"Deep Thoughts by Iron Man" TR 3-10 Sept 11 - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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I swear I have not forgotten about this trip report nor the suspense I left you all in with our talk of DVC!! Between working 50 hours a week, Adam traveling almost every week, juggling the kids activities, and somehow fitting in 2 classes for my Masters Degree, this trip report keeps falling behind.....so tonight with a bit of free time I decided to up date it again with what will be our next to last full day at Disney
We decided to take the last 2 days to use as repeat ride days. For this day we were going to hit up AK and DHS one last time and ride everything we either missed or wanted to do again....because Iron Man had been begging all week to ride Dinosaur again we headed for AK first. As luck would have it they were having AM EMH so we were able to get some extra time in. We managed to convince the kids to do the safari first and boy am I glad! The animals were much more active and we were able to see some we hadnt seen before.
First up though, we have to take some time out to admire this handsome little guy! I believe by this time he was like 10 days old....WHAT AN ANGEL
He just looks so itty bitty next to all of the other elephants
After admiring him for a bit we were in luck and got to see the male lion out this time....I wish my life were this rough.....
After the safari we of course headed straight for Dino. There was literally no line for this ride and we were able to walk on 4 times in a row....while we were walking thru for our 2nd ride Iron Man informed us "you know guys this whole building used to have football teams in it....all the teams from the whole world played football in here and then they kicked them out and put in this scary ride......i really like the scary ride" Love that kid!!! So on one of our rides we finally figured out where the camera was and decided to make super scary faces for the photo.....apparently only 3 of us got the memo.....Carter informed us later that it was lame to pretend to be scared cause the ride really wasn't scary "because obviously of course mom those aren't REAL dinosaurs cause then they would eat us not take a photo"
After Dino we hit up EE for a few rides after which IM stated he was done with that ride because he didn't have any "Car-Woo Energy left" THAT KID IS ON A ROLL TODAY!!! I was laughing so hard all morning
So then it was off to DHS. First stop was of course TSMM where we walked on....at like 11am....with no lines.......CRAZY! After that we headed for Star Tours again....and walked on....twice....with no lines.....I'm liking this day
Of course my little Jedis had to pose for photos before we went to make their light sabers.
After that we spent the rest of the day wondering around, riding rides and just enjoying the beautiful weather! We did have alot of talking to do regarding DVC because tomorrow would be our last full day before we flew home Saturday morning.....if we were gonna do it, we would need to let Larry know so he could meet with us......DH was still a bit unsure......
And to distract you from the suspense....it was dinner time!! We were eating at Prime Time cafe and I was super excited I absolutely loved the atmosphere at the restaurant and the wait staff was hilarious!
The table next to us got in trouble with their waittress "Mamma" for having elbows on the table so my boys thought they would be rebels
When our food came I was in comfort food heaven! I had the pot roast...DELICIOUS!
Adam had the sampler platter and liked most of it....he's not a greens guy so he didn't really like that portion
Then of course it was on to that dreaded course....dessert....by this time in the vacation I was getting naseuous at the thought of more dessert....definitely something to consder next trip when deciding whether or not to do DDP....although apparently someone liked their ice cream sundae
After dinner and a few rounds for the kiddos and Adam on ToT it was time to head for seats to Fantasmic. We had never been before and were really excited....on such a quiet day I figured arrive 90 minutes ahead of schedule would be plenty....NOPE! The place was already filling up! Luckily we got great seats.....
Although there were some sad faces that we had to sit and wait in those cramped bleacher seats for so long...
After Fantasmic it was time to head back to BC for the night....and I am sure by now you are all wondering....well did they call Larry and take the plunge or decide to wait???? Well to quote another favorite Disney character.....
Ma chere Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight. And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a chair as the Lange Family proudly presents -
OUR NEW HOME RESORT!!!!!!!!!!!
Thats right!!!! We took the plunge and called Larry We were able to arrange a meeting for first thing the next morning to sign all of the closing papers for our new DVC purchase and we (including Adam) were super excited!!! Ok so truth in advertising, the kids were just excited for the kids club at the sales center and free ice cream, but that counts
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PREVIOUS TRIPS: 1997- Off-site, 2002-Contemporary, 2009- POFQ, 2011- Beach Club, 2012- Disney Magic, 2013 Disney Fantasy
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The repeat day sounded great with no lines at all. You couldn't ask for a better day!
Congrats on becoming DVC members. I really want to, but will have to wait a little while longer.