Pop and Legos on Our Annual Feb. Trip! - Page 14 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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.
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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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Wonderful updates! Those fried apples sound . I love the MiniLand section and how it really looks just like very creative people playing with Lego. The large stuff you really can't aspire to do at home, but these could inspire some great home building.
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More great pictures from Legoland! Someone I know went to Legoland and was raving about those Apple Fries. They sound sooooo good, I really want to try them!!
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The Obama Family on the steps of the White House, even the dog Bo!
All 3 of us took a pic of this, we thought it was very clever. This was in the desert part of Las Vegas, the guy on the left has died of thirst, see the vulture hovering over him, and just around the corner is a stand selling water! Someone got a hoot out of creating that one!
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Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
After finishing our tour of MiniLand, we did some shopping. DS got a minifig set in the Mini Fig Market and I bought a set of salt and pepper shakers shaped like Lego heads. They are too cute! And my Mom stopped at the Candy Corner store for some half-price goodies. They were clearing out their merchandise to move, I forget what they said was coming into that space.
Previously we had shopped in the Garden Shop, where they have some Cypress Gardens items, butterfly stuff and seeds, along with Legos and the Lego Studios, where you will find all the licensed sets, like Star Wars and Harry Potter.
I was looking for a magnet, picture frame and t-shirts, so we stopped in the Big Shop at the entrance. I found a frame (but it seems like they had nicer frames at the places in the park where you could buy ride pics and such, but I don’t know if you can buy just the frames at those places) and magnet, but had no luck with T-shirts. I found a cute t-shirt that only came in XL, so I bought that for DS to wear as PJs. I didn’t find anything for me.
We slowly walked out of the Park, taking more pics as we went and stopping at the bathrooms. I think we may have exited before 5pm. But we were tired!
So, that was our day at LegoLand.
Let’s see, other things I want to tell you :
At most all the rides they have Lego playtables set up so kids can play while they wait or if they don’t want to ride, nice touch!
On the website and on the map it says there is no smoking allowed inside the park. And yet on the other side of the map it shows a designated smoking area in the Land of Adventure area, near Coastersauraus. My Dad didn’t bring his pipe stuff in, because we thought he couldn’t smoke. So just be aware that you may or may not be allowed to smoke in the Park.
So, we were there from 10am-5pm, on a slow day, and we still missed several attractions. The 4D Theatre (would have checked this out if we had time, can’t remember what the shows were), the Duplo Village area (but DS is too old for that stuff), The Dragon coaster, Merlin’s Challenge, The Big Test Live Show, Kid Power Towers and Beetle Bounce, DS wasn’t interested in riding most of these.
The only thing that I’m really sorry we didn’t get to is the Imagination Zone, an indoor play area. I think DS would have really liked that. But there just wasn’t enough time.
I think when they open up the Water Park in May, this will definitely be a 2 Day Park. But with longer summer hours you might be able to do everything in the theme park area in one day. Of course with longer lines, it may be harder to get everything done too. Just remember, do not miss the AquaZone Wave Racers!
I think I mentioned these tips other places in the TR, but don’t waste time building your own minifigs at LegoLand, do it at the DTD store. And the Pick a Brick selection is better at DTD too.
As for the food - the Castle Burger place was just ok, and had no indoor seating. Try somewhere else! I had read good things about the Pizza & Pasta Buffet in Fun Town and the food at the Lakeside Sandwich Co. near the ski show looked good. And definitely get the apple fries. I asked if they could put them in a bag for easier carrying, but they didn't have anything. So bring your own baggie and take some home with you!
The ride back to WDW was fine; we weren’t hungry so we didn’t stop for dinner. We all thought a dip in the pool would be refreshing. So when we got back to Pop, we changed and went in the pool right away. In just a little bit it started to rain, so we spent the rest of the evening in the room, watching TV and eating pizza from the Food Court. Their pizza is pretty good!
Tomorrow was our last day and we were going to try to just relax.
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Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
We got up late and had a leisurely morning. Today was really warm and sunny, so I broke out the shorts for the first time this trip! We decided to go to Cast Connections first to shop and then have lunch at Sanna at the AKL.
We bought a few things at Cast Connections; they had a great deal on some old Vinylmations, something like 3 for $9.00. There was a sea life series that DS liked so he got a whale and a lobster and one other, maybe a Tron one. We also found small kid sized footballs and basketballs with 2011 on them for $1.00 each, so we ended up buying those for our dog. He chewed them up almost immediately, but he got a little bit of pleasure out of them!
Then we drove over to the AKL. We walked around the lobby and pool area, looking at the animals.
The lizard and flamingos were out by the pool
And then walked over to the Villas where Sanna is. We got the bread service to share and I had the Tandoori chicken and a Mango Margarita. Dh had the Lamb, Mom had the shrimp and Dad had the burger option. DS got a plain chicken breast and ice cream sundae from the kids menu. DH and I love the food here, my parents not so much. But we used their 40% off option here, they get that all the time at lunch.
These guys were outside the windows at Sanna.
This is also where my Mom broke the news to me that she had decided not to return to work at Disney at all in the Fall. Because she broke her foot and wasn’t able to work at all in 2012, she would need to return to Orlando and work at least 2 weeks before Oct 1st to stay on the schedule. Otherwise she would have to go through the hiring process again. Since they were not planning on returning before Oct 1st, she decided to just let her seasonal position terminate.
It makes me a little sad, but over the last couple years even DS has gotten kind of bored with going into the Parks. Last year we added in Universal and the WWoHP to keep things exciting and this year LegoLand. And we did Sea World previously too. So taking a break from the Parks will not be a big deal. But this year still getting the room discount, and food and souvenir discounts was great! I will have to do some research to get a good hotel and find other attractions to try in the next few years. With the cheap airfare and my parents still working at the Disney Wilderness Preserve we will most likely still go down to see them every February. I can still get my Disney fix without going into the Parks, it just won’t be as cheap!
We returned to PoP after lunch and napped, DS did homework, read, swam, had cocktails by the pool, and walked across the bridge to see the new Art of Animation Resort. I won’t even share my pics because there are so many newer and better ones out on the internet, but it was fun to see it at the time!
We weren’t hungry for dinner so we drove over to the Grand Floridian to see the MK fireworks. They have a nice seating area at the dock just for this purpose, but if I had to do it over again, I’d opt for the beach at the Poly. We met some nice folks there and chatted awhile with them. But we decided to not stay for the EWP and just go back to PoP. We got chicken and fries from the food court for a late dinner and packed up.
Wednesday, February 29th
We had Quicksilver car service pick us up this morning so my parents didn’t have to get up so early. Pick up was at 5am, way too early! But there were lots of people out at the MK bus stop to get to “One More Disney Day”. After a quick and quiet ride to the airport and just a little bit of harassment from the TSA about DH’s expired license, we were on our way home. My MIL picked us up, we played with our very excited dog for a bit and I took DS to school. Poor thing! I had the day off, so I unpacked and started laundry, etc. It was a bit chilly this day so it made us appreciate the warm weather in Orlando the day before.
So that is it for our 2012 trip. I don’t know when I will be able to write another WDW TR. But I will be lurking around
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Donning my Wellies to cut Peat in Scotland
Melissa
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. I love the MiniLand section and how it really looks just like very creative people playing with Lego. The large stuff you really can't aspire to do at home, but these could inspire some great home building.
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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