Rain, Sunshine & Cupcakes ~ June 24 - July 3 - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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what a really nice day - even though it rained you got so much done. I hate it when people try to muscle in onyour spot. especially when you have been there for a long time and they come last minute and expect a great spot.
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All caught up! At least the rain isn't slowing you down. The rides stopping, , the rain falling, . In all the years I've been going to Disney, I've never had to exit a ride because it broke down. Now watch, the next time we go, it'll happen like 3 times or something. You got some great photos of MSEP too!
What a great way to spend a birthday. Glad the birthday boy had a good time. Great pictures of the parade. I wish it hadn't been closed when we went Cameron would have loved it! Oh well next time. Sorry you didn't like Stitch. It's on my never will I ever ride this again list. Along with Dinosaur.
Just catching up! Glad it was such a wonderful day for Abniel! Sorry the jerk with the bad ride mojo showed up, but very cool that you got a backstage peek at Splash. And I know what you mean about parade crowders. Just because I reposition myself doesn't mean you can take any space I may have freed up.
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Wow you guys did not let the rain slow you down! I am glad you were able to get in so many rides, even with the bad ride mojo. I bet Abniel will remember this birthday for a long time.
I think he will!
Quote:
Originally Posted by shnewell
Great finish to the birthday celebration!
I know what you mean about people invading your personal space. My kids aren't big on parades and, while I do like to watch them, I'm sort of glad we don't often stop for them because, like you, I can't stand to have a perfect stranger that close to me.
Sorry Arben's knees are bothering him -- hope that doesn't linger!
My youngest two love parades. If it were for them, they'd watch all of them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
What a great day rain and all. Glad Abniel enjoyed his brithday.
Yes, the rain was a blessing in disguise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a wonderful day - I love the shots of the castle and the parade.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by hleland
Glad the birthday boy had a good day! Great pictures too.
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad you didn't let the rain stop you from enjoying your evening at MK!!! Great pictures from the parade!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mfirst
We endured the parade crush (it will be a long time before we do that again). We found a decent spot, took the boys out of the stroller (and moved it out of the way)...we should have left it because we had two families try to squeeze in behind us and they kept ramming their strollers into our legs.
You got some great pictures of the parade though - and what a memorable birthday for your son!
I don't know if people don't realize they are being rude or they just don't care. I'm always conscious of everyone around me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jenseib
I'm glad you didn't let the rain slow you down. Great birthday!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Awesome pictures of the parade!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Great pics of the parade! Sounds like a perfect birthday!
It really was!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What a great day at MK! You had a great location for the parade! Love the pics!
I have to say we lucked out given the time it was. We snagged that great location just in time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lazanya
Great pictures of the parade!
Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
what a really nice day - even though it rained you got so much done. I hate it when people try to muscle in onyour spot. especially when you have been there for a long time and they come last minute and expect a great spot.
Unfortunately, lots of people do that at Disney.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DisneyMamaSarah
Hopped on board and am all caught up with your TR! Looking forward to reading more.
Thanks for reading!
Quote:
Originally Posted by honeybee723
All caught up! At least the rain isn't slowing you down. The rides stopping, , the rain falling, . In all the years I've been going to Disney, I've never had to exit a ride because it broke down. Now watch, the next time we go, it'll happen like 3 times or something. You got some great photos of MSEP too!
If it happens I'm sure you'll remember me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
What a great way to spend a birthday. Glad the birthday boy had a good time. Great pictures of the parade. I wish it hadn't been closed when we went Cameron would have loved it! Oh well next time. Sorry you didn't like Stitch. It's on my never will I ever ride this again list. Along with Dinosaur.
I wil never ride Stitch again! Once is enough. I actually like Dinosaur.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
Just catching up! Glad it was such a wonderful day for Abniel! Sorry the jerk with the bad ride mojo showed up, but very cool that you got a backstage peek at Splash. And I know what you mean about parade crowders. Just because I reposition myself doesn't mean you can take any space I may have freed up.
You see, you're not the only one to fall victim of the bad ride mojo guy. I'm thinking this guy has lots of money to be taking that many trips a year.
Quote:
Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG
Glad the rain did not slow yall down! Great parade pics!
We woke up abruptly with a knock on the door. It was mousekeeping. She quickly apologized and told me she’d come later. She also put a “do not disturb” sign on the door. When I looked at the clock it was 9:30. What! How the heck did I sleep that late? I got ready and then went to get the mugs filled while the rest of the gang slowly got ready. We left the room at 11:00. We only had to wait 5 minutes for an Epcot bus. Hey, really liking those wait time for the busses!
We arrived at the park and were quickly through the turnstiles. I then took the time to get some pictures.
Look at the sky!
Afterwards we headed towards the Land pavilion. Soarin was showing a 110 minute wait and the fastpass return time didn’t work so we decided to skip it. We then went to ride Nemo but the line was out the building. I’d never seen a line that long for Nemo ever. We skipped that and went in to the Seas pavililon. After browsing for a little while, we went to the Imagination pavilion and rode Figment. Yay, my first ride at Epcot is Figment! Way to go! Not!
Adriel was trying to break a record, how many Mickey ears he could try on.
I wanted to see Captain EO but nobody wanted to see it. All righty then! We walked over to Mission Space for some fastpasses. My boys were feeling adventurous and wanted to try the orange side. I, of course, did not want to ride at all.
Look at the sky now! It's about to come down.
While we waited for the fastpasses to ripen we went over to Universe of Energy. It started raining but thankfully we were let in before getting drenched. After learning about energy, it was time for the guys to go to Space. We were done in FW so we started walking towards WS.
Since we had such a late start and we had an adr for 4:40, I made the executive decision to skip lunch. Well that didn’t work out very well with my hungry kids.
We were walking around WS without really stopping anywhere. It started raining so went into Liberty Inn. Since my kids were starving, I bought them a chicken nugget meal to share. They swept that up like a vacuum.
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.
The rain had stopped, so we continued our walk around the world. Nobody was in the mood of doing anything so we just headed over to Japan. We went into Mitsukoshi Store and browsed for a bit, but didn’t buy anything. Arben’s knee was troubling him so we went to sit outside of Katsura Grill. I left them there and went to explore for a bit.
The kids and I watched the drummers for a while and we got a kick out of the guy. He made all sorts of weird facial expressions. We had a good laugh.
It was finally time to check in for our meal at Teppan Edo. We waited about 10 minutes before being seated. This restaurant is like a maze, you can get lost in there. Thankfully we didn’t. I booked this restaurant because I knew the kids would love the entertainment. And I was right.
Chef Shingo cooking our food!
I forgot to take pictures of our plates. Arben and AJ had the Tori; I had the Ueno; and Abniel and Adriel had the kid’s Tori. I was a little worried about Abniel because he isn’t that adventurous when it comes to food. But he ate his rice, chicken and almost all the noodles. We enjoyed our meal and I absolutely loved their “white ketchup” as our cook called it.
For Abniel’s birthday they brought him his ice cream dessert with a candle and a chef’s hat. The rest of us also had ice cream for dessert.
After our filling meal, the kids wanted some rides. We started walking through WS, snapping pictures along the way.
We got to Mexico but the line for the ride was very long so the kid’s were ok with skipping it. Abniel and Adriel wanted to color a Duffy. While they did that, I did my favorite thing: take pictures.
This is one of my favorite pavilions. I’d like to eat here but since I have such picky eaters, I find it almost impossible.
The kids wanted a snack and they settled on Doritos. Now that’s a waste of a snack credit. AJ wanted a Kaki Gori. So off we want, back to Japan. Of course, now that we were there Adriel wanted one too. I bought one for each (as a snack credit). Abniel tasted it and said he liked it. I bought him a strawberry one and decided I wasn’t going to buy one for myself (even though I love them). If I know my son correctly, I’d be eating his. I was right, after about 5 bites Abniel was done. They should give out prizes for this, I’d totally win them all.
I wanted to watch Illuminations tonight and it was 8:30 already. Time to get a spot for the show. We kept walking and found a great spot at the bridge between France & UK, right by the railing. We claimed our spots and settled in. Adriel stood up for a moment (his spot was in between my other 2 boys) and this little girl came out of nowhere and cut in front of him. Adriel looked at me helplessly and I told him to just wait it out. After a little while, the girl went back to her parents at which time Adriel ceased the opportunity to claim his spot again. The little girl came back and let’s just say she wasn’t happy. She told Adriel that he was in her spot. Adriel just ignored her and stayed put. The little girl went back to her parents, they eventually went somewhere else. Adriel looked at me and gave me a thumbs up. He was so proud for standing up for himself.
Soon after, Illuminations started. I took a couple of photos and then decided to enjoy the show. This show always makes me tear up.
When the show was finished we stayed put, letting the masses exit first. Then we started slowly walking towards the front of the park.
We were kind of hungry so we decided to get a bite to eat at Electric Umbrella. Sorry, no food pics. AJ and I decided shared a meatball sub, Arben had the same thing. Forgot what the other two boys had. The food was nothing to brag about but it hit the spot.
It was EMH tonight and as we were heading out of the park I suggested we ride Spaceship Earth for the first time. It was a walk on and we were soon on our way. And then the ride stopped, and stopped, and stopped again. 3 times! What!! That could only mean one thing, that the jerk with the bad ride mojo was also staying on-site and taking advantage of EMH.
The third time it stopped it was for more than 15 minutes. And we were at this spot.
Let’s just say Arben wasn’t to happy and he was probably secretly cursing me for making him go on this ride. After the ride, we called it a night but not before taking a bathroom break for the 100 th time. While waiting I took some more pictures, because I hadn't taken enough.
We walked over to the bus stop and right behind us was a huge Brazilian tour group. Thank goodness we got there before them. There were like 50+ of them. 10 minutes later the bus arrived and we climbed on leaving behind the tour group . We got back to the room at 11:30.
We found this.
I think Mousekeeping got tired of seeing our toothbrushes lying around.
We showered and fell into bed quickly. We were so tired as we hadn’t taken our afternoon break because we had such a late start. I decided that we wouldn’t sleep in for the rest of the trip. I prefer an early start with a break.
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.