A Hop, NO Skip, and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream - Page 51 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Uh oh--not liking the ominous sound of that last sentence!
Hope your feet all better for next week!
It all worksd out, but it's a slow start. I'm sure my feeet will kill me by the end of next week, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Great photos around the resort! I actually really like the non-smiling photo of Claire in the car. Kind of hard to get a bad photo of her!
Thanks. A couple of people have mentioned that too.
I don't know if you are supposed to get in the carriage or not, but we did and no one said anything.
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Originally Posted by chezp
I'm not liking the sound of what comes next...
It's not bad, but we were much slower going than I wanted to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by smcnaught
The pictures came out great! I'm so glad she cooperated and let you take all those pics! She looks so cute with Mary and by the car/carriage and even the ones walking away down the sidewalk! They all came out so great!
Thanks. I really like the ones of her going down the sidewalk too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great pictures with the cars and topiary! I didn't realize that you could sit in the car.
I don't know if you are allowed, but no one said anything when we did it.
We found our way easily enough and got off at the correct exit. As we approached the Residence Inn, I actually passed the road. As we went along with the flow of traffic through the light I realized it and pulled into a parking lot and made my way over to the correct road. As we turned around I made the comment that I really couldn’t see the traffic light well. When I had to make my left turn onto the correct road, again I noticed the light was so dim that I basically couldn’t see it. Traffic wasn’t bad and when I saw that no one was coming, I made the turn. We pulled into Residence Inn and I was going to go and check us in. Dad was talking about his bathroom schedule again and said he would go in to use it after I got the all clear. I was going to take Claire into the bathroom and change her and we were going to go straight to Sea World then. Not even bothering to take our bags to our room. Of course when I jumped out of the van again I forgot to put in park. I quickly caught it and said a few choice words. I don’t know why I had such a heck of a time getting this thing in park. LOL! I went in and noticed that the door was propped open and the sliding doors were not working. It hit me then. Power was out in this area. No wonder I couldn’t see the traffic lights.
I walked in and asked if the power was out and they said yes. They also said they couldn’t check us in without power but took my phone number and name and said they would call us as soon as they could. I let them know that we were going to Sea World and would be back later then. I noticed that they still had a few emergency lights on, so I asked if we could use the bathrooms. They said yes, there was a little light in each one. I ran back out to the van and let the family know what was going on. Claire jumped out and we found her clothes to change her into. Dad made a beeline for the bathroom.
The bathroom was still pretty dark, but still enough light to actually get changed if you weren’t in a stall. Claire worried that someone would come in and “see” her. I assured it if someone did come in, it would be a girl. We got all dressed and then made a potty stop ourselves. The lights Popped back on as we were finishing up. Claire and I went to the desk and they were able to check us in at that point.
We headed back the van and waited for Dad…and waited…..and waited…..and waited.
I guess I took this picture while waiting because it’s the next one on my card.
Finally Dad emerged. We did the old joke (and disgusting joke at that) of “Did everything come out ok?” ….Well, no it did not! This is going to be a little graphic, and I will write it as delicately as I can, but it is hilarious as well.
Dad came out and said the Men’s bathroom didn’t have any light. The emergency light had died. So he came out and asked a maintenance guy where another bathroom was. I questioned this right away. “You can’t go to the bathroom in the dark?” Dad said no, it was pitch black and couldn’t see his hand in front of his face….again I thought what do you really need to see….just go! LOL! So he was directed to another bathroom. Again, the lights were out. So he came out and told the guy it was too dark in there as well. So the guy asks Dad if he would like him to shine a flashlight over the top of the stall while he went. And Dad said yes….. OK, here I stopped him again….. “”What kind of guy offers to hold a flashlight while another guy is going to the bathroom?.. .and THEN what kind of guy says YES!” Well I guess I just found out! So Dad proceeds to tell us how once he got in there the launch sequence became interrupted. He couldn’t go with the guy standing on the outside of the stall….well DUH…I could’ve told you that. So Dad told the guy it wasn’t going to work and came back out. I have to say my Mom and I are dying with laughter at this point and time. I think we had tears streaming down our face. Claire even found it funny. Dad thought we were crazy for laughing. He was mad now because he missed “his” time and things would be messed up now. And it was. He couldn’t go for a couple of days after. We began joking around each time he came out of a bathroom, asking if he was able to put in the launch code again, etc. We kept using space terms for everything and cracking ourselves up. Yes, we are happy with cheap and disgusting insults at my own Dads expense. When we got home I relayed the story to both of my sisters and both stopped me in the story at the same time “What? Wait, HUNH? Tell me you’re joking, He said yes to having a guy shine a flashlight while he went? AND what kind of guy offers to do that?”
He said the lights finally came on and he gave it one more try, but by that time it was too late!
We drove over to where our room was located and took out our bags and went to the elevator. For some reason Dad just looked at us like a deer in headlights and totally missed getting on the elevator. Mom was worried he would get lost and have no clue where to find our room. So Claire and I went back down to see if he was waiting. He wasn’t and I assumed he took the other elevator. When we got to the room, he was there, so I guess he found his way. We freshened up a bit. I was feeling very tired at this point. I mentioned that for dinner this evening I wanted to do something very quick and get us to bed early. Mom said fine, but no fast food. I could already envision that we would be up later than I wanted to be. I don’t know why we ended up taking our time, but for some reason I started looking at my pictures and organizing my cards. I realized one of my CF cards was missing. The one from the first few days. ….. With a LOT of cruise pictures. I searched my camera bag, I searched my laptop bag…..I just couldn’t find it. I was panicking. Dad made some sarcastic remark about what a shame it would be for me to lose my millions of pictures. I said “it might not mean a lot to you, but to me it’s very important”. I was on the verge of tears (lack of sleep), so I grabbed Claire and took her down to the van. I was going to take a look through and see if it fell out. I looked and found nothing. I just sat on the van floor with the side door open, looking out and feeling so awful. I had my camera bag with me and I opened it up again, and low and behold that stupid card was there. In the spot I had already looked 3 times!!!! I was relieved and mad at myself. We went back up to get Mom and Dad and told them the card was found. Mom said she was so happy because I would not be a very pleasant person to be around if it wasn’t found…and that is probably true…. We loaded back up in the van and FINALLY made our way to Sea World.
It was close to 2 PM before we got to Sea World. I had wanted to get there earlier than that. I knew time was limited there. The park was closing early that night for a private party. We had absolutely NO wait to get into the parking lot. We paid and found a fairly decent spot not too far away. We headed up and presented our tickets and went in. The sun was hot and bright and I was tired. I took a lot of pictures, but sometimes I wonder why I took some and why I didn’t take some of other things…like the entrance? LOL!
I did get this, and I believe this is when you walk in.
Dad was on a mission to buy a new hat. The hat he had with him wasn’t very airy and his head was sweating. So we got that right away and worked our way into the park.
These are some of the 1st shots I have from Sea World.
We took a look at the map. This park layout was very confusing to me. We used to have a Sea World in Ohio and it was much easier to navigate. Of course I had been there several times growing up, so I was used to it as well. We looked at the time guides and found that coming in the afternoon is not a good choice if you want to watch shows. Most of them are on in the morning with very limited showings in the afternoon. I decided we should head to the Sea Lion/otter show. This looked to be very similar to what they used to have in SW Ohio and my older 2 always loved this show, so I figured Claire would too.
I guess I took this in route.
We headed that way, pretty much getting lost on the way over and then climbed the MASSIVE hill to get to the seats. Yes, my feet were starting to scream at this point. I told the family to keep going and I was behind them and would call if I got lost. It kind of became a joke that day about how sore I was. I really think it was mostly due to shoe choice.
I took a quick shot.
Claire was thirsty and we still had time so I headed out and got some drinks.
I made it back with plenty of time to spare and started to take some pictures.
I took this one on my phone and sent it off to facebook.
I zoomed into another stadium across the way, I think it might be Shamu Stadium.
There is a pirate mime that comes out before the show. He is HILARIOUS. He will ask people how many in their party, but miming of course, and then act like he is going to seat them, only to lead them out to the exit on the other side. He did all sorts of funny things and I thought my Dad was going to fall over from laughing. I took this REALLY short video. I don’t know why I didn’t take more or why I didn’t get anything good.
Soon it was time for the show to start. It was good. Very similar story line to the one they used to have in Ohio, but a few things were changed or added. Claire was in awe. She had never seen a show like this and really enjoyed it.
Here is some short video of the show.
This otter kept running through and he was hard to actually capture on film. I would always see him last minute.
Great update! I missed the Clyde and Seamore show when we went to Sea World (although I think I may have seen it in San Diego years ago). A good reason to go back!
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Oh. My. Goodness. What a funny story about your dad and flashlight guy! I laughed so hard, I thought I wa going to fall off of my chair--loved it!!
Glad you found your card--bet you couldn't see it b/c you were so dang tired and sore.
Great pics of Clyde and Seamore--I remember enjoying seeing it with my mother quite a few years ago (the pirate mime was there then, too, nice to see he's up to his old tricks still!)
Thanks for trip down memory lane--looking forward to the next installment!
Great update! I missed the Clyde and Seamore show when we went to Sea World (although I think I may have seen it in San Diego years ago). A good reason to go back!
It was at the Ohio Sea World too, so I bet it was also at San Diego. I miss havin a Sea World close to us. Claire wants to go back and mentions it quite a bit, so we'll have to try and do it again in hte future.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Glad you made it to SeaWorld in the end!
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Originally Posted by nalexander
I love the pictures of Claire with Mary Poppins.
Sorry to hear that you were so tired.
The story about your dad had me laughing so hard.
My Dad is sonething else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Baloo
Oh. My. Goodness. What a funny story about your dad and flashlight guy! I laughed so hard, I thought I wa going to fall off of my chair--loved it!!
Glad you found your card--bet you couldn't see it b/c you were so dang tired and sore.
Great pics of Clyde and Seamore--I remember enjoying seeing it with my mother quite a few years ago (the pirate mime was there then, too, nice to see he's up to his old tricks still!)
Thanks for trip down memory lane--looking forward to the next installment!
We had a good time with that mishap with my Dad. LOL!
I probably was too tired to see straight.
The pirate Mime was too funny.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
That story about your dad is soooo funny! Sorry, I'd comment on the rest of the report and the wonderful photos, but I'm completely distracted now!
OMG the story about your dad had me crying from laughing!! omg too funny!!! Glad you found your memory card for your camera! That would have been a disaster!! It sounds like you all had a shaky start but it seems to be turning around...Can't wait to read more!
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OMG the story about your dad had me crying from laughing!! omg too funny!!! Glad you found your memory card for your camera! That would have been a disaster!! It sounds like you all had a shaky start but it seems to be turning around...Can't wait to read more!
WE still have more shakey moments, unfortunately.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
That was a great stroy about your dad and is "schedule". Loving the Sea World shots so far - I hope your feet hold up.
This part was funny. The guy was reaching into the hole to chase after the Otter. A hand comes out the other hole to make it look like his. Only the guy had his sleeved rolled up when he stuck his hand in and didn’t have green trim. I assume this was not a mistake, but part of the fun. And it was funny. So he mentions how it was weird as he though he had his sleeve rolled up and pulls it out and checks and then the hand comes out the next time with the sleeve rolled up.
The show was over then and we loved it. My Dad is a big fan of shows, so immediately he pointed out another show…the dolphin show… and said lets hurry over there. I didn’t think we would have enough time to make it, but he insisted we did. We headed over to that stadium. Claire became the map holder and shouted out directions. Now I don’t really think she had a clue, but we pretended like she was giving us correct info. (I still was holding a map as well.) We made it over to the correct stadium and it was pretty packed. We found some open seats up towards the top and settled down. I looked back and Mom and Dad had decided to sit a few rows behind us and over a bit. As we waited for the show to start I looked over the schedule. I saw another show that would be starting shortly after this one, and I did NOT want to see it. At least at that time. I wanted to do other things besides shows. So I told Claire that we would go find the dolphins next because I was sure Adda and Papa would be heading to the next show. She said OK, and it sounded like fun.
Soon the show started. I have to say I was not a fan of this show. I wanted all dolphins and this had a lot of divers in it and other performers. It was much to long and the music was about to put me to sleep. Now they were good at what they did, don’t get me wrong, but that was not the kind of show I was looking forward too. The Sea World in Ohio used to have a fabulous Dolphin show, and that is what I thought this would be like. I felt like the dolphins were not really much of a feature here. They focused more on the people. It didn’t stop me from taking a lot of pictures though. And I was lucky enough to have a nice pole in my line of shot!
It was so hard to get the dolphins in mid air. I never knew where they were under water and they would just all of a sudden appear in the air. And then I would get them as they were going down, or cut half the bodies off from turning and shooting to quick.
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omg too funny!!! Glad you found your memory card for your camera! That would have been a disaster!! It sounds like you all had a shaky start but it seems to be turning around...Can't wait to read more!
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