The West's are heading South...again! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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I have a few pictures ready to share. Some are from before the trip, like this one:
I loved these nails. I got so many compliments on them I just got them redone today and I was so sad to see them go
And here are the apples of my eye on the boat to DTD on our first day:
The poor unfortunate soul about to get eaten...
My favorite, Sticky Toffee Pudding:
Banoffee Tart, also yummy:
The Jaffa Cakes:
The raised bridge at Epcot:
Illuminations pre-show:
Tuesday was our AK day. The kids and I were out the door around 8:45. We took the bus and DH was planning to join us later, in time for our Safari. Our first stop was Dinosaur:
As you can see, there were some mixed reactions to the dino that tried to eat us. I love the family in front of us. It's so fun to be silly for the camera
After our close escape, we walked over to EE and DS and I rode in the SRL. We only had about a 10 minute wait. It is a fun ride, but a "one and done" for me. We decided to head on over to Africa in anticipation of our safari. Our FP+ was good until 11:20 and it was already 11. DH had texted he was on his way, so we decided to get a snack and wait at the tables by the entrance. I had my favorite Jalapeno Cheese pretzel, DD had a pineapple spear, and DS tried something new, the "elephant ear", which turned out to be a swirly, Mickey shaped pastry, very flaky, with chocolate dipped ears. He loved it.
It was getting really close to time for our FP+, and DH had to run through the park to make it, but we got in just in the nick of time. We chatted with a nice CM while in line. She loved my nails. Our safari was good, but it was later than we usually go, so the animals were not as active. The lions weren't even out. Oh, well. It was still fun.
Our next FP+ was for Primeval Whirl. I don't particularly love this ride, but the line gets really long, and the kids like it, so thus the FP. After the ride, we were all pretty hungry and went to Restaurantosaurus to eat. DH was a little grumbly about that choice, since we had eaten there in August and he didn't love it. I explained that it is really the best choice for us as the kids don't like BBQ or Chinese and I don't love Pizzafari. That is why we usually end up just grabbing a quick lunch there and making dinner plans at someplace more exciting. We went ahead and ordered our food. I had ordered light lemonades for Peyton and myself, but she put in their "fancy" lemonade instead (it is more expensive). I just asked the guy if we could refill the cups at the soda fountain and he said no problem and even gave me a couple of different cups and offered us a free desert, but I said it was really no biggie and we went to go find a table.
Here is where things got a little hairy...DH had our food and found an empty table. As he set the tray down, the CM decided to clean the end of the table and sprayed it with some kind of clear liquid in a squirt bottle. Unfortunately, the liquid hit the table and then splattered...all over DH's arm and our food. DH was very irritated, so was of course saying stuff to me about it. I told him I'm sure it was just water and got him to calm down and have a seat. No sooner does he sit down, when the CM squirted the table behind him and...you guessed it...splattered him all over his back. He was SO mad. The CM was walking by our table and I stopped him and said "Please tell me that there is nothing in that bottle but water, because you just squirted my husband with it. Twice." He tells me that is is actually sanitizer and then he says "I squirted the table, not your husband". Oh geez, that just ticked DH off even more and he said a few rude things to that CM, much to the mortification of the kids (nothing bad, just 'if you don't like me, why don't you just squirt me in the face?!'). I expected at least an apology, but apparently he felt he was only responsible for the liquid in the bottle as far as the initial squirt, not any of the consequential splatter. After that, lunch was eaten in silence and nobody was having any fun. I should have asked to speak to the manager, and I still might send and email. It was just so rude!
Anyway, our final FP+ was for KRR, so we started walking that way. I had been in contact with my student's mom and they were going to meet us after our ride. We all got pretty wet, but I was SOAKED! Lol, me and the other mom in the raft were both drenched. As we were pulling up to the end, I looked up and saw my little friend waving at me from the bridge. Then, she ran to the other side and proceeded to squirt me with the button they have on the bridge. Lol! She loves telling her classmates about that. After our ride, we met them and took our picture. Then we left the park and headed back to OKW for a little rest before...Date Night!
Wow! what an interesting day! Your nails are gorgeous! Did you do them yourself?! If so, can you please come over on July 18th and do mine?!?!. I would have been pretty upset about the whole lunch debacle as well. It sounds like things got better after that though! How adorable that your student squirted you!! Logan would have loved to have done that to me!
Oh, I would have been mad as well. So totally uncalled for response and behavior on the part of the CM.
Too funny about your student…bet she just loved telling her classmates about it!
Such a rude CM as well as quite clueless as to how spray works. I think I would be writing an e-mail. That kind of situation does put a temporary damper on the fun. I can image my high school students would have made sure I was beyond soaked with those squirt buttons.
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Wow! what an interesting day! Your nails are gorgeous! Did you do them yourself?! If so, can you please come over on July 18th and do mine?!?!. I would have been pretty upset about the whole lunch debacle as well. It sounds like things got better after that though! How adorable that your student squirted you!! Logan would have loved to have done that to me!
Tara
I designed the nails, but my "nail lady" did the actual work...she thought I was a little nuts while I walked her through what I wanted, "ok, my pinkies will be yellow, thumbs black, middle finger red. Then I want the ring finger half black, half red with a couple of yellow dots, and the pointer finger will be white with red dots, but will also have a black line at about French level, and the lower dots will be bigger than the upper dots...", well, maybe it did sound a little crazy, but they turned out great!
And it was adorable...maybe someone needs to show Logan the ways of the squirter button
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh my goodness, that family in front of you on Dinosaur were absolutely classic! I just love that photo.
Took me by surprise as they were pretty mellow on the ride. Lol
Quote:
Originally Posted by NanaTink
Oh, I would have been mad as well. So totally uncalled for response and behavior on the part of the CM.
Too funny about your student…bet she just loved telling her classmates about it!
Thanks for validating the irritation
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Such a rude CM as well as quite clueless as to how spray works. I think I would be writing an e-mail. That kind of situation does put a temporary damper on the fun. I can image my high school students would have made sure I was beyond soaked with those squirt buttons.
Oh, I am sure the high schoolers would have been merciless! And I am thinking about writing that email. All you really have to do is set the bottle for a "mist" instead of a spray and the problem would fix itself. I just don't remember a CM being so rude. An apology goes a long way, right?
Wednesday was 4/1, and housing sign up day for DD. She originally thought she could sign up at noon, but it ended up being 4pm instead. We slept in a bit and then started our day with breakfast at Olivia's. I enjoyed the Crab Cake Eggs Benedict:
It was pretty delicious, and the potatoes were good too. Kind of like the cheesy potato casserole a lot of people make, but without the cheese. DD and DH had biscuits and gravy, DS had waffles (he didn't care for the sausage). I think we were all pretty pleased with our meals. We had a little bit of time because I had thought we couldn't go anywhere until 1, so we just went back to our room and chilled for a bit.
We decided to drive to the DHS. Our first FP+ was for TSMM. I trounced DH, and was also high score in the vehicle, which means I trounced the kids too...yay ME! Lol, I am a little bit competitive, and it was fun to have DH there. Usually I ride alone as the kids have quite a rivalry going on as well.
From there, we hit the SRL at RNRC. The line was super short, and we were soon screaming along to Aerosmith. Our next stop was ToT, my favorite...We had a little time before our final FP+, so we went and watched the Muppets 3D before riding Star Tours.
I had been in contact with my little friend's mom, and we managed to meet up outside of Hollywood and Vine to get our DHS picture together.
It was close to 3 by now, so we left the park and headed back so DD could get on the laptop. That was a little stressful, with her having to jump through a few last minute hoops to get in to the system, but it all worked out. Now she just has to wait until May to find out where she will be living in the fall.
I had made dinner reservations at Paradiso 37 for this night, so we took the boat over and made our way to the restaurant. We were checked in quickly and were soon seated. We ordered the Mexican Dipping Trio for an appetizer, and it was tasty. We all liked at least one of the dips, so it all got eaten.
For our main courses, DD ordered beef enchiladas, DH went with the fish tacos, DS had the grilled chicken sandwich, and I went for the chicken burrito. It seemed like it took a while for our food to come out, but it was busy of course, so we didn't mind. However, when we did finally get our food, everything was cold. Isn't that weird? I mean, all of it. Our waitress had kind of disappeared, and no one else seemed real bothered by the temperature of there dinners, so we all just ate. Despite the coolness, everyone agreed that the food was good. My burrito was very flavorful. Our waitress was again proving hard to find, but a very nice manager had stopped by to check on us. We had a nice chat and I did tell her that our food was cold when we got it, even though we still enjoyed it. She was very apologetic and offered us free drinks or desserts. At first I said no (because I really felt more like we were just conversing, I wasn't "complaining" exactly), but she seemed to really want to make it right, so I allowed her to comp us a dessert. She was so nice. Overall, I would give Paradiso 37 a thumbs up, but it was not a favorite with the kids. They prefer Raglan Road
After we ate, DS wanted to head right back to the room, so he went and caught the bus. DD and I wanted to do a little shopping and DH was enjoing the live entertainment and people watching in front of the big Disney store. I was still hunting for the zip up hoodie I had seen our first night in the SM gift shop. I never did end up finding one anywhere in my size (nothing bigger than a medium to be had), but we did pick up the reversible Elsa/Anna doll for DD's coworker's daughter. After that, we found DH and headed to the bus stop. I have to say, the bus loop at DTD is kind of a mess right now. Yikes. It will be great when it is finished, I'm sure, but again...Yikes.
Tomorrow is our full DHS day...and I just realized I never posted about Date Night on Tuesday at Boma! Doh!!
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what an interesting day! Your nails are gorgeous! Did you do them yourself?! If so, can you please come over on July 18th and do mine?!?!
How adorable that your student squirted you!! 
Logan would have loved to have done that to me! 
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