The Sunshine Family (and Little Dude) Does Disney Again! - PTR - Sept 2011 UPDATED 7/25 - Page 10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
(I broke the above into two posts, that last post was to long...)
Anyway, there was a point about the Dessert Party. Looking at my schedule, I see that I have Wed, Thurs and Fri nights free. Well, Wednesday isn’t a good day because that’s Animal Kingdom day, when Stitch will be separated with Little Dude. I’m doubting that she’ll have the energy after being on extra alert all day for doing a night show. Thursday is out because that’s one of the worst days at DHS, as it was the original Fantasmic! show night. Friday is a possibility, but not a definite. That’s the day DB is flying in and who knows if he’ll have energy for a show that night. Having both DB and myself there makes the crowds easier to deal with as we provide buffer on either side. So that would be the ideal night to go. But only if DB is up to it; it won’t work if he’s tired from working and then flying down.
So, thinking these things through, noticing that I have the Dessert Party booked twice, I realized that my priorities changed. Even if I didn’t mean for them to change, they changed. If Fantasmic! is still a priority, then I should cancel the Dessert Parties to give us the flexibility needed to plan for it. But I didn’t want to do that - and that’s when I realized that Fantasmic! was just not going to happen on this trip.
And I realized that I was ok with it. The Dessert Party, the Wishes Fireworks and Tinker Bell on the zip line had become a higher priority, without me realizing it. And I was good with that.
Stitch and I are hoping to take a trip to The World in January, 2012. Just the two of us and Little Dude. January would be prime time to catch Fantasmic! It’s another low-crowd time of year, possibly even lower than Sept. It’s also not hot & humid like Sept is, so that would take care of the sweaty smell of too many people baking in the sun all day.
So, really, this may be working all out for the best.
Yeap It just took me some time to get my thinking there and I'm glad that I started writing everything out as it let me see the problem much more clearly.
I am sad that there is a very good possibility that we won't see Fantasmic! But at the same time, I'm thinking of all the worries I won't have to do now. That show may be really good, but that crowd, combined with hot weather, looks to be the perfect recipe for disaster for Stitch. And she'd sit through it because she knows I want to see it. And then what? We'd be back where we were after the first full day of our last trip - with Stitch basically in tears wanting to go home because we pushed too hard.
So I am happy about all of this. It makes more sense, it will cause less problems (we would have had to leave several nights open to try and do Fantasmic!) and we get to see Wishes *twice* which we are all excited for.
Part 3 or 4 - The part where I think we’re slightly insane (or at least, I’m slightly insane.)
So, with the big four questions mostly resolved, and most of our table service credits booked, with the exception of three which will be free floating, I started tweaking. Well, started would not be accurate. I’ve been tweaking - probably been tweaking too much, honestly! Does anyone else do this? Keep checking to see if you can get a slightly earlier ADR, or maybe slightly later? Even if it’s only 15 minutes? Or 5 even!?
Anyway, so tweaking away, having a better idea of which park on which day, I started to map out what to do in each park. Not in any order per se, but writing down all the character meet & greets that we wanted to do, and their times. Noting all the rides that are Stitch’s wish list combined with mine. Realizing that there are only four rides in all of MK that I have not done! I think I have a new goal for the trip, LOL! Once I put together a list like that, I realized that our late breakfasts may be too late. While it sounds really nice to get up later for a 9:30 breakfast, Mickey and Tink have already been doing meet & greets for 30 minutes at that point. Tack on the hour or so for the meal, and we’re already “behind!” When did the Fairy Godmother and Mary Poppins become a priority?
Another thing driving this planning is the Fantasyland expansion. When it comes, later 2012 or early 2013, Magic Kingdom is going to be packed. And I have a feeling that MK is going to be packed for a long time; it’s going to be the “hot” park for a couple of years. I think that even in low crowd months, this park is going to be packed. I’m expecting that for future visits we won’t be spending multiple days there. We’ll probably spend more time in Epcot, maybe even DHS!
So, I want to try and fit in as much MK as we can this trip, without getting sick of the park
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.
As long as people keep having kids and some of us can revisit our kidhood MK will allways be a HOT PARK So sometimes we'll probably just have to take it in , in smaller bites
Does anyone else do this? Keep checking to see if you can get a slightly earlier ADR, or maybe slightly later? Even if it’s only 15 minutes? Or 5 even!?
LOL i was tweaking this morning!! I do it all the time because now that everything is pretty much planned out i have nothing to do...so i tweak
Your idea for the Dessert Party is great. Any time you get to sit back and enjoy anything at disney sans crowd is the bomb (probably why I like Feb so much). Your choice to wait on Fantasmic is smart. I've only been once. While it's something everyone should see - I can't justify waiting all that time for a show and then dealing with the insane crowds leaving the theater. See it when the crowd levels are lower.
A suggestion. If possible, snag a seat in the sleigh outside of the Christmas Shoppe in Liberty Square to watch the parade. We plopped ourselves there about an hour and a half early, strolled across the street to get some excellent Chicken and Rice Soup and other snacks from Sleepy Hollow. The was the best viewing spot ever. The sleigh sits across from the castle so you can watch the lights change color and once the parade starts all your pics will have the castle in the background. The sleigh is up higher, above the crowd and surrounded by a fence. VIP if you ask me.
Another suggestion. Bookmark http://www.wdwent.com/ this website lists meet and greet times as well as any other entertainment going on at WDW. Check it just before leaving so you have the most up to date info. It will really help you get all the pics you have on your todo list.
__________________
Last edited by jennie622; 07-26-2011 at 04:30 PM..
Sounds like your plans are coming along nicely! Even if you are still "tweaking" them I think we all do it, I know I do right down until we are leaving! I'm constantly looking over my passporter and my planning notes, all the while getting strange looks from DH, wondering what else I could possibly be planning I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
Sounds like your plans are coming along nicely! Even if you are still "tweaking" them I think we all do it, I know I do right down until we are leaving! I'm constantly looking over my passporter and my planning notes, all the while getting strange looks from DH, wondering what else I could possibly be planning I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
Don't let the allergy stop you - Disney would make a special plate all for her, prepared with the care that they would for anything else that she wanted to eat. Someone else posted on the boards about needing sugar-free and was more than satisfied with the options and the CM checking multiple times for a refill.
About This Page: 
Congrats on being PIF!!!! Oh - and I speak whale! 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
NEW: 
(Miss Molly)
i was tweaking this morning!! I do it all the time because now that everything is pretty much planned out i have nothing to do...so i tweak 
I can't wait to hear about your experience at the Dessert Party, we've never done it before and I'm not sure we will with my DDs peanut allergy (Desserts are almost always a no no for her, and I'm just not sure that there will be enough for her to eat to justify the cost), so I'm happy with living vicariously through others' reports!
Linear Mode
