A seed was planted and here’s what grew....Magical Memories - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Great trip so far. The balloon ride sounds like something we would love to do when DD is older. Glad you were able to spend so much time with the characters at GG.
Good luck on those test results!
__________________
Check out my Pre-Trip Report for our 9/18-9/23/12 trip here:
Loved your comments about the playful manatees. We had a similar Zebra encounter at the AKL once. DS was very intrigued by the "wrestling" and asked to stay and watch.
Isn't Kim Possible fun?! You've got some great pictures!
I just can't look over an edge, even stair can bug me if I'm carrying a laundry basket and just catch the edge, so strange I know but. . .
No, it's not really strange. We all have little things that bug us. For me, whenever I go to a mall, I can never use their stairs as whenever I do, I get extremely dizzy. I don't know what it is but it only has happened at malls
Quote:
Originally Posted by ariel14
Great update Darlene!! Can't wait to hear the good news re: Lenny's tests.
Thanks. We still have no news on Lenny though - he'll call tomorrow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Wow! It sounds like you guys had a great day! Saving the world is so much fun! I'm glad you guys enjoyed it!
We did have a great day and it was fun. I'd definitely try it out again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emvenable77
Great trip so far. The balloon ride sounds like something we would love to do when DD is older. Glad you were able to spend so much time with the characters at GG.
Good luck on those test results!
Thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I was really surprised by the amount of time we had with the characters at GG - but one thing is for sure, we'll go back because of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tink and co.
Loved your comments about the playful manatees. We had a similar Zebra encounter at the AKL once. DS was very intrigued by the "wrestling" and asked to stay and watch.
Isn't Kim Possible fun?! You've got some great pictures!
Wrestling Zebras? Okay, we now have a tie for something worse than the manatees. The turtles at the Coral Reef were the winners but now I have to put the zebras up there too, especially since your son wanted to stay and watch.
Thanks about pictures and yes, we did have fun with KP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by islandgirl
Great updates & pictures!! I would love to try Characters in Flight, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get Peter to ride!
Thanks. And like I said to someone else, go ahead and ride by youself and then rub it in how much you enjoyed it. The entire ride is only about 10 minutes tops so you wouldn't be gone that long. Plus too, you can use the money you save by not buying two tickets for something else fun at Disney .
Even though we had decided on another late start today, I was up once again at 5:45 to do laundry. I have no idea what I did while it was washing and drying but once it was done, I laid back down again until 9. Since we weren’t in any great rush, we finally left the hotel somewhere around 10:30 to head to the MK. Once we got to there I think we might have gone right to the CP to check in but I’m not entirely sure. Once we were seated, the server sent the chef out to talk to me. Quite a few things on the line I could safely eat but the chef made me a plate that had whatever beef was on the line, boiled potatoes, broccoli and green beans. I also had a small salad, rolls and a little bit of deli turkey that day. As with all the other meals, this one was good and I was not regretting my decision to note a special diet on our ressies. Lenny and Abby as usual had a little bit of this and a little bit of that and like last year, we got most of our food before the line built up and the characters came. We had fun interaction with the characters, especially since Tigger and Pooh were on Abby’s shirt today - they definitely liked to see that.
When lunch was over with, Abby wanted to ride the Jungle Cruise again.
This photographer was on the bridge from CP heading to Adventureland
This time we sat in the back of boat so I didn’t ask about Abby being a Junior Skipper. It wasn’t as much fun this time either. The CM only told the jokes, she didn’t really put a lot of effort into them IMO like some of them do.
From Adventureland, Abby wanted to go to the Haunted Mansion. We had a little bit before we had to meet Danielle and Tom but as is usual with us, we got in the line and it seemed to stop moving. We finally got through there and with our hitchhiking ghost in tow (the short one with the beard) we made our way to the Riverboat landing. We were only a few minutes late but I spotted Danielle and Tom right away sitting on a bench. We exchanged hugs and gifts and started talking right away.
Even though we had just met face to face, the conversation just flowed and didn’t stop. We talked mostly of Disney and what we had done, where we were staying, meals we had eaten etc. And since it is Disney and there’s so many things to do, we just went from one thing to the next in the conversation. Tom and Lenny kinda just stood there doing what guys sometimes do best IMO - keeping quiet. Abby had a few things to add but not much. When the Riverboat finally came around the bend, we split up for a few minutes so we could go down the wheelchair ramp. Once on board, it wasn’t long before we saw each other again. Abby wanted to keep to the shade so that’s where we stood and after a minute or two, everyone seemed to split up. Tom went to the front of the boat to take pictures I believe and I’m not sure where Lenny and Abby went off too. Danielle and I stood there talking the whole time and before we knew it, we were back to where we started from. We all walked to Frontierland together and it was there that we said our goodbyes and gave more hugs. Abby wanted the CBJ as she wanted out of the sun and heat and Tom and Danielle were off to Adventureland for the same purpose but Pirates were on their agenda.
After CBJ, I finally convinced Abby it was time to ride Splash Mountain. She didn’t want to but I told her I couldn’t record the ride for her if we didn’t go on it so she agreed. We sat in the back and while Abby doesn’t enjoy the drop, she did laugh and was happy on the ride. Since I was recording the whole ride, even the drop, our picture wasn’t very good. Abby had her eyes closed and Lenny’s arm was kinda blocking her face and I had the camcorder in front of mine so we didn’t buy it. We stayed in the gift shop for a couple of minutes where Abby got a string of new Mickey stickers from a CM and a Splash Mountain shirt. Nothing really got my interest so I passed on buying anything. From there, Abby really surprised me by asking for BTMRR. In the past, she has said it made her dizzy so I was happy to skip the ride. I’m on a family vacation and prefer to ride things as a family but since she wanted it and Lenny was more than happy to go to the smoking section to wait (he doesn’t do coasters), that’s where we went. Just for the heck of it, I recorded this too. Once we got off, I showed some of it to Lenny and he couldn’t even watch it that way.
It was still hot so we stopped at an ice cream cart for some snacks and despite the offer to leave and go to a water park, Abby wanted to stay in the MK all day. Having said she enjoyed the water parks, I was surprised by that - I thought for sure that she would have wanted to go back, but nope, she never did. It makes me wonder if she didn’t like them as much as she said she did. So since the plan was to stay, we headed to where we normally end up every vacation - Fantasyland. First up was Peter Pan followed immediately by Philharmagic.
Peter and Wendy were in the coner betwees a stroller parking section and the FP entrance to Philharmagic
We saw Snow White again and then went to Pooh for the first time this trip.
With all the construction walls up, it makes me wonder if they’re incorporating more of Pooh’s Playful spot in front of the ride or what they’re doing. We’ll just have to wait and see though. From the Hundred Acre Wood, we went to the Enchanted Grove where we stopped for some raspberry lemonades and then headed to Space Mountain. We didn’t actually go in and ride it (Abby didn’t want to) but went to the gift shop/arcade instead. There were some pressed coin machines in here and Lenny couldn’t wait to get them. He’s been saving some silver dimes for years and he wanted to use those for pressing. It didn’t take long to find the machines (unlike some of the stores where you have to search and search) and once we got those, Abby wanted to go to CoP since it was up and running.
Even though we had stopped for some snacks earlier, someone was hungry. I know it wasn’t me but it might have been Abby as she asked to go to Cosmic Rays. As I waited in line, Lenny and Abby got a table. When it was my turn, I ordered the chicken and rib combo again, the adult nuggets and the kids turkey sandwich with fries. I wasn’t overly hungry so I took the kids meal this time but Abby ate the cookie. The chocolate cake I ordered for the adult meal went into Lenny’s basket as no one wanted it. From dinner, we headed back to.....can anyone guess?? Yes, we went back to Fantasyland for Peter Pan yet again. Since this was my dad’s all time favorite ride, I don’t mind riding it so much because I always think of him when I do. When we got off though Abby wanted to ride Dumbo. Our last ride of the night was the carousel and even though Abby had enjoyed seeing the MSEP, she didn’t want to stick around for it - she wanted to leave for the night. I was fine with that because I wanted to get to the DHS bright and early.
But once we got to the truck, the night wasn’t quite over with yet. For some reason, Abby decided to look for the bracelet/bookmark thing she had bought from the Poly the night we were there. Since it was dark out, none of us could find it but Abby being Abby started to cry about it. Telling her we would look in the morning didn’t console her. Since Abby had said she would use it as a bookmark (and you can’t have too many of those IMO) and they weren’t overly expensive we headed to the Poly instead of AS Sports to replace it. Once there, I ran into the gift shop and grabbed what I thought was the same thing. Nope, it was the wrong color at the end and even though she liked that and the second one I bought (which was pink instead of purple) Abby was still upset but I told her to stop her crying. We couldn’t do anything because it was too dark to see and that we would look again in the morning when it was daylight out. And when that happened, instead of having just one bookmark, she would have three as I knew we would find the first one. So Abby calmed down and we headed back to AS Sports. And that’s when I remembered that the new bookmark could have waited until the morning. We had a breakfast ADR at Ohana’s that I had forgotten all about. We wouldn’t be getting to the Studios as early as I wanted to but we were still going to have an early start none the less. Once we got to AS Sports, I remembered I had opted for resort delivery of our pictures from Epcot. They were to be delivered to the gift shop that day by 1 pm so Lenny drove that way and let me off near the door. I ran in and got them but waited until we got to the room to open it. When I did, I was surprised.
Instead of a castle picture and a Nemo picture, I had two copies of the castle picture.
The Nemo picture requires you to lie on a box flat on your tummy and for Abby that was really hard. We got a really good picture of her though so to say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly. So yet again on vacation, I called the front desk. I explained what happened and because of the hour (10:00 or so) the CM said chances were good that nobody would be at Imageworks to answer the phone as the park closed at 9. He gave me the direct phone number and then said he would transfer me anyway. Boy was I surprised when someone DID answer the phone. When the photos were originally taken, the CM pointed out the unique number associated with each photo so when the phone was answered on Saturday night, I explained to the CM what happened and what photo I was missing. She told me nothing could be done then as the store and park were closed but she would leave a note for Sunday morning. She took my name, my room number and my cell phone number and told me someone would get in touch with me and let me know what was going on. Still disappointed but knowing I had done all I could, I went to bed soon after that.
Another great day Darlene! Great pictures of CP, and how fun to meet up with Danielle and Tom! Sorry about getting the wrong picture! I hope it works out in the end!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
CBJ is one we have never done, I was going to make a point of trying it next time, what is your take on it? I love the magic pics with the frogs, we really enjoyed the movie (and coincidently DD's name is Evangeline ), we will have to scope out the spot and try to get some pics as well. Hope everything worked out with the Nemo pic.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Sounds like it was a great day at MK for all, glad that you were able to get so much done and that Abby enjoyed her rides on SplM and BTMRR. Hope that they are able to find the missing picture for you.
Nice update.. I love the pictures with the frog, what a neat effect. I hope that you get your Nemo picture. I beleive you are correct about Pooh's thoughtful place play area going in front of Many Adventures of WInnie the Pooh. I was there a week or two after you and there was a Tree sticking out in many areas of the boarded up area in front. Jungle cruise id a favorite of mine and its so much better when you get a Skipper who has good timing and is naturally funny.
__________________
Aug,1978- LBV;Apr,1987-Disneyland;March,1993-offsite;Jan,1997-offsite;Aug,1999- CBR;Sept,2000- ASMo;Aug,2001- ASSP;Aug,2002- ASMU/AKL;Jan & July 2003-POR;June,December 2004- PC;January 2005- ASMU; Aug 2005-PC;Dec 2005-AKL;Jan 2006-CBR ; July/Aug-Saratoga springs; Dec. PC;April 2007- Disneyland;Aug 2007-Disneyland & So Cal;Dec 2007-POFQ; Aug2008-POFQ & Nov 2008 PC,Y&B May 2009 ASmu, June 2009 PC ; Nov 2009 WL & POFQ;Jan 2010 BW & WL; June 2010 POFQ ; Aug 2010 Poly ;Oct 2010 WL; Jan 2011 PC
Wow Darlene another busy day! I had a hard time picking which picture I like best but I have to pick the one of Abby holding the frog. It is just so cute.
Sounds like you had a wonderful time at MK. It's my favorite park.
I have to ask if Toon Town is still open. We leave in 3 weeks and I am really hoping that Minnie & Mickey's houses are still there.
Again it was a great update. As I have said before you do such a great job with your TR's.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
DS was very intrigued by the "wrestling" and asked to stay and watch.
I would love to try Characters in Flight, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get Peter to ride! 
Susan
Linear Mode
