A Dream That Came True! The First Timers TR - COMPLETED 9/10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Finally, someone figured out where our package was and off we went, but now I'm worried about making the meet up in time!! It just happened that the next bus was ours! Off we went to Hollywood Studios. We arrived and had about 5 minutes to meet the others at the entrance to Rock N' Roller coaster, so yeah, we ran lol. We made just in time, right after we arrived and introduced ourselves, they came to take us to our tables. This was so cool, we got to go through the backlot area and bypass all the lines for Fantasmic. When we arrived, we found these wonderful tables full of desserts and drinks, like hot chocolate.
There was even special flavorings for the drinks, I had a hot chocolate with vanilla syrup, delicious! The tables we were seated at were decorated too!
Before Fantasmic started we all got some desserts and drinks, and then they started doing random drawings. We won one! Scottie opened it to find a Minnie Mouse plush, which he promptly gave to the most adorable little girl (mommytoaprincess's little girl). She was all dressed as minnie mouse so scottie thought she'd like it, she loved it!
As the show started, I got up and stood at the railing to steady my hands as Scottie wanted me to videotape it. We both loved Fantasmic!! It was so incredible, with the live action and the animation intermingled. Scottie's favorite part of course was Mickey fighting the dragon. I loved the Sorcerer Mickey part myself! Afterward, the others were going to ride TSMM one last time, I really hated missing that as I was afraid we'd never get to ride it while we were there. But, we had ressies at Garden Grill and Scottie was so looking forward to it. So, with just enough time to see the Osborne Lights, we left the others. I had so much fun meeting everyone though! Jeff, you are too cool, giving my son money for his birthday! He told me after we left lol, he was afraid I'd make him give it back.
The Osborne Lights are the most beautiful, breathtaking, inspired holiday decorations I have ever seen. It was truly magical standing there surrounded by these beautiful lights with the music blaring as the lights danced. I can see why it gets so crowded there, you just stand and stare in awe! My pictures didn't turn out near as well as Cam's though, you should check out her TR to see some fantastic photos!
I realize we are running out of time, so we head to the buses and grab one for Epcot! Let me just say this.....Epcot in the dark for a first timer....very confusing!! If I can just find my way, we might make it to our ADR.......
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how sweet of scottie to think of giving the minnie away--that's VERY selfless for a child (and some adults, too!) i'm impressed! you clearly raised him the right way!
Such a wonderful Fantasmic and dessert experience! We love this show! for the compliment about our pictures (Luke actually took most of those.) Can't wait to see how you all liked The Garden Grill as it is a Stefanie must-do.
I just got al caught up again. I hope your mom is doing okay. My dad had heart surgery 2 years ago and still has tired moments, but he's doing great. I'll say prayers for all to work out with your mom. I'm loving your trip report. It's been a while since I saw Fantasmic, I was wondering if you thought it was too intense for a 4 year old. (He'll turn 4 the week before we get there. The more I think about it, I think he may get scared. Keep those updates coming.
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Sounds like a great party. Hope you made it to Garden Grill on time. I just love the Osborne Lights. They are incredible.
I videotaped the lights and I am so glad I did. They were definitely a highlight of our trip.
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Originally Posted by emvenable77
Great update! You guys sure fit alot of stuff into this one day! You must have been exhausted after all of this!!
We were lol! It's funny that while we were there I didn't think we were doing that much lol, but writing it out I realized just how much we really did get done.
Quote:
Originally Posted by shanmac
All caught up! Sounds like an amazing trip. Your little gliches all seem to be erased by something magical.
Sending good vibes for your mom's health!
We really did have a magical trip, there were so many times that we had a special thing happen! Thank you for the vibes, she needs all she can get!
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Originally Posted by chezp
What a great party!
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Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Sounds like the party was a great treat!
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Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG
Sounds like you had a great night! Hope you make it to your ADR!
The Dessert/Fantasmic party was really incredible!! I highly recommend the Mousetacular events.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elbodans
how sweet of scottie to think of giving the minnie away--that's VERY selfless for a child (and some adults, too!) i'm impressed! you clearly raised him the right way!
Thank you so much! I am very proud of him all the time, he is extremely selfless. He's always giving away his things to others lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Such a wonderful Fantasmic and dessert experience! We love this show! for the compliment about our pictures (Luke actually took most of those.) Can't wait to see how you all liked The Garden Grill as it is a Stefanie must-do.
Luke should be a photographer! His pictures are fantastic! I'll tell you now......we LOVED the Garden Grill!!!
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Originally Posted by KMB733
Sounds like you are having a great time so far!!
We really had the trip of a lifetime!
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Originally Posted by ttnmama
I just got al caught up again. I hope your mom is doing okay. My dad had heart surgery 2 years ago and still has tired moments, but he's doing great. I'll say prayers for all to work out with your mom. I'm loving your trip report. It's been a while since I saw Fantasmic, I was wondering if you thought it was too intense for a 4 year old. (He'll turn 4 the week before we get there. The more I think about it, I think he may get scared. Keep those updates coming.
Thanks for the prayers!! So glad your dad is doing good, I hope mom gets better soon! Fantasmic wasn't really scary in my opinion but it was Very loud!! If your son doesn't like loud noises or surprise bangs, he might not enjoy it. I would recommend sitting to the back so the action isn't as close.
Our photopass cd finally arrived!! I had to email a request because it was taking so long and they finally got it to us! Here are a few of my favs from the first two days:
And now on with the TR!
We were fifteen minutes late for our ADR, but the girl at the desk hadn't taken our names off yet! whew, that's a relief! For those of you who have never been, the Garden Grill is arranged in circles and slowly rotates. It was really neat. We got seated fairly quickly and brought our salad and rolls with their famous maple butter. The salad was fantastic! I mean, even scottie ate it up.
They bring you several different types of rolls: dinner rolls, wheat rolls, and oat rolls. They were all good and with the maple butter.....absolutely delicious! Then came our main course which was a tray with three different main courses on it!
There was Baked Tilapia over steamed veggies, Turkey and gravy over a herbed dressing (with fresh cranberry sauce on the side), and lastly was a grilled strip loin served over mashed potatoes. It was all fabulous! I even loved the fish, and I don't normally like fish. As we ate, the characters all came by one at a time.
Our dessert was a fresh apple crisp with a vanilla bean cream and it was fantastic! Scottie, of course got a special treat for his birthday (we found out later that the CM who helped us with booking our rooms and ressies put Scottie's birthday on every single one!). Mickey himself brought Scottie's dessert along with a card signed by all of the characters!
We truly enjoyed our Garden Grill experience, the character interaction is fabulous and the food was incredibly good!
After dinner, we headed out just in time to see Illuminations, we even got right up at the fence thanks to a very sweet couple who said they had seen it loads of times and squeezed over so Scottie could get close. Again, Scottie had me videotaping lol. I hate that I missed the last bit, the holiday song, because I ran out of tape! Illuminations was brilliant! When you see the images on that globe, combined with the beautiful music and fireworks......well...honestly, I cried. It was, without a doubt, the most wonderful thing I've ever seen. The only bad part was when an older gentleman next to us, who kept blocking my view, complained to me about Scottie's light up sword that I had bought him at Hollywood Studios during Fantasmic. I made him turn it off, but the nice couple that had let him up front said he wasn't hurting anything and I shouldn't worry about grumpy old men lol. I don't think the gentleman appreciated it lol, but I sure did.
After this we headed for the buses. I had warned Scottie about the lines for buses at the end of the evening, and we decided that whenever the line was long that we would play a game. Starting with the letter A we came up with words to describe our day, and on through the alphabet. This made our wait a bit more pleasant and fun as we reminisced about our day. Once on the bus, I was so proud of Scottie, as he gave up his seat to a lady holding a little girl. He was always giving up his seat if the bus was crowded. Then he got into a conversation with a family across from us who had a young girl with a lanyard that only had two pins on it. He noticed this and asked me if it was alright if he gave her a couple of his, which I of course thought was very kind. He gave her two pins off his lanyard and told her all about how to trade them. Her family was very appreciative and I was very proud!
Soon enough we were at our stop and headed to the room, where we wrote down our daily activities and then talked about what we wanted to do the next day. The original plan had been to stay at MK all day, since we would be there for the Christmas Party that night. Scottie, however, asked me if there was any way we could go back to Hollywood Studios one more time. He really, really wanted to do the Jedi Training. So, we decided we would go there after our breakfast at Kona Cafe and then head to MK after he was done. We jumped into bed and set the wake up call for 7am.
Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.....and sometimes, they just go downright wrong!
Your pictures and descriptions from The Garden Grill have made me so hungry and ready to eat there soon, but I've still got over 100 days before we will. Illuminations is my absolute favorite nighttime show at WDW. And I cry every single time.
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We love this show! 
for the compliment about our pictures (Luke actually took most of those.) Can't wait to see how you all liked The Garden Grill as it is a Stefanie must-do.
Illuminations is my absolute favorite nighttime show at WDW. And I cry every single time. 
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