The "Aren't you glad I booked the room?" TR - Page 25 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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What a great day at MK! Sorry it took so long to get there, and that you had to deal with rain! Love the pictures of Abby with the characters. She looks so happy!!
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That was another day filled with so many attractions and meals! I honestly don't know how you do all you do in a day! So glad Abby had a nice time talking with her new friends while waiting on the parade to start. I always enjoy having conversations with other guests while waiting for rides or shows to start. We spread the magic with kids sometimes by giving them pins and they're always so surprised and happy. Hope you were able to get the Be Our Guest reservation for Lenny's birthday breakfast!
What a great day at MK! Sorry it took so long to get there, and that you had to deal with rain! Love the pictures of Abby with the characters. She looks so happy!!
Thanks Marnie, it was. We didn't expect it to take that long either but it's something we had no control over. If we did the Poly would have scooter accessible boats to get us there so we could have avoided the busses. Rain and Disney in the summer go hand in hand so it is what it is. Abby is always so happy when she's in Disney and she's almost always smiling. There are instances where she's not (the great MB meltdown ) but those are getting rare now.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
So glad Abby decided to stay and have more fun. Abby with Olaf in summer is so precious. What a wonderful Pirates Cruise, too.
Me too - because then we wouldn't have gotten things like her singing to Olaf. I've shared that video with quite a few people (not just people here) I love it so much. The Pirate cruise is just so much fun and to be able to watch the fireworks without the crowd for us really is priceless (another instance of where Abby would not be smiling on vacation).
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Originally Posted by B.M.
Great day at the Magic Kingdom!
Thanks, it really was.
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Originally Posted by lovewdw2
Love seeing pictures of Abby holding hands with a character and this time with Mickey!!!
And yet again I am tired ..your day at Magic Kingdom! LOL
(I will ask you questions about the Pirate Cruise when I have them...not right now..LOL)
I guess you didn't have a 3 inch band aid for your cut!
Now I am in suspense to see if you were able to get an ADR for BOG for breakfast.....
Me too Kate. It's one thing when it's at a M&G but when it's a parade around a restaurant when the character can hold anyone's hand (especially smaller kids) but it's Abby's. I love it. All our days are tiring - and get your rest because it doesn't stop for the rest of the TR (but you knew that already, didn't you ) When you have questions, ask away. I'll help you out. I want to say I didn't have any bandaids at all but we probably did have some but no, none big enough and I wasn't about to go to first aid either. I actually got myself twice with the stupid pin but the other spot was just a scratch. They're both healed but the "big" one I think is going to leave a scar. The other one is finally fading. I'm glad I haven't had a chance to update you - it's left you really in suspense. Maybe today's installment won't answer it either.
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Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
Wow! Except for getting there it sounds like a great day at MK!! Once again, your pictures are wonderful as well!!
Thanks Tara. Once you get past the bus incident, it was a great day.
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What a fun and relaxing day Saturday was! I've had similar accidents accidentally cutting myself, so I was cringing when I read how you cut your arm. Abby's face in her meet and greet photos is priceless. I enjoy seeing her so happy! Then she got so much attention from the characters in the parade. Another great day! I think I'm finally caught up now that we're back from WDW ourselves.
That was another day filled with so many attractions and meals! I honestly don't know how you do all you do in a day! So glad Abby had a nice time talking with her new friends while waiting on the parade to start. I always enjoy having conversations with other guests while waiting for rides or shows to start. We spread the magic with kids sometimes by giving them pins and they're always so surprised and happy. Hope you were able to get the Be Our Guest reservation for Lenny's birthday breakfast!
It was - and to be honest, other than being in the park for so many hours, I'm not quite sure how we do it all either. Maybe because we like pretty much everything and will hit the attractions that usually don't have lone waits (CoP, Tiki room, etc) contributes to it as well. I'm glad she talked to them too - she's not a social butterfly normally and usually just sits there pouring over the maps and times guides. I'm not sure why she didn't do it today unless she was afraid everything was going to get wet (you know those maps and times guides aren't easy to replace ) We try to spread the magic but there have been times we've found it hard - either the kids don't want anything or the parents won't let them accept it. I suppose I can't blame them but it's still sad when it happens.
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Glad the parade did in fact happen for you guys and sounds like another great day!
It was another great day and we were happy to see the parade too. For years we didn't see them. I don't know if I'm to blame ("let's do rides while everyone else is watching the parade) or if Abby just didn't care so much for the other parades and was happy to skip them. I'm not sure what it is about this one that she loves so much and has to see it every single time. I'm good with it though - I'm in Disney to have fun with Abby and that's part of how she has fun.
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Originally Posted by MMMD
great MK day!
Thanks, it was.
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a pain getting to MK. But other than that, it was a great day.
It was a real pain but once we got there, it was forgotten and we had fun.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
What a fun and relaxing day Saturday was! I've had similar accidents accidentally cutting myself, so I was cringing when I read how you cut your arm. Abby's face in her meet and greet photos is priceless. I enjoy seeing her so happy! Then she got so much attention from the characters in the parade. Another great day! I think I'm finally caught up now that we're back from WDW ourselves.
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It was a fun and relaxing Saturday. We'll now have more down days on future trips because I did enjoy it far more than I thought I was going to. Yeah, I think I'm going to end up with a scar from that one. It's healed but the line hasn't disappeared yet. I enjoy seeing her so happy to - that's why I snap so many photos and then share them, She's mostly happy here at home too but she doesn't smile here like she does at Disney World. Yes, you're all caught up but now I'm going to post more but no worries if you fall behind. I still have a few days to prep before I can do more than just one day and the TR will always be here when you're ready.
Monday morning I got to sleep in and didn't get up until 6:15 . Lenny I woke up at 6:30 but he didn't get out of bed until 6:40. Because I was ready for the day and we didn't have an ADR anywhere, I ran to the food court hoping to beat the rush. I beat it alright because the food court opens at 6:30 but doesn't start serving the hot options until 7 I went back to the room to wake up Abby and to do a few things and then at 7, I went back to the food court. This time when I was there, I noticed they were selling the new cups without handles and they had four colors. Red, blue, green and purple. I'm not really sure what all the counters served but I only went to one for all three of us. Lenny wanted the steak and eggs so that's what I got him. I was getting tired of eggs but I got the egg and cheese croissant. I had no idea what Abby might like so I got her the grilled ham and cheese sandwich. I asked for everything in to go containers and because I already had one of the sturdy brown paper bags with handles from a previous food court visit, I brought that along to put the food into. I didn't bring our mugs with me that morning but that was okay. Lenny already had his coffee (like last year, he got it the night before and had "iced" coffee to wake up with) and we had cans of soda in the room for me to drink. Since we had the free quick service meal deal, I was able to get drinks with the meals so I got Lenny two containers of milk and Abby a chocolate milk. Once I had everything loaded into the bag, I headed back to the room. Everything was good and it didn't take long for it to disappear.
We were out of the room at 8 and after our usual routine of getting the scooter together and putting on sun screen, we were through security and at the Epcot turnstiles at 8:38.
Today they opened at 8:45 but for whatever reason, it was very slow going getting into the park and it took us 15 minutes before we were even through them. We went and got a wheelchair first and then headed to the new Character Spot as Abby wanted to see Joy and Sadness again. At 9:08 we got into their line and were told it was only a 20 minute wait. After waiting almost an hour our previous day here, I knew Abby would have no trouble today. We had our turn and Abby enjoyed seeing them, especially since today she was wearing the Inside Out shirt I had made for her. Both Joy and Sadness liked the shirt too and danced with Abby and pointed to themselves on her shirt. Abby got hugs too but Sadness didn't want to let her go.
Once we were done though, we left and I'm sure you can guess what we did next. Anyone, anyone? We went to see Baymax. It must have something to do with that non-threatening huggable design but she absolutely loved hugging him and giving him a fist bump and each time we saw him, it seemed harder to get her to leave him but at 9:24, leave him we did.
Abby did some pin trading next and then it was on to our first fastpass of the day at the "old" Character Spot with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy. It didn't take us too long to see them today. With Lenny still hurting from his fall at the pool, he didn't really want to keep getting off the scooter so we let Abby have her time with the characters and didn't join her this year.