Celebrating as One Big Happy Family: 5/10/14 - 5/18/14 - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
I haven't had a chance to get on it yet since this weekend's been a bit crazy, and because tonight I'm going out with a friend who's visiting from Texas, I'm hoping to be able to start editing my pictures tomorrow night.
I'm finally back!!!!!Sorry it took me so long to get this thing started, but things just got crazy at home, and I guess since it's been so long since I've actually edited pictures, it was more of a process than I would have liked. Finally, since you've all waited so patiently, I'm getting this report started...with pictures! (because I wanted to get this posted so quickly, I didn't post all those fun smilies that I usually do). Sorry.
Day One: Saturday, May 10th
Will Mom Be Joining Us on the Trip???
This morning was a little strange for a couple of reasons. 1) Our flight wasn’t until 9:30am, which meant we didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn in order to make it to the airport. I don’t think that’s ever happened before. 2) I wasn’t exactly sure if my mom would be waiting for us at the airport with the rest of our crew. It was a really bad feeling to have right before your big vacation.
The uncertainty had begun the day before, when I got a call from my dad saying that mom was really sick. At first I thought he was joking, but then realized that he was being completely serious. Apparently mom was at the salon getting her nails done, when she was hit with a huge dizzy spell, and then a feeling of nausea just came over her. She made it through the manicure, but was afraid to drive all the way back to her house, so she drove to mine instead. When she got to my house she laid down for a bit, but about 10 minutes into lying down, she bolted up off the sofa and ran for the bathroom, where she ended up getting sick. That’s when dad called me, and told me what was going on. Of course I felt bad for her, but my very next thought was that her germs were now in my house, and the last thing I wanted was for Hope to catch anything. Regardless of how I felt inside, I didn’t say anything to my dad about it, and I figured I could just sanitize everything when I got home.
About an hour later I got a call from my mom. She said that she felt a lot better, and had actually eaten a piece of toast with no problems. She said she didn’t think she had a virus or food poisoning because these symptoms were exactly like the ones she had when this had happened a few weeks earlier. I told her that she needed to make a doctor’s appointment when we got home from our trip, and after she agreed, she was off to make it to her hair appointment. I felt much better about everything after that phone call.
Once I got home I started on the packing, and about an hour into it, I got a phone call from my brother. He told me that mom had gotten sick again, but dad didn’t want me to know about it because I would just worry. Heck yeah I’m going to worry! Mom’s sick right before our Disney trip!!! I told Mike to keep me posted on how she was doing, but I totally forgot who I was talking too, and realized about an hour later that I would have to call him and ask for the updates. My mom was now sleeping, and hopefully by the morning she would feel better.
I woke up at the same time I normally do for work since I would also leaving at the same time I would be for work. Still not knowing if my mom was going to be coming with us, we kept our anxiety about it from Hope, and let her put the final piece on her countdown calendar before heading to the airport.
On our way there, Hope wanted to call Trinity to see if she was excited yet, and while she was on the phone, I asked her to ask Trin if Mimi was with them. You have no idea how happy I was to hear the word “yes” come out of Hope’s mouth. I still didn’t know what condition she would be in, but at least I knew she was well enough to travel.
Once we got there, Chad dropped us and the bags off, and left to go park the car. My mom, Corinne and Trinity were waiting at the curb for us, and mom looked 100% like herself. She told me everything I already knew since I had already gotten my information from my brother, but once again she thought it was from one of those weird spells she’s had before. (As I was working on typing this up my mother had another one of those spells, and finally went to the doctor. They did blood work and she had an ultra sound scheduled for today. She thinks it might be her gallbladder, but we’ll have to wait for the test results to come in to confirm that).
After we were all together again, we did curbside check-in, went through security, and were soon eating some breakfast at our assigned gate while waiting for our plane. We boarded shortly after, and patiently waited for take-off. This was Trinity’s first plane ride, so we were all both excited and nervous about how she would handle it, but the ride down went very smoothly.
We landed a little after 12pm, and after going to baggage claim, making our way over to ME and then finally pulling away from the airport, it was now almost 1:15pm. We were told we still had to drop guests off at Caribbean Beach, the Dolphin and the YC before arriving at the BC. Normally, I wouldn’t care because we don’t usually go to a park on our first day, however, this time my dad and brother and a 3:30pm tee time at the Magnolia Golf Course, and my dad was starting to panic. I told him we’d be fine, but when we finally pulled in to the BC, there was an issue with another ME bus blocking the entrance, and we just sat there for what seemed like hours. It was now 2:50pm, and we still needed to check in, and they still needed to change their clothes. When we finally were let off the bus, it was almost 3pm, so I ran inside to start the check-in process, and in the meantime, dad called the course to give them a bit of a heads up. The CM who checked us in, checked all of us in at the same time, and lucky for us, only one room wasn’t available…mom and dad’s. We told them to just grab what they needed out of the suitcases and go change in one of the rooms, which they did, and by the time they were finished and in front of the hotel waiting for the car to pick them up, they had about 10 minutes to spare.
All of our rooms were in the same hallway and either across or next to one another. I was going to start my unpacking, but we were all pretty hungry, so we went down to Hurricane Hannah’s and grabbed some lunch. Once we had all eaten, Chad and Corinne stayed at the pool with the girls, while mom and I went back to our rooms to unpack. Corinne didn’t seem too concerned with taking care of her suitcases, but for us, we can’t get comfortable until everything is done.
When the packing was finished, mom and I put on our bathing suits and went down to the pool to meet up with the rest of them. We found the girls playing in the sandy area of the pool with Chad, while Corinne was sun bathing.
I later found out that Chad had pretty much watched the girls the entire time. So when they both asked to go over to the kiddie slide, I told Chad to take a break and asked Corinne if she wanted to come with me while I took them over there, which she did. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go since Hope is afraid of getting her face wet, but after she watched Trinity go down, she decided that she could do it too.
And she loved it! We actually had to pull them away from the slide so we could go back to the pool for a little break. Because we were having so much fun at our resort, we decided to just hang out there for the rest of the day, instead of going to DTD. I even ended up getting that drink I deserved so much. I opted for the Black Cherry Lemonade (Grey Goose Cherry Noir Vodka, Lemonade, fresh Lime Juice, and Grenadine topped with Sprite), which sounded refreshing, but ended up tasting like cough syrup. I drank it anyway, getting used to it with each sip.
Pretty soon dad and my brother had come back from golfing, and joined us at the pool. We ate dinner, played in the pool some more, went over to the kiddie slide again, and then my brother had this hair brain idea to see if Trin wanted to go down the BIG slide. Of course, she did. So Corinne told him she was only allowed to do it if they were allowed to come down together, and we left it at that. Corinne, Hope and I went over to the pool where the slide ends, and we patiently waited for BOTH of them to come down. My brother is tall enough, so I figured when I saw his head coming around the corner, I’d be ready to get a picture of them when they plunged into the pool.
After a few minutes passed since the last time someone had come down the slide, I was starting to wonder what was going on. And then all of a sudden, I look over and see this splash, and then a little head pops out of the water.
It was Trinity!!! (I obviously wasn’t ready to take this picture)
Followed by my brother, who had a huge grin on his face. Meanwhile, I thought Corinne was going to lose. her. mind! Trinity is coughing and sputtering, and pretty much looked like a deer in the headlights. Mike asks stupidly, “Did she like it?’ And Corinne yells, “I thought you were going to go down with her!!!” Come to find out they wouldn’t let them, and after asking Trin one more time if she wanted to do it, she said yes, and he let her go. Typical father. She was fine the entire time she was going down the slide, it was the end that messed everything up. She wasn’t ready for the pool, and hadn’t held her nose, so she swallowed some water.
Once we got her calmed down, and Corinne ripped my brother a new one, we made our way back over to my parents and Chad to tell them the story of what happened. At 7:30pm, they had started roasting marshmallows at the firepit, so we headed over there with about 15 minutes left before they were about to put everything away. I have to admit, this is the first time I’ve ever roasted marshmallows (the shame), and I really enjoyed it.
Hope, however, would have much rather eaten the marshmallows without the “black” stuff on them.
They had started setting things up for their movies on the beach, which just so happened to be Frozen that night, so we hung around to see if we were strong enough to stay awake for it. We still had about 30 minutes to go before it started, and after taking a few pictures…
I caved and surrendered to the sleepiness that was now starting to take over my eyelids, so we headed back to the room, along with my parents. Mike, Corinne and Trin ended up staying with enough time to watch about 10 minutes of the movie, and then they gave up too. Guess all that sun and swimming had finally did us in.
So glad your mom was feeling better! I can't believe DME took so stinkin long but what a great day enjoying the beach club! Why stay at such a nice hotel if you don't get to spend time there?!
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Liz 
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
with the photo editing. I spent a good portion of yesterday finishing mine up from our trip in order to make use of a coupon. 
Looking forward to reading your TR!
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