Dreaming of a Disney spring break! THIS SECTION COMPLETED - Page 86 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Great photos and updates. Look like everyone is enjoying themselves. I have breakfast at CMC in October - Hope Chip and Dale make it back into rotation by then.
I went on a back stage tour and they told us about how the people in the character suits do all the characters in that height range. When we were there the guide told us they were really short staffed in the "Donald" range and he was really hard to find in the parks. Maybe the same is true right now for C&D? Also you may have been getting poor(er) service in the restaurants because they make many CM "earning their ears" and getting ready for the summer rush - just an idea.
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I'm nearly through...two more pages before I catch up....and it's taken me a whole week of reading to get here. Whew. There were so many times I wanted to make a comment, but it was so far after the post that I didn't, and of course now I have no idea what they would have been. I am thoroughly enjoying your trip and all the lovely photos! Looking foward to more soon.
Glad you're enjoying it and gradually getting caught up!
Great breakfast pictures. Looks like you all had a blast.
I saw on your ticker...WIMBELDON!!!!!! Love that tennis tournament. Highlight of my Summer. Although...the kids hate it as I take over the television.
Oh my goodness, we got our tickets yesterday and we are going to be courtside on the first Friday on Number One court! I just hope and pray for no rain....
Monday 11 April – part two: not what you expect to see in a hotel parking lot...
Sadly, it was time to leave the table and head back to the lobby. There was still lots of time before Wendy and family were due to be picked up, so we went back to the room, so that I could download the photos I’d taken at breakfast on to another CD for her, having done that for all the other photos so far featuring them.
We gave them that and sat there, sadly waiting for the moment to say goodbye to come round. Sean, Sharon and Ciaran arrived and we headed out, so the others could get their luggage. Their ride was soon with us – much sooner than I would’ve liked and we said our goodbyes. They are a wonderful family and we got on so well with all of them. I hope we get to see them all again soon. I just about held it together, until Wendy got into the van and started to cry and that set me off as well. At least we’ll see each other again in just over a year’s time!
I didn’t have much time to dwell on it, as Mark turned up with the car to take Sean and Ciaran to the Kennedy Space Center and Sharon and I headed off to their car.
Our first stop was Downtown Disney. I couldn’t remember what time the shops opened there, whether it was 9.30am or 10.00am and we were there just after 9.30am. We were in luck, as that’s when everything opened and it was deserted there. It was such a pleasure shopping there while it was so quiet.
The World of Disney was very disappointing, as all we got between us was a telescope for Ciaran and a pair of sunglasses for me. I had seen a black V-neck 2011 T-shirt that I liked in Port of Entry yesterday, but they only had it in a small size. I was hoping to find it here, but no luck. I asked about it and discovered that the only place that had any in a medium was the Royal Plaza Hotel, one of the Downtown Disney hotels, so the guy called them and they agreed to hold it.
Our next stop was to head for the Christmas shop, with me getting some photos along the way.
Once again, in there, we didn’t think the selection was the greatest, although Sharon did pick up a couple of ornaments.
I wanted to have a look in the Art of Disney and found a very neat address book in there. There was a charming Cast Member in there, who’d been working for Disney for 18 months and he couldn’t have nicer if he tried. He really was the perfect person to work there, he was so enthusiastic.
Our shopping at Downtown Disney done, we headed out and over to the Royal Plaza Hotel to get my shirt. As we pulled up, a very unusual sight greeted us:
Sharon told me that, while I was in the shop, he’d gone on to eat a lizard right in front of her! The Royal Plaza was nice enough, and best of all, they had my T-shirt waiting there for me and I was able to get my 10% Annual Pass discount as well.
Our next stop was the Premium Outlets, where we parked up (after a quick unplanned U-turn! ) and headed in. Sharon had warned me that she doesn’t shop for herself, she shops for Ciaran and she wasn’t wrong. : We went into loads of children’s shops and she eventually got quite a few bits in Tommy Hilfiger. She eventually told me to get her out of there and I practically marched her to the checkout, as she was still stopping to check out stuff along the way!
Our final stop was Character Premiere and they had a good selection of stuff in there, but with very little in the right size for either myself or Mark. I saw a couple of things that I would’ve really liked, but nothing I could fit into. I did get a T-shirt and a couple of scrapbooking things. It says something when the scrapbooking selection here is better than on the rest of property! At least I managed to find one top with Stitch on it in my size, so I got that as well.
We headed back to the car and over to the Grand Floridian.
Once there, we headed for the main entrance and were told to retrace our steps and park at the Wedding Pavilion. That’s much more convenient, but I never knew you could do that. Maybe you can only do it on non-wedding days...
Next: this is so good, maybe we should get another treatment...
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This picture is hilarious! How tall is he??? My brother is 6'5" and I barely make it to his shoulders so I'm wondering if he's as tall if not taller!
Oh and Mark messing with Carlee's hair...what a no-no. Advice for Carlee...never tell anyone you don't like you hair messed with because that's just an open invitation for men like Mark to put their hands all over it.
Joshua is officially 6'4" according to the doctor and without his shoes. But in that picture he's 6'5" and he likes that much better. Although the other day he was walking through the door and hit his head on the top of the frame said: "I hate being tall!"
Carlee didn't say anything about not messing with her hair.....................Mark just started picking on her. I think he was just mad because Carlee won the fork joust.
I giggled when I saw that Minnie and Josh picture!
Duck butt... I don't know why that made me laugh so hard!
Duck butt!! During Decade of Dreams, there was a group of us girls walking towards the Crystal Palace and we saw a bunch of ducks in the water. All of a sudden, one dove for a fish or something and showed us it's butt. We giggled a lot over that(call it the joy from all being together) and from then on I would point out duck butt to Chez.
She got me good though with the picture of Donald's butt.
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So sad that it was time for Wendy and family to leave. I've felt the same way about the shopping at Disney's Marketplace for the last few years. Everything seems generic and they don't offer as many unique items as they used to. I find more things in the resort gift shops than The World of Disney.
Isn't DTD peaceful in the early morning? That's the best time to be there - even if the lack of merchandise isn't all that great. I had to laugh when I saw the photos of the Hotel Royal Plaza's lobby! I'm thinking most people wouldn't bother to do that when just stopping in for a Tshirt. Thanks for sharing though as I haven't seen it since 1990!
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Tanya
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I just about held it together, until Wendy got into the van and started to cry and that set me off as well. At least we’ll see each other again in just over a year’s time! 
The Royal Plaza was nice enough, and best of all, they had my T-shirt waiting there for me and I was able to get my 10% Annual Pass discount as well. 
) and headed in. Sharon had warned me that she doesn’t shop for herself, she shops for Ciaran and she wasn’t wrong. 
: We went into loads of children’s shops and she eventually got quite a few bits in Tommy Hilfiger. She eventually told me to get her out of there and I practically marched her to the checkout, as she was still stopping to check out stuff along the way! 
I saw a couple of things that I would’ve really liked, but nothing I could fit into. I did get a T-shirt and a couple of scrapbooking things. It says something when the scrapbooking selection here is better than on the rest of property! 
At least I managed to find one top with Stitch on it in my size, so I got that as well. 
How tall is he??? My brother is 6'5" and I barely make it to his shoulders so I'm wondering if he's as tall if not taller!
Joshua is officially 6'4" according to the doctor and without his shoes. But in that picture he's 6'5" and he likes that much better. Although the other day he was walking through the door and hit his head on the top of the frame said: "I hate being tall!" 
Thanks for sharing though as I haven't seen it since 1990! 
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