Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Wow - lots to catch up on! Sorry you lost your first update. I've had that happen before and I always do them in Word now, as it's such a pain when that happens.
I was going to guess you left the house at 5:00am, as I remember you saying before about the early morning commute. Glad you made it Ok - and I love the plane. Basically, Virgin have followed the same idea they use for the Virgin Atlantic brand, as everything on board looked very familiar to me. I wouldn't say to flying with them in the future, as I'd like to see how they do on internal flights - it just depends on price.
You've been busy. I got behind!
Glad the trip to LAX wasn't too bad and neither was baggage check and security. I still can't believe the guy at the counter just ripped off your DME tag. He had to be new and had not seen any Disney passengers.
The Virgin plane looks really cool inside. I love that you can track your progress.
I love OKW. It is such a beautiful resort. So sweet of Laurie to send you a Welcome to her Home gift bag.
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.
Wow - lots to catch up on! Sorry you lost your first update. I've had that happen before and I always do them in Word now, as it's such a pain when that happens.
I was going to guess you left the house at 5:00am, as I remember you saying before about the early morning commute. Glad you made it Ok - and I love the plane. Basically, Virgin have followed the same idea they use for the Virgin Atlantic brand, as everything on board looked very familiar to me. I wouldn't say to flying with them in the future, as I'd like to see how they do on internal flights - it just depends on price.
Love the room and what a great gift from Laurie!
You know, if it weren't for the kids, I probably would've left the house at 5am just for the peace of mind of knowing I won't be late. This time I just wanted the kids to get as much sleep as possible.
I hope you'll be able to try Virgin America soon. Now that I've flown them once, I'll definitely be flying them again. The only difficulty of using them is that they only fly to select major cities. For Orlando, I'll certainly try to fly with them again. The prices weren't significantly greater than Southwest, so it's worth it for me to have the comfort of a nonstop and the extra space in the row since I'm on the plane 4.5 hours one way and over 5 hours the other way (darn those wind currents!).
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
You've been busy. I got behind!
Glad the trip to LAX wasn't too bad and neither was baggage check and security. I still can't believe the guy at the counter just ripped off your DME tag. He had to be new and had not seen any Disney passengers.
The Virgin plane looks really cool inside. I love that you can track your progress.
I love OKW. It is such a beautiful resort. So sweet of Laurie to send you a Welcome to her Home gift bag.
Hopefully the guy at the counter knows for next time. I'm just glad I had the extra tags with me. If he had tried to re-attach the first one, I'd have been worried that it ripped apart during handling in transit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Looks like a great plane for a long trip! We had that on JetBlue once and loved it! The room looks lovely and how sweet of Laurie with the goodies
Yep, for a trip as long as ours, it's worth it to me to spend a little more for comfort. The room was great, and Laurie really is a sweetheart!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Can't beleive that the luggage assistant at the airport did not know about the DME tags , glad you had your extra ones but I would have been thinking the same thing and wondering if my bags would make it
Love your room, sorry that it was so far from the Hospitiality House but I heard others say how nice the area by the quiet pool was and being right by the 2nd bus stop was not a bad option at all. It really is such a huge resort, I was shocked when we were on the bus one day how large it really is....like its own little town.
Let me try to punch out a quick update before I head off to work!
By the time we got to our room, it was about 6:30 or 6:45, I think. We spent a few minutes relaxing and decided to head out to grab food. Keep in mind that we hadn't had a real meal all day aside from the morning pastries, and to our bodies it was almost 4pm! I guess excitement made us forget about eating!
I wanted to try the boat to DTD because it sounded like such a relaxing way to travel. First we'd have to take the bus to HH, and from there we would need to catch a boat to DTD.
We walked out to the South Point stop which was nearby, so that was great. We hadn't been there more than 2-3 minutes when a DTD bus rolls up. Ok, well I guess we'll just take the bus then!
We got off at Marketplace and strolled all the way down to Cookes of Dublin. That is now our "tradition" for our first night meal...and of course, two times makes it a tradition, right? I got in line to order, and the kids went to find a table. The line didn't take long, and I ordered two fish and chips (I think they were called One and One...one chunk of fish and one serving of chips?) and one order of the scallops and chip. We all had fountain drinks of Sprite and punch. This was pretty much what we ordered on our first trip, and I remember it being SO delicious...of course, being at WDW for the first time and eating our first meal probably made it that much better!
We sat on the outside patio next to the bar area:
We waited about 5-10 minutes for our food, and then it was finally time to eat! Yum!
We enjoyed our food, although it wasn't as great as I had remembered. I think we were also a bit too hungry because our stomachs couldn't handle so much food at once! We ended up eating about 2 1/4 of our meals. We boxed up the rest to take back to the room since we had a fridge and microwave.
After dinner, we strolled back through Marketplace and stopped here and there to look. My plan was to take the boat back to OKW, but did I figure out where the boat stops before we started walking? Of course not!
As we strolled, we started shopping. At some point I figured we were already there and knew we would want some souvenirs and other stuff, so why not start now?
We walked through TREX...
...because I was sure Evan wanted to do Build a Dino, but he didn't want one. He browsed through a lot of the dinosaur section of the gift shop but didn't want anything. I had given each kid $50 to spend during the trip, and they each also had $50 from their dad to spend during the trip. The kids were great and didn't jump at the first things they saw.
We stopped at Fun Finds as I had remembered how Megan's daughters like to buy the surprise grab bag there. I also went to their 5 for $20 section and grabbed a few things, including a 2013 WDW photo album which I was planning to get anyway. It was a bargain at $4!
I forgot to take a picture of the grab bag contents, but I think there was a small Vinylmation, a squeeze toy, a keychain, and one or two other things. I'll try to figure it out and report back!
We stopped at Basin where I purchased a few soaps with the Mickey heads in it. The Basin at DLR's DTD closed a little while ago, so that's something I had to get while at WDW! I also purchased a Dr. Spot bar since Cam speak so highly of it!
We stopped at Goofy's Candy Co and bought two bottles of milk (no candy) since Evan has to have his night time milk and his morning milk, and I wasn't sure how late the store at HH would stay open...I was thinking it closed at 10pm, and it was already past 9 when we were near Goofy's, so I figured I'd better be safe than sorry.
We finally made it back to the north end of Marketplace (I think it's north) and looked for the boat dock. What did we find out? We needed to take a boat over to the West Side, and from there we had to get off the boat and get back in line for the OKW. Ok then!
It had gotten a bit chilly by then, but it wasn't too bad. We took the quick boat ride over to the West Side and got off near Cirque du Soleil. We got back into the OKW line which looked to be pretty long, so I was thinking we wouldn't make it onto the next boat. Luckily, we did, and we had a nice ride back to OKW.
When we got off at HH, we headed into the General Store since it was open til 11pm (it was just past 10pm when we got there). I purchased a half gallon of milk, some boxed cereal (I had packed some, but the kids saw the variety pack and asked for it), and probably a few other things. I tried paying with my Magic Band, and it was easy peasy!
I asked the CM which bus stop was best to get back to our room, and she told me that the closest was the HH stop if we wanted to wait for the Internal Bus. Or, we could walk a little further to the Peninsular Road stop and just catch the first bus that came by because it would continue on to our stop. We chose to walk over toe Peninsular Road because it wasn't that far.
I thought about getting a refillable mug, but I really couldn't see us using the mug much during our OKW stay, and if our POR room wasn't convenient to the food court there, we wouldn't be getting value out of our purchase. So, I decided not to get one.
We headed back to the room expecting our suitcase to be there. Nope, it wasn't there. Uh oh, was our baggage in the Twilight Zone? I called Bell Services, and it took them a minute before they told us they indeed had our bag, but since our privacy sign was hanging on the door, they didn't bring our suitcase into the room. Oops! It was force of habit...I always hang the privacy sign on our door since I often travel alone since it's usually for work, and I don't like people coming into my room...and of course with the kids, I want to be doubly safe.
I apologized to the CM about the sign and asked if they could please deliver our bag now. Within minutes, our suitcase arrived, and we got down to unpacking. It was after midnight by the time we crawled into bed, happy to be in the bubble!
Next: With the time difference, we'll probably sleep until 9am local time, right?
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Can't beleive that the luggage assistant at the airport did not know about the DME tags , glad you had your extra ones but I would have been thinking the same thing and wondering if my bags would make it
Love your room, sorry that it was so far from the Hospitiality House but I heard others say how nice the area by the quiet pool was and being right by the 2nd bus stop was not a bad option at all. It really is such a huge resort, I was shocked when we were on the bus one day how large it really is....like its own little town.
What a nice surprise from Laurie!!!
The location really wasn't terrible. It just wasn't very convenient to HH if that's something that's important to you. Which area were you in on your last stay?
Ominous foreshadowing here...it turned out our room was probably one of the worst rooms on OKW property during our stay...but it wasn't so much due to the location as much as what was going on near our room that week.... (cue ominous foreshadowing music!)
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Sounds like a great time at DTD once you figured out where everything was I love the inside of T-Rex, but haven't been there in a while so the pic was a nice reminder!
The location really wasn't terrible. It just wasn't very convenient to HH if that's something that's important to you. Which area were you in on your last stay?
Ominous foreshadowing here...it turned out our room was probably one of the worst rooms on OKW property during our stay...but it wasn't so much due to the location as much as what was going on near our room that week.... (cue ominous foreshadowing music!)
We were actually right next to bus stop #1 so it was a quick walk for us to the HH, the girls liked it as they really loved the main pool but then again....they love any pool so if we had been near the quiet pool they probably would have been just as happy.
I think arrival day is always a little scattered-- especially if you arrive latish in the day. Too bad getting to and from DTD wasn't as easy as it could have been, but that was a good way to spend a couple of hours before crashing that night.
Sounds like a great time at DTD once you figured out where everything was I love the inside of T-Rex, but haven't been there in a while so the pic was a nice reminder!
The restaurant looked really neat, and Evan and I did a quick spin around the restaurant so he could see all the rooms. I was hoping we could maybe squeeze in a meal there later in the week, but it never worked out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Sounded like a great start to your trip.
We were really happy to be finally on vacation!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I think arrival day is always a little scattered-- especially if you arrive latish in the day. Too bad getting to and from DTD wasn't as easy as it could have been, but that was a good way to spend a couple of hours before crashing that night.
We could've gone into a park and spent a few hours since I knew our bodies would allow us to stay up late, but I think it's better that we took our time and walked through DTD since on our first trip I only saw a small part of it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tabitha34
Great updates! Love the gift from Laurie!
Thanks! We are still enjoying Laurie's gift...I've been munching on the trail mix for the past week now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by melduckie
Great updates! Your arrival day sounds smooth and your room is beautiful! Can't wait for more!
All things considered, our travel day went well!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
You certainly packed in a fair bit at Downtown Disney.
The WDW DTD is so much bigger than the DLR one! They each have their merits, but it was good to take our time to just browse up and down the Marketplace. It was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday evening during the "quiet" week before the Thanksgiving holiday.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
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.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Sorry you lost your first update. I've had that happen before and I always do them in Word now, as it's such a pain when that happens. 
I wouldn't say 
to flying with them in the future, as I'd like to see how they do on internal flights - it just depends on price. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Liz 
, glad you had your extra ones but I would have been thinking the same thing and wondering if my bags would make it 
*Melissa
Linear Mode
