A Festival, Flowers, Friends, & The Fab Four - Adventures both old & new - UPDATED 4/25 - Page 36 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Kathy I am ADDICTED to the Riches. I was obsessed last season and now I'm right back in it for season 2. I think it's just one of the best shows on TV.... although this season I'm really sad about the direction Wayne "Doug" is going. We're going to see Eddie's stand up in June and I am so frickin' excited!!
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 just got caught up, too. I probably shouldn't have gone away for April vacation, because it's taking me so long to catch up on TR's!
I'm really enjoying your TR! Some random thoughts...I'm glad you liked Coral Reef again...we've had great experiences there! (Although my DH feels the same way you do about fish watching you eat fish.) I liked your photo on BTMRR...you have lovely teeth! (and I'm quite ) And finally, I'm a monkey, too! Aren't monkeys the best! (No offense to other Chinese zodiac signs, of course!) But monkeys are the best.
Sorry for the delay! I uploaded another small batch of photos last night so look for another update soon! I have classes coming in it a bit so might be a little while
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 have to say I screwed up my last installment… I told you coming up next was our morning at the AK….that was a lie Actually it’s our morning at MGM/DHS. I still have problems calling it DHS…so if I mix in MGM some, just bare with me.
Our morning started with our fabuloso wake up call. We got up and ready quick. Kevin called and said that Lori was sleeping in with Audrey this morning so we three were going to MGM on our own. Kevin was ready to go when we were so we headed down to wait on the bus. We wanted to try and get there before park open. We had about 30 minutes….but we watched two of every other bus come before we finally said “screw it” and ran over to the parking lot and grabbed a cab. When we got to MGM they were letting people in and them stopping them at the rope. So we joined the masses at the rope heading down Sunset. We worked our way up as close as we could. Hey, if you don’t move in and fill in all available space…I’m gonna take said space from you. Finally they dropped the rope and we began herding our way down towards TOT and RnRC. Kevin of course added the sound effect of moo’ing b/c really, that’s what it felt like. We all got a good laugh at the people that just took off running towards the two rides. Really people…you were at the front of the “line”, do you really think you’ll have wait longer than 5 minutes to ride???
We told Kevin that we were going to go on over to RnRC and get FPs then go ride TOT. The swarm of people at RnRC was ridiculous, but we quickly showed Kevin that we knew what we were doing. He even pointed out that we were very smart for doing it this way. We walked over to TOT and got in line… waited seriously like 15 minutes. And b/c we got our FPs for RnRC so early we were able to get another one for TOT as soon as we got off the ride. Now I have to add here that while in line for TOT, once inside the hotel, we spotted one of the nerdy old men that we had made fun of for running down the street. He was right in front of us in line. Andy commented that obviously all that running hadn’t gotten him too far. We’d walked, gone and gotten our FPs, and now he was just right in front of us in line…
Anyway… a few pics
Kevin absolutely LOVED this ride! Can you blame him?? When the ride stopped and the elevator doors opened we almost freaked. (You must remember we are nerds to appreciate this as much as I do). When the doors opened the CM standing there was TOTALLY the guy that you see on all the stock footage on the Travel Channel. We always say that he’s the best character ever and Andy noticed him first. He sort of flipped and was “that’s the guy!!” so I, being a numero uno nerd, asked him if I could get my picture with him. Afterwards, when I looked at the picture, we got a good laugh at the freaky thing he did with his eyes. Good stuff… it doesn’t take much to entertain us
After all that TOT excitement we still had some time before we could use our RnRC FPs. We walked down through some of the shops. Kevin really wanted to walk through the villains store. Andy and I have a tendency to pick up anything and everything and play with and Kevin obviously fit in with that… This picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it!
We came out the other end of the shop close to the bakery. I was gonna get something to eat cause I was getting kind of hungry, but decided I could wait. We walked back down towards RnRC on the opposite side of the road so we could walk through those shops as well. Andy and Kevin spotted the crowbar from Home Alone “Don’t move Harry”
And then I spotted this guy….and this is another picture that just made me laugh when I saw it…
After our window shopping we stopped really quick for Kevin to have a smoke break, then we headed on it to use our FPs for RnRC. Kevin is a big Led Zepplin fan so I showed him the Led Zepplin poster. I think he thought I was crazy for making him have his picture made with it…
I do love this ride. Even though we went that long dry spell of not being able to make time to ride it…..we’re gonna make more time in the future. Kevin had a blast on it! I told him beforehand that the only things I ever remember are the big doughnut and Hollywood. Well this time I spotted some new stuff! (and right now I can’t remember what it was How’s that for irony? I wrote it down in my PP which is at home…so I’ll reference that and get back to you…) We bought our ride photo since it was the three of us… we got the two 5x7s so we could give one to Kevin. It’s hilarious because Kevin’s hair is standing STRAIGHT up! I’ll have to scan it in so you can see it.
Our TOT FP had a further away window so we decided to head elsewhere in the park for now. I wanted to see Stitch at the hat and the time was fast approaching. Kevin went to check out the pins and make some purchases at the hat while we waited. Weird situation… I asked the CM standing there if Stitch would be coming and she said no, Stitch was out today….. and then I swear, two seconds later I hear Andy yelling at me “There he is, coming from behind the hat” I guess that CM lady didn’t get the memo that Stitch knew I was here today
Andy had his video camera rolling of course and Stitch walked by him waving at the camera. We followed him over to get in line…. Now do you remember that little tidbit of Stitch photo detail I told you to remember for later? Cause here we go again First, the checking out the pins shots…
Then me talking with my hands…. I that one
Then the laughing, silly one followed quickly by the posed shot… Stitch was rocking out in that first one. He really liked my Stitch as Elvis pins (those are my favorite, too Stitch! )
After a very successful Stitch encounter (that’s what Andy says after each one “well that was a successful Stitch encounter” ) Anyway after that we headed towards the Backlot Tour. We really wanted to get Andy and Kevin up to the front of the line to volunteer, but they didn’t take any stinkin’ volunteers b/c of the weather. Seriously people, it was like in the 50’s two hours ago, now it’s warm enough for me to be walking around in a tank top….and you’re not gonna do the preshow?? Sadness….. Anyway, they still showed the stunts and explained what they normally do……kinda sucked…. Then we boarded our car, making sure to put Kevin on the lefthand side
We saw something new this time….Davy Jones’ organ from POTC, which we thought was very cool!
I had a couple more pictures from the ride, but they have mysteriously disappeared from my Photobucket page…(that or I just didn’t click on them and upload them in the first place….which is highly possible). So moving on…. After the ride we walked through the museum and shop… Kevin won a major award… Not really…….
By now we were all STARVING so we headed over to the Backlot Express to grab some lunch. We sat outside and watched the beginning of the Jedi Training Academy. We got a good laugh out of the thought of these little kids training with this old dude, and then BLAMO, here comes freaking Darth Vader out the door Good stuff.
It was also here that I gained an hour I glanced at the times for the show before I sat down and knew one was starting b/c of the massive crowd gathered around. One of the times I noticed was for a little after 12 and the other was a little after 11. Well I guess I felt we had accomplished a lot and the show that was starting up was the one after 12… So we ate lunch…with me thinking this…. We walked back towards TOT, with me thinking this….. Kevin had talked to Lori a couple times already that morning and I guess she wanted him to come on back… so he said something about just going on ahead and riding TOT and then going on back to the resort, which was fine by me… we could go swimming and relax. So I suggested that we go ahead and use our FPs….b/c in my mind it was around 1:00…. Ummm no Melissa… it’s only around 12… BUT, good news, I just gained an hour! Andy joked that it was better than losing an hour
So since we still had some time before TOT we walked over to the Animation Academy to get our drawing skills on.
We went in and seated ourselves right on the front row. We learned we would be drawing Goofy today. Poor Kevin messed up first thing with his guide circle thingy… he made it way too small…… But we had fun drawing. I always enjoy taking some time out to do this.. Once outside Kevin took a quick smoke break….so I took a picture of them and all our artwork… I personally think the one in the middle is the best But please, look closely and squint and whatever you have to do see Kevin’s pitiful Goofy
After this our time for TOT had arrived. This ride was a little more interesting as we were in an elevator with a BUNCH of teeny bopper chicks who had never ridden before. Andy likes to take opportunities like this and exploit them. So everytime it got dark or the doors closed he would scream and yell “THIS IS IT!!” and those girls would FREAK OUT! It was hilarious! I think they were truly scared. Oh how I LOVE that ride
After the TOT we made our way out of the park. Luckily we didn’t have to wait too terribly long for a bus. This was the only park I felt we had bus issues with….. Soon we were back at POFQ, getting ready to enjoy the pool…
hahahahaha!!!! "THIS IS IT!" I can just see it in my head, all those girls freaking out!! HAHAHAHA!!! Too, too, too funny. I must remember that the next time I ride TOT (which for me, won't be for a while).
great update! it does look like it was a very successful stitch encounter.
Great update, Melissa!! You certainly got a lot accomplished this morning! The Stitch interaction was awesome; I especially the laughing photo! Congrats on gaining this hour....isn't it great when stuff like that happens??
BTW, I am cracking up at Kevin's expressions. This one is especially funny!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jpod523
hahahahaha!!!! "THIS IS IT!" I can just see it in my head, all those girls freaking out!! HAHAHAHA!!! Too, too, too funny. I must remember that the next time I ride TOT (which for me, won't be for a while).
I hear ya on that one!! You won't be seeing me on that thing any time soon! That is too funny with the "THIS IS IT!!!" though! I to do stuff like that.
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) I liked your photo on BTMRR...you have lovely teeth! (and I'm quite 
) And finally, I'm a monkey, too! Aren't monkeys the best! (No offense to other Chinese zodiac signs, of course!) But monkeys are the best. 
ASAP, please
ahem 
Danny and I at Epcot 8/14/08
When the ride stopped and the elevator doors opened we almost freaked. (You must remember we are nerds to appreciate this as much as I do). When the doors opened the CM standing there was TOTALLY the guy that you see on all the stock footage on the Travel Channel. We always say that he’s the best character ever and Andy noticed him first. He sort of flipped and was “that’s the guy!!” so I, being a numero uno nerd, asked him if I could get my picture with him. Afterwards, when I looked at the picture, we got a good laugh at the freaky thing he did with his eyes. Good stuff… it doesn’t take much to entertain us 
This picture makes me laugh everytime I look at it!
I guess that CM lady didn’t get the memo that Stitch knew I was here today 
that one 
BUT, good news, I just gained an hour! 
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
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