left with 2 good ones came back with one-trip report-forgot something 5/8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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left with 2 good ones came back with one-trip report-forgot something 5/8
Yes the title is a BIG teaser.. the story will unfold during the trip report to read on to see what it means...
Feel free to take some guesses if you're so inclined too..
Pre stuff... This is the Pre trip report if anyone wants to check out our preparations..
Characters:
Me, Ann.. planner of the trips & scaredy cat of heights.. as I get older I seem more afraid.
Dh, Jim. lover of all Disney .. could be in the parks all day every day in 100 degree heat & still want to keep going
DD, Shelby.. 12 going on 21.. she made this trip fun & exasperating at the same time
& co-starring:
DS #1 Jamie, the band geek who was especially excited about the musical clinic Disney invited them to
DS#2, Brendan, the navigator.. his GF & friends didn't know Disney so he had the pleasure of being a tour guide
MIL, Linda, came for the weekend to see the boys march.. left happy & stuffed from all of our meals.
There will also be guest appearances by friends , from home & here on PP.
Okay.. on with the show...
DAY ONE :
It was really hard to sleep the night before the trip.. I was excited & nervous at the same time. Excited to be going to Disney & knowing this trip was definitely going to happen. Yet nervous at leaving the boys home alone & them getting up & ready to get their own flight to Orlando.
I think I slept less than an hour & when my alarm went off at 3:30am I was already awake. Got my shower & woke Jim & Shelby up Wrote a last minute 'to do' list for the boys then woke them up so that they could get ready for school & to say goodbye to us.
I was also a little nervous as I had booked Super Shuttle for our trip to take us to the airport from home & I was worried if they would arrive on time, etc.
Around 4:30am Jim got a phone call from Super Shuttle that they don't have a driver in the area but were sending a yellow cab which would be there in 10 minutes. About 5 minutes later he got another call stating that the driver was at our house & if we wanted to cancel the service to press button #1 or stay on the line. We looked outside & no cab.. Jim told the person on the phone the driver wasn't there & we definitely DID want their service. A few minutes later they call back to tell us the driver was in our driveway & if we wanted to cancel we should let them know. Again , we look outside.. no driver! I happen to glance up the street & the cab is sitting in my neighbors driveway 4 doors up. We tell Super Shuttle to look for us outside.
Hugs & kisses with the boys with some tears from me.. I'm not good at separating from my kids so I was a bit emotional.
The cab ride was very quick & nice to not deal with the traffic going to the airport.
Got there in no time at all & checked in at Southwest with no issues. I had printed out our boarding passes the day before & knew our seats were A 18-19-& 20 so I was pleased with Early bird check in.
We wanted to grab breakfast but couldn't decide where to eat.. Our choices were also sort of limited in the section of the airport we were in.. Mc Donalds, Sbarro, Beefsteak Charlies for quick service or TGIF for sit down,. I had McDonalds coupons so we decided to go there. Shelby & I got the big breakfast while Jim got a couple Mc Muffin sandwiches.
Finally it was around 7:30 am & we figured we should head to our gate. We look over & there is a local high school marching band on our plane.. I text Jamie & Brendan to tell them.
They start boarding & after the 'needing assistance' people get on (5) they start calling regular boarding & we have only 5 people in front of us. We get on the plane & Jim takes the FIRST seat.. UGH.. no tray tables. He liked it so I just went with the flow. Had a lady pilot which Shelby thought was so cool. We also talked a lot with the flight attendants as we had a fairly large chunk of turbulence where they had to be seated & strapped in.
We landed at 10:00am.. earlier than scheduled. Jim ( being a typical 'ask for no directions' man) totally bypassed the signs for DME & I somehow lost my bearings & couldn't find it. We figured out DME was on the B side of the terminal & we were on the A.. we hoofed it over to B & were soon seated on the bus. It was PACKED!! We shared a DME bus with Old Key West but it really wasn't a long trip at all.
Pulled into POFQ & was greeted by a CM giving us beads .. It wasn't the usual guy dressed up as a jester but a CM in regular clothes . Got our beads & then went in to Express check in.. How cool is that?? the CM was AWESOME & I really wish I could remember her name as I'd like to write a letter of recomendation for her. She told us our room wasn't ready & I said that was no problem & then she said "Hang on.. give me a minute.. do you have any special requests?" I told her none except I would love first floor if she had it & she fiddled with her computer a little & said "I've got a room ready.. how about 4139?" I thanked her & told her that was GREAT.. she said that she loves to see people happy as lots of people get angry when she tells them their room number.
Went to check out our room.. what a GREAT location.. we were a short distance from the bus stop & food court. and a beautiful view of the fountain right in front of our room
and the beautiful courtyard
We dropped off our carry ons & then headed over to MK with a plan to eat lunch & then ride any rides with short lines.
Had lunch at CHH.. I had the lighthouse sandwich which I used to love but there was more slaw than hummus on it. Jim got chicken nuggets & Shelby only wanted a dessert so she got Jim's chocolate cake. I had the apple pie.. it was okay..
We then rode HM with very little lines, POTC which has a small line as well but MK was getting VERY crowded & VERY hot & Shelby started whining to go swimming so we headed back to POFQ, our luggage was already in our room so we put on our suits & headed to the pool.. it was super crowded. The lifeguards told us that the pool at POR was closed so everyone was using the FQ pool. At 3:30 they made an announcement that the POR pool had opened yet no one left. Jim & I decided to get a drink from Mardi Grogs pool bar. I had the Orange Dream & Jim had some kind of rum drink with mint . Shelby had a non-alcolhol apple sour drink which she became hooked on.
We had enough swimming & headed back to the room & took a nap . We're not usually drinkers so those drinks did us in a little.
We were trying to find the best way to get to 1900 Park Fare & decided to take the boat to DTD & then the bus to the GF.
Checked in at 7:00 for our 7:20 ADR's & the hostess said they were running late & we wouldn't be seated until closer to 7:30.. that was fine but then a family of 5 checked in right before me with no ADR & she told them the same thing. I wondered how this would play out... We got our buzzers & went into the lobby to listen to the piano player & people watch. I LOVE to people watch at WDW. its a favorite 'to do' for me..
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