Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising LIVE TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 3/8 - Page 6 - 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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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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All those things in Florida to visit are just too much for us in one trip. That's why DH and I are starting to seriously consider retiring in Florida in a couple of years. The thought of Florida Resident passes and last minute cruise deals sounds really appealing.
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All those things in Florida to visit are just too much for us in one trip. That's why DH and I are starting to seriously consider retiring in Florida in a couple of years. The thought of Florida Resident passes and last minute cruise deals sounds really appealing.
If we ever won the lottery (after 20 years of the thing running over here, there's no sign yet sadly ), I've always said I'd buy a place in Celebration and we'd spend a few months a year there, as there is so much to see and do in the Orlando area.
The cruise is a great addition! You really fit quite a bit into your vacation time!
That's always my plan! I do jokingly say to Mark that if we don't come back tired, we haven't tried hard enough. He doesn't necessarily agree with me...
Great job fitting in a cruise and rearranging all of your plans! Will you ride the new Gringotts ride at Universal, or is that too much of a coaster for you?
Great job fitting in a cruise and rearranging all of your plans! Will you ride the new Gringotts ride at Universal, or is that too much of a coaster for you?
I've looked at the point of view video online and I think it's probably too much for us. I don't want to take the risk, do it and then not feel well afterwards. It's just not worth it.
Pre-trip report – part four: battling the Disney website to get our first ADRs
Saturday 16 August
In just over a week’s time, we can finally start making ADRs, and just for fun, I had a laugh and went on the WDW website today to see if there was any availability for Be Our Guest. Well, guess what? There actually was! Ok, that’s promising then…
I sent Bob and Larry a message with details of where we’re planning on dining while they’re in WDW to see whether they wanted to join us, as we can book that section of our vacation in a couple of weeks’ time, and if they want to eat with us, obviously I’ll need to know before then. I also sent Sharon (PrincessSharon) a message, as I know she’s thinking about her spring 2015 dates and hasn’t firmly decided when she’s going down. I wanted to let her know that we’d now be on the Dream for some of the time we originally said we’d be in Disney. The last thing I wanted was for her to book her vacation for while we’re cruising.
I will also say here that I’ve been stalking the Cirque du Soleil website for the last week or so. The dates are out for tickets until 27 February… and guess what night I want us to go? You’ve got it, 28 February…. I keep hoping the shows for that night will open up, but so far, absolutely no joy.
The park hours have also started to come out for our vacation, and I definitely mean “started”. When I first checked, there were no hours at all for the Studios on the first Saturday we’re there, then five minutes later, they’d appeared. Details for the parades/night-time shows are out for the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, while the Studios has details for two of the three days out so far, with nothing available for Animal Kingdom. All very bizarre…
Perhaps the most bizarre though is that nothing is listed whatsoever as far as fireworks go at the Magic Kingdom. It might just be a glitch, but I can’t help but wonder about that, as I’ve never encountered that before. Surely they’re not contemplating changes to Wishes, or perhaps it’s something to do with the work they’re doing around the castle hub? If Wishes isn’t on, it won’t be the end of the world… IllumiNations… now that would be another matter!
Monday 18 August
Look what turned up in the mail today – now how cool is this?
I just love this – and shipped all the way over here too, very impressive!
Friday 22 August
I heard back from Bob and Larry this morning, and now have a list of meals that I’m going to book for the four of us. One of those is Be Our Guest, so wish me luck with that one! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to deliver on that one. I’ve got another week or so before I need to worry about that, but I can actually start making our ADRs from Sunday!
Sunday 24 August
I have been a bit lax about getting the details of park hours over the last week or so, although in fairness, a lot of that is down to the fact that we’ll be on the Dream for four of those nights! Anyway, as it’s our first ADR booking day, I figured I might as well catch up on the hours, and I found a couple of very interesting things.
Up until this point, there have been no scheduled showings of Wishes, and I must admit I was wondering if Disney were planning on introducing a new fireworks display. That was the only thing that made sense to me. Well, from 1 March, magically Wishes is back on the daily itinerary. It’s just not showing up on any of the February dates. Curiouser and curiouser… Thankfully, I was planning on being at the Magic Kingdom on the night of 1 March, so at least we’ll get to see it, if it ends up not showing on any February dates, but I still find that all very weird…
The rest of the park hours are pretty much what you’d expect, although I see Animal Kingdom is programmed to be open one night until 7:00pm, while every other day, it’s only open until 5:00pm. I don’t see longer hours at the other park for that day, so I can’t help but wonder a) if it’s a mistake or b) if they’re planning something special for those extra hours. I guess only time will tell…
Well, finally when the time rolled around, I was able to get some ADRs booked, although my goodness, it wasn’t easy. It doesn’t help that I have a different login for my general Disney account as compared to my Disney Vacation Club account, and apparently the only way I can link them back up is by using the one-time activation code I got for the DVC account. Well, considering I had that when they launched the website I don’t know how many years ago, oddly enough I got rid of it, assuming I wouldn’t need it again, so that’s not an option.
I finally managed to snag the Turf Club for our first night, although when it was listed by name, it didn’t show up. It surely couldn’t already be full at 180 days out, could it? not when there was availability showing for that night for Be Our Guest. When I searched by location, finally I found it and was able to snag dinner there.
Now I’ll say here that I am not a fan of the credit card to guarantee every reservation. I understand it, don’t get me wrong, but on this occasion, it’s not ideal. It’s our first night, and we’re flying in, so if we are delayed, we may run into problems with dinner. We land at 4:15pm, and I’ve booked dinner for 6:55pm, so hopefully that will be enough time to clear customs, and immigration, get our luggage, and get our rental car and get to Saratoga Springs. Fingers crossed!
At this point, I added in all our reservations, figuring that then I could make bookings for the next day, and sure enough, the date was showing up. I could see the Crystal Palace for lunch and the California Grill for dinner, but every time I clicked on the time I wanted, the site kept telling me that there was a problem searching for reservations. Grrr…. On a couple of occasions, it just crashed. Goodness, when will Disney sort their websites out?!
Monday 25 August
Just to update, the Disney World website continually gave me the same error message yesterday, so although I could see times available for the Crystal Palace and the California Grill, I couldn’t book anything. I went on it this morning, and it was down for maintenance. However, it has recognised that I can book until 23 February, thanks to our Bay Lake Tower booking, so fingers crossed that later this morning, I can actually do that…
Update Yay – I’ve finally managed to book some more ADRs! I’ve come to the conclusion that the problem with the Disney World website is that you can’t seem to book ADRs on the day you check out, which is a bit bizarre, given that if you have a Disney Dining Plan, you can use it up until midnight on the day you check out. I found exactly the same problem today. I’m working off our Bay Lake Tower booking, which is from 21 – 23 February, and I could book 21 February fine, which I should be able to do, and then I could also book 22 February fine, which fits in with our booking. However, when it came to 23 February, forget it… so that’s the only conclusion I can come to right now. Very weird.
Anyway, I now have lunch booked at the Crystal Palace (donkey time! ) with Michael (rhinohunter) and his wife Judy. I literally only read yesterday how one of their trips would just overlap with ours, and mentioned when we’d be arriving, and he got straight in touch to see if we could meet up. Well, having already snagged lunch at the Crystal Palace, I managed to get a table for the four of us, so that’s all set.
Dinner is also booked at the California Grill and Citrico’s. I think it’s worth saying something here about Citrico’s. Our one and only meal there was back in 2005 or 2006, I don’t even remember which now. We ate there with friends from Oregon, and it was just a horrible meal. The wait staff were rude, our friends got served up with salmon that wasn’t pink, and they basically said to them it wasn’t salmon, as it wasn’t the right colour, and they wouldn’t have it. It was essentially a white fish, and I’ve never seen white salmon in my life. Anyway, we’re only going back there, because of all the various good reviews I’ve read of the place since from PassPorters, so fingers crossed we have a better meal there…
I’ve also emailed the hot air balloon flight company that we tried to do a balloon flight with me back in October 2013. They told us at the time that we could hold on to the voucher, as we weren’t able to get off the ground, and use it at a later date, so I’ve finally got around to getting in touch with them, as I’d like to try again on this trip. After all, we’ve paid for it. It would be nice to try and get our money’s worth…
Wednesday 27 August
Well, today I was finally able to get a reservation for breakfast at ‘Ohana on the day we check out from Bay Lake Tower, as it’s now 180 days until that date. I still don’t know what the issue is with the system, but so long as I don’t have anything crucial on check-out day, like Be Our Guest, I guess I’ll manage.
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Yay for DCL mail! It's always something with the Disney website, isn't it? So frustrating. You'd think, especially as a trip to WDW now assumes a fully-connected lifestyle, they'd get things into working order. I have the same weird issue with a different login for DVC and disney.com. Who knew I'd need the original "one-time" code from when the DVC website first opened so many years later? Things are looking promising for all kinds of PP meets!
I had the same issue with my WDW account and my DVC account. I put a comment in about it under contacts on the DVC website and they sorted it our for me and linked them up so they now all have the same username.
However, it doesn't do anything having them linked I still have to input every reservation manually nothing is automatic.
I hope Citrico's is better for you this time 'round. The whole thing sounds perfect with park time and cruise time spread out. I did that on my honeymoon and it was lovely.
"Quote:
Did I read that the Sunrise Safari has been canceled?
Yes, you did - great shame. "
------ ooops, sorry about that. Hope I didn't ruin the story. I honestly thought Cheryl knows something I don't, and was waiting for you to correct me. I'd forgotten I wasn't reading in "real time", but rather your plans as they were back in the day.
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The thought of Florida Resident passes and last minute cruise deals sounds really appealing.
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), I've always said I'd buy a place in Celebration and we'd spend a few months a year there, as there is so much to see and do in the Orlando area.
I do jokingly say to Mark that if we don't come back tired, we haven't tried hard enough. He doesn't necessarily agree with me... 
Ok, that’s promising then… 
Details for the parades/night-time shows are out for the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, while the Studios has details for two of the three days out so far, with nothing available for Animal Kingdom. All very bizarre… 
I’m not sure if I’ll be able to deliver on that one. I’ve got another week or so before I need to worry about that, but I can actually start making our ADRs from Sunday! 
Well, from 1 March, magically Wishes is back on the daily itinerary. It’s just not showing up on any of the February dates. Curiouser and curiouser… Thankfully, I was planning on being at the Magic Kingdom on the night of 1 March, so at least we’ll get to see it, if it ends up not showing on any February dates, but I still find that all very weird… 
It doesn’t help that I have a different login for my general Disney account as compared to my Disney Vacation Club account, and apparently the only way I can link them back up is by using the one-time activation code I got for the DVC account. Well, considering I had that when they launched the website I don’t know how many years ago, oddly enough I got rid of it, assuming I wouldn’t need it again, so that’s not an option. 
Goodness, when will Disney sort their websites out?! 
) with Michael (rhinohunter) and his wife Judy. I literally only read yesterday how one of their trips would just overlap with ours, and mentioned when we’d be arriving, and he got straight in touch to see if we could meet up. Well, having already snagged lunch at the Crystal Palace, I managed to get a table for the four of us, so that’s all set. 
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