Make Mine A BLT with Some MVMCP, MK, AK & More - A Short Solo Trip - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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....those corn dog nuggets and pork shank look great !!!!
They were both pretty darned good. The pork shank was much better than it might look in the pic - way too big, though.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
Looks like you are already having fun and good food!
Yes, it was a good day.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Yay! We're both on property at the same time!
Watch out, World!
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Originally Posted by chezp
And I just discovered that Sharon's December trip also overlaps with ours - and at least some of yours as well. Hopefully we might be able to meet up!
Will send our details, Cheryl.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pics!
Thanks, Marnie.
Just checking in. I watched the Holiday Fireworks and Parade, and wandered randomly, leaving the Magic Kingdom just after midnight. Got back to the room and started the photo download process. (I was impressed that Laurie had a photo update ready to go already - I'm afraid it will take me a while longer. I know I take too many photos )
Didn't set the alarm this morning, woke up right about 6:30am - could have used another hour of sleep. No plans for rope drop this AM - getting ready to head over to AK for some fun and my very first PassPorter Meet (hmmmmmm, who could that be ).
Ah - today was a very nice day, indeed (and it's not over). I relaxed this morning, then decided to drive over to Animal Kingdom from BLT. AK had EMH today, opening at 8am, but I was a little late for the start of that. As I got in my car, I realized I had left my Annual Pass in the room - duh, newbie mistake
I made it to AK at about 8:45am - just when they started letting everyone in - it was a bit hectic at first:
Once I was in, I knew I needed coffee. As I walked towards Africa (the safari, you know), I passed Pizzafari. Hmmm - never tried it. No one's here. Good place for coffee. I also decided to get the spinach & feta frittata - was I surprised? Why, yes, I was very surprised. This was delicious. It was obviously freshly made - hot and tasty (and I'm not much for egg dishes, but would happily get this again). Even the coffee was good - and very hot!
I had a relaxing breakfast. Almost passed on the Kilimanjaro since I thought it might be too late. But, walked up and got a fast pass for 30 minutes later. Went for a trek along the Pangani Trail. No iPhone shots, but I'll have some fun gorilla ones when I upload the real pics.
Then, it was time for the Safari. "How many in your party, Miss?" "Just one, Sir." "Please step into Lane 1"
So, I did. And - it was perfect, because I got to sit in the front row with no one else at all in the row. Score.
The Safari was pretty good. The light was better than I thought it would be (it's 10:30 am now), and we saw quite a few animals.
The Safari made me thirsty, so I picked up a soda and hiked to the Lion King Theater. It was crowded - I was no. 450 and they let at least a hundred or more in after. Got a good seat in the back row in the Wart Hog section (I always get the warthog!). Enjoyed the show and took lots of pics - downloading now).
It was now time for my FIRST EVER PassPorter Meet. I strolled to Harambe, and there she was - our very own LaurieP. Now, let me confess something. I'm not all that sociable, and normally meeting someone new would lead to a little angst. But, not in this case. I was looking forward to meeting Laurie, and we had a delightful lunch. We just sat around talking after we ate and it was a very nice Meet! (Well, that's my side of the story). There were no attractions we wanted to see, so we meandered to the exit, and said our goodbyes. I imagine our paths will cross again. So nice to see you, Laurie
I had to remind Laurie we needed to take pics of lunch (she was probably just nervous, wondering how she got hooked up with crazy lady):
And then, Laurie got into the spirit, and I took a photo of her taking a photo of lunch. It should be obvious from my report so far, that I am not a vegetarian. We picked up lunch at Tamu Tamu, and the pulled pork sandwich was really good.
And yes, we do have a photo of the two of us, but it was taken with my camera, so it's being downloaded now. (EDIT: Photo Added)
You might think this was enough excitement for one day. But, upon my return to BLT, I thought it was a good time to sample a Holiday Treat. I'd read that the Contempo Cafe served the special Peppermint Cupcakes at Christmas Time. They had none (although they had an interesting Cool Mint Cupcake), so I went for the Red Velvet Cupcake! With a kiddie milk, since I just didn't see the pairing with a Corona Light.
After a brief rest, I'll head back to the Magic Kingdom, taking advantage of being so close.
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I could have easily called this TR "The Trip of Many Firsts." Just some include
My first solo trip to Disney (but have traveled much as a solo during my working career)
My first visit to the Magic Kingdom in many, many years
My first official DVC stay as an owner
My first stay at Bay Lake Tower (actually, first time in the building)
My first attempt to photograph anything at the Magic Kingdom - parades, fireworks, rides
My first PassPorter Meet
and lots more firsts. Without further ado, here are some pics from my first afternoon. As reported earlier, I drove to Orlando from South Florida - arrived at noon - room was ready - room was good. I also scored a parking spot right next to the entrance:
After checking in (more on the room later), I skidaddled to the Magic Kingdom by walking along the path from BLT. Easy Peasy (longer, I think, than walking from the Epcot Resorts to Epcot, but still easy). I enjoyed watching the monorails run overhead:
There were no lines to get into the Park. Touring Plans rated MK a 1 for this day. Crowds were light throughout most areas of the park. The weather was perfect - some cloud cover with temps in the 70s.
Most of the Christmas Decorations were up, except for the big tree which goes up for the Taping of the Parade. I do like the Toy Soldiers.
Before I knew it, the "Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It" Parade was coming down Main Street:
You can see how Main Street is not crowded at all at this point. I must admit, I did get a bit teary-eyed at the parade (which is surprising for me). It musta been Woody - he hearted me
After the parade, I meandered down Main Street towards the castle, looking happier than some of these random strangers:
Since I'd had no lunch, I picked up some Corn Dog Nuggets and a soda - they were tasty.
There was a castle show going on, but I didn't watch it since I planned to catch one in the evening:
So, where did I go first? Now tell me that none of you would make a beeline to the "New" Fantasyland That's where I'll pick up tomorrow.
Great photos! I enjoyed our meeting so much, Sharon. I'm glad we both overcame our inclinations and decided to get together. You beat me to posting your updates!
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Great shot by the way - love the action of the water in it! 
That's where I'll pick up tomorrow.
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