Is It Time Already?! OKW and POR, November 2013 - Page 11 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
All caught up and loving it! I love that Sophia wore the ears the whole trip. I appreciate the tips on using FP+. I agree with you that it's a pain to now have to pin down times for meals and rides. Glad to hear, though, that the FP+ are more flexible than I originally thought. Sounds like you have a perfect spot to finally see Wishes. Hope the desserts are good! The photo of the kids on the monorail is wonderful. Sophia's reaction to "having" to see Bill Nye on vacation--
Sounds like things are going well. Sorry for all the noise. When we stayed at okw we didnt experience that.
Now that I've stay there, I can see where location makes a big difference at OKW. If I were in a room right next to the loops where the bus turns around, I wouldn't have been too thrilled...although mercifully the bus noise would be gone between midnight and 7am!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a great day so far - I can't wait to hear more about the dessert party, as it sounds like you've got a great spot.
Good to know that you can change your Fastpass + if you don't need to use it, as I never realised that.
The only times I tried changing around FP+ were before the window opened, when I knew I wouldn't be able to use it at the chosen time. It was a CM I hear who was instructing some people ahead of us in line that they should just go through the regular line and then switch the FP+ to something else...which implies you should be able to change it even if the FP+ time has begun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you're having a great day! Love the pictures! Can't wait to hear about the dessert party!
It was a great day...a bit grumpy with the kids before the dessert party, but it picked up a bit after we finally sat down!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Sounds like a great time at Epcot! Can't wait to hear about your Dessert Party "dinner"
Nothing wrong with dessert for dinner when you're on vacation, right?!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
All caught up and loving it! I love that Sophia wore the ears the whole trip. I appreciate the tips on using FP+. I agree with you that it's a pain to now have to pin down times for meals and rides. Glad to hear, though, that the FP+ are more flexible than I originally thought. Sounds like you have a perfect spot to finally see Wishes. Hope the desserts are good! The photo of the kids on the monorail is wonderful. Sophia's reaction to "having" to see Bill Nye on vacation--
I'm sure they're going to tweak FP+ as it continues to be rolled out to the masses, and I imagine they're looking at how ADRs are working as well. When it's not busy, I think FP+ and ADRs are adequate, because there is flexibility to change things around (even though psychologically you feel like you have to adhere to your original schedule!). When it's busy, though, it's a lot harder! Toward the end of our trip as the crowds grew exponentially, it was much harder to switch our FP+ times around because usually they were only available around 10 or 11 at night, which was usually later than we were expecting to be at the parks.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I fell behind! Everything sounds like it's going pretty good so far. The FP+ makes me nervous, but glad you're finding it relatively easy. Can't wait to hear what you thought about the dessert party! I'm thinking of adding it on our next trip. DH & I have done it, but the boys haven't.
I fell behind! Everything sounds like it's going pretty good so far. The FP+ makes me nervous, but glad you're finding it relatively easy. Can't wait to hear what you thought about the dessert party! I'm thinking of adding it on our next trip. DH & I have done it, but the boys haven't.
After the first day or two, I became really adept at changing FP+ times on the fly! Having MDE on your smartphone made it really really easy. I don't know how convenient the FP+ kiosks were, but hopefully they're not too difficult to get to if people don't have a smartphone.
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
So great to have low even crowd levels that FastPasses aren't really necessary. Sounds like you had quite a bit of fun at Epcot, and then who can't enjoy desserts at MK.
Our table was in the front row, almost exactly halfway between the entrance area and the buffet area. Here was our view (sorry it's blurry, but it gives you an idea of how great our view was!):
Being at the dessert party was fun, but it was almost like a cattle call! People were rushing to get in line to get food like it was going out of style! We got in line, and we each filled a small plate with things we wanted.
I thought I had taken a picture at the buffet area, but I can't find it anywhere, so I guess I didn't.
We had things like tiramisu, creme brelee, mango shooter, cupcakes, cookies, fruit, cheesecake, chocolate covered strawberries, ice cream, milk, punch, water, and I think coffee. I was actually expecting hot chocolate, but there wasn't any.
We really didn't eat a lot of the dessert...I mean, we tried a lot of stuff, but we didn't go crazy like I saw some people did!
When we were seated, the CM showed us to our table and told us that we should expect people standing at the railings. Our fantastic table location wouldn't really do us any good unless we got up early to snag a spot at the railing. I already knew to expect it, and little by little, people started to fill up the railing space. Wouldn't you know it, the tallest man at the party stood right between us and the castle! There was no way we'd be able to stay seated and see ANY of the show, lol!
Before the spaces filled up at the railing, I got a few pics:
The Electrical Parade started going by a little after 8, and we could sort of see it. I love that parade. It's part of my childhood growing up "at" Disneyland. I miss it so much, and I was really happy to see it...more importantly, to hear it!
Once Wishes began, we all moved around trying to find a good spot. Evan was doing his best to get a good view (sorry, my phone takes terrible pics in the dark):
After the fireworks, we took a few more pics and then slowly headed out (Evan looks like he's done for the night, right?).
We had a good time at the party, but it's probably not something I'll do again...maybe I would, but I wouldn't be upset if I couldn't go back. I'm not a huge sweets person (but that didn't stop me from having two creme brulee's that night!). I went back a few times to get more food or drink, and things were empty or almost empty a lot of the times (I'm telling you, it was almost like a Black Friday sale...there was no pushing or shoving, but people were seriously inching up on you unable to wait until they could pile up their plates with food!). I think the CMs had a hard time keeping things stocked. For me, I did it for the convenience of having a seat and something to munch on while waiting for the fireworks, and it was very much worth it for that. The food was good, not fabulous but not terrible. I had enough to eat (although I could've done with one more creme brulee, but they were out ), and the kids did as well.
We meandered out, took some PhotoPass pics at the castle and on Main Street, and we didn't have to wait too long for a bus back to OKW.
Next: Really?! Again?!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
So great to have low even crowd levels that FastPasses aren't really necessary. Sounds like you had quite a bit of fun at Epcot, and then who can't enjoy desserts at MK.
The first 5-6 days, the crowds were really small (the crowd level was a 2 on most days).
The Dessert Party was fun, and I'm glad I did it. The way they serve smaller portions is perfect for me...I like to have a little taste of all of it!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
It's really too bad that everyone stands at the railing for the dessert party. If everyone stayed seated, everyone could see! What a view you would have had from that table. I guess I'll stick with the crowds on Main Street.
It's really too bad that everyone stands at the railing for the dessert party. If everyone stayed seated, everyone could see! What a view you would have had from that table. I guess I'll stick with the crowds on Main Street.
What I've read is that the tables are assigned in the order they make the reservations, so the earlier reservations get the better seats. I'm pretty sure I was one of the first ones to reserve because I remember checking every day starting late September until I saw it available (I think it was in the first or second week of October). I guess there's really no incentive to book early.
I think the people who sat in the back row probably would've had an obstructed view due to the overhang over the seating area, but I think most people would've been able to see fine if they had remained seated. Evan got bored soon after the fireworks started, but Sophia and I wanted to see the fireworks. We ended up walking all the way to the buffet area where there was some railing space open and watched it from there.
I wasn't joking when I said the tallest guy at the party stood at the railing in front of our table. He had to have been at least 6'6" and not a skinny guy either! And then another guy stood next to him, and if he had stood still, we would've been able to see some of the castle show, but it was like he had hot feet because he kept shifting his weight from foot to foot and swaying left and right (and not to the beat of the music if that's what you were thinking!). LOL, I love people watching, so it was actually sort of fun to watch the people who were blocking my view!
__________________
Huge Disney Fan...Always Have Been...Always Will Be!
Disneyland 60th Anniversary Celebration TR here!
2013 WDW trip here!
2011 trip to Hawaii here!
I am glad you all enjoyed the Dessert Party. We have done it 3 times and will probably not do it again. The very first time we were told as we entered that we'd be expected to remain seated during Wishes. We had a table like you all right at the railing. Perfect! The next two times it was a free-for-all for the railing spots, and so where you were seated didn't matter. I enjoyed the desserts and the view but not enough to fight for a spot anymore.
Too bad with some of the attendees at the dessert party! At least you had a good time in general. Can't beat two creme brulees, as that would be me! Not a big sweets person either but those are one of my faves along with chocolate and various sorbets!
I went to a dessert party about four years ago and there wasn't any problems. Of course it was a sponsored event for this site's Decade of Dreams celebration for Fantasmic at DHS. Much more organized and civilized too, than what you encountered! No creme brulee for that! Only disappointment there. All Passporters for that event.
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Glad you had such low crowds at Epcot. Love the pictures from the MK, glad you tried the dessert party, we have done it several times and it definitely can be a cattle race for dessert and I agree the best seats really do not matter as everyone is standing up, we usually grab a spot and just enjoy but after a few years of going I think my girls are dessert partied out.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
There was no way we'd be able to stay seated and see ANY of the show, lol!
At least you had a good time in general. 
Linear Mode
