The "Short Notice, Surprise, IT WORKED!" Live TR - 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.
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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.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
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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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...if you'd like to know the events that led up to this trip... and I bet some of you that already followed along are wondering how on earth this Live TR started a day early!
Come on now, you know it's not a Melanie PTR / TR unless it's tweaked until the last possible second!
Well it’s been a crazy day! I took Meri to the doctor this morning and yes, the doctor thinks she’s got a VERY mild case of pink eye. Her ears are clear, her lungs are clear, so the gunk she has is just a cold. Meri’s colds tend to hang on a while, so the doctor gave us an antibiotic in case it started going south while on the trip.
This changed up my plans some, as I had initially planned on packing while Meri was in school, and having that all sorted out before she got home. Then I had a church dinner for us to all attend. Obviously even with a TEENY WEENY case of pink eye, Meri wasn’t going to school, nor was I going to expose the kids (or adults) at church to her. So she got to stay home with me. Great.
I worked upstairs from the den while Meri watched tv… and then I started checking our flights for tomorrow. I really wasn’t excited about the very very short connection time between flights in the morning, so I did a little surfing and a little more surfing, and then made yet another tweak in our trip. I decided we were going to fly to Chicago tonight on the evening flight, and then overnight on points in a hotel near the airport. I found a perfect hotel which has availability (we practically got the last room!), an airport shuttle, free breakfast and free wifi, and I had exactly enough points for it!
Well… that’s all well and good, except, uh, that meant leaving in FOUR HOURS! Needless to say, that lit a fire underneath me! I put on the game show network for Meri (she’s obsessed) and hid in my closet, packing. Since I didn’t have a tight connection time, I switched everything BACK to the regular suitcase, knowing I could easily check it. I hope I packed everything!
I threw the suitcase and carry-on into the trunk, and then I got my room and Meri’s cleaned up in record time. Then I had to finish up work and act like nothing was going on, lol. I think my blood pressure was up for a while, because I felt a little blah for a bit. Once I had some tea and focused back on work, I started feeling a lot better. Phew! It also helped that Jeannie was online so I could talk to her and focus on someone else’s life for a bit!
FINALLY, it was 4pm, and time for us to leave. The flight wasn’t until 6:25pm, but we needed to stop by Walgreens to pick up the antibiotic, and then head to the airport, leaving room for rush hour traffic to snag us up. Meri still had no idea where we were going. She just knew that Grandma was driving us somewhere special. She asked lots of questions, and I was very non-committal. Finally we took the airport exit, which made Meri raise an eyebrow. She kept commenting how weird it was that we were RIGHT NEAR the airport!
Then we pulled up to the terminal, and Meri was REALLY confused. She kept saying, “Well, I GUESS there are restaurants at the airport!” We got out of the car at the terminal, and she said, “Well I know we can’t be going anywhere, because we don’t have any luggage!” Then I opened the trunk and pulled out a suitcase. Man, I wish I could have gotten video or even a photo. You’ll just have to take my word for it – it was the CUTEST thing I’ve seen in a long time. She could not BELIEVE it!
We hugged mom goodbye, and went inside, and up to the ticket counter, so I could check the suitcase. Meri was absolutely beside herself, and told everyone we passed, and the ticket agent, “My mommy is the BEST mommy! She is taking me on a VACATION and I didn’t even KNOW!!!” I giggle even now just thinking about it.
With the bag checked, we went to security, where there was no line whatsoever. Meri gushed to the security agents, too, and just giggled and giggled and giggled. The one agent asked her a bunch of questions (name, age, destination) and Meri said, “Gosh I just don’t KNOW where we’re going!” LOL! I had to tell her that our first stop was Chicago. Hilarious!
We breezed through security, and then walked over to the B terminal to try to find some food. We stopped at a Lenny’s Sub’s, and Meri and I both got tuna. She babbled and babbled through the entire meal, carrying on about how I’m the best mommy ever, and she can’t BELIEVE that we’re going on a super-secret vacation together! It was absolutely charming.
After we ate, we headed to the gate, pausing at the bathrooms. We had a 20 minute wait before we boarded, and during that time, Meri gawked at planes and colored a little in one of her new coloring books. Finally it was time to board, and we settled in to seats 7 B and C (window and aisle), and she got her color-your-own-bag! She was really excited and pronounced it the best airplane present EVER! Funny kid.
The bag entertained her for most of the flight, while I typed up some of the TR, snacked on some chips and watched Thor. My sinuses really started to hurt, which was weird, because I don’t have any congestion OR drainage whatsoever. My left ear is also starting to ache… that doesn’t bode quite well. But at least I’ve got some antibiotics if Meri ends up not needing them.
During the beverage service I spilled my drink all over the floor. I’m so relieved the guy behind me didn’t have a bag or anything under my seat, because it all spilled down there. He didn’t even notice… phew! Of course my foot is now sticky and smells of Dr Pepper, lol.
Meri started to complain of her right ear hurting about 45 minutes into the flight… so I gave her some chips to chew on, to get the ear muscle moving and relieve some of the pressure. When the doctor checked her ears today, she said they were perfectly clear and that we should have no problems flying, but that pressure might possibly be an issue at points. As long as we had something for her to eat, the doctor said we’d be fine. So far so good!
Otherwise, it was a very uneventful flight. Thor and coloring. Nice and quiet.
We landed about 20 minutes early, and after a very urgent bathroom break, we headed over to baggage claim. We found our suitcase, just standing in the middle of claim area 4, with a few other suitcases. Well alrighty then. Apparently we took longer than I thought. It was very easy to find the hotel shuttle, and 10 minutes later, we were on our way to our hotel, where I am typing the rest of this up! Meri rhapsodized me for the entire shuttle ride to the hotel, informing me, "Oh mommy, I'm DEFINITELY going to keep you!" LOL, gee, thanks kiddo!
I didn't get any video of that, but I PROMISE to get video of her when I tell her where we're going... I think I'm going to do that in the hotel room before we head downstairs. That'll wake her right up!!
Anyway... I have to say, the hotel is very nice. The wifi is free, the breakfast is free and hot, and the shuttle is free and comfortable. Can't beat it with a stick! We have a reservation on the first shuttle out in the morning, at 7am. Meri is out cold after a nice warm bath, and now she smells just lovely (she was so dirty - geez this kid attracts dirt).
I've got an alarm set for 6am. I'll take a shower, check the flights one more time (we're listed for the 9am, but worst case, the 1pm looks fine - send pixies that the 9am one falls apart so we can get on that one! LOL!) and then we'll head downstairs at 630am for the hot breakfast. Should finish up in time for the 7am shuttle, and then it's off to O'Hare. I imagine we'll get there around 720am'ish, check the bag curbside, and then hit security and head to the gate. Boarding isn't til 830am, so I don't anticipate any issues even with a long line. Of course now that I've said that... lol!
Anyhow, it's off to bed with me now so I can get a bit of decent sleep... I will either check in tomorrow from O'Hare (if we miss the flight) or our Royal Room (here's hoping)! Wish us luck!
I will post photos from today, tomorrow. I'm just too tired to download them, upload them and link to them tonight.
What a nice surprise! Except for the "under the weather bits " a great start. Hope it continues to be a great trip and can't wait to hear hoe Meri likes her surprise!
Oh how exciting!!!!!!! I am so happy for you that you were able to pull off the surprise. I can just imagine her giggling self telling everyone how great you are! you get on early flight and get to Disney ASAP!
Hey everyone! Surprise! The vacation has started! LOL!
...........
My sinuses really started to hurt, which was weird, because I don’t have any congestion OR drainage whatsoever. My left ear is also starting to ache… that doesn’t bode quite well. But at least I’ve got some antibiotics if Meri ends up not needing them.
WHAT are we going to do with you?! You'd better not get sick! Other than that ominous paragraph, I just LOVE your vacation so far. You've done it! You surprised Meri! She's just a doll and you couldn't have asked for a better reaction. I also really like that you decided to fly out tonight. Much less stressful (at least for me! )
I hope you have a lovely sleep tonight and can't wait to see the video of the BIG moment. She's going to FLIP OUT!
(I don't know how Jeannie ever gets any work done with both of us on line with her all day!)
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Good morning all! 2 minutes until the wake-up call, but I'm already showered and dressed. Meri, on the other hand, is in complete denial and is refusing to acknowledge me with anything more than a grunt and a sheet pulled over her head, lol.
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We have a reservation on the first shuttle out in the morning, at 7am. Meri is out cold after a nice warm bath, and now she smells just lovely (she was so dirty - geez this kid attracts dirt).
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