Dreaming of a Disney spring break - part three COMPLETED - Page 74 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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How wonderful that the crowds were so low for you! My kids' break ended on Easter as well, so that's a logical explanation of why it wasn't as crowded as expected.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I just love that your last moments at the MK were spent with the Big Cheese! This was quite the trip! I thought for sure the report would last all the way through to your next visit!
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.
What a perfect way to end the trip, I still cannot get over th low crowds on Easter Sunday, when I saw the picture of the queue for Mickey and Minnie I was shocked, I don's think I have ever seen the wait almost...nil.
I just love that your last moments at the MK were spent with the Big Cheese! This was quite the trip! I thought for sure the report would last all the way through to your next visit!
Hmmm... odd you should say that... it's been timed pretty well, I have to admit!
We just missed one resort monorail, but there was another holding straight behind it, so we were able to quickly board that.
As we headed back to the Contemporary, we could see that the crowds were now building to get into the Magic Kingdom. As Mark said, maybe people went to church first thing...
Anyway, we were both glad that we’d done it and that we’d been able to enjoy it while it was so quiet.
Now we needed some lunch, so we headed for the Wave to see if we could get in without an ADR – and indeed we could. It was a traditional Easter brunch and it was very good as well, with salad, hot items, breakfast items and the chance to get an omelette made, which I took up.
I was very impressed with the chef. After I mentioned my allergy to tree fruit to our server, she got him out to see me, as I couldn’t eat any of the desserts out. Well, he really came through for me and came up with four desserts, especially for me. Now that’s what you call real Disney service!
Our server, Renee, got a really good tip for sorting that one out. It was a great end to a great vacation.
I went outside to get a few photos around the pool area....
... then we headed off towards the airport.
Even as we left the Magic Kingdom area, there were very few cars coming in:
It was almost as if the weather knew, as it started to rain as soon as we hit the Walt Disney World sign. It’s freaky the way this always happens on our last day – the weather suddenly deteriorates. It’s almost as if it’s saying “it’s OK to go home”.
We made good time to the airport and dropped the car off at Alamo. It was a bit insane in there, but as we weren’t concerned about reporting anything, we left the keys in the car, as the guy suggested and headed into the terminal.
We had quite a hike to get to our set of gates from where we came in, but at least we got to see the airport active. The last time we were here was late on Christmas Day, with an early flight the next morning and both times, pretty much everything was closed.
We got to security and cleared it in probably about 10 minutes. Mark got selected for one of those random searches and it wasn’t an issue at all. : We were impressed, as it picked out a dime that he’d left in his pocket, which to me shows that it’s working, so that’s good to know.
Once we put everything back together again, we headed for the gate and were amazed at how many people were already there, bearing in mind that we were there an hour before the plane was due to start boarding. People continued to throng in. I guess everyone was keen to get back to London... or maybe not!
We were called for boarding on time and, as a result, left on time. Thank goodness, this time, we had got the seats that we wanted – upstairs, with a window and an aisle seat and, unexpectedly, an emergency exit seat as well, which meant lots of legroom, although the downside was less space to store things, so my Eeyore carry-on case had to be put at the back of the upstairs cabin.
The flight wasn’t too bad. It was a little turbulent in places, although the captain was very good about not putting on the “fasten seatbelts” sign. A couple of times, I went to the restrooms just in case he did, but as I say, he was good about not doing that.
The meal was much better than on the way out and thank goodness I had ordered a vegetarian meal, as the only other options were beef and chicken. It was a vegetable stew and, although it was a little salty, it was a big improvement on the horribly hot curry I’d had on the way out.
We were both shattered from not having slept too well the night before, but thought we’d watch one movie at least. I went for Black Swan and managed to see the credits, but that was it, before that channel gave up the ghost. I must admit I was on the verge of giving up with it, as it kept cutting out, both in terms of picture and sound. I tried Burlesque, but that wasn’t much better, so I opted for Hereafter in the end. It’s directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and stars Matt Damon. Although slow, it was enthralling, I was determined to stay awake until the end of it and I managed it, although Mark didn’t.
you read that right. He actually slept on a flight for once! In fact, I think he slept better than I did, as I only managed to doze for about four hours and I could’ve done with much longer than that and much deeper sleep.
All too soon, they were serving up breakfast, which was a bit measly, as all I got was some fruit, which was a shame. Before we knew it, we were coming into land. No circling, nothing, just straight into the airport and we were on the ground 20 minutes early.
We were soon off and, after a couple of miles walking (or that’s what it felt like at least! ) we were at passport control. Interestingly, we didn’t have to have our passports scanned, as apparently Virgin are trying out a Fast-track programme, which means they’d already done it. Interesting....
Then it was into baggage reclaim and picked up our three cases, before heading through customs and out into the terminal. The deal was that we would meet Sean, one of Mark’s brother-in-laws, who was picking us up from the airport, at the passenger drop-off area outside the terminal and would contact him when we were ready. We did that and headed outside.
After waiting a while, we got a call to say that he was stuck in traffic on the nearby motorway on the way to us. Eventually, he made it, about half an hour after we’d come outside. Of course, typically, by the time we got back to the motorway, all the traffic had cleared. Just figures.
We were home before 9am and then set about catching up on all the washing, the TV we’d missed while we’d been gone and admiring the beautiful flowers in the garden.
One vacation was over, but another would be starting soon enough, with our Alaskan cruise on the horizon just a couple of months away....
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the 90s and just a tiny bit of rain as we headed for the airport. The best thing today was seeing Eeyore and the Sunrise Safari. The worst thing today was having to come home. Today we tried the Sunrise Safari And the result was it’s worth every penny. The most magical moment today was my meeting with Eeyore!
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.
What a beautiful set of pictures to end with! Love that you have a tulip that looks like a peony (at least thats what it looks like to me!)
Thank you so much for letting me "tag-along" on your spring break--and what a break it was, too!
Looking forward to Alaska!
What a beautiful garden to come home to! I'm glad Mark got some sleep on the flight home, and you got at least some. I can't remember the last time I read about Mark getting any sleep on a flight!
I can't believe your trip has come to an end...it's been so wonderful to read about your adventures for so long. Glad another trip is about to start!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Can't believe that's your TR nearly finished I feel like i've been on your trip with you. I loved all the photos and i'm looking forward to reading your next TR. Less than 2 weeks till you go now...
It was so funny when you said how it started to rain as you left, we find that it always does that when we leave as well, it does make it easier to go...the one time it was nice on my last day it was so hard to get on that DME bus
Glad that the flight was on time, hope you got a ton of sleep when you got home as you really were due after having a not so good night sleep on your last night and then such an early start to the day.
Looking forward to your final thoughts - again another wonderful TR.
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: We were impressed, as it picked out a dime that he’d left in his pocket, which to me shows that it’s working, so that’s good to know. 
I tried Burlesque, but that wasn’t much better, so I opted for Hereafter in the end. It’s directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and stars Matt Damon. Although slow, it was enthralling, I was determined to stay awake until the end of it and I managed it, although Mark didn’t. 
In fact, I think he slept better than I did, as I only managed to doze for about four hours and I could’ve done with much longer than that and much deeper sleep. 
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