The First Thanksgiving (some 400 years later) TR - COMPLETE!! 3/7 - Page 13 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Okay, so I let Andy read the previous post and he pointed out a few things....
First, please refer to the photo of the dinosaurs on Ellen. He reminded me that the reason I took that photo was b/c we commented on the fact that was like Mittens and Chewy.....total standoff between the two. Seriously. We see that pose at least once a day in our house. Little bitty Mittens stares down big bad Chewy and usually wins.
Also, I forgot to mention that I pointed out the fact I was wearing my lovely Roger Daltrey Union Jack flag tshirt in the French restaurant. And Andy had on his Paul McCartney one which made it even funnier. Battle of the Brits I suppose.
Okay, so with that out of the way I am going to try and update again since the humor has arrived....aka Andy. No pressure Andy
We made it over to POFQ and pulled up to the gate. Usually we have a jovial security guard and tell them we're checking in, tell them our name and give them our ID and that's it. Not with Mr. Grumpy Gills. This guy started by giving us a lecture about how we would need our ID and/or our room key, or both, and possibly everyone in the car would need it, or just the driver, anytime and every time you left, if you were in a car, or if you walked out, blah blah blah blah. I wanted to be like "What if I'm on the bus, do I need my ID and room key then?" and really I wanted to tell him "DUDE, I'm not new here, 3rd trip this year, 4th stay at this hotel, I think I know what to do". Then Andy tells him that our friend is coming up behind us shortly and basically asked if he was going to harass her, too. He goes "as long as she knows your name" She's our friend.....but she doesn't know our name....yeah. That's the ticket. Douche.
I mean seriously. What a tool. And he gave Brandi the third degree as well when she pulled up. Going on and on about how locals come in to use the pool on holidays and crap (um, dude in case you haven't noticed, it's like 40 degrees......).
ANYWAY, we checked in (I had utilized the self online check in deal for the first time) and our crap was all ready for us as was our room. Andy had also ordered a special holiday gift for me It was a Santa Mickey hat with chocolate goodies tucked inside I just finished off the chocolate Mickey head shaped box the other day. Good stuff. And it also had one of those little black books for WDW in it. Very cool
Once we had our room number we called Tom and gave him the rundown on how to get inside Fort Knox. Room number, name, ID, birth certificate, blood type, the usual.
We were in building 2 which was part of my request so that was good. We had a second floor room overlooking the pool. It was a good, quiet, convenient location. Maybe not so much in the summer when the pool is in full force, but only the crazyheads were swimming during this trip.
Tom arrived shortly after and apparently the grumpiest security guard on earth went home and the laziest one replaced him because she didn't ask Tom crap. Andy said perhaps Tom took care of him (*wink wink*) b/c we never saw him again after that.
I unpacked our stuff, which I must do to feel at home, and I know Tom loves that. We chilled for awhile and then decided to change the clipboard of fun since it was raining. Originally we were going to the MK tonight but we didn't feel like dealing with rain and people together at the MK, so we went back to Epcot.
On the way out of POFQ I took a couple photos...
This resort is so pretty and this was the first time we'd stayed here with holiday decor up. I did notice on the way out that there were no Christmas trees up in the lobby Oh well..... (that's important later so pay attention )
We rode on the Baker Bus over to Epcot and while the Bakers took their usual Epcot Entrance Urination Station trip I went in and took a few pictures of the holiday display at the entrance. Wow. Mickey really cut back this year...... I don't think it was near as much as usual. And DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE CHEAP PURPLE AND BLUE ALUMINUM DOLLAR TREE TREES BEHIND THE FOUNTAIN!!!! ARGH!!! Brandi took pictures to document b/c I couldn't bare to do it myself. Geez Mickey.
Anyway...pic of the front...
Once everybody was inside together we headed to our ritual ride on SSE. We go in the backdoor with Pom (according to Andy it's called the "Pom Pass" "Pom Pass" rides include but are not limited to 'SSE, Peter Pan, and The Haunted Mansion) and apparently, according to Brandi, we end up getting this same photo each time.
This picture just cracks me up b/c I got everybody in it.....just barely...
I tried to keep it normal this time:
But ended up with a stray hair that created a floating antenna.
Andy decided to dig deep for his photo:
Nice one Andy.
Apparently the folks at SSE thought he was such a tool that they put him up on the big screen twice....
Andy says it's hard to surf AND pick your nose so he must be talented......... I say it's hard to scuba dive and pick your nose since you have that thing over your face. And also, you have like 3 hands, Andy. Did you notice you're a freak of nature?
After SSE we headed into Innoventions and tried out Sum of All Thrills. Earlier that afternoon there had been quite a line b/c of the rain but now there was hardly a wait. We jumped in line and agreed that Brandi and I would work together and Andy would go solo. This was a very cool experience (minus the tool in the preshow video "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"). Our first one was a bit of a dud I will admit, b/c #1 we weren't quite sure what we were doing and the time limit constrained us and #2 we didn't know quite what to expect with "mild" vs "wild". So after the first go round it was evident we had to do it again. Backtrack a bit. Once we got in that thing......well, let's just say I had been a bit concerned in line as I don't like tight spaces and I really don't like not being able to touch my face. So when I sat down and that thing came down....I panicked a bit. But I knew I had to keep my cool b/c Brandi could see my little black and white face up in the corner of her screen (as I could see her) but I did end up grabbing her arm at the beginning b/c it was the only tangible think I could grab that was human But once we started it was all good and I was ready to go again. SO we did.
We hopped right back in line and again Andy went solo. This time, however, we harassed each other whilst in line. To the point that the CM told us not to harass the guests (us being me and Brandi, our guests being Andy That's a funny one, ha ha). SO anyway, we were all in competition to beat each other's "Sum of all thrills" and got the CMs involved in it. When we got finished our CM wanted to know our score but we made him promise not to tell Andy. When Andy got on the CM asked him if he knew us Andy was like "yeah, I'm married to one of them" and the CM goes "Oh I'm sorry" Nice.
Anyway, we won Andy tried to be all smart and sciencey and chose tight loops and such, but alas, we went all wild and beat him He is yelling at me that I have to explain that he beat us the first time.....by a lot. Whatev. Jealous. You know you wanted to ride ours after you heard what we did 6 inversions I believe. That's right. This was also the ride that the CM told Andy that he didn't like math and that's why he dropped out of college. Way to promote the premise of the attraction buddy
After all that fun we headed back into the World Showcase. We stopped off in Mexico and while Brandi and Pom hit up the Cantina, Andy and I decided to try out the new tequila bar inside.
We opted to try out the reserve flight. Very tasty actually. I really enjoyed the first one...the lighter one. And we had a fantastic bartender who let us sample the avocado margarita which was verrrrry tasty. I don't know if I could drink a whole glass, but it was a very refreshing taste. I opted for the regular margarita which was very very good as it was made with fresh fruit juices instead of sour mix. Very smooth and refreshing. And after the flight, it was all I needed for the night
We met back up with the Bakers around behind the Cantina while they finished up eating. I wasn't hungry b/c I had just had a meal of tequila so I held out for later. Once everybody was ready we continued on around and stopped off in Germany. We Germany. We strolled through the Christmas store and I picked up a very cute glass Donald ornament. He's on the front center of my tree now. Then we went through the sweets store and Pom Baker treated me to a Candy Cane Rice Krispy treat. I was very very excited to be treated by Pom! Andy got a brat and Pom got some apple strudel. We sat on our favorite bench and talked about people and enjoyed each other's company. Pom enjoyed his apple strudel icing.... a bit too much.....
Andy said Tom made out with that stuff (he didn't say "stuff" but I can't type what he said.... )
After Germany we stopped at the Urination Station back there, and then the rains came again. We meandered around to the Christmas store at the entrance to the World Showcase and this chick did some cash damage I got the advent calendar thing with the woodsy Mickey and Minnie on it. I got it b/c it is like the decor/ornaments from the WL. It is now hanging on my front door (inside of course). I have a picture, I will share later. I also picked up a WL looking ornament of Mickey and Minnie inside an pine cone... and a little bitty Christmas Stitch with his shiny red scarf and shiny green mittens. (Remember him, he's important later, too).
After the shopping (which I remembered to use my 10% AP discount that was going on while we were there) we made our way back to the Baker Bus. Once back at the POFQ I realized I hadn't eaten dinner (and it was like 10pm now) so I grabbed some chicken nuggets from the foodcourt. We all sat together and ate (I think the Bakers had something but I can't remember). After awhile we called it a night agreeing to meet up tomorrow afternoon for our Thanksgiving feast. We had a long first day, and despite the rain, it was a good one
So, the security guard had a major turkey leg up his butt that day! My favorite was this part of our conversation...
Me: I'm here to visit some folks staying here. Loflin.
Him: I need your ID. Out of the wallet, please. What's the name again?
Me: Loflin. L. O. F. L. I. N.
Him: We have several Loflins, dear. I need a first name. Do you know that?
Me: Um, yeah. They are my best friends. Andrew and Melissa.
SERIOUSLY?!? Several Loflins? Spelled JUST LIKE THAT?!? As if. Grr....
Anyway. Back to some pictures.
So, yes. These trees totally look like they came from the bottom shelf of the Dollar Tree. I love me some Dollar Tree, people, but seriously?!? And, the show doesn't make it ANY better. I swear.
Pom was obsessed with Melissa's Stitch Turkey pin. He tried to steal it. He is so not subtle.
Melissa failed to mention that on this day she and Andy gave us the greatest Christmas ornament EVER!!
I seriously have half a dozen of these. I take this same photo I think every time we ride SSE. I may have to dig them all up....
I just love this one.
Melissa can complain all she wants about her stray hair/antenna, but seriously. I have NO EYES! I have no soul apparently.
Andy is ALWAYS such a rockstar and pushes Pom for me all the time. I enjoy the break! Plus, Melissa looks like she's grabbing Pom's foot.
Melissa and Pom with her Rice Krispy Treat!
The best part of this picture is playing "Where's Andy?"
__________________
Brandi
Bakelins chillin' at the pool after a fun week at Disney!
That is an adorable ornament!! It sounds like you all had a very full day, even with the rain.
Your Christmas POFQ pictures so remind me of our trip last year.....we'd be there now....sigh. So pretty! It's weird, we mostly saw one security guard every day of our trip and he was a sweety! He'd buzz us through before I could even get my card in the reader. I hate when CMs try to kill my Disney buzz!
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That is an adorable ornament!! It sounds like you all had a very full day, even with the rain.
Your Christmas POFQ pictures so remind me of our trip last year.....we'd be there now....sigh. So pretty! It's weird, we mostly saw one security guard every day of our trip and he was a sweety! He'd buzz us through before I could even get my card in the reader. I hate when CMs try to kill my Disney buzz!
Can't wait to hear more!
Yeah, he was just a grouch. Every guard we saw after that...Brandi coulda held up a library card and we'd have gotten in
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Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
She's our friend.....but she doesn't know our name....yeah. That's the ticket. Douche.
It was a Santa Mickey hat with chocolate goodies tucked inside 
I just finished off the chocolate Mickey head shaped box the other day. Good stuff. And it also had one of those little black books for WDW in it. Very cool 
Oh well..... (that's important later so pay attention 
)
But once we started it was all good and I was ready to go again. SO we did.
That's a funny one, ha ha). SO anyway, we were all in competition to beat each other's "Sum of all thrills" and got the CMs involved in it. When we got finished our CM wanted to know our score but we made him promise not to tell Andy. When Andy got on the CM asked him if he knew us 
)
Love the pictures! Sounds like fun times at Epcot! 
Susan
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