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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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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I just found your TR today and read through up until your latest update! First, (even though I am a little late) congrats on the baby! I am so excited for you and your husband!
Now for comments on the TR! Wilderness Lodge is one of my favorite resorts and seeing your pictures makes me miss it so much, I must get back! MK is always my favorite park to start at, I love your tradition of starting off with PotC! And after reading about 'Ohanas you have me really excited for our first visit there this fall.
Your review of Via Napoli has me questioning my ADRs! That is the only bad thing about reading TRs is that they always make me question my plans!
I am glad your next trip is all sorted out, can't wait for more updates!!
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So glad that you got to spend more time in AK! I just love that park, it is my fav.! Yak and Yeti is so very yummy! Great pics!
After this trip I really appreciated AK more. When all you think about is rides this park can be a short one. However when you consider all you can see it definately becomes a whole new place. Plus Yak and Yeti is so good it makes AK all the better!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
first off let me just say I love the "MINE" shirt. I assume you got it at Disney - do you remember where?
Sorry you have to postpone the December trip but think about the little bundle of joy you will be holding. Disney is a great place but still can't compare to a baby.
Sounds like you had a great day in AK. I really need to slow down in there and explore a bit more.
I agree about the splitting up, even for a while. you don't spend 24/7 with them at home so you need that free time on vacation too. I remember one time just going to get milk and that half hour all by myself was just enough.
I did get the "Mine" shirt at Disney. I think I saw it in AK but I got mine at Mousegears in Epcot. The only thing is the fabric tends to stain. The pollen from the flowers stained it some so I have to attack it with some bleach. But it is totally cute!
I really think that splitting up helped allow us to enjoy our trip more. I definately do not spend 24/7 with my DH so it was nice to realize that there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lexiemom
I just found your TR today and read through up until your latest update! First, (even though I am a little late) congrats on the baby! I am so excited for you and your husband!
Now for comments on the TR! Wilderness Lodge is one of my favorite resorts and seeing your pictures makes me miss it so much, I must get back! MK is always my favorite park to start at, I love your tradition of starting off with PotC! And after reading about 'Ohanas you have me really excited for our first visit there this fall.
Your review of Via Napoli has me questioning my ADRs! That is the only bad thing about reading TRs is that they always make me question my plans!
I am glad your next trip is all sorted out, can't wait for more updates!!
Thanks for joining in! I love new people Thanks for the baby congrats. It is still very surreal to me since we had been trying for 2 years and had numerous infertility treatments. It is wonderful and overwhelming all at once. The WL is so beautiful I love staying there. It really is one of my favorites and would definately stay there again in a heart beat.
I completely know what you mean about TR changing your own plans. Via Napoli was chosen in our trip because of other peoples reviews and TRs here. I do not think we would have tried it otherwise but we really loved it once we did. Ohana is just a favorite of ours and I do not think I would do a trip without it.
Ok its official I am terrible at keeping up with these things. I get so excited reading other peoples TR that I forget to finish mine! My goal is to completely finish it today. I do not really have that many more posts to go!
So let us pick up where I left off (so many weeks ago!). May 1st! This is our 2 year anniversary and we felt so warm and fuzzy being at Disney for it. As always a quick breakfast in the room was had before we headed off to Epcot. Since I love the bus alternatives we usually take the boat from WL to MK then hop the monorails to get to Epcot. Is it kind of crazy? Yes. But I never get tired of the monorail or the boat for that matter. Not that the buses are bad I just prefere the other choices.
When we got to Epcot we saw our friend! Anyone who has a family member (or themselves) who love Stitch, check out the entrance for Epcot. Every time we come we see him and of course we cannot resist getting our own "family" photo with our good friend!
After the obligatory Stitch pose we headed off into Epcot. On our first trip to Epcot earlier in the week we spent most of our time in the worlds showcase. Since we had done that we decided to stick to future world. Our first destination........
I so love this ride. I know it is short but the que for it is always so amazing. I spend more time looking through that then anything else! I did manage one picture inside the ride. I promise no flash was used! I try to follow the rules.
The jellyfish part is always so pretty. Clearly my picture did it NO justice. It is so awesome. The only thing I tend to get discouraged is that the aquarium portion once you get off the ride is so crowded. I am not sure why but it seems here people let their children run around unsupervised more then anywhere else I go. To this day I still have not gotten a chance to have a picture in Bruce's mouth, but I SWEAR I will. We did take our time wandering around and saw a scuba diving demonstration in the big water tube in the room. That was pretty sweet. Finally we decided to head out.
We had wanted to do Soarin however it was a no go. The line was already over an hour and the fast pass return was between 4&5pm which we knew we could not do. We were dissapointed but since we knew we would be coming back (hopefully every year) we decided to move on.
Since we were already inside the land Pavillion we took advantage of Sunshine Seasons for the first time. We have never eaten there mostly because I like making sit down lunch reservations. I like the break in the day plus they tend to be a heck of a lot less crowded that way. However I was pleasantly surprised by the choices. And surprisingly I did manage food pictures! My DH's meal Mine
My only issue is the lack of real silverware. It was SO difficult to cut the pork with the plastic fork and knife. Definately think they could do with some real silverware here. After our meal we took a nice boat through the Land. I know a lot of people do not fancy this ride but I love it. The plants are so neat and I love the idea of gardening although I am not very good at it. I definately will have to take the behind the seeds tour in the future. Put that on my ever expanding to do list.
Wandering out of the Pavillion we finally headed over to the Journey into Imagination. In the 6 times I have been to the world (I know only 6 but I am working on more.........and maybe soon!), I think I may have only been on it once the very first time I went. That was back in 1996 so I really did not remember it. However I thought it was SOOO adorable. Definately a repeat request! I lvoe Figment and I sent myself my own little cute creation. I like rides like this, cute and uncomplicated.
Since I had requested the Journey my DH said I needed to come with him to Captain EO. Sadly I think I am among the minority that misses honey I shrunk the audience. I am not a fan of Michael Jackson and it was a little too loud and corney for me. Not to say I do not thrive on corney and cute I did not find this one to be either. It made my DH happy but he also admitted it was not something he would feel the need to do again. Much to my relief. We knew our ADR at Park Faire was coming soon so we headed out of the park. Of course taking one more ride on Spaceship Earth. How can you resist? I love the old rides like that and I truly hope things like that never change drastically.
We got back to our room and decided to get cleaned up and head over to GF. We got there for our ADR on time however I must warn people, we waited the longest to get to be seated here. At least 45 minutes. Granted we were sitting the GF lobby so it was not a huge deal but I can see how people with kids might find this a probably. The spread of dressed up but grumpy and hungry kids was definately apparent. Cinderella is in high demand and of course we were all willing to wait for her.
Once we finally made it in we were not dissapointed. This is the best buffet I have had on property. The food was excellent and the interactions certainly did not dissapoint. Unfortunately Prince Charming had to go back to the castle for an emergeny so we were down once prince. However the rest of the characters were wonderful.
Once we were stuffed to the gills we headed back to WL to drop off our stuff as we intended to go to EMH at MK tonight. We did not think there would be characters there and so decided there was no need to carry our bags. What a mistake. There were tons of characters, Donald, Goofy Pooh and Tigger to name a few. It was at this point we realized our goal to finish the quilt would not happen. The lines for characters were so long and never seemed to match up with what we were doing. I had no desire to make this a forced march for signatures so we decided this would be a long process. Which I am ok with. There are so many reasons I love EMH but primarily is the ability to walk right onto rides. As you can tell I am extremely impatient and so the ability to get on so many rides so quickly always thrills me.
We stayed there until 1:30am and finally dragged our tired bottoms to bed. It had been a wonderful anniversary but we were definately ready to crash!
Here are some pictures from the light parade! My camera again did not do it justice but they are cute enough I did not want to leave them out. Then of course I could not resist sneaking into Pooh's house.
The next morning we woke up somewhat later. Originially we had reservations for dinner at WCC however last minute I changed them to a breakfast one. I LOVE the breakfast food there and felt more of a hankering for some mickey waffles (guess the peanut likes mickey waffles too!).
As always breakfast was wonderful. Sadly I did not write down our waiters name but he was excellent. At one point I had about 15 straws in my hair and I kept being reprimanded for eating all the food from the skillet. Which of course I was guilty of so could not say anything. Definately a fun and delicious meal. Although not a quiet one if that is what you are looking for.
We had originally said we were going to go back to Epcot today however I was feeling worn out. So my DH and I decided to seperate again. He went back to Epcot and I stayed at the pool. While it sounds sad it actually again was wonderful. I know we need some seperate time and it makes it so much better when we do meet back up. I had a wonderful day relaxing at the pool and when my DH came back he expressed he had enjoyed his day as well. Sadly my enjoying day went without notes but I do not think I went anywhere else. I made it a hotel day of relaxing and enjoying myself. And it worked! Next up our last day
We woke a little sad as we knew this was our last day. It is always bitter sweet however knowing that we are definately coming back always helps. DVC is a great buffer for Disney leaving sadness!
We packed up most of the stuff and my DH brought it to the car. That was definately a nice part of driving ourselves. No worry about fitting everything in the suitcases, or that sadness of seeing the DME tag on our door.
After we packed up what we did not need we got dressed. Today was going to be Hollywood Studios in the morning then MK at night. We could not leave Disney without ending at MK. It is after all my favorite park.
We headed out to HS and made our way in. Here was even less choice for me then any other park. We did do the great movie ride but again we got the gangster. I keep forgetting to request the other line...I have only gotten the cowboy once.......and I do not think it was with my DH so he has never gotten a different experience. Of course we watched the Muppets. Always cute and we were lucky enough to miss most of the preshow thing. Standing that long to listen to that sometimes frustrates me. Again can you tell how impatient I am? Lol
We were going to do TSMM but of course the line was 2 hours long with no fast passes to be had. In all honesty I am not completely sure why this ride is so popular. While it is fun to me I feel like it does not warrent such hype still. We have resigned ourselves to not riding TSMM for at least a year since I cannot see myself running through the park at the crack of dawn just to get a fast pass.
We killed some more time until our ADR at 50's Prime Time. It always amazes me that people think they can get in here without ADRs. Or rather that they get so mad over it. We checked in and of course had to wait. While we were waiting several people came in wanting to get a table without having the reservations. When informed there was no space they actually got mad. I never understand yelling at a hostess because you did not plan enough in advance. I felt bad for the nice girl at the podium, although I am sure she has to go through it all the time. Kindess seems to be on the decline. Shame.
As always our meal here was wonderful. Sadly our waitress was kind of lacking but some of the others passing by added humor. Once we had eaten we decided to just leave. With me being preggers and my DH having no desire to ride anything without me we decided there was little left here to spark our attention.
Making our way out we realized the parade was about to start. My DH is a parade junkie so I stopped for him. Actually it was really cute and I am glad we stopped.
As we left I bid good bye to HS. It still is not my favorite park and I would easily leave it off of a trip. I do not find it as appealing as the other parks. Perhaps in time I will change my mind but for now I am ok missing it.
That afternoon we traveled back to MK so I could say goodbye to my favorite park. There is just something about strolling down Main Street that will never get old for me. It touches my heart. I rode Haunted Mansion and PotC with a little tear in my eye. It is almost like saying goodbye to a relative you are visiting. You know you will be back but it does not ease the sadness.
The next morning we left at about 8am and actually made it back to our home by 10pm the same day. Traffic was good and aside from gas we really did not stop. All in all the ride really was not bad. There are definately benefits to flying and driving, and certainly bad sides to both.
We knew (or thought.......) this would be our last trip pre-peanut and we really wanted to enjoy the idea of being just a couple there. It is a different world once you starting bringing children. Not that I cannot wait for that too. I think this was a wonderful trip that definately solidified why I so love Disney.
And so this is the end of my TR. Sorry it took SOOO painfully long. Pregnancy brain and being easily distracted along with work were my downfalls. Plus all you guys write such interesting TR I get distracted reading yours! Perhaps soon you shall see another installment from me somewhere..........keep your eyes open!
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I agree with you that 1900 Park Fare is some of the best character interaction, i think on property. When we were there last year, a kid dropped a plate and all at once the step-sisters and Lady Tramaine yelled "CINDERELLA" and expected her to clean it up! So cute
Glad you had such a great trip! Thanks for writing your TR
So happy you finished this TR - I was a little worried when we hadn't heard from you in a while. I love MK too that is my favorite park. I'm going in October and eating at WCC - 50's Prime Time and 1900 PF - I hope we don't have to wait 45 minutes too - that will not go over well with my son.
So glad you finished your TR. Congratulations on the pre-peanut trip! It definitely changes Disney going with kids. If it's a little boy you'll find yourself having to do TSMM again and again. Good job on the TR! Can't wait for another one. Keep us updated on baby!
__________________
Cheeser. Maleficent of the Vacation Villians!!!
Partying with the Parrs December 5, 2015:
I agree with you that 1900 Park Fare is some of the best character interaction, i think on property. When we were there last year, a kid dropped a plate and all at once the step-sisters and Lady Tramaine yelled "CINDERELLA" and expected her to clean it up! So cute
Glad you had such a great trip! Thanks for writing your TR
Aw what a cute interaction at 1900 PF! I definately think we will do this one again. You are very welcome I do enjoy writing TR when I do not have a pregnancy brain, lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Sorry your trip has come to an end. Thanks for sharing your TR with us!
I am very sorry our trip came to an end. However I am glad you enjoyed following along!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you had a great last couple of days! Love the pictures! Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!
Thanks so much for reading! It was fun to write
Quote:
Originally Posted by mushu22
Love your TR. Congrats on the baby news.
Thank you so much! I am feeling good about the TR and the peanut!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
So happy you finished this TR - I was a little worried when we hadn't heard from you in a while. I love MK too that is my favorite park. I'm going in October and eating at WCC - 50's Prime Time and 1900 PF - I hope we don't have to wait 45 minutes too - that will not go over well with my son.
Ah do not fear the lack of finishing was nothing but pregnant forgetfulness! I certainly hope you do not have to wait that long at 1900PF either. I am not sure if it was because it was a weekend (sunday) or what but I have never waited that long to be seated anywhere. Definately bring a good distraction for your son just in case!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheeser
So glad you finished your TR. Congratulations on the pre-peanut trip! It definitely changes Disney going with kids. If it's a little boy you'll find yourself having to do TSMM again and again. Good job on the TR! Can't wait for another one. Keep us updated on baby!
Yes I can definately see us having to do TSMM again once we have the peanut. I suppose that is the other reason I do not mind skipping it now. I am sure in a few years I will have it memorized! Along with every annoying child song one can think of, tee hee.
Catching back up only to find that you are done! But you had two more great days at the end and got some super pictures! so much for sharing your trip with us!
Catching back up only to find that you are done! But you had two more great days at the end and got some super pictures! so much for sharing your trip with us!
Sorry it was momentum. If I did not finish now I feared it would not get finished until the peanut was in college! Lol
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