You can take the girl out of Disney, BUT……… - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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
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Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
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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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Finally all caught up with everything. I've often thought abou doing IOA and US but after I read other people's reports I'm glad I stick with Disney. I know that they have some cool rides but it's the little things - like crowd control and the 3 mile hike to the parking garage that make it unDisney.
Do they still have the Hanana Barabara ride? It has been ages since I've been to US. I didn't even know they got rid of the Nick studios. Last time I was there they still had Earthquake, Jaws, King Kong, Back to Future, Beetlejuese (SP?) so it has been a long time. I just can't justify losing a Disney day and spending the extra money. I'm not a Harry Potter fan so that doesn't entice me either. Perhaps as my son gets bigger and wants more coasters...I'll have to go then.
Glad you finally were able to settle on somewhere for dinner! You made good time getting over there.
We did make good time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
Finally all caught up with everything. I've often thought abou doing IOA and US but after I read other people's reports I'm glad I stick with Disney. I know that they have some cool rides but it's the little things - like crowd control and the 3 mile hike to the parking garage that make it unDisney.
Do they still have the Hanana Barabara ride? It has been ages since I've been to US. I didn't even know they got rid of the Nick studios. Last time I was there they still had Earthquake, Jaws, King Kong, Back to Future, Beetlejuese (SP?) so it has been a long time. I just can't justify losing a Disney day and spending the extra money. I'm not a Harry Potter fan so that doesn't entice me either. Perhaps as my son gets bigger and wants more coasters...I'll have to go then.
Looking forward to hearing about HDDMR.
Sounds like you were there about the same time I was last there...late 90's.
It is really fun there, but it is different too. I am glad we got to take the time to experience. it helped me remember what I liked about it in the past.
After getting checked in we still had quite a bit of time to waste. Skip and Claire started walking, so I went on my own and tried to get a few pictures. Being that it was so dark, it really was hard to get anything good….that didn’t stop me from trying though.
I spotted the Trading Post, something I really hadn’t paid much attention to in the past.
I decided to mosey on over there and take a look. I also was hoping to spot what the 2012 zip up sweatshirt looks like. If you have followed me in the past, you know I have an obsession with sweatshirts, and I try to get one with the year on it each year.
I didn’t find a sweatshirt, but there was quite a few other cute items.
I had only been in the store for about a minute and guess who found me? …. Claire. She said she saw me walk in and Skip said she could join me, and she ran! LOL! She was worried I would be buying something without her probably. I was just browsing though.
We looked at the Mickey Gnomes. Claire likes gnomes right now because she recently learned about the Travelocity gnome. How he came about..... because originally someone had stolen someone’s gnome out of their yard and took him on travels all over. I think they had him for a year or 2, but anyways, they returned the gnome after his travels with all the photos of where he had been. I can remember when this story was on the today show and I thought it was hilarious. I’m sure Travelocity paid someone good money to have the rights to using the Gnome…..Anyways, Claire didn’t know much about gnomes till one day she asked about the commercial and I told her the story. And being that I had taken Phineas and Ferb along for my August trip and taken photos of them, she really liked that story quite a bit.
Back out to the porch we went.
I then sent this picture to facebook for the where am I game. I was getting some guesses, some were right, but then people would second guess themselves. I believe my fellow TA Mindy was really working hard to figure it out and eventually she did.
We headed over by the boat dock.
And took a seat.
Another picture for the where are we game.
Which threw people for a loop a bit.
Skip talked on the phone and Claire took her shoes off and played in the sand. It was a nice evening. One of those nights where you would need a sweatshirt, but at times it was warm enough to take it off, so we did a lot of putting it on and taking it off.
While sitting there, I tried to get a picture of the life jacket bins.
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I don't know how you didn't strangle Skip with the dinner plans! Also a little surprised you scored a ressie for HDDR with so little advanced notice! Lucky!!
I don't know how you didn't strangle Skip with the dinner plans! Also a little surprised you scored a ressie for HDDR with so little advanced notice! Lucky!!
I am close ti it at time. Usually you can get the late show fairly easily. it wasn't even filled on the first floor and the second floor had no one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rhinohunter
Nice start to the evening. I would have never guessed the "where am I" shots.
I was hoping they were bad enough that it made it harder to figure out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mommapants
I love running barefoot in the sand at night when it is so soft and cool.
Claire was very worried we would miss the show sitting at the beach area. We kept telling her we had plenty of time, but she still thought we should be next to the building…waiting. We finally decided it was time to head over that way. We went ahead of Skip and were going to use the bathroom before getting in line to check in.
I took this on the way over….the lawnmower tree. I really don’t “get it”. But I have seen it in other TR’s before.
I tried to get a shot of the carriage…not so great…but I tried.
The line for check in was pretty long and Claire thought we should skip using the bathroom and get in it. I told her no, why wait in a long line when we could just go to the bathroom and come back out…and hopefully it would be shorter.
When we did get back out to the line, Skip was in it and it was much shorter. We trades spots with him and he went off to the bathroom too.
We got checked in and then waited some more.
This was my last “where are we” picture I posted.
We just kind of sat around and waited. Many people were lining up by the stairs, and Claire thought we would miss it. Again, we told her that we could see the doors and when they opened we would head that way.
When the doors opened we walked slowly that way and easily got in. There were a few others like us who didn’t need to rush in and be first. We have seen this show 2 other times, so we knew we didn’t have to be the first in. Your table has already been assigned.
We had a decent table on the first floor. In fact the 2nd floor wasn’t even used. We had food waiting on the table for us and we dug right in.
Drink orders were taken. Beer is included with the price and I went for that this night.
Soon the show started. The Pioneer Players come in from the rear. They are always so much fun and they do mingle in the crowd too.
The guy in the plaid pants has been in every show we have seen.
There is a lot of singing and dancing and corny jokes.
One thing to note…the Hoop Dee Doo song is no longer sung. I believe it was the song they came in to, and it might’ve been sung when they left too. I don’t remember the exact details, but Brook told me about it last summer at AEP. It had to do with something about…the guy who wrote it died and his family wouldn’t negotiate the rights with Disney, so they had to stop singing it.
I spotted a cast member by our table and I was ready. I knew she was scoping us out!
Claire was very embarrassed.
When they sang the song about where you are from, we were one of the people they sang about. The will ask what state you are from and then make up a little song about it. It’s kind of funny. We live in Ohio, and the funny thing is, the other states they sang about were Michigan, Indiana, and Pennsylvania, all our bordering states. I guess it was spring break in our area of the country.
The players then take a break and the main course comes out. Claire always wonders what they are doing when they disappear, so we often tell her that they are eating back stage. LOL
The meal consist of ribs, chicken, mashed potatoes, cowboy beans, (which I find to be absolutely disgusting), and corn. I think it years past it was corn on the cob, but now it’s corn in a bowl.
The food is decent…not nothing to write home about, but still good. And in the 3 times we have now gone, the first time the food was fabulous, the 2nd time it was just OK, and this time it was in between those 2 rankings. I would say it’s very similar to the skillet at Whispering Canyon Café.
It couldn’t have been too bad, because I ate soooo much, especially the mashed potatoes. I swear I over indulged to the point of feeling sick…and Skip even ate more…
After we eat for a while, the players come back out again. Again we were a lucky family, but I can’t remember what for this time.
They sing “Oh My Darling” and act it out. Until I saw this show for the first time, I had no clue really what the song is about. Of course I hear Huckleberry dog sing it, but who knew it was a tragic story about a girl dying…and then the guy ends up with her sister. LOL
Towards the end of the show is dessert time and they do a song about strawberry short cake…because that is what we are about to eat!
And here is the only picture I got of the strawberry shortcake.
It is DARN good stuff, but I was so full that I could only eat a few bites.
Claire and I ran to the bathroom then really quickly. We knew it was close to over, and she had to go, and in a few minutes time the bathroom would have a line.
At the end they bring out washboards and we get to make noise. Always a highlight for the kids…and kids at heart. (notice the big kid behind the washboard playing too.)
It was time for the players to leave.
We had a great time as usual. We headed out (and sure enough there was a huge line at the bathroom), and got in line for a bus to take us back to the front. This time we weren’t so lucky. It was jammed packed and it was one that went around the campgrounds making several stops along the way. We had to stand till it emptied out a bit more. We heard some people talking who were coming back from the Magic Kingdom and they made the comment that it was taking just about an hour to get back to their campsite. As much as I like Ft. Wilderness, this is a reason I wouldn’t want to stay there. It’s huge and spread out and involves a lot of travel time. If I stayed there, I would definitely want a golf cart to get around. Speaking of golf carts. We saw the redneck version of one as we made our way to the front. Grandpa had a scooter and about 4 kids piled in it with him. Even the bus drive was laughing about it.
Once we got to the front we got back to the car and headed back to the Quality Inn. Claire completely conked out. She was a tired girl. When we got back to the hotel I tried to get a picture of her, but she woke up as I was getting the camera out. We headed off to bed, with a little bit of TV (Skip has to watch some before bed every night, no matter what the time) and we drifted off to dream land once again. The next day was going to be busy as well, but we made a slight change in the original plans and part of that was to let Claire sleep in just a tad bit.
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Usually you can get the late show fairly easily. it wasn't even filled on the first floor and the second floor had no one.
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