Reconstructing the Magic with Cam and Luke UPDATED: 12/23 Christmas Present and Our Final Day - Page 31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Your pictures of Storybook Circus looked great. Eating ice cream with the sound of the parade in the background sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon.
I fell behind again. Holidays are keeping me busy.
1900 Park Fare looks fantastic, we have done dinner there but never breakfast. We will be going in April though and I can't wait. My main reason for booking was my kids are getting older and wanting "different" characters, I thought Mad Hatter would be a hoot.
Your pictures of Storybook Circus are wonderful. I also cannot wait to explore all the new things.
I am really enjoying this. Your pictures of Storybook Circus have me excited for our next trip. Thank you for taking so many. The bright colors looked great with the gorgeous blue sky that day.
Your pictures of Storybook Circus looked great. Eating ice cream with the sound of the parade in the background sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon.
I thought it was truly Disney moment.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TuffyCO
I fell behind again. Holidays are keeping me busy.
1900 Park Fare looks fantastic, we have done dinner there but never breakfast. We will be going in April though and I can't wait. My main reason for booking was my kids are getting older and wanting "different" characters, I thought Mad Hatter would be a hoot.
Your pictures of Storybook Circus are wonderful. I also cannot wait to explore all the new things.
This was our first breakfast at 1900 Park Fare and we loved it. The Mad Hatter is hilarious.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MomOnTheGo
I am really enjoying this. Your pictures of Storybook Circus have me excited for our next trip. Thank you for taking so many. The bright colors looked great with the gorgeous blue sky that day.
The beautiful day and all the bright colors just screamed take my picture.
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Originally Posted by Grammy Grumpy
All caught up again and looking forward to the MNSSHP details!
While we were enjoying our ice cream and the parade music, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I realized that I had missed a call from Ann. But she had left a voicemail that she and Carly were in the park. I called back and left a voice message that we were eating ice cream outside The Plaza.
Not long afterwards, Ann touched my shoulder and told me she’d gotten my message as they were picking up dinner at Casey’s. We didn’t have enough chairs at our table, so they headed to the lower level where several tables were still available. When we were done eating, Luke and I went to the restrooms and changed into our costume t-shirts. Then we joined Carly and Ann as they finished their dinner.
These little ducklings and their Mom were wandering around Ann and Carly's table.
They still needed to get party tickets to Lindsey and Crystal who had been sleeping when they left.
By now it was 6:45, so we decided to get to the Emporium to be there for the merchandise roll out. I checked on the details with a CM who warned me that some guest go crazy as the merch is brought out. He mentioned that CMs have been stampeded in the past. Ann watched the time on her phone. We somehow missed the merchandise coming out, but we suddenly saw folks with the t-shirts. The three of us (Ann, Carly, and Cam) headed off into the mob with Ann spotting the shirts first.. I picked up a small orange tee, but accidentally knocked another off the rack. I fretted about picking it up, but I was also afraid I’d be trampled when I reached the floor. In fact, I was trying to make myself as small as possible as folks were pushing in on me from every direction. I had to keep checking to be sure I still had my small t-shirt as Ann had hers ripped from her hand. She finally had room to pick up the tee I had knocked off, and we moved away from the frenzy. We found other tees further down where Ann was able to get a purple one her size without getting it torn away this time. The Carly led us all down to the furthest register where we got the party pins. I chose the Chip and Dale for me, Jack for Luke, and Tink to remember Stefanie. We paid for our stuff and then went to wait for Lindsay and Crystal.
They had stopped to eat, so we decided to visit Minnie and Mickey with only about a 10 minute wait. Pirate Mickey and Princess Minnie loved my shirt – which was actually Mickey’s shirt.
Carly got the tickets to Crystal and Lindsay, but they still had a very long line to pass through before they were inside. So we blasted off to Tomorrowland. Crystal and Lindsay caught up with us just as we entered the queue for Buzz Lightyear, which was a walk on. Ann and Carly skunked all of us. Our next adventure was Space Mountain, which was nearly a walk on, and where we learned that Crystal can scream long, loud, and shrill. Honestly, her scream started right after the climb and finished when the car stopped. But she said she could ride it again! We were all laughing so hard afterwards. Then we entered our first two candy trails of the night – one outside Space Mountain and the other over by Carousel of Progress.
Since we were near TTA, we decided to take a leisurely tour of Tomorrowland.
At this point we had thought about Haunted Mansion, but it was only 20 minutes until Hallowishes, so we opted to stake a claim to some space in the Rose Garden. We found a great spot as we could sit rather comfortably on the ground through the fireworks. The only problem was that some guy stepped on Luke’s hand during the fireworks. No idea why he was moving around. Poor Luke!
Afterwards, I attempted to lead the way to the Haunted Mansion, but literally every path was clogged. Ann took the lead and we crossed over to Adventureland near Crystal Palace passing by Peter Pan and the Princesss Tiana and Prince Naveen. We came out from behind Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe into Frontierland, which was already roped off for the second parade. So Haunted Mansion was put on hold again. The spot we chose for the parade turned out to be excellent. Luke got off his feet as the foot with the previously broken toe was really achy. We took turns visiting another Trick-or-Treat spot only the path where the riverboat exit is. Then we were entertained by the Cadaver Dans as we waited.
As the parade began, we got an awesome view of the Headless Horseman.
Several of the CMs and characters on foot stopped right where we were standing and each time got a trio screams from Carly, Ann, and me. Unfortunately, we only got a couple of pieces of candy, but we love, love, loved it! Awesome!
I was very disappointed with my parade pictures this year as I just never could get the setting right on my camera. I even gave up and used my iPhone for some of them.
Finally, we had time for Haunted Mansion. There was a long line, but we played in the cemetery. The CMs on this ride during party are so hauntingly dressed and so into their spooky characters; a couple even got screams from us. Outside we got our pictures taken with the hearse. Crystal and Lindsay gave up and headed back to the resort at this point. Carly, Ann, Luke and I walked to the front, and after a bio break, we got in line for a Halloween picture at the entrance. We were too tired to do anything further, but it was 11:50.
Luke and I took the ferry back to the TTC, then a tram to the second stop, walked to the Simba lot, and finally Luke drove us home. We got ready for bed before we collapsed with the lights out by 12:40.
Today's purchases:
The first pins of the day -- Limited edition Halloween, Limited edition Monorail, and Limited edition Jack.
What a great time at the party! Aside from Luke's poor hand, that is. I love your Mickey shirt. The spooky photos of the castle are great! It's so frustrating trying to take good shots of the night-time parades. I think you got some very good ones-- especially the headless horseman! I love your party purchases, but not the scene you had to go through to get them. The shirt is wonderful-- how great that orange is such a good color for you! For the Christmas party this year I decided I didn't want to go through that and waited to do my shopping until I was on my way out of the park. I'm sure I missed some things, but was able to get a long-sleeved shirt, which was what I wanted. Only one pin was left and I didn't bother with it.
Sounds like a great party. We went to the first one back in September and never made it to the Haunted Mansion. Your pictures of the parade look good to me. I've never been able to get good pictures.
Liz
I never would have thought, that people would be so rude for a t-shirt. Hope Luke's hand mended quickly. The rest of the party seemed to be a great time for all. I love the Parade. The song stayed in my head for days.
What a great time at the party! Aside from Luke's poor hand, that is. I love your Mickey shirt. The spooky photos of the castle are great! It's so frustrating trying to take good shots of the night-time parades. I think you got some very good ones-- especially the headless horseman! I love your party purchases, but not the scene you had to go through to get them. The shirt is wonderful-- how great that orange is such a good color for you! For the Christmas party this year I decided I didn't want to go through that and waited to do my shopping until I was on my way out of the park. I'm sure I missed some things, but was able to get a long-sleeved shirt, which was what I wanted. Only one pin was left and I didn't bother with it.
We almost didn't get the party merchandise back in 2009, so I wanted to be sure that we had that taken care of right away.
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Originally Posted by dutchdisneyfamily
That's crazy about the shirts! They need a better system. What a great party otherwise! You got some great pics and the purchases were great!
We had the best time at the party!
Quote:
Originally Posted by clio
Sounds like a great party. We went to the first one back in September and never made it to the Haunted Mansion. Your pictures of the parade look good to me. I've never been able to get good pictures.
Liz
I was determined to get the picture with the hearse this party as we never did in 2009.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmymac
Great update - especially the pix. The scene at the Emporium sounds awful
It was very frantic for a time in there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
I never would have thought, that people would be so rude for a t-shirt. Hope Luke's hand mended quickly. The rest of the party seemed to be a great time for all. I love the Parade. The song stayed in my head for days.
That song stayed in my head for the longest time, too.
Oh.my.gosh. Cannot believe the stampede for shirts! C'mon people, is it worth hurting someone?!
Great view for the fireworks & parade, thought! But sorry about Luke's hand! Ouch!!
Great update! That was such a fun time and we got alot accomplished. That parade was great - and we really did have such an excellent spot! Really good times that night! And Crystal's ride on Space Mountain was very funny! We all couldn't stop laughing when we got done w/the ride!
I'm glad you guys had a good time at the party! ...Except for the stampede and for poor Luke's hand It was also a mess getting across the bridge over to Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion at the Christmas party. The shot of the Headless Horseman is pretty cool!
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Thank you for taking so many. The bright colors looked great with the gorgeous blue sky that day. 
It was also a mess getting across the bridge over to Liberty Square for Haunted Mansion at the Christmas party. The shot of the Headless Horseman is pretty cool!
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