The Mighty Morphing Birthday Trip - Thread 2 - COMPLETE!! - UPDATED 12/1 - Page 15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
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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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Just caught up with your updates! Loved all the pics of you and Andy! They are sooo good! Looks like you are having alot of fun! I agree with you on Character Connection. We skipped it earlier in the month because we didn't care to wait in line for an hour.
What wonderful updates, Melissa! And the photos - both yours and Robyn's - are magnificent! Love the lightning strike photo especially. Hope you'll be back with more soon!
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Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
After our photos and our afternoon at Epcot we headed back to the WL. We rested a bit, swam a bit, freshened up, and then headed down to the lobby to check in for our ADR at WCC. This was a first for us and we weren't quite sure what to expect. Our ADR was right at opening time, so we checked in and had about a 15 min. wait. While we waited I played around and took some photos of the lodge.
Andy chillin' and doing his "test all the chairs in the lobby" bit...
Andy got his hands on my camera...
Then it was time to head in for our dinner. I started with some sunset, sunrise something froo frooy and boy was it tasty! I had two
Our waitress threw us a bunch of straws, so Andy decided waste not want not...
I however opted to go with only two..... sunrise/sunset froo frooy thing through one straw was potent enought....two made it evvvveeeen more so...
Our food was fabulous. We went with the family style deal and ate up some ribs. Everything was really tasty! While we were eating one of the waiters walked by and dumped this jar on our table.... We were nosey of course and peeked in. It was a bunch of paper certificates.... Then he came back over, introduced me as having a birthday (told everybody I was 21....not sure if he was joking or just mis informed?? But hey, I look it....) And then after the kids did their little pony lap around the restaurant they had to come to me to get their certificate. Now I'm sure the point of making a poor unsuspecting sap hand out the certificates is to embarass them in some manner. But when you give it to a teacher (who is working on her second sunrise, sunset froo frooy thing) you get somebody totally in their element Andy of course videoed it, and there's me, just a talking to those kids and there's those kids...just kinda staring at me and not understanding why the stranger lady really wants to talk to them.... But anyhoo, it was fun
By the time dessert came I had no room but I forced myself to eat this....
Yes, forced...... yea right... It was WONDERFUL!!!
After dinner we walked around and found some hidden mickeys...
Then it was time to head out to MGM for some late night crowds...errr.. I mean fun.....
Continuing on....
We caught the bus to MGM. We arrived about an hour before EMH hours started, so we headed on in to the TOT. The line.....the line.....it was the longest line we have ever waited in for the TOT. I have to say, I'm not one to complain when I'm in my happy place, but seriously folks...what are the Disney people thinking when they think that it's a bright idea to spray buckets of steam on you whilst you stand in 90+ degree heat waiting in line? Seriously.... I'm surprised we didn't all start sticking to each other. It was ridiculous at times. You couldn't even see a foot in front of you.....
I have a close up of Andy's face all covered in sticky steam and sweat but I don't think he'd be too pleased if I posted it.....
But by the time we got inside we were drenched with the stupid steam. Anyway, enough complaining about the steam. We had made it inside and were on our way to the fifth dimension. This trip was kinda stinky though b/c with exception to that first day we were at MGM the lines were crazy here. We only got to ride the tower once that night... We didn't get to ride it near as much this trip as we have in the past...
After that we walked towards RnRC and got our EMH bracelets. When we got to RnRC the line for that was ridiculous and I don't think there were any FP times left.... So once again, we skipped out on RnRC.
By this point I was getting a little moody b/c it was ridiculously crowded as compared to our past EMH experiences. So we headed to the back of the park and took in some Star Tours and Muppets.
We mosied our way around and just kind of walked and enjoyed the park. Once you made your way to left side of the park there was nobody around... they were all over in line for RnRC and TOT apparently.
It had started to get a little late and we had an early breakfast in the morning so we headed back to the WL to get some rest and get away from the crowds.
Coming up: A birthday breakfast with my Disney pals!
I'm glad you liked WCC. We'll be trying it for the first time in a few weeks and I'm kind of nervous. But from all accounts, it sounds like everyone is pleased. I think I may have to get one of those foo foo drinks!!!
Great updates - can't wait to read (or see) more!!
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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.