Living the dream and remembering the Bagman LIVE UPDATE 10/2 - Page 35 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
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We go on to the joy and through the tears
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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.
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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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An unexpected trip to the hospital is always a scary thing. Glad you were feeling much better the next day.
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Great job working out all the dining discounts. Looks like you've got everything working to your advantage.
Hopefully...
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What a great picture of Bill on Splash Mt! I can tell everyone is going to have a great time remembering and sharing all the great times and stories about Bill.
Pre-trip report – part thirty two: it’s Fastpass day… and there’s good and bad news…
Friday 22 July
So, it was finally Fastpass day, and the good news was that we could book for our whole stay – the system worked! The bad news was that it wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped it would be.
Let’s just say so much for not needing to be online at the outset to get Frozen Ever After Fastpasses. We’ve got three days in Epcot. The first had nothing available, the second only had them in the evening, and that’s the evening we’ve got a memorial meet for Bill, and third is the day we sail off on the Dream. That was the only one we could get, not ideal, but heck I want a Fastpass for the darned thing!
I was also disappointed by some of the options that just didn’t appear at all. There was nothing to suggest there were Fastpasses for the Star Wars meets at the Studios, which I was hoping to get, and the Jungle Book was strangely unavailable for Animal Kingdom. I wonder if this means Disney are still hoping to have Rivers of Light up and running by then? We can but hope…
However, the biggest shock was the tier one system at the Studios. When the heck did they change this? I always remembered it being Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock’n’Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror, which was perfect for us, as there’s only one of those rides we do. Well, Tower of Terror is no longer tier one, and they’ve added in Fantasmic! (fine, I wasn’t planning on seeing it), but also included now are the Great Movie Ride, and the Beauty and the Beast show, both of which I wouldn’t have minded a Fastpass for. Oh well… I do think five tier one Fastpasses is a bit crazy though.
So what did I get in the end? Well, our arrival day is Tuesday 20 September and I picked Spaceship Earth between 12:15pm and 1:15pm, as I suspect we’ll be getting to the park around that time. As I couldn’t get Frozen Ever After at all for that day, I went instead for Soarin’ between 3:20pm and 4:20pm.
I also took the opportunity to move our dinner at Boma back. It was 5:10pm, but I thought that as we’d be snacking around the world at the Food and Wine Festival booths, that might be a bit early. I had a look and snagged 6:15pm instead, which I think will be much better. It means we probably won’t get to the Eat to the Beat concert with Air Supply, but as we both discussed, we only know one of their songs, and if we make it to Epcot for the 8:00pm performance, the chances are they’ll do that last of all anyway. Our main priority is to be there for IllumiNations, and I think we’ll still do that with a 6:15pm start to dinner.
The next day we have no Fastpasses, as we’re off property. The day after, Thursday 22 September, we’re in Epcot, and we start off with a Fastpass for the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival between 9:15am and 10:15am, before heading to Test Track between 10:40am and 11:40am. I’ve left it at that, as anything in the afternoon (we’re heading to lunch at Spice Road Table with Barb and Bob and Sue and Angie at 12:00pm) was quite late, and we want to sample Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and I was planning on heading there for not much after its 4:00pm opening time, as I don’t know how popular it still is.
On Friday 23 September, we’re in the Magic Kingdom and I’ve gone for a couple of morning Fastpasses: Peter Pan’s Flight between 9:10am – 10:10am and Pirates of the Caribbean between 10:35am – 11:35am. Maybe we won’t make the first, as we’ve got the DVC Member event at Animal Kingdom until midnight the night before, but we’ll see. We’ve then got a Fastpass for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train between 1:25pm – 2:25pm, before we need to head out for some down time.
On Saturday 24 September, we’re in Animal Kingdom and, even though we’re due to meet for Kilimanjaro Safaris at 9:00am, I’ve got a Fastpass for it between 10:00am – 11:00am. Heck, we can’t get enough of it! We’re off to the Boathouse for lunch, but back in the park later on, and I also got a Fastpass for Finding Nemo – the Musical at 4:00pm.
Sunday 25 September takes to the Studios, but later on in the day, and I got two Fastpasses, the first for Toy Story Midway Mania between 3:20pm – 4:20pm and the second for Muppet Vision 3D between 4:35pm – 5:35pm. I would’ve liked more, but with the way they’ve done tier one Fastpasses, that wasn’t going to happen. Oh well.
Our final day is Monday 26 October and we’re back at Epcot for breakfast at the Garden Grill, and that’s the day we have a Fastpass for Frozen Ever After between 11:20am – 12:20pm. I also added in one for the Seas with Nemo and Friends between 10:05am – 11:05am. And that’s us done!
Saturday 23 July
I was very excited to get my Disney Vacation Club Member Insider for July and August, but sadly, as so often happens with things these days from Disney, by the time you receive them, all the news is old. They had a link to an article about DVC discounts on Food and Wine Festival events, but it turned out they were either for Party for the Senses or the food or beverage seminars. They’re usually $13, but you can get $2 off. My favourite though was the bit telling us, as Members, we could book before the general public, with booking starting on 19 July… a little late, me thinks..
The other articles were about the discounts for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, which we knew about and had already used, and then the night-time entertainment at Animal Kingdom, but that took you straight over to the Walt Disney World website. The final item was about the tour they do at Animal Kingdom Lodge, that I’d already worked out we wouldn’t be going on, and the article actually dated from April 2016. Nice and up to date Disney!
I also decided to do something about the avatar that Disney had saddled me with for the Fastpass site. For some reason, I had Alice in Wonderland show up for me, goodness knows how. I obviously would’ve gone for Eeyore, and Stitch as a second option, but neither are on the site, so I had to make do with Olaf. Mark wanted Grumpy, of course, but that wasn’t an option either, and went for R2-D2 instead. I wish they’d expand their list of avatars, so we could actually pick our favourite characters.
Monday 25 July
I got some advice today on the boards from Amy (Canada Amy) to look out for Cows ice cream. Ok, that sounds good to me! It’s apparently Prince Edward Island’s claim to fame and has been voted best ice cream in the world. She was encouraging me to go to Toronto Zoo, saying it’s up there with San Diego Zoo, which is high praise indeed, but I just don’t see how we’ll have the time. I had another look at their website and the panda cubs are definitely growing up, and although they’re still cute, they’re not as cute as when they were younger. They’ll be 11 months old by the time we’re there, and even at eight months old, they’re already starting to become like little adults a bit. I think I’ll stick with the plans and sadly the zoo won’t be something we get to visit this trip.
I saw another post from Raelynn (poohbar7206) on her trip report, which mentioned you could pre-pay for a photo package with Disney Cruise Line. I think I maybe half knew this, but perhaps had forgotten. I did some rooting around on their website and found the details eventually, but heck, they don’t really advertise it. The price isn’t as bad as I thought it would be – all digital photos for $194.95, which is sort of tempting, but given how poor the pound is doing against the dollar, maybe not.
Tuesday 26 July
How the heck did this happen? I looked on the boards and apparently we’re down to 47 days out… and missed our 50 day mark. Oh well, I will still dance at that! I can’t believe that we fly out just six weeks on Saturday… that is coming up quickly.
I went on the Disney World website to try and change our breakfast at the Garden Grill, as I’m conscious it’s still booked for four people, and now it’s only the two of us. I still can’t get anything at the time I want, but I did notice they’re doing Eat to the Beat dining packages, with availability at the Garden Grill at 9:55am. Wow, I was not expecting to see that – normally dining packages only come with lunch and dinner. I guess not with this…
As for my health, well I’m improving since the hospital admission 10 days ago. I am still very tired, but a lot of that is due to recovering from the problems I had and my chronic fatigue. It’s great when I’m fine, but as soon as something affects me, the chronic fatigue means it takes me longer to recover. I am managing to work my hours now, which is a step forward, especially given we had a busy weekend with my parents, going to the London Anniversary Games to watch the athletics at the Olympic Stadium in the capital, then visiting some gardens and taking a tour of lavender fields.
I’ve seen the doctor and I am going back on those tablets that first affected me and led to my accident and emergency visit, but at a much lower dosage and I’ll be increasing it at a much slower rate. She has assured me I shouldn’t have a repeat of those symptoms, so I’m hoping she’s right. I want to ensure I’m right for this trip. After all, it is just around the corner now…
Tons of for a healthy vacation Cheryl!! You have quite a lot to see and do!! Oh my word about the Fastpasses. I'm going to have to research that and figure it out! I did not realize that there were that many changes!!
They've now got a couple of breakfast packages for the CP as well!
Your trip looks terrific and I'm sure it will be an adventure as always!!:
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Great plans...I know what you mean about the tiers at DHS...really? GMR? I love that ride, but I wouldn't consider it tier 1. And Beauty and the Beast? As big as that theater area is? However, ToT hasn't had a long wait the last couple of years, not sure why but it's usually like 13 minutes whenever we've been there.
My DDiL is a Grumpy fan as well and was really bummed that Grumpy wasn't a choice so she did the Incredibles for her gang...
I agree that the tiers at DHS stink now! I guess we just have to make the best of it.
We're doing Garden Grill for the first time for breakfast on our November trip, so excited for that. Haven't eaten there since I was a little kid! Hope you guys enjoy it too. I'm sure Mark will have fun with Chip. Or Dale....
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Nice going with most of your FP+. I can't believe all of that tier one attractions at Studios as that's insane! I'll have to deal with this when I do mine shortly.
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You have quite a lot to see and do!! Oh my word about the Fastpasses. I'm going to have to research that and figure it out! I did not realize that there were that many changes!!
I think it's almost a constantly evolving system now - it's certainly very different from our last visit in February/March 2015.
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They've now got a couple of breakfast packages for the CP as well!
Your trip looks terrific and I'm sure it will be an adventure as always!!:
Great plans...I know what you mean about the tiers at DHS...really? GMR? I love that ride, but I wouldn't consider it tier 1. And Beauty and the Beast? As big as that theater area is?
So glad I'm not the only one who was a bit surprised by those...
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However, ToT hasn't had a long wait the last couple of years, not sure why but it's usually like 13 minutes whenever we've been there.
Now downgrading it from a tier one would make sense in that case...
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My DDiL is a Grumpy fan as well and was really bummed that Grumpy wasn't a choice so she did the Incredibles for her gang...
I agree that the tiers at DHS stink now! I guess we just have to make the best of it.
We certainly do - I just wish I understood the rationale for the changes a bit better...
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We're doing Garden Grill for the first time for breakfast on our November trip, so excited for that. Haven't eaten there since I was a little kid! Hope you guys enjoy it too. I'm sure Mark will have fun with Chip. Or Dale....
I'm sure he will! He always seems to have fun (or get into trouble ) with the characters... mind you, he is a bit of a character himself!
Nice going with most of your FP+. I can't believe all of that tier one attractions at Studios as that's insane! I'll have to deal with this when I do mine shortly.
Glad I could at least give you a heads up about all the changes...
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We only had to make FP+ for one day at DHS as that is all we are doing there. I really don't like the tiers, but I did wonder if all the changes going on there right now were the cause of the tier changes. Not the easiest park to plan for right now.
We only had to make FP+ for one day at DHS as that is all we are doing there. I really don't like the tiers, but I did wonder if all the changes going on there right now were the cause of the tier changes. Not the easiest park to plan for right now.
Pre-trip report – part thirty three: maybe we could do a late dinner…
Wednesday 27 July
There’s a discussion on the boards about what’s happening with Rivers of Light. Of course, no-one knows a thing for definite, we’re just waiting on Disney to make an announcement. Sigh. Someone commented that the Jungle Book is playing until 3 September. I knew it was early September, but I didn’t know the specific date. That means Disney really needs to decide in the next couple of weeks whether they’re going to extend that or try and bring Rivers of Light in at that point. I’m only guessing here, but I suspect Disney will want to keep night-time entertainment going there, even at the quieter times of the year, given they made such a big deal of saying they would make it night-time.
Someone at work today found out I was going to Canada, and told me she’d do a guide, as she’s been to all our stops multiple times, with the exception of Quebec City. I didn’t have the heart to tell her our plans are pretty much set in stone, I just thanked her for the offer, and we’ll see what turns up. Let’s just hope she doesn’t throw out too many things I haven’t already got on the itinerary.
Thursday 28 July
I started the pre-trip report on the boards today, which felt a bit weird, given it’s still July. I don’t think I’ve ever started one so early, but given I’m already up to 32 parts with a good few weeks still to go, I felt it was about the right time. We’ll see if I’ve worked it out properly the closer we get to the actual vacation…
There was an interesting comment on the boards today by DisneyOrBustColorado (what a great user name! ) in the thread about Rivers of Light and what’s happening with it. Forgive me for repetition, if you’ve already read it, but I thought it was so good, it was worth pasting in here:
I can understand how everyone can be disappointed that the Rivers of Light show has been delayed by Disney. They did such a wonderful job of getting everyone excited about it.
For all of you that are going to be visiting AK in the near future, do not fret. Let me tell you, from person experience, the Jungle Book show is Amazing!!! I am so happy that I used a Fastpass for this show. It was well worth having good seats to watch. Take the opportunity now to see the Jungle Book show because we know that it will only be there for a limited time. Hopefully the Rivers of Light show will be a more permanent addition.
The projections on the water are larger than life and the dancers & live music fill the air all around you. Dancers in the isles, on the stairs & in front of you. Do not be discouraged if you are not able to catch the Rivers of Light show. Instead, be sure not to miss the Jungle Book show that is there now. It is absolutely fabulous!
What a lovely, positive post, and it really got me excited about the show, even though we still have no idea whether that or Rivers of Light will be showing during our visit. At least if it’s this, I know there are some positive reviews of it.
Also on the boards tonight was the news that the Flying Fish Café is due to re-open on 3 August, with reservations beginning tomorrow. Ok, wow, that’s big news, and a huge change to the originally announced renovation. I don’t remember when it was due to be closed until, but I think it was October or November. I know I’d mentally already scrubbed it off the list for this trip, so that throws a bit of a spanner in the works… Part of me is tempted to book a dinner there and dump Hollywood and Vine, as we would be on the Deluxe Dining Plan by then, but then again, Hollywood and Vine is at the Studios, and we’re not going to have much time there this trip. I do want to see the Star Wars fireworks that night, provided they extend them by a day to Sunday 25 September, and if we’re eating in the Studios, then it’s easier to get to the fireworks. From what I can see in my trusty PassPorter, it used to open at 5:30pm. If that’s still the case, then it could be cutting it a bit close for the fireworks at 8:15pm. Oh boy – decisions, decisions…
We talked it through when Mark got home, and concluded that maybe we could do a late dinner, about 9:00pm, if the fireworks are 8:15pm. That should just about give us enough time to get back. I looked at the California Grill, and there is a later opening at 12:00pm for brunch, so we could move that back, and go to the Studios for Extra Magic Hours in the morning, do Toy Story Mania, then get a Fastpass for the Great Movie Ride, and do the Star Wars meet and greet. That would be quite a nice line-up for the Studios for a morning… this could work.
I also saw on All Ears Net that there’s going to be a new show in the Magic Kingdom – “The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History”. It sounds hysterical:
Sam Eagle, the fiercely patriotic American eagle who is forever trying to set a high moral standard for the Muppets, will join Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo and James Jefferson, town crier of Liberty Square, as they gather outside The Hall of Presidents to present historical tales in hysterical Muppets fashion. From the midnight ride of Paul Revere to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Muppets will appear throughout the day to share their own unique take on the founding fathers and the birth of the United States of America.
“The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History” will be presented multiple times daily and will feature an original song and wacky Muppets humor.
I went on the Disney World website, but there are no details at this stage of when the shows will take place, but I’ll keep an eye out for any further information…
I also did a Google search for ice hockey, as I know Mark enjoys it, and heck we’re in Canada presumably during the season. Well, now I know why hotels in Toronto suddenly got so expensive. The NHL have their 2016 World Cup of Hockey taking place in the last couple of weeks of September, with all the games in Toronto. There’s no way we can go to any of them, as our time in Toronto is already limited, and we’re out both nights, so I didn’t go any further with looking for tickets, but at least now I know what the problem was…
Friday 29 July
I saw the cheery news when I got home that there have been the first three cases, I think it was, of the Zika virus transmitted by local mosquitoes in Florida. I don’t think that’s a huge shock really and it doesn’t overly bother me. I intend to ensure I have mosquito repellant, and frankly the best I’ve found, having tried out lots of different things over the years, is vitamin C, which I take every day. Eventually, it was bound to spread, and they reckoned it would do so after the Olympics, as people would attend as spectators or competitors, and would bring it home.
I then went and amended our plans for the Sunday we’re there. We now have a dinner reservation at the Flying Fish Café at 9:15pm, which gives us an hour after the fireworks at the Studios. Hopefully that will be enough time. We’ve also changed our Sunday brunch from 10:00am to 12:25pm, which gives us a bit of time at the Studios first thing. The plan is see if we can get on Toy Story Mania during Extra Magic Hours (if we get there early enough), then we have a Fastpass for Muppet Vision 3D, followed by Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We’ll then head out for brunch, probably via the Beach Club Villas to change.
I’ve resigned myself to not being able to do the Star Wars meet and greet, as it looks as if it’s only on between 11:00am and 4:00pm, which is what the website is telling me. I have booked our third Fastpass for Toy Story Mania for the evening, between 6:30pm and 7:30pm. That might sound a bit weird, given it’s a tier one, but I figure if we don’t make it to the Studios in the morning, and as it’s our least favourite park, it’s entirely possible, then at least we know we can do this in the evening, as we will go for the fireworks.
Saturday 30 July
We had a lovely day out in London today with Meg (mcc0313 on the boards) and her daughters. We visited Westminster Abbey, walked through St. James’s Park, visited Buckingham Palace, and then had dinner at Covent Garden, so we covered a lot in just one day. I wasn’t expecting to be talking about this vacation, given that I knew Meg wouldn’t be in New York on the day and a bit we’re there.
However, she surprised us, by saying that she’d cancelled her late September trip to Disney, so she would actually be around. We told her our plans, and now we’re going to meet up with her for dinner on the Friday night before seeing Cirque du Soleil. Her words to us were “leave dinner with me, I’ll find something good”, which sounded like a plan to me! I am so happy we’ll get to see her again. As we said when we went our separate ways at the end of the day, we hadn’t seen each other for seven years (we first met up in New York in 2008 and then next saw her in Boston last year) and now in just over a year, we’ll have seen her three times in just over a year.
Next: doing the most depressing task of a vacation
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The bad news was that it wasn’t as straightforward as I’d hoped it would be. 
I always remembered it being Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock’n’Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror, which was perfect for us, as there’s only one of those rides we do. Well, Tower of Terror is no longer tier one, and they’ve added in Fantasmic! (fine, I wasn’t planning on seeing it), but also included now are the Great Movie Ride, and the Beauty and the Beast show, both of which I wouldn’t have minded a Fastpass for. Oh well… I do think five tier one Fastpasses is a bit crazy though. 
We’re off to the Boathouse for lunch, but back in the park later on, and I also got a Fastpass for Finding Nemo – the Musical at 4:00pm. 
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I'll have to deal with this when I do mine shortly.
) with the characters... mind you, he is a bit of a character himself! 
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