Running Through Walt's Original Magic Kingdom **COMPLETE 10/9** - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Great pictures of the Horseshoe! We never did make it in there. I love the photos of Splash and Thunder Mtn. I'm still amazed at how much you're taking in BEFORE the race!! But then, I guess it is smaller than WDW, and I probably did the same thing. It just seems like so much walking... but I guess it wasn't.
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Cool story about Walt! We still haven't made it to the Golden Horseshoe and I'd like to check it out!
And, yes, the SRL at Splash Mountain is hard to find! DH and I did the same thing in June to avoid the long stand-by line, but it sure took some hunting. And then we felt weird walking in the exit, like we were cheating or something!
Great update! I remember reading that story about Walt as well.
Thanks, Cheryl! Glad you're enjoying it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I always forget about "Critter Country" at DL! I love the interior of the Golden Horseshoe.
It was one of the things that took some getting used to; that and the configuration of that area of the park.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great pictures of Splash Mountain! Love the story about Walt!
He was quite a character, wasn't he?
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
Great pictures of the Horseshoe! We never did make it in there. I love the photos of Splash and Thunder Mtn. I'm still amazed at how much you're taking in BEFORE the race!! But then, I guess it is smaller than WDW, and I probably did the same thing. It just seems like so much walking... but I guess it wasn't.
Oh, no, it WAS a lot of walking! But we really felt the pressure, because race day was our last park day. Our flight left mid-morning, so we really only had about 3 1/2 park days. We wanted to see as much as we could. My feet hurt a lot after the race...
Quote:
Originally Posted by shnewell
Cool story about Walt! We still haven't made it to the Golden Horseshoe and I'd like to check it out!
And, yes, the SRL at Splash Mountain is hard to find! DH and I did the same thing in June to avoid the long stand-by line, but it sure took some hunting. And then we felt weird walking in the exit, like we were cheating or something!
Glad I wasn't the only one! Definitely go see the Hillbillies if you get a chance!
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Great update!
:thanks;
Quote:
Originally Posted by missminniedreams
Great update Beth! Looks like you had a blast. Everytime I see your medals I start thinking...."Hmm, maybe I'll give this running thing a shot again."
Thanks, Melissa, I think you should! Disney races can't be beat!
ACK! I cannot believe it has been over a month since I last updated this thing. Our WDW trip for marathon weekend is in 5 weeks so I need to get this finished up!
So, we'd had a full morning at Walt's original Magic Kingdom, and it was time for our late lunch ADR at Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant INSIDE Pirates of the Caribbean! It was a lunch meetup for some folks from Tour Guide Mike, which included some of the people who inspired me to get into this whole running business in the first place! I had met only one of the ladies who had made the group reservation, last January at marathon weekend. I didn't have a cell phone number, but I knew that I'd recognize some of the other ladies from pictures they'd posted in their TRs. None of this was any concern to me, but I imagine DH was a little skeptical that we'd be eating lunch at all!
We headed to New Orleans Square and hung around admiring the shops and decorations. I was mentally comparing it to Liberty Square, which is my favorite land at Florida's Magic Kingdom. (I love history!) Our ADR (actually still called Priority Seating in CA) was for around 2:30, as this was to be our big meal before tomorrow's race. I spent about 20 anxious minutes studying the face of each woman that walked by, hoping that I wouldn't be totally humiliated by nobody showing up for the lunch that we were really looking forward to!
I didn't need to fear, though, because eventually I spotted Jen, who I hadn't yet met but who I felt I knew by reading her TRs. She was somebody I'd been really looking forward to meeting, so I was really glad to see her! As soon as Jen got there, it seemed to open the floodgates and everybody else showed up! We had to wait a while, because we'd asked to be seated altogether, and they were trying to work it out for us. The service was excellent. They really seemed to bend over backwards to try to make us happy.
Chandelier in the waiting area
We were one row over from the waterside tables, and could see the people going by in their boats. It was fairly dark in there, and the ambience was unlike anywhere I've ever eaten. Here's the lunch menu:
And here's what we ordered: Royal Street Seafood Jambalaya - A robust combination of jumbo gulf shrimp, mahi mahi, tasso ham, andouille sausage and chicken, tossed with Cajun-style "dirty rice" $31.99
Roasted Beef Strip Loin - Seasoned with Chef's signature fivepepper blend, then slow roasted over rock salt. Topped with Armagnac sauce and crispy hand battered onion rings. With Blue Bayou potatoes and seasonal vegetables. $36.99 (without the onions!)
I remember being extremely thirsty, so I may have had about 6 glasses of the pomegranate lemonade. The conversation came easily, as you may know if you've ever met in person the folks you've gotten to know online. We were there over two hours, and it was really a great meal and a nice break, as well. We said goodbye to our fellow runners, with promises to see them again before the race in the morning. We had a few more attractions on our agenda before we had to head back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep. Up first, another trip around the world...the small world, that is. (Not as many pictures this time, though...)
First, a few outside shots. I love that Disneyland's iasw starts outside!
Wave goodbye to the people on the dock. You'll never see them again!
My girls would call this a horsey-behiney.
Aloha!
Canada, eh?
In honor of my father's birthplace...and David Tennant's, as well
MUSHU!
This one's for DD12; she pandas!
Sorry I couldn't get a better picture of Mulan. She's moving every so slightly back and forth with the kites.
We definitely don't have this little guy in Florida!
Simba! Pumba!
(continued in next post)
__________________
Last edited by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince; 12-01-2011 at 10:57 PM..
Glad you enjoyed your TGM meet up and meal at Blue Bayou! We had a PS for Blue Bayou on our trip in June, but the fire alarm went off about 20 minutes before our reservation time and they evacuated all of New Orleans Square! So we decided to head over to DCA for a meal at Wine Country Trattoria instead. Looking forward to finally trying BB on our next trip!
And a few more it's a small world photos:
I this hippo. I don't know why.
Apparently, when they do the Christmas overlay, Ariel sings, "Jingle Shells."
Lilo and Stitch
These next few shots are from a brand new scene, and I really love it.
No offense to Jesse, but I really love the traditional dolls better.
Same goes for Woody. Sorry, pal.
Maybe it's just my camera, but the last scene looks really pink. I like it better at WDW, with the pastel blues and whites.
And that ended our last trip on my very favorite attraction. I probably mentioned this in an earlier post, but Disneyland's iasw beats the pants off of WDW's iasw, and I love me some WDW it's a small world! When I ride it next month, it will sure seem like something's missing. It wasn't until I rode it's a small world that I really started to feel like I was at Disneyland. I turned to DH and said, "Walt rode this!" and could barely hold back the tears. (Call me a sap, I can take it!)
We headed to Tomorrowland next, to use our FPs for Star Tours, but first I wanted to check something at the Nemo Submarines. I am claustrophobic, and didn't relish the idea of going down into one of the subs. I'd read that there is a special room that you can go in, if you have a wheelchair in your party, or if you just don't want to ride in the sub. I figured I would ask and see if there's any wait for that special room, and if there's not, then we'll do it. There wasn't, so we did! They take you into a spacious room and you watch a video of what the folks in the subs see. It was a little boring, but I'm glad we took the time to do it.
Duffy seemed to enjoy himself!
Our last attraction of the day was Star Tours, and I am not a Star Wars fan, but I loved it!!! I'd only ridden it once pre-refurb, and DH had never been on it.
On the way out, I got a shot of the light in the firehouse window, in honor of Walt.
See you in Florida, boys!
Random shot of ToT
We walked back to the hotel, got our stuff ready and hit the sack. It would be an early morning. Up next, race day!
Glad you enjoyed your TGM meet up and meal at Blue Bayou! We had a PS for Blue Bayou on our trip in June, but the fire alarm went off about 20 minutes before our reservation time and they evacuated all of New Orleans Square! So we decided to head over to DCA for a meal at Wine Country Trattoria instead. Looking forward to finally trying BB on our next trip!
Awww...sorry you didn't get to try Blue Bayou. How strange to be evacuated out of an entire land!
Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince
It wasn't until I rode it's a small world that I really started to feel like I was at Disneyland. I turned to DH and said, "Walt rode this!" and could barely hold back the tears. (Call me a sap, I can take it!)
Oh, gosh, I had the same reaction on that ride at DL. That's the thing about DL. Pack the hanky!
I love all the photos of Small World! The hippo is sweet in an Eeyorish way. Not sure how I feel about the addition of the characters. Guess I'll wait to see it in person.
I love all the characters in It's A Small World - I've never seen photos of them and now I really am kicking myself for not going on it on our recent visit.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I remember reading that story about Walt as well. 
But we really felt the pressure, because race day was our last park day. Our flight left mid-morning, so we really only had about 3 1/2 park days. We wanted to see as much as we could. My feet hurt a lot after the race...
Our WDW trip for marathon weekend is in 5 weeks 
It was a lunch meetup for some folks from Tour Guide Mike, which included some of the people who inspired me to get into this whole running business in the first place! I had met only one of the ladies who had made the group reservation, last January at marathon weekend. I didn't have a cell phone number, but I knew that I'd recognize some of the other ladies from pictures they'd posted in their TRs. None of this was any concern to me, but I imagine DH was a little skeptical that we'd be eating lunch at all!
pandas!
(Call me a sap, I can take it!)
PassPorter Guide Author
Great pictures from the park and IASW! 
Linear Mode
