Merry, Magical, and Bright: Late Fall Adventures of Cam & Luke Updated 3/12 - Page 31 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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.
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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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Nice to hear that you enjoyed your meal at Nine Dragons! We have often thought about putting that on our "to do" list, but it always gets bumped. maybe next time!
That had been us for years now, mainly my fault as I had read several not so exciting things about it here. But it was one of Luke's choice and he did very well with picking it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by patclairesmom
I love the castle print. Nice rest of the day at Epcot. I'm sad to say that my family has never seen any of the films in WS.
Oh my! We've seen them all and even though we don't make a point to see them each time, I enjoy them. One of my goals for our May trip is to see Impressions de France, which we've skipped now for too many trips. The music in that one touches my heart.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LouigiAnne
Just hopped on and boy what an adventure for you're 1st. Day!! Can't wait to finish reading your TR.
aboard! Our first day was not our easiest start to a WDW trip. But we made it through and still felt the magic.
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What a great picture of the castle, I find I am more drawn to Disney art for souvenirs now that we have been so many times. Canceling your fast pass was a good idea so you could rest your knee.
We have been the same way, buying more prints our past few trips. My knee appreciated the downtime back in our room.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Sounds like a wonderful day in Epcot. I really enjoyed seeing the new decorations in the Mexico Pavilion also. I didn't get to see Larry Dotson on this trip. I still have two prints that need framing so I'm not buying anymore until that is done! I love the frames that you put your prints in. Did you buy them local? Glad you enjoyed your dinner in China. In all our trips to WDW, we have never eaten there as I can never find anything on the menu that really grabs me. I read online somewhere that they were going to make a change to the movie in China.
We get the frames at Hobby Lobby since every other week they have the wall frames for 50% off. Usually, we pay $15 or less for the frames that way. I'm glad we made time to see the China movie if they are planning to change it. Most of the films probably need updating as I think most are well over 10 years old.
What a full day at Epcot! And I love your new print of the castle...great choice!
Thanks! It was a toss up between the castle we got and another that had the Christmas lights on the castle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
That was a really beautiful print you purchased. Love the pictures from Mexico. That's great that you only had to wait 10 minutes for the bus back to the resort. After all the touring you did that day I can only imagine how exhausted you must have been.
I was a little afraid that since we were getting to the bus stops sort of early that we'd have a long wait for a bus, but our timing was just right.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brandy_mel
Loved the latest update. And now I'm hungry for Chinese.
I'm hungry for Chinese now, too, so I'm making orange chicken and rice for dinner.
Mexico is just the prettiest pavilion!! Glad you loiked your meal at Nine Dragons. I know people complain about that place but we've always enjoyed it!! Beautiful evening photos of you two!!
Sounds like a great meal at Nine Dragons! I've never eaten there, but will have to give it a try some time. There are just so many restaurants in Epcot!
I was kind of hoping to see how your view was from the Illuminations fastpass area. I'm finding it harder and harder to find a good spot to watch Illuminations, as they keep building restaurants around the lagoon, or making different areas reserved. I may have to give an Illuminations fastpass a try next time.
Mexico is just the prettiest pavilion!! Glad you loiked your meal at Nine Dragons. I know people complain about that place but we've always enjoyed it!! Beautiful evening photos of you two!!
I'm glad to know we aren't the only ones who like Nine Dragons. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, our server, and our food. Very enjoyable experience for us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
Sounds like a great meal at Nine Dragons! I've never eaten there, but will have to give it a try some time. There are just so many restaurants in Epcot!
I was kind of hoping to see how your view was from the Illuminations fastpass area. I'm finding it harder and harder to find a good spot to watch Illuminations, as they keep building restaurants around the lagoon, or making different areas reserved. I may have to give an Illuminations fastpass a try next time.
I'll have a photo from the Illuminations FastPass reserved area in a later update on another Epcot day. A little spoiler, we think this may be the way we do Illuminations from now on.
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NEXT: A Smart Change of Plans Day 6 Friday Part 1 at Animal Kingdom
For no good reason, I awoke at 5:00 and struggled to go back to sleep. When the alarm went off, I asked Luke if we could skip out of going to Animal Kingdom this morning, allowing me to sleep a little longer as well as giving us more time to do laundry. I eventually dragged myself out of bed at 9:00 and slowly got ready. Once we were both ready around 10:30 (we were slow), we went to the laundry at the Congress Park pool. We had to wait about five minutes for the washers to empty before we could start a load. Not bad! While our clothes were washing, we went up to The Artist’s Palette for breakfast. Luke took my order and entered the line. He ordered mine first, but made a wee mistake. I had asked for the adult waffle platter, but he got me the kid’s version. Then he attempted to order a Breakfast Wrap for himself, but those were all gone. So he asked for a biscuit and gravy. Then the cook let him know they were out of biscuits. Instead for the same price they gave him the Bounty Breakfast Platter which included scrambled eggs, Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes and the clincher a biscuit. Seemed odd to us, but what do we know. My meal came with two waffles, bacon, and grapes, and in the end was just the amount of food I needed this morning.
I finished up first and headed back to the laundry as by my watch, I should arrive just as the washers finished up. I had just gotten all our clothes moved to the dryers when Luke joined me. I never leave our clothes in the full 60 minutes that even the low heat cycle allows. Disney dryers are much hotter than mine at home. While we waited, I started the day’s notes and we did a little search for the meaning of Kaltxi, which is now on the light signs for Animal Kingdom buses. It didn’t take long to learn that it means “welcome” in the Nav’i language of Pandora. Thirty minutes later, Luke and I removed the clothes from the dryers, folded them, and then got them back into the laundry bag to transport to our room.
During our morning, I had been texting back and for with Lisa (lfredsbo) from the boards because we were both supposed to be at Animal Kingdom this day. I apologized that I had been too worn out to get there before lunchtime. I must have been tired because I was willing to miss out on a Kilimanjaro Safaris FastPass. Before I’d gone back to sleep I had canceled that one along with one for Dinosaur.
Back in our room, I unloaded the laundry bag and put our clothes away. Then were off for the remainder of the day at Animal Kingdom. Since we arrived at AK right after lunchtime, bag check was a breeze as hardly anyone else was entering the park midday. As we entered the Oasis, I immediately noticed DeVine. She was actually on her way back stage, so I only got a couple of photos. She is truly fascinating.
We strolled through the Oasis, checking on any animal activity and wondering how this gloomy day might affect them. The day was overcast and cool as you’ll see in photos of us that I’m wearing jeans and a lightweight WDW hoodie. The skies never cleared up, at least they didn’t at AK. First we saw the Reeve’s Muntjac deer.
Then we walked across the path to the Barbirusa, pig-deer. He was notquite as active as the Muntjac.
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The macaws were out again today, though their colors were more muted than our previous day when the day had been sunny and bright.
Right after the macaws, Luke discovered a creature that we’d missed before, the Rhinoceros Iguana. This little fellow reminded Luke of Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas with its patchwork skin.
Next up were another pair of macaws.
This pair was followed by a swan and several other fowl.
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We even found a sweet turtle on a log.
We caught the backside of the wallaby, but he was so far back in his habitat that my camera kept focusing on the foliage rather than him.
That was odd with breakfast with the miscues and items they were out of! But I think it worked out for you. Nice timing in seeing DiVine! Never know when she'll be around. Unfortunately, I've never had the experience of encountering her in my many times in the AK! Hopefully, one day. Nice animal encounters on the Jungle Trek. Great day so far!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Glad you were able to sleep in and get a little bit of extra rest. As much as I love Disney, we purposely pad our vacation with rest days/mornings like that. It’s a great place, but an exhausting one too. (Well, for us it is anyway.)
Sometimes you just need a slow morning on a Disney trip as I think we all try to pack so much into our days that it catches up with us. Sounds like your breakfast turned out to be a good deal. I haven't seen DeVine in quite a while but hope to catch her on one of my upcoming trips! Sounds like the weather was a little unpredictable from day to day. We found that on our October trip this past year.
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maybe next time!
aboard! Our first day was not our easiest start to a WDW trip. But we made it through and still felt the magic. 
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I love the frames that you put your prints in. Did you buy them local? Glad you enjoyed your dinner in China. In all our trips to WDW, we have never eaten there as I can never find anything on the menu that really grabs me. I read online somewhere that they were going to make a change to the movie in China.
Glad you loiked your meal at Nine Dragons. I know people complain about that place but we've always enjoyed it!! Beautiful evening photos of you two!!
While our clothes were washing, we went up to The Artist’s Palette for breakfast. Luke took my order and entered the line. He ordered mine first, but made a wee mistake. I had asked for the adult waffle platter, but he got me the kid’s version. Then he attempted to order a Breakfast Wrap for himself, but those were all gone. So he asked for a biscuit and gravy. Then the cook let him know they were out of biscuits. 
Instead for the same price they gave him the Bounty Breakfast Platter which included scrambled eggs, Mickey waffles, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes and the clincher a biscuit. Seemed odd to us, but what do we know. 
My meal came with two waffles, bacon, and grapes, and in the end was just the amount of food I needed this morning. 
Thirty minutes later, Luke and I removed the clothes from the dryers, folded them, and then got them back into the laundry bag to transport to our room. 
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