to have a bone scan 2 days before – which apparently they inject this stuff into you that can appear on the body scans….so I had to carry a special card with me from the hospital just in case I had to go through one of those………well the whole time I am in line, I am nervous about it – yet also cracking up inside because Lisa # 3 would FREAK out if I set off some alarm (I had NOT told her to avoid any “jitters”…..did I mention she is a very anxious person? I had told Lisa # 1 so she was aware!) – but lucky for me – and Lisa # 3 – I did NOT set off any alarms!!!)……….so after TSA line, we made our way over to the terminal and had a quick McDonald’s breakfast and of course my Diet Coke!
Before boarding the plane (our flight was to take off at 6:40 am)……I called home to make sure that DH and DD were up for her to go to school…….well it was obvious when DH answered the phone that he was still sleeping………turns out DD had woken several times in the middle of the night vomiting!!!! THANK GOD I had stayed at Lisa # 3’s house…….I would have had a hard time leaving knowing she was so sick – of course DH assured (or at least tried) me that she would be fine and to get on that plane!!! So before we knew it………we were on that plane and leaving a very rainy Connecticut and heading straight for HOT and SUNNY Florida!!!!
We landed ahead of schedule by about 15-20 minutes I believe……….did the quick call home while waiting for monorail to check on DD……DH said she hadn’t gotten sick again, but still wasn’t feeling well.
Picked up luggage at baggage claim………..then headed over to the rental car garage and picked out our little buggy for our extra long weekend………a nice little Nissan Versa (and we got a GREAT deal of $90.76 with all fees for 5 days!!!! )…………..
So of course we headed straight for Disney World!!!
(Continued in a new post!)
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
how did you get so many pics in your post? I just hit a 5 post limit on my trip report.
You can only do 5 if you do them as thumbnails. If you embed them you can do more, but there are size li it's to how big they can be (I think there ins a sticky that addresses the rules).
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You can only do 5 if you do them as thumbnails. If you embed them you can do more, but there are size li it's to how big they can be (I think there ins a sticky that addresses the rules).
ah didn't know there were different ways to add photos - off to RTFM
Immediately Lisa # 1 asked if we thought we could get into 1900 Park Fare for a late breakfast/brunch…….sure let’s try……….headed straight to the Grand Floridian and low and behold – they could get us in (it was about 10:50 at this point)!!! We were BEYOND excited!!! Especially Lisa # 1 & # 3 – as they are HUGE Mad Hater fans!
After taking the infamous “family” photo in front of the mural outside the restaurant………
we were led to our table………..and were pleasantly surprised that the place was pretty much clearing out!!! Oh man…..did that work to our advantage!!!! We had the BEST character interaction I have EVER had here!!!
Our food: (with TIW discount total = $64.99 with tip!)
Mad Hater was so full of it!!! And of course……..Alice was right there with him! He & Alice just sat right at our table......being total Goofs! Mad Hater let the entire restaurant know that we were all named Lisa....and 2 of us were celebrating our 40ths!
Mary Poppins was apparently not in such a great mood though ~ as she was just “eh” which I believe was disappointing for Lisa # 1 ~ as Mary is her absolute favorite!!! Although she did perk up when she realized that she was on the cover of Lisa # 1's autograph book!
Tigger and Pooh were also quite fun ~ especially Tigger – he was full of “vinegar and you know what”!!!
Half way through our fun.............Lisa # 1 surprised myself and Lisa # 3 with a gift.........she had special chamilia beads made for our bracelets!!!
We continued to have so much fun with our character friends (and really our trip was planned around character interactions......so we were off to a GREAT start!!!)...........so within the hour or so we were there.........Mad Hater, Alice & Tigger spent quite a bit of time coming back to visit us!!!
Mad Hater asked Alice to "choose" the best ring.......
of course she politely told him that was rude!
Group photo!
Mad Hater & Alice LOVED our toes!!! Alice picked up the camera and told us all to pose our feet!!!
So when we were pretty much the last ones in the place, we figured we better head out! So we went straight to Wal-Mart to pick up snacks, some quick souvies, AND adult beverages!!!!! And let me just tell you how HAPPY I was that they have added a liquor store to Wal-Mart - and they had the 100 cal. Jose Margaritas!!! And it was in a plastic bottle.....so no issues with bringing it to the pool!!!!
(Continued in a new post!)
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
100 cal Jose and a plastic bottle?! Must track those down!
Brunch looks like so much fun! Mad Hatter always seems to be one of the fiestier characters.
Okay, so after Wal-Mart...........we quickly got back to Disney property heading right for the Boardwalk!!!!
Check in was VERY quick ~ as I had done the on-line check in ~ I believe I was at the counter all of 5 minutes!!!
The girls took photos of the lobby and area while on our way to our room...............
And of course...............it was a country mile to get to our room!!!! We were in 3131.......all the way at the end of the building!!! (although we quickly discovered that it was much easier to take the stair wells to either the pool or to the parking lot for the car!!)
We finally found our studio for the next 5 days.............and took a few pics (before the mess began!!!):
So after unpacking and making ourselves quite at home...........we all changed and headed to the main pool, found 3 chairs in the sun ~ unfortunately in the kiddie pool area, but hey it was in the sun ~ and it was not too crowded in that area! Lisa # 3 and myself headed to the Bakery to get our refillable mugs (she needed her coke to go with her Bacardi ~ and well, I just needed a quick diet coke, then save the ice for MARGARITAS!!!! Of course, we couldn't help ourselves and purchased a few snacks as well..........cheesecake and cookies (sorry forgot to take pics! Was more concerned about those drinks!!! LOL!)
So we relaxed (someone slept!)..............
Had the "plastic" "pool safe" bottle tucked between our chairs ~ easily accessible...........
After relaxing and enjoying our beverages for a bit...........Lisa # 1 and I decided it was time to try out the Keister Coaster water slide!!!!!
It was fun!!! And not to mention a great way to just plunge into that cold water!!! (think they must have just re-filled the pool or something as it was quite cold!!!)
By this time, my cousin and her friend who were also visiting had stopped by for a quick visit, poolside...........of course ~ again I failed to get any photos!!! Oh well!
And I just have to add this photo.........this was our "view" from our chairs........and lets just say............this TR was almost titled "BUTT........Really ALL 3 of you are Lisa?"............hmmm............there are many "butt" shots throughout this trip!!!!
So after several hours of sun and pool............we headed back upstairs to our room to shower and get ready to head back to the GF for our dinner with Cindy and her family.................
All dressed up (on the balcony of our room)...........
Of course........we were responsible adults and decided it was best to take the bus as we had had a few drinks and wanted another at dinner.........so we took the boat from BWV to DHS to get the bus to GF!
on the boat:
We got to GF on time - and only waited about 5 minutes before we were taken to our seats............
Our dinners (total with TIW discount with 3 adult beverages and tip = $137.49):
and of course some adult beverages:
We met Cinderella:
And of course Prince Charming:
And the Lovely Lady Tremaine:
And the ditzy Drizella:
And the fiesty Anastacia ~ we had to chase her down, as she had skipped our table!!! (Maybe she was intimidated by us?!)
After we were done eating..........and had sampled a few deserts ~ our server brought over this insane ice cream concotion - this was new for me - as I remembered them having the self serve ice cream before!
After leaving 1900 Park Fare (which I do have to make a side note here ~ I was a bit disappointed in the character interaction here (although we had QUITE the time at brunch here!!!) and the server was a bit slow.....We started our meal at 7:15 and it was now almost 9:00!!!) .............we had originally wanted to head over to the Poly to watch the fireworks from the beach.............it was almost 9:00!!!! We just went outside the GF and was able to see some of the fireworks from there.........it was a great way to end our first night at Disney!!!
After the fireworks...............and some "high school silliness"...........let's just say that Lisa # 3 surprised us by showing her new Red Sox under garments (I am kind enough to leave out the photo that of course I took!!!! ), it was time to head back to BWV to catch some Z's (remember we have been up since 3 am!!!!) to get up early for our breakfast with Donald and friends!!! I did mention this trip was very much about the character interactions!!!!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
I the character interactions so far!!! What great time you spent with the Mad Hatter and Alice, and I love the pictures from 1900 Park Fare! Looks like a great vacation so far! Can't wait for more!
I also loved the pics in the BW!!! That's our home resort and it's been a while since I've been there! I saw the pictures and got so excited!
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Amanda =)
Living out a childhood dream during my summer 2015 trip to WDW. Is it time to go back yet?
“All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." –Walt Disney
Last edited by mandy1627; 05-31-2011 at 12:22 AM..