The Crazy Large (but fun) Group Trip Report!!!! - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I just found this trip report and I it! Sorry to hear about all the troubles with your friend's dad. But it sounds like it worked out in the long run.
I love Hope's bows!! Where in Illinois is your friend located? I'm in Iowa and may just need to find her!
Keep up the great trip report and all the wonderful pictures!
My friend made the jewelry, and the bows were made by a lady at the pumpkin farm. Let me know what information you are wanting and I will message it to you. Collinsville/Maryville IL area.
So after Animal Kingdom we decided to go on over to Epcot. The plan was to get a few rides out of the way and then head to the World Show Case for dinner (snacks from the Food and Wine Festival.) Originally we were going to go back in the afternoon to the hotel and rest for a few hours, but loading two scooter and waiting for the third one to arrive in the next bus with the rest of our group was proving to take up way too much time. So we changed plans.
DD was not happy that we weren't going back to the hotel. (She wanted to change. Her element is more of the jeans and t-shirt. I can get her in Skirts and leggins but dresses are pushing it. and especially all day.) So DH being MR. Comfortable himself, said he would go back to the room by himself and get DD a change of clothes and meet us at Epcot. That man is AWESOME I tell ya. I still get weak in the knees when he does stuff like that. And the fact that DD is a daddy's girl.
So by the time we got all three scooters, the entire group reunited, through security and the gates, and took some pictures of the kids in front of the Ball (Spaceship Earth); DH was already on his way to Epcot. So we got situated in the area for Handicapped for the ride Spaceship Earth and DH had meet up with us. We then boarded our ride on Spaceship Earth. The Grandparents loved this ride.
Up next was The Nemo ride. This was the first ride of the week that Hope (DD) and Alex rode alone. I failed to get a picture of this. I can not believe that. I actually failed at taking pictures this evening. It was a stressful evening. You will get details later.
After Nemo was Figment. I have loved this ride sense I was a kid. It has had a renovation sense then, but it is still awesome.
After Figment came the stress. My grandma was unraveling and my mom started feeling bad. They decided to just grab some food at the Electric Umbrella and head back to Animal Kingdom Lodge. DH, DD, DS, Abby, Alex and myself however were still on for the walk around The World Showcase.
So we parted ways and started our way around. DD and I got a Spinachkopia (Spinach Pie) and I got a Greek Salad as well from Greece. We keep on with our walk stopping in America to get some Sam Adams and to listen to Hanson for a while. We then moved on to Germany. We were going to get a snack but decided to use our counter serve for the day and get bratwurst and sauerkraut and pretzels for dessert for the kids to eat. We then headed towards the front and stopped by Mouse Gears. We then decided it was time to head back. When we got to the bus stop half of our group was still waiting for a bus. That kind of gives you an idea of how slow and long it took with the grandparents. They eat slow, which I understand because so do I. And the bus thing takes forever. We got back to the resort and got showered and bathed and in bed.
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That picture of Hunter looking up at Spaceship Earth is terrific!! You should submit that to the memories promotion thing (can't recall the name right now) that Disney is doing!
That picture of Hunter looking up at Spaceship Earth is terrific!! You should submit that to the memories promotion thing (can't recall the name right now) that Disney is doing!
Oh I will have to check that out. Can you get me some more info about that.
I was dragging by this point. I am used to going the parks in mornings when the parks open, spending a few hours and then going back to the resort for a rest or a sit by the pool before heading out for dinner reservations. We hadn't gotten to do that yet . So I had made sure to let everyone know that we were waking up and getting to MK when it opened.
We took some pictures in the lobby of the resort while we were waiting for everyone to make it to the lobby. My Aunt was who we were waiting for, but she had decided to stay at the Resort and rest. (She thought she had forgotten here heart meds. but found them as she was going through her suitcase later in the day.)
We made it to MK with like 5 minutes to spare. I just love watching the train come down the tracks with the characters and then the count down. By far my favorite part of the day.
We stopped for some pictures of the castle. (You have to do that.)
First we went towards Adventure Land. (Little secret, if you get to MK when it opens. Go to Adventure Land first. You will practically have it to yourself.)
We got right on Magic Carpets, POTC, Jungle Cruise, and when we made it over to Frontier Land we walked right on Great Thunder Mountain Railroad. This was Alex's first Roller Coaster. Hope (DD) won't ride Roller Coaster, but she gets it honestly from her father. DH hates roller coasters. and I love them. So I was eating up every moment with Alex on the roller coasters.
Next DD, DS, DH, Abby, Grandma Ruby, Abby, Alex, and myself went on over to Tom Sawyers Island. My mom and the other to grandparents waited for us. The grandparents couldn't make the walk around the Island. My dad and I were the only ones out of the group that had been to Tom Sawyers Island. I am not sure why DH and I had never been over there together. We had a pretty good time.
Next we decided to get some character time in. We headed back over to Adventure Land for Jasmine and Aladdin. We tried to see Captain Hook, but found out that he doesn't do autographs and pictures anymore. Sad moment for Alex. I wasn't so happy either.
Our next stop was going to be Haunted Mansion. DH got a bloody nose on our way to the HM. (All 4 of us had caught a cold before we left Maryland, and DH gets bloody noses really bad when he has a cold.) So I stayed with the grandparents, DH, DS, and my dad; while my mom, DD, Abby, and Alex went on HM. We decided to go on into Columbian Harbor House and get the grandparents situated. It takes a while to get the grandma's and there scooters situated. DH went ahead and order Hunter some food, because he is 2 and he thinks its time to eat anytime he is in a high chair. About that time they were getting off of the ride and meeting us in CHH for lunch. Everyone ordered and we had a quite lunch in the handicap section of CHH.
We had decided to find Peter Pan. (We also had found out that Wendy is no longer with Peter Pan at MK.) So we got in line to see Peter Pan. A short line
However, Hunter who was dressed like Peter Pan, wouldn't get a picture. So Hope and Alex Happily poses for pictures.
Now was time for our exit from MK. The parade was taking place so we had to walk around the castle and down the crowded side walk. We stopped for some shopping and then made our way to the bus stop.
We spent a few hours resting in our room. Very nice.
Hope and Alex (Wendy and Captain Hook)
Edited some funny stuff on this picture.
Hunter (Peter Pan) he wouldn't stand with Hook and Wendy.
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What kind of camera do you have and what lenses are you using....Your photography is just GREAT you should be a professional.... Do you use a software to enhance them?
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.