A Coast to Coast Christmas - Phase One WDW - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I just about fell out of my chair laughing at the pin placement. Of course, only my boss and myself are in today and it's unusually quiet here and I just burst out laughing, had to change it to a cough super fast.
Great Start! I love the little hats and can't wait to see the rest of them. As for the lion & lioness, I can definitely say they were NOT in their neutral corners when I saw them, if you get my drift. If you don't, then you'll have to wait for it in my TR. Looks like you all are having a great time already and I can't wait to read more.
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I should add that we were disappointed that Tom and Lesley were unable to join us this trip. We wanted to keep them informed on our antics, so when Bob & I did the reveal at the Animal Kingdom we sent them an email with a PDF file copy of the invitation. They were following our posts on FB, too.
Two4Disney (AKA Kathy & Rich) had just moved back to the Orlando area, and we were excited to be able to include them in The Activity, so we also sent the electronic invitation to them at the same time.
The logistics were complicated, including getting good enough cell coverage to get the emails with the attachment to go out, but it was so worth it!
Yay, you've started!!! So far, it's a great first day! The hats are so very cute, I can't wait to see the CLQ's hats. And the bit about the name tags and chocolates.... Perfect! This business with the surprise is not good for an impatient person such as myself!!!
__________________
Tanya
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Ok... y'all know I can't keep my trap shut, so I'm not even going to apologize for butting in here and adding my two cents (or $14.58, since that's about how much I'll be butting in... )
My arrival was somewhat uneventful.
Even though I *tried* to switch out my flight on Airtran so I'd arrive on November 30th (and thereby beat both Joanie and Karen to get on property ), Airtran was being mean and wouldn't let me switch my departure on my upgraded-to-Business-Class ticket! Harrumph!
So I, had to force my dear, darling husband to getting up at o'dark thirty on December 1st and schlepp me to the airport. *sigh* But the flight itself was uneventful and I was able to doze almost the whole way there. Well... that's after the guy with the severe fear of flying was pulled out of coach and brought to the empty seat beside me in Business Class. I did my best not to giggle each time the guy gripped the armrests in sheer terror as we --and I'm NOT exaggerating here-- made the Incredible Journey out to the very farthest runway at PHL. Seriously, I thought maybe the pilots had decided to just DRIVE us to Orlando!! And... ahem... I'm sure none of you will be surprised to learn that I talked the man through the take-off, very aware that I sounded a great deal like Miss Mary Devall as I tried to reassure the n00b that all would be well. "Once we turn onto the runway, you'll hear a series of bells and maybe an announcement and THEN the engines will really roar and we'll be off. Okay... this is it... We're picking up speed... There go the front wheels... aaaaaand the back wheels. We're UP! Congratulations -- you're flyyyyyying!!"
Then he wanted to go back to his mommy. Er... I mean his wife.
I flipped on my Kindle Fire (score!!) and waited until we were served drinks --an OJ for me with no happy juice in it 'cause it was like, seriously, 8 o'clock in the morning and I'm not Jill.
The flight attendant serving Business Class was very funny and reprimanded a guy behind me for requesting a Pepsi. "This is Airtran and we're based out of Atlanta, so we don't mention the 'P' word."
The second the OJ hit my tummy, my head flopped to the side and I was blissfully snoozing away. I woke just as we crossed over the Florida border (the flight plan from PHL to MCO goes mostly over the ocean and, once you reach Jacksonville, you cross right over the white beaches and head inland. It's quite thrilling!)
Then we were down and at the gate. I turned on my phone to receive a barrage of text greetings from my besties -- and, for the record, Karen's wasn't the first!! Sharon's message announced that she'd landed and was waiting for me at DME. I raced down there (after the obligatory Pit Stop to ensure my continued membership in the Bladder Buddy Brigade) and saw her wide, be-yew-ti-ful smile from across the way.
Sharon's camera was functioning oddly and she took several very d-e-l-a-y-e-d pics of me as I walked towards her. (She had her red-eye reduction setting on and it was very hard to hold my "Eiiileeeeeeeen!" pose when all I wanted was to wrap Shashi up in a bear hug.) Anyway, that's my excuse for that rotten picture of me as I rolled my way over to her.
Then we waited in that hellish non-moving line for 16 hours before being tragically separated on the DME bus. I had to force myself upon a family from NYC and give them lots of unsolicited advice. (These n00bs hadn't made a single ADR!) Buuuut, once we were done with 173 other stops at other resorts, we finally pulled up at the Wilderness Lodge.
Next thing I know, the doors to the lobby were woooshing open and Karen and I were skipping across the lobby towards each other with the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack playing above us. There were lots of hugs for the CLQ and Bob&Larry to be savored (it'd been 2 years since we'd all been together at Disney!! ) before we were whisked upstairs to the lounge with our magical Gold Club Level Keys (*sigh*) to sip libations and eat gummy bears.
I was convinced to separate my butt from the chair in the lounge and we all headed out to the Animal Kingdom park. Everyone was very kind to wait for me while I redeemed my Disney Visa rewards points, checked a bunch of random Disney Gift Cards I had, and purchased my ticket. Sadly, it wasn't an Annual Pass, but it'd get me lots of fun with my buddies at no cost to me, so that soothed my sadness at not having an AP. )
Then... yeah.... what Sharon said about our day.
A sweet young girl noticed my fabulousness and offered us all those FPs for Everest -- and don't believe Karen when she pees in my cornflakes by telling you it was just because we were a group of the right size. Nooooo... it was because of my fabulousness. The kid was blinded by it, and handed over the FPs like she'd been waiting for me all her life.
Then we did the safari -- and what-Sharon-said about our guide. By the end of that two-week tour, we were placating broken-hearted ostriches and thick-thighed giraffes, telling them that the mean man behind the wheel wasn't one to talk -- dude was totally losing his hair prematurely.
(And, Sharon, thanks for calling me a cotton-headed ninny muggins. My small heart grew three sizes at the mention of that!)
Then, while I was waiting on my gluten-free chicken sandwich (which was very tasty -- AND I got fries, which are a true rarity for a celiac!!), I spotted Joanie and her family. Big Love Squeezes followed and I led them all to the table the ganglet had found.
Jill had bought me a Yak Attack -- I love you, Jill -- and we had a fun-filled lunch. The zingers were flying and it was like we'd all never been separated. Double-love!!
Then EE... several times... and I totally lost my voice. Dangit! I hadn't been on Disney property for two hours and I already had a croaky throat.
But the best... the ABSOLUTE BEST was the whole pillow incident!
I'd said something sharply snarky to Karen just as she walked back to the room to check on her luggage and, when she came back to the lounge, she gave me the oddest look. Herrrrm?! What had happened. She told Jill and me to check out the room and, being all nosy and curious, we headed there toute de suite!.
When I saw the pins... and their placement!!!... I doubled over in huge gaffaws. H-U-G-E!!! If you know anything about Karen, it should be that girlfriend takes short showers because she can't stand being alone that long. So, the implication that Sharon, Jill and I would rather smoosh ourselves into one bed than sleep with Karen... well... it was perfection itself on the humor scale.
I was still wiping tears of laughter from my eyes when Sharon and Karen rejoined us, and we all had a great time pondering if the Club Level CMs had done that purposefully.
From the winks they all gave us every time we passed their station, ... oh yeah... I'm totally sure they thought we were swingers.
That night, we took their suggestion and arranged ourselves appropriately:
Which made Karen channel Miss Maddie:
Which made the threesome fall asleep in characteristic poses:
Just LOOK at that piece of wonderfullness!! Sharon all smug and superior, Jill out like a light, and me smiling sweetly to myself, very content with how things had worked out.
Oh gosh, you guys are hilarious! First, love the hats. The are just perfect for Bob and Larry... can't wait to see the others! The pillow incident is hysterical, too. Now I reallly want to know what the surprise is. Please don't keep us hanging too long!
Subscribing! I love hearing about your crazy antics and maybe reading your TR will get my butt in gear to finish my own one of there days.
Some days I have to force myself to write just one paragraph. Once I get started, it's easy to continue. But it helps to force yourself to write one paragraph. And even if that's all you do, you're that much closer to the end.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Our hats were really cute, but wait 'till you see the Ladies'! I'm just sayin'.
Bob and I had set out from North Alabama the previous afternoon and overnighted in Ocala after a pretty long drive. Thus we were very close when we started out today. We arrived at the WL in good time, checked in, and found that our 1BR villa was ready on the DVC side before 10:00 o'clock. Woohoo!
We got our bags delivered as well as our Owners Locker, and I immediately deployed the Keurig Mini (it uses the coffee K-cups that look like overgrown coffee creamers). This is my solution to yucky coffee from sloooooow coffeemakers.
I had just brewed my second cup when Bob & I got word that Jill had arrived (the giveaway was the picture of the WL Christmas tree she posted to Facebook), so I dumped the coffee Jill is worth it and we hustled over to the lobby, where we were joined by Karen.
We did enjoy escorting Jill and Karen upstairs, and I believe we availed ourselves of a couple of things from the club lounge. We only did this one other time, so I don't feel guilty.
We kept track of Sharon and Eileen's progress on DME and were thrilled when they arrived.
It was catching up with Joan that would prove to be the challenge.
I think if you and Bob hadn't gone up to the lounge that time, the pillow story would lose a lot. So it was totally worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydani
Welcome to WDW! Glad you made it safely, a bit early, and have a welcoming committee waiting for you...
Love the snowman hats...can't wait to see the trees on you ladies....
danielle
The hats were a huge hit! I'm bringing mine with me to DL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoanW
Oh it was challenging to catch up with the group, but I did finally.
We may have been plotting a kidnapping. Just sayin'
Quote:
Originally Posted by LLaffinPlace
Oh, Lordy, we tortured them with the TBSAALTA!
To fully appreciate this, you have to understand that certain of our company are planners. And by that I mean Big A$$ Spreadsheet planners. All Bob and I did was ask that they set aside Sunday night for "The Activity". Of course, they tried to pry it out of us by asking what time it was starting, what they needed to wear, etc.
From time to time we would bring it up, such as when we added a day at the end of the trip. The real purpose was so we wouldn't have to be the first ones to depart. We said that any rumors that we would need an additional day to recover from the TBSAALTA were grossly exaggerated. Though as it turned out....
Shortly before the trip we revealed that any special equipment that was required would be provided. Heh, heh.
Sharon pretending that she was in on the secret worked like a charm, and when she said she'd told her nephews what the TBSAALTA was, I about split a seam laughing! I told her that it was a good thing Eileen loved her a lot.
We actually played the whole thing up so much that I began to worry a bit that the actual event might be a disappointment. As it turned out, I don't think I needed to worry, but I'll let you be the judge. Well, that is, you can judge when Sharon does the reveal! Bwaaahaahaaa!
HA! I had so much fun with it, without even knowing the secret. Now I can keep more people in the dark!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubfancolleen
Oh, that's just mean! C'mon, someone spill the beans!
We had to wait months! You won't have to wait nearly that long!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Off to a great start Sha! I'm so glad you guys had a great time! I cannot wait to see what B&L's surprise was! See ya real soon!
Since I'll see you in a few days (and YAY to that! ) I'll tell you so you won't have to wait as long.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Great start! I am already seriously jealous - so many PassPorters together, that's my idea of a dream vacation!
We should do it again!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Don't keep us waiting too long for the surprise reveal! Love the birthday buttons on the bed and can't wait to hear the full story.
I'll do my best to post timely updates. I'll be a bit busy for a few days, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mpwife153
It's about time you got writting this TR ~ geeze! I loved following along with Jill & Larry on FB, now I'm ready for all the details.
I was too busy running around like a crazy person getting stuff ready for Christmas (also saw the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City, which was awesome as always). I'm writing as much as I can before I go away again, because then I'll have even more to write. Oy! What was I thinking?
Quote:
Originally Posted by shnewell
Great start!! I'm dying to know what the surprise is!!!
And LOL about the placement of the birthday buttons. You have to wonder what they were thinking when they did that!?!
Yeah, the more you think about it, the funnier it gets. Do they think Karen is that distasteful? Or that Jill, Eileen and I have a certain look about us?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcneal
So excited! CLQ antics are great but add in Bob&Larry and we are talking FANTABULOUS!!!! I must be honest and admit I am more than a little jealous.
Eh, to be honest, they're kind of annoying after a while. Just kidding! None of them are annoying. Well, maybe Bob a little.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnam1868
I just about fell out of my chair laughing at the pin placement. Of course, only my boss and myself are in today and it's unusually quiet here and I just burst out laughing, had to change it to a cough super fast.
I burst out into seemingly spontaneous laughter so often that my coworkers don't even react anymore. And often it's just because I thought of something funny, I'm not even reading the boards (but it's often something funny I read on the boards earlier).
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee723
Great Start! I love the little hats and can't wait to see the rest of them. As for the lion & lioness, I can definitely say they were NOT in their neutral corners when I saw them, if you get my drift. If you don't, then you'll have to wait for it in my TR. Looks like you all are having a great time already and I can't wait to read more.
OMG! No wonder they were close together. They were courting!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disney_duke
Yay, you've started!!! So far, it's a great first day! The hats are so very cute, I can't wait to see the CLQ's hats. And the bit about the name tags and chocolates.... Perfect! This business with the surprise is not good for an impatient person such as myself!!!
Be glad you won't have to wait months and months for the reveal like we had to!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Ok... y'all know I can't keep my trap shut, so I'm not even going to apologize for butting in here and adding my two cents (or $14.58, since that's about how much I'll be butting in... )
As long as you're chiming in, any amount is good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
I flipped on my Kindle Fire (score!!) and waited until we were served drinks --an OJ for me with no happy juice in it 'cause it was like, seriously, 8 o'clock in the morning and I'm not Jill.
Snerk! Random giggles ignored by my office mates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
Then we were down and at the gate. I turned on my phone to receive a barrage of text greetings from my besties -- and, for the record, Karen's wasn't the first!! Sharon's message announced that she'd landed and was waiting for me at DME...
FIRST! Wow, that's so unexciting. Definitely not as thrilling as folks on the Internet make it seem!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
Sharon's camera was functioning oddly and she took several very d-e-l-a-y-e-d pics of me as I walked towards her. (She had her red-eye reduction setting on and it was very hard to hold my "Eiiileeeeeeeen!" pose when all I wanted was to wrap Shashi up in a bear hug.) Anyway, that's my excuse for that rotten picture of me as I rolled my way over to her.
My camera was just stunned by your overwhelming beauty and couldn't function properly. Who knows what the actual problem was. It mostly went away after that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
Next thing I know, the doors to the lobby were woooshing open and Karen and I were skipping across the lobby towards each other with the Romeo & Juliet soundtrack playing above us. There were lots of hugs for the CLQ and Bob&Larry to be savored (it'd been 2 years since we'd all been together at Disney!! ) before we were whisked upstairs to the lounge with our magical Gold Club Level Keys (*sigh*) to sip libations and eat gummy bears.
You'll notice I didn't say anything about having two gold cards in my possession. Well, I didn't say anything about it since bragging about it the whole trip. And saying it now doesn't count, cause you brought it up!
This is totally my favorite photo ever! Random giggles ignored by my office mates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Caldercup
Love ya, Kdubs. Mean it!!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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Ok you guys are all a riot. While one day I hope to meet each of you, if I got to meet the four of you together, I imagine it would be just like watching an episode of I Love Lucy or something. Just pure silliness and slapstick comedy!
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If you don't, then you'll have to wait for it in my TR. Looks like you all are having a great time already and I can't wait to read more.
Perfect! This business with the surprise is not good for an impatient person such as myself!!! 
)
), Airtran was being mean and wouldn't let me switch my departure on my upgraded-to-Business-Class ticket! Harrumph! 
and give them lots of unsolicited advice. (These n00bs hadn't made a single ADR!) Buuuut, once we were done with 173 other stops at other resorts, we finally pulled up at the Wilderness Lodge.
) before we were whisked upstairs to the lounge with our magical Gold Club Level Keys (*sigh*) to sip libations and eat gummy bears.
)
-- and we had a fun-filled lunch. The zingers were flying and it was like we'd all never been separated. Double-love!!
check on her luggage
Aimee
PassPorter Guide Author
Well, maybe Bob a little. 
No wonder they were close together. They were courting! 
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