Four Days Off . . . TR Completed 12/2 - Page 7 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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.
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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 caught up now! Sounds like a fantastic time so far. As much as I adore going to Disney with my fam, it would be heavenly to just do what I wanted for a change!
__________________
Stacey
Why do these kids look so pathetic?
Find out in: A New Grade, A New House, and A Surprise!Final Thoughts 01/30
After lunch I went browsing in Japan, but decided I didn't really need a Kimono in the winter in New Orleans, so I put that off for a later visit. I headed back down to Future World where I checked the Visa photo line--too long for me!
I rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends because there wasn't any wait. I then used the FP I had picked up during the tour to ride Soarin. I jumped on Living with the Land really quickly before it was time for my tour of the Greenhouse. I decided it would be nice to take a second go at Behind the Seeds since there was room and our guide the first time had been a bit of a ditz and seemed to only want to get the whole thing over and done with.
Turns out I was the only person on the tour! But first a little story, while I was waiting for a tour guide a man walked up to the desk that the Greenhouse tour shares with the Soarin command center. He is extremely irate because there are no fast passes left for Soarin. Apparently his brother works at Epcot and he thought that was enough to talk someone into giving him a Fast Pass. Not. So. Much. He went from irate to belligerent pretty quickly, demanding to see a manager or someone who actually worked on the ride. Only the girls who worked the greenhouse side were there. Eventually a young man by the name of Ryan came up and asked the man what the problem was. The now fuming guest proceeded to be incredibly rude and ignorant. Ryan held his ground. He was sorry, he explained the way the FP system works and why they were gone for the day. He explained that the "gentleman" was more than welcome to ride using the standby line, but there were no FP remaining for the day. He had to go through the whole thing several time, but no amount of bullying was going to get Ryan to give in. The man eventually stormed off. The stand by line was at 95 minutes. I was giggling because I had just walked on to Soarin using the FP line--took all of 15 minutes from the time I entered the line until the time I walked off the ride. I walked over to Ryan and gave him a high five!
Natalie had been behind the greenhouse desk while all of this was going on, turns out she was my tour guide and the poor girl with her, who took the early abuse usually works the early shift and didn't understand what it was like later on in the day when the line is at its longest and the FP are gone for the day. Apparently this is a regular occurence. Natalie and I chatted about how sometimes there is nothing you can do for a guest who doesn't understand that the rules apply to everyone, because everyone is special--not just you!
Natalie was great! She was super informative and when I told her I had taken the tour before, but it wasn't wonderful she made sure to provide detailed info on all the stuff I had questions about--including seeding for a garden and when to start plants in the house. She knew tons because she actually gardens and runs all kinds of growing experiments in her home! Its obvious that she's really interested in what she does. She also let me do all the things that the other guide had skipped because there weren't any kids on the tour. I released lady bugs in the eggplant tree area, I fed the tilapia and got to do both the fruit identification challenge and the spice challenge. I couldn't identify tamarind, I'd never seen it in any form besides a paste! She was super impressed that I could identify sesame in its raw form and knew what a flluted pumpkin and a jack fruit were! Sadly, Natalie's CP is almost over and she doesn't have a job yet--having Disney on your resume especially with such a specialized department is supposed to open all kinds of doors, but apparently since the economy is still struggling no one is hiring!
After I finished my tour I headed over to Rose and Crown for my ADR. I was a little early and a little nervous at the check in desk because they were telling walk ups thatt the wait was an hour and a half. I went to the bar and had a beer while I waited--actually I had a Strongbow shandy. I was seated at a lovely table outside by the lagoon. I ordered as soon as I had seen the chef about my allergy. I ordered the warm bacon dressing salad, a cup of leek soup, and the scotch egg appetizer. Once again, I ordered too much food and it came out too fast. My soup and salad came out at the same time even though I had asked for them individually. Bread only arrived at the table after my soup showed up. I am however, now addicted to Scotch eggs--which by the way are hard boiled eggs, wrapped in bulk sausage and then breaded either baked or fried. I believe R&C bakes theirs, but traditionally they are deep fried.
After dinner I went back to Italy to get an Italian Margarita--it was my second of the day--I think I had the first one right after lunch. Then I found the Illuminations viewing spot where I was reunited with the people from the tour. It was great fun and I made some new friends.
Illuminations was wonderful as always--I always get a little choked up at the end. I was sad to see that they hadn't started the Peace on Earth tag yet, but the Christmas season doesn't officially start until the day after Thanksgiving.
Up next more DHS and an unusual Thanksgiving meal, but first . . . breaking news:
I asked my boss about the month of December . . . hoping that perhaps it would be slow the week that Princess Sharon is staying at Ft Wilderness. No such luck--sorry Sha! However, he does expect it to be dead the week before Christmas. What did I do . . . checked the request off folder to see if anyone had requested off the 20th-23rd. Had they? Nope--the only request was from one of the day shift R/S people--and that's not a shift I would remotely consider covering--it starts at 5am. So . . . I booked a flight on Southwest . . . leaving Monday Dec 20th and returning on Christmas Eve in time to be at work for the dinner shift. I also booked a room at the Celebration Hotel. I've not stayed off property since I was 5, but the Celebration Hotel (The Bohemian) is now a Marriott property and we get special perks at holiday time--1/2 off of the employee rate is a pretty good deal. At the Bohemian Celebration its $34.50 a night--for a sweet hotel! Check it out @ Orlando Hotels: Bohemian Hotel Celebration Orlando Walt Disney World Kissimmee Florida FL area hotels resorts boutique rooms luxury suites family vacations romantic getaways packages weddings meetings conferences centers planning near theme parks Int I just need to rent a car, but when you consider that a room at a value for those nights is $485 (Compared to my $210), there are no rooms at the Contemporary and the Poly is over $1500. Sounds like fun huh? Anyone want to come along?
Great updates Heather - it sounds like a wonderful day!
Congrats on the next trip - oh if only I could join you.... I do have two days off that week, but sadly with jet lag, I think I'd need more than a couple of days in the States!
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What a great trip you are having! Your tours both sound good, and glad to hear you were able to get a (couple) Italian Margarita(s) . Your hotel for your next trip looks very nice, and I would love to be able to go to the world that week... I already have most of those days off, but only because I'm scheduled for surgery . Hoping I'll get to enjoy a TR for it at least (hint hint).
I am glad you got to do the Behind the Seeds tour and you actually got what you paid for this time. How fun to be the only one on the tour.
I can't believe the nerve of people sometimes. I think that is one of the things I love about Disney. Everyone is VIP and no one gets extra anything. I realize when celebrities come they get extra attention, but I think it is basically for their safety and their family's safety.
I am leaving the 19th! I may just have to have my family leave me there and hang out with you for a few days!
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.
What a great experience on the Behind the Seeds tour! I'll have to try it again. My first time I had a guide who was just going through the motions. May have been the same one you had.
I'm so glad you get to go again in December! I stayed at the Celebration hotel before it became a Marriot. It is a lovely hotel--small and perfect. You'll love it--especially with your discount!
I packed up everything on Wednesday night before going to sleep so I wouldn't have much to do in the morning. I got up on time and got ready, unfortunately I had to wait a bit on Bell Services to pick up my stuff. Once again my lazy self took a cab to the park, but this time to DHS. I arrived just at park opening, but not in time to see the opening ceremony. My cell phone said it was 9:01. I headed straight for Pixar place, but I didn't actually get that far. The line for TSMM FPs was all the way back to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I decided to skip it for this trip. It was, after all, Thanksgiving Day and I knew all the parks were going to be busy, but wow--I've never seen a line like that for FP for anything. I didn't even bother to check the standby line as I'm quite sure it exceeded my 20 minute rule. (I won't wait in line for anything for more than 20 minutes unless its at park closing. My travel schedule makes me very spoiled!)
I turned myself right around and walked right on Tower of Terror. When I got off the wait was 30 minutes. I should have gotten a FP before riding, but I wasn't super worried about more than one ride on anything. I headed to Rock 'n' Rollercoaster next and waited about 5 minutes in the single rider line, which they must have just opened because there wasn't anyone in the queue after the preshow. I was about the 6th single rider loaded and it was almost instantaneous--lots of 3s and 5s in line.
I headed back in the direction of the Animation Acadmey, as it was just about 10 am. I went in the back door through the gift shop and got in the queue for my drawing lesson. the instructor did something very interesting--he said he didn't want anyone to have a repeat so he started asking for show of hands as to who had drawn whom. Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Pluto got shot down immediately. Then he kept going and found three options that no one in the room had already learned to draw: Goofy, Tigger and Pooh bear. Then we voted. I voted for Goofy, but the room chose Pooh. I was so amazed at how well my drawing came out, especially since when I started it didn't really look anything like what it was supposed to--I have trouble with circles, but if you follow the instructions and make many light loops you actually can get close to a circle!
I was so impressed with myself that I purchased the How to Draw Classic Disney Characters book in the gift shop. I plan on getting a sketch book sometime soon and maybe putting some of my efforts in frames on the living room wall. My Mickey from October had come out remarkably well too--cheap art for the walls! I didn't hang either of those because I had to fold them to get them home. I might hang Pooh on the fridge for giggles.
I thought about sitting for a second class and then decided against it when I looked at my watch. They were loading VotLM when I passed, so I got in line. I, however, had forgotten that they begin loading as soon as they let the previous show in, so I did wait about 15 minutes in the enormously boring queue area. This show really needs a preshow! I struck up a conversation with a woman who was learning to use her new iPhone as a diversion in line. I recommended the "Lines" application and showed her how to use it. There was a Just Married couple next to us and it turns out they were also from Louisiana. I think the whole metro New Orleans area goes to WDW for Thanksgiving weekend to avoid Bayou Classic.
(The Classic is an annual meeting of Grambling and Southern Universities--it always brings with it lots of useless, senseless violence. I just discovered that one of my former students was killed after he got off of work at Pat OBrian's on Thursday night. Earl was one of my better students in a rough and tumble school district. I'm a little upset.)
I'm going to stop there for now, I need to light a candle.
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. Hoping I'll get to enjoy a TR for it at least (hint hint).
Liz 
Is this another solo??
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