The "Its the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" PTR - Page 16 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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First, I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year!!! Ok, on with the report!
Day 5: December 3rd, 2009
Both Mom and I woke up this morning with some tummy troubles. Maybe it was all those cheesecakes we had been eating for dessert? Anyway, this would not put a damper in my plans. We had to get to MK for EMH. This was our last day at MK and there were still a few rides I needed to do. We arrived at the buses only to find that everyone else at Pop Century was heading to MK too. But low and behold, a bus to Epcot arrives, and I have the genius idea to go to Epcot and get the monorail. I know it was probably the roundabout way, but we still had plenty of time, so this is what we did.
We arrived at MK about 8:15, and by now I was starving! And there is no better place to eat than the Main St. Bakery. Mom got egg and ham on a croissant and I got a Cinnamon Bun and a chocolate croissant for later. While Mom paid I went to grab a couple chairs in the far back corner against the wall. There were 3 kids sitting next to me and playing a game. So Mom comes and sits down and we start to eat, and we are probably half way done, when this woman comes over to us and says her children had been saving the seats. I said I was sorry I didn’t know, since the kids didn’t say anything to me when I had sat down. Now mind you I had been sitting there for a good 5 minutes and they completely ignored me. Whatever! I wasn’t going to let that lady’s bad attitude ruin my day.
After our delicious breakfast we headed to Jungle Cruise. The fog was so thick that morning that I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to see anything. But once we got going, the fog lifted. Our skipper was pretty good, but the people on the boat were grumps! Was this turning into grumpy day at MK.
After Jungle Cruise we headed toward Fantasyland. We met up with Goofy in Frontierland and stopped to get a picture.
Mom stopped to use the restroom as we headed into Fantasyland. Of course I noticed the line for Peter Pan was long, but when we got around the corner it was only a 10 minute wait! And I notice they had the queue roped off different which made the line look longer than it actually was.
It looks like a long line, doesn't it?
Once our trip to Neverland was complete we headed to Snow White. Snow White was only about a 5 min wait. I don’t think I’ve ever waited longer than that to ride Snow White. After Snow White, we headed into the shop by Cinderella fountain to do a little shopping. My BFF is pregnant with a little girl, so of course I had to buy the little princess something with the princesses on it. I ended up getting her an onsie with all the princesses, and my mom got her the cutest pink sweater.
We wondered around to the front of the castle to see what was going on with the parade taping. There was a MC pumping up the crowd and instructing the crowd how to act when the camera came on to tape. I asked a nearby CM who was taping today, and she told me Yanni and Kris Allen. Honestly I wasn’t impressed with either performer, so we decided to make our way out of MK.
First we stopped to do last minute shopping, and stop for some popcorn. Since we had a late lunch at DHS, we headed back to the hotel first to grab a snack and freshen up.
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From the hotel, we headed toward DHS. This was our first visit to this park on this trip. And it was my Mom’s first time at the park ever! We took a couple pictures of the tree outside the park and then headed on in.
Since it was late (around 12:30) I knew there wouldn’t be any FPs for TSMM. I wasn’t even going to attempt to run over there. So I decided I wanted to ride ToT and RNRC. My mom didn’t have any desire to ride, so she sat and waited for me.
Tower of Terror was posted at 20 min wait, but in reality it was less than 10. I walked right into the library, and then because I was a single rider, I got right on an elevator! My mom couldn’t believe I was done so fast, and said I could ride again if I wanted to. And I would have, but I wanted to see what RNRC wait was. That too was posted at 20 minutes, but only waited about 15 minutes.
Once the limo brought me back from the concert, I headed back to ToT for one more quick ride. After a few quick drops in the elevator, we moved on. My mom was having a good time talking pictures and people watching.
Mom's "I can't walk anymore" pose
It was still a little early to check in for lunch, so we made our way over to the Great Movie Ride. I wasn’t sure if we would have enough time to ride, so we wandered around outside looking at the foot/hand prints.
We walked around the for a little while and we made our way through Pixar Place, where the post wait time for TSMM was 90 minutes. And of course there were no more FPs. By now it was about 2:15, so I decided to check in early for lunch. As soon as we walked in, my Mom was in love with the place.
We waited less than 10 minutes before we were seated. Our waiter was Brother Bob, and he was hysterical. He was very much into character and Mom and I enjoyed playing along. I think at first my Mom was a little apprehensive, but then she started to enjoy herself.
I ordered the meatloaf ( meatloaf) and Mom got the Chicken Pot Pie. While we were waiting for our food, there was family that was seated next to us and they were so nice. They had never been there before so I was giving them suggestions on what to eat. They ended up going with the Pot Roast, which they all raved about.
There was another waiter (another brother) who was walking around with a black stick and tapping people on the shoulder and flicking their hair and hiding. It was pretty funny and good entertainment. Our food arrived and was delicious I licked my plate clean, but still had enough room for dessert. Mom loved her meal too, but couldn’t finish it all. Brother Bob came over to “help” Mom finish her meal.
I ordered the S’mores and Mom had a brownie sundae, which looked soooo good. Once we settled the bill we headed toward the Great Movie ride, but had to wait for the parade to finish up. I wish we had seen the whole parade, because it looked like a lot of fun.
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After our adventure through the movies, we headed toward the Muppets, but decided to not do the show. We headed to the Streets of America, and Mulch, Sweat and Shears was performing. I like this group and was happy to see they are still performing here.
When they were done we headed back to see the High School Musical show. I will admit that I like the HSM movies, and find the music catchy. The show was very energetic and I was singing along.
We still had some time before the Osborne Lights, and I figured we could squeeze in a trip on the Backlot Tour. However when we got over there, the Backlot had already closed for the evening.
With the Backlot closed, we just walked through the Streets of America and chose a nice spot of the curb to wait for the lights to come on. And while we were waiting for the Lights, we were treated to another show by Mulch, Sweat and Shears, complete with all different music!
As the time got closer we moved closer to see the family switch on the lights. If you have never been, what are you waiting for! The whole crowd she gasps, its was breathtaking. I’m pretty sure that I cried a little bit. In my opinion, this is probably one of the best of the Holiday celebrations at the parks.
I’m not even sure how long we walked around and took pictures, but it must have been at least an hour. I could have spent another hour there, but it was getting close to park closing. We did manage to squeeze in quick stop to purchase a Christmas shirt for me on the way out.
Once back at the hotel, we were both hungry, so stopped to get something to eat. Then we headed back to the room to organize our stuff and get a good night’s sleep.
Sounds like an awesome day at DHS!
50's Primetime sounds and looks yummy!!
I LOVE the Osborne Lights- they are amazing! I love the picture of the two of you together in the Osborne Lights!!
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Sounded like a great day. Dinner looked delish. We have never eaten there.
Also I have never seen the Osbourne Lights. I know, WHAT! It is on my agenda for Nov/Dec if I get to go.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Sounded like a great day. Dinner looked delish. We have never eaten there.
Also I have never seen the Osbourne Lights. I know, WHAT! It is on my agenda for Nov/Dec if I get to go.
Make sure you go!!! It was the highlight of the trip for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mavisdavis
What fun!!
I love Tower of Terror - my husband won't go on - he's really missing out.
Did you get to go on Toy Story Mania later?...it was an impossible mission for me!
I should have eaten at 50's Prime Time!!! That meatloaf looks gooooooood!
We never did make it to TSMM. I've learned you have to get there when the park opens, or forget it! And the meatloaf was delicious
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Day 6: The last full day December 4th, 2009
What is the one time we all hate waking up too on the last full day? The DME letter. And that’s what we found on our door this morning as we were leaving to go to AK. That is the saddest thing to see.
We stopped for a quick breakfast at Pop before getting on the bus to go to AK. It was rather chilly this morning and there were dark clouds moving in. None the less, this did not stop us.
We never made it in time for EMH, but we did get to see the rope drop, which I have never seen before. And now I’ve seen rope drop at all 4 parks!
Our first stop this morning was the Safari. The animals must have been enjoying the cooler weather, because we saw a lot of them this morning. When our 2 week journey was complete, the wait time for the next safari was only 5 minutes. Mom loved this ride and wanted to go again. So we set off for another 2 weeks. It’s amazing that in such a short amount of time how the animals can change. But the animal we didn’t end up seeing was a Zebra! After the Safari we headed over to Everest. The park was still pretty quiet and the wait time was only 10 minutes. Mom again found a nice bench to sit on and wait for me.
By this time the clouds were really getting dark and I just prayed that the rain would hold off just a little longer. But apparently no one heard those prayers because as soon as we started the big climb up Everest it started to rain. And by time we can out the front of the mountain, it was pouring! I got soaked! Not Kali River soaked, but I was pretty wet.
Of course by time the ride was over the rain had stopped, but I still pulled out my umbrella just in case the sky’s opened up again. As we made our way out of the park we stopped to take in the Bug Show, as I like to call it. This was the only ride that we hadn’t done yet. I didn’t prepare my Mom at all because I didn’t want to spoil any of the surprises. She got a kick out of the bugs leaving the show.
We were both done with Animal Kingdom, and made our way back to DHS, as I wanted to do the Backlot tour, and hopefully get a chance to ride TSMM.
On the way to DHS it started to rain again. It was bitter and cold outside and the rain just made it feel raw.
By now it was getting close to lunch time, so we stopped in the Backlot Express for lunch. I had never eaten there before and really liked it. It’s a place I will eat at again. It’s a good thing we chose to eat when we did. About midway through lunch it started to rain pretty hard and lots of people were coming in to get out of the way and eat lunch.
After lunch we headed toward the Backlot, and making our way pass TSMM. As I suspected there were no FPs left and the wait was 80 minutes. I guess I just was not meant to ride that ride this trip.
The Backlot tour was packed! But even with all those people we only waited about 10 minutes. Because of the rain, they didn’t do the Harbor Attack show, but did show us the special effects. Once we got of the trams, the rain just came down. Again, I was sitting on the outside, so I ended up getting really wet.
We spent a few minutes looking at the villain costumes after the tour so we could stay out of the rain and warm up a bit. We decided to head back to the hotel, since I figured all the indoor rides and show would be packed as guests tried to stay out of the rain.
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I licked my plate clean, but still had enough room for dessert. Mom loved her meal too, but couldn’t finish it all. Brother Bob came over to “help” Mom finish her meal. 
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