Our Heck-Let's-Just-Do-Disney September 2015 TR (Sept 5-Sept 12) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Our Heck-Let's-Just-Do-Disney September 2015 TR (Sept 5-Sept 12)
(Cast of Characters: Me, DH, DS, DD, my mom & my dad)
Saturday, September 5:
Alarm went off at 3:20am. We threw on comfy clothes, brushed our teeth, gave our furry felines some snuggles and love and climbed into the already packed & ready van. We pulled out of our driveway at 4:08am.
Made a couple stops for potty breaks and gas, and made a final stop for food and gas a little over an hour from our hotel, where we'd rest for the night.
Stayed at Fairfield Inn in Valdosta, GA. We arrived there around 7:50pm central time -- 8:50pm local time. We were pretty beat - so we watched a bit of tv and went to sleep.
Sunday, September 6:
We woke up at 6am and headed down to breakfast in the hotel before hitting the road to finish the drive to Disney.
Then it was away we went!!! We did make one stop before heading to the resort. We went to Walmart and I was blown away by the huge Disney section. We picked out matching glow in the dark tshirts for all of us. Then it was back in the car and off to Coronado Springs Resort!
We arrived just before noon.
Now - we had done the online check in, and we did not get any text message about our room being ready or not, so we headed to check in. My husband and I went to one cast member, and my parents, who had a separate reservation, went to another.
We were told our room wasn't ready, but they would text us as soon as it was. We were given our anniversary buttons and a certificate for a complimentary champaign toast (which we never did use). When we finished at the counter, we spotted friends of ours, who were also staying at the same resort - for just about the same time as us (checking in on the same day, but they were staying a day longer). We were chatting with them, and my mom comes over and mentions the rooms being ready. I told her that ours was not ready. The cast member who checked them in said both rooms were ready (she could see both since the reservations were linked). Since we had been told ours was not ready - I didn't push the issue (and probably should have).
We decided to unload everything from the van and into my parents room for the time being, and then go check out the resort.
We walked around the resort to get a feel for everything, and to check out the grounds. I always love wandering and looking at the different buildings, landscaping, water, etc.
We stopped at the Pepper Market and had lunch.
Chicken Enchiladas (me)
Crab Cake Sandwich (DH)
Bacon Burger (DS)
Nachos (DD)
Chicken Dinner (Mom)
Bacon Burger (Dad)
Enjoyed the food. I love Mexican food and while this was by no means authentic, it was still pretty good and I was happy that I could have Mexican food and no one would complain about it since they were free to choose what they wanted.
Room still wasn't ready and still no text. So we went back to my parents room. (Cabana Section - they were in room 9204)
Our gifts had arrived from Memories by Betsy!
The kids were ecstatic with their gifts, and Mom and Dad were happy with theirs as well.
At 3:30, we still had not gotten a text. My friend was still waiting for their rooms as well, and we had been in contact by text. Her husband was told that check in was actually anytime between 3pm and 4pm. I had never ever heard that before, and everything I had seen stated 3pm.
We headed to the front desk to inquire. The cast member was entirely unapologetic. Had absolutely nothing to say. All she could say was that the check in was between 3pm and 5pm. And that they were completely booked the night before, blah blah blah. It all just didn't make sense to me -- if my parents room was ready at noon and we requested rooms in proximity -- you'd think our room would have been cleaned around the same time and ready around the same time. So, she finally decides to check the computer and VIOLA - our room was ready. Room 9203. Directly next door to my parents.
We also inquired at time about the main pool - and when it would reopen (it was closed). She told us she didn't know and that they'd be bussing people to other resorts to use their amentities. Honestly - I don't know why she told us this because she made it seem like the main pool would NOT reopen, and I was about ready to flip my lid, because part of the reason we booked a moderate was for the pool/water slide. At any rate, the main pool did reopen later. There was a quiet pool & the spa/health club that was under reno - so those things were closed (we knew that when we booked), so I'm not sure if she had meant that's why they were bussing guests elsewhere??
We finally got into our room - a nice corner one with 2 big windows, unpacked and got settled in, and took showers.
Our daughter had made us this and presented it to us before we left on the trip. I brought it along so we could display it in our room window.
As I was finishing up getting dressed after my shower, I thought I had heard a knock on the door. I came out from the sliding dividing doors from the sink area and saw this on the bed:
Inside was a gorgeous, sparkly white rose with a decorative card and a stunning crystal bracelet.
It was the first surprise of the trip from my husband for our anniversary (our actual anniversary was a couple days later into our trip). And the rose lasted the whole trip! It didn't wilt or look ugly after a few like most roses do. In fact, it still looked decent for quite awhile at home. It's still in the box, just dried up now, but still beautifully sparkly.
Once we were all ready - it was time to head out to Magic Kingdom since they were open late.
Our first stop was the People Mover in Tomorrowland. Then we headed into Fantasyland for the Little Mermaid.
It started to rain, so we ducked into Pinnochio's Village Haus to eat. We ordered pizza all around, except for my daughter, who ordered a chicken ceasar salad.
At this point, it was time for our Fast Pass on the 7 Dwarves Mine Train. My son, mom and dad opted to skip it after watching it. They thought the drop was too big and that it moved too quickly.
Oh well, their loss! We absolutely ADORED it! I loved it! It's a quick ride -- super quick -- but it's so much fun!
After that, we all rode It's A Small World. When that was finished, it was time for our Fast Pass on the Haunted Mansion. All of us went on that.
Then my son, mom and dad did the Enchanted Tiki Room, while my daughter and I flew on the Magic Carpets.
At this point, the Tiki Room was over - and my daughter and son went back on the flying carpets. Twice more in a row!
While we were waiting for them, a cast member came over and said "Have you gotten to enjoy one of these yet?" and was holding a Dole Whip Float. We replied "Not yet!" and she handed it over with some spoons and straws. Yummmm!!!!
While my son and parents finished the Dole Whip, me, my husband and daugther headed over to Big Thunder Mountain in the standby line. We rode it and afterwards we went right back on, this time with our Fast Pass.
My parents and son rode the flying carpets again - this time with their Fast Pass.
We headed out of the park around 11pm. It was back to our rooms and bed!
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I have to say, I enjoyed your photos of CSR. It's the only place we've ever stayed while at Disney. Our first trip was magical (as far as the CM's there); the second trip we encountered a lot of what you had. It was less than magical-so much so that we all decided we'd had enough of CSR. The grounds are still beautiful, and I do love the rooms though. We all loved Pepper Market too.
What a sweetie you have for a hubby! Love that rose and bracelet.
Sorry there was a delay getting into your room. Not what you want to hear after two days on the road. We were there September 7 thru the 18th. I wonder if we saw each other. Lol I can't wait to read more.
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Sorry about the wait for your room to be ready.
It was less than magical-so much so that we all decided we'd had enough of CSR. The grounds are still beautiful, and I do love the rooms though. We all loved Pepper Market too.
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