Driving Karen nuts in 10 rides or less **Updated 2/18** COMPLETE - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Funny... this is all good!!! Love your wandering about in the hallways of the BC, that's classic. Next time you're late in the parks, you'll have to sneak in your flask to make your own FAB!!! What would security think of that??
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
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.
Great update! Glad to see you found the cat! We went looking for it twice, when we were there, but got distracted each time and never went back to find it. Sounds like another wonderful evening. Looking forward to more
It was bittersweet waking up with the princesses that morning – we were about to lose one of our group later that day. *sigh*
We quickly got ready and stopped into the concierge lounge for a nice breakfast – man, I was gonna miss this place! We went back to the room and Jill dragged her bags down to the lobby so she could arrange for their transfer for her flight home. **double sigh**
Then we staked out a spot in the lobby to wait for Sharon’s parents, Mabel and Ed, to arrive. Sharon wandered off for a moment and Jill and I argued about which one of us would become the Stevensons’ favorite adopted daughter. That’s when I noticed that Jill had wisely brought along a sugar offering for Mabel and I knew it was pointless to compete with a professional.
We both recognized Sharon’s folks right away and didn’t hesitate to run up and greet them warmly. Man, oh man – they are a joy and a delight and it’s easy to see why Sharon is such a fabulous lady with Mabel and Ed for parents.
Unfortunately, Art the Greeter wasn’t on duty, so Mabel didn’t get to see her crush, but Teena the Greeter was there and she was lovely to talk to. Ed really took a shine to her and the two of them happily nattered on for a loooong time while we all admired the decorations (and Mabel quietly ate a great percentage of her sugary treats.) After a bit, Sharon prompted us to head out for Epcot and we walked at a leisurely pace over to the International Gateway. What cracked me up was that Mabel made a comment that she was surprised that we were walking so slowly – she thought we were commandos! Jill and I instantly picked up speed (as if Karen was there giving us the quick march) and the long-legged Stevenson’s were able to really stretch their limbs and get moving! When we got to the I Gateway, they stopped to get their APs sorted out and Sharon sent Jill and me ahead to meet up with various PassPorters who were waiting for us at Soarin’.
We saw the gang and the chatting started up again. Jill and I got FPs, but found that we all had times that ranged all over the place. When the Stevensons arrived, Sharon introduced her folks all around and more chatting ensued. Eventually, it was decided that some people would use their Soarin’ FPs now while others of us headed over to Mission:Space. We’d meet up again in a bit.
Sharon’s mom was told to meet at a “designated bench” so Ed and the CLQ-1 could head into the Orange Team on M:S – something Jill was a little freaked out to do, but was doing… just to “show” her hubby!
She was definitely scared before the ride, very quiet during the ride, and a little woozy after the ride – but oh, so proud to have done it. (Even if she needed a little soda to settle her stomach afterwards!)
It was at this point that Sharon realized her mother wasn’t on the Designated Bench and she had to go chasing off after her. (Apparently, she'd gone to Test Track to pick out her next car! )
I took that time to watch the Jamitors a bit:
Then it was back to The Land for our lunch and our goodbyes to Bob and Larry. We all selected various lunches from Sunshine Seasons and pulled a series of tables together to enjoy our last moments as a big gang. At one point, Lesley showed Sharon that she’d accumulated a whole bunch of FPs and PSha was very proud of her padawan:
After a good bit of talking and noshing and laughing, Larry started to sadly sing “now it’s time to say goodbye….” And I had to join in “…to all our fam-i-ly…”
Without missing a beat, the rest of the group joined in.
“M-I-C! See ya real soon”
“K-E-Y! Why, because we like you.”
We topped it off with the most tender, most mournful “M-O-U-S-EEEEEEEE!”
I seriously had to wipe away quite a few tears. So… so touching!
We hugged Larry and Bob goodbye and waved them off, lips a-quivering. *sigh*
Then we turned to decide what next to do. I think I have the timing of this a little screwy, but my fuzzy memory is telling me that we did Living with the Land first…
…and then Soarin’ before heading out to catch Spaceship Earth.
For whatever reason, the “capture” of my face for the ride photo gave me a “horn-like projection” coming out of the side of my head…
But, when I emailed the image home to my account, it seems to have been rectified.
What I liked is that they made it very easy to send an email of the pic of the person in the car with you as well… so here’s Jill’s.
<-- um... Sharon and Heather... look who's 2-timing with your boy/girl friend.
We (at this point, it was the 3 Stevensons, Jill, Lesley, me and Heather) moved along to World Showcase. We simply HAD to stop and get a FAB at the margarita stand – staunchly avoiding the sour apple that Heather despised so adamantly …
Except Sharon, who betrayed us all and got herself something from China instead.
After a bit, I got a text message from Larry that he and Bob were on their DME bus and headed out, hopefully for an uneventful flight home (that *did not* take them to Dallas or Chicago on the way back to Alabama!)
Just look at these sad, sad faces!
As we reached the International Gateway, I realized that I just wasn’t gonna finish the margarita I’d been nursing that whole time. Heather immediately offered to relieve me of it and then we had to say goodbye to our new buddy. *sigh* (Man, this was one sad day and the worst was yet to come!)
We got back to the Beach Club and had to begin the horrendous process of saying goodbye to Jill. I got a little weepy (even though I knew that Karen had already been brainstorming for our joint Spring Break trip to my family’s beach house – which is now less than two months away!) When I saw Jill begin to sob in Sharon’s arms, I totally lost it. Sharon and Lesley and I watched in abject sadness as Jill walked away to her DME bus.
I think the worst thing was that, once she’d given us one last wave and climbed aboard, her bus sat there for another 5 minutes as my heart tried determinedly to sit in a puddle in my shoes, sulking.
Eventually, her bus pulled away and we had to scrape ourselves off of the sidewalk and gather ourselves for the ride to SSR. I got this sad little pic a few minutes later.
Ye-ouch! It hurts to see her so sad!
Mabel pulled their tiny little rental “clown” car over and we all stuffed ourselves inside (a la Dawn and Crystal on Mullholland Madness at Disneyland – does anyone have some Parkay?!) Seriously, I think Sharon must’ve thought I was makin’ a move on her – I was *that* far into her lap just trying to close the door. (I’m sure our exhaust system was dragging on the pavement.)
When we got to SSR, Lesley directed Mabel over to her villa and I seriously heard the car sigh in relief when I released the door and went exploding out of the car.
While Sharon got settled in at the timeshare, Lesley and I sat out on her balcony and had a nice, long chat about a wide ranging series of topics. It was lovely – especially as we had a view of a pretty fountain and lots of waterfowl playing in the water.
Eventually, we gathered ourselves together and headed over to the valet area to call for a cab. A great CM there offered to take us in a DVC van and kept up a nice conversation with me while Lesley checked in with family about her uncle’s health.
We pulled up to the AKL and I was happy that our driver was willing to take a tip! He was great and saved us so much money by taking us – a cab would’ve cost us at least $15.
We headed into the Lodge and I snagged a pic of the AKL tree – it has a red cast to it this year (last year it was white and gold.)
We met up with Mabel and Ed at Boma and were seated at a neat table on one of the long, curved benches. Yum, yum, yum… the smells were deeeelicious and the food lived up to the smells. This is seriously one of my favorite meals on property.
Now… wanna know how sneaky Miss Sharon is? She’d warned me weeks before that Ed was the kind of dad who would insist on paying for the meal and I’d best not think about trying to pay for myself or anyone else. Little did I know that ShaSha was being all sneaky-like and had slipped her credit card to the waiter without me knowing. In fact, I was sort of looking for the check to arrive so I could at least put up a token fight with Ed… only to look over and see Sharon signing something. THE CHECK!!
Man, that girl’s good! (Thanks, Sharon -- that was lovely of you! But sneaky.)
We crammed back into the clown car and got back to SSR, all nice and full and warm. Lesley and I chatted for another long bit and then settled in to sleep.
Up next: A little time in Downtown Disney…
Last edited by Caldercup; 02-04-2009 at 04:17 PM..
Sadness! The memories are lovely, but the goodbyes are so, so sad. And I've figured it out. Judging by the SE videos, swinging will be very big in the future.
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
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.
Oh my heart is breaking along with you guys to see so many go home. Sounds like you had wonderful last moments and a great meal with PSha being sneaky! Looking forward to more!
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Dora
Sounds like another wonderful evening. Looking forward to more
Jill and I got FPs, but found that we all had times that ranged all over the place. When the Stevensons arrived, Sharon introduced her folks all around and more chatting ensued. Eventually, it was decided that some people would use their Soarin’ FPs now while others of us headed over to Mission:Space. We’d meet up again in a bit.
<-- um... Sharon and Heather... look who's 2-timing with your boy/girl friend.
and then we had to say goodbye to our new buddy. *sigh* (Man, this was one sad day and the worst was yet to come!)
Larry
And I've figured it out. Judging by the SE videos, swinging will be very big in the future. 
PassPorter Guide Author
Linear Mode
