Let's Start at the very beginning - PTR:August 17-31 2014 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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 gave Wrigley 2 doses of GasX and things were better last night and I didn't hear the gurgling in his stomach either.
Plans for Saturday, August 23rd (day 7)
After a quick breakfast in the room we are heading over the MK. As always I would like to be there as early as possible so we will see how that goes. Today we will concentrate on Fantasyland, both new and old. Our last visit Dumbo was still in its old place, the carousel had not been renamed, Snow White’s Scary Adventure was open, Toon Town was closed and all the constructions walls were up.
I’m looking forward to seeing all these changes for myself. I’m not too crazy about the pictures I’ve seen of the circus theme but I’ll really need to reserve my judgment until I’m there. The Snow White Mine train should be open by my visit as well so that will be pretty cool to try that out.
I hope to get right back and do Peter Pan and Enchanted Tales with Belle before it gets too crowded and hopefully without FP+. We will continue touring the area and getting all the good stuff – Ariel, Dumbo, Snow White train, Barnstormer and just taking in the surroundings. I’d like to finish up with letting the kids cool off at Casey Jr. and then clean up before our lunch at the Plaza which is new for all of us.
I’m really, really hoping I’m not pushing it too much this day. I thought the cooling off at Casey’s followed by a nice relaxing lunch will be our “afternoon break” as we won’t be heading back to the resort until later. I hope it recharges our batteries enough to go see the new afternoon parade after lunch. I’m gonna try for a FP+ so we aren’t rushed during lunch and can hopefully find a spot for the parade. I have a feeling it will be popular.
After the parade, if we are all up to it we may squeeze in a few things we missed. Mainly just stuff close to Main Street, like Aladdin, Swiss Family Tree house, Train or the Sorcerer game.
If we don’t have the energy, we will just leave.
Back at Shades of Green we will have some down time before heading off to do the Pirate and Pals Cruise at the Contemporary.
Dinner will either be at Shades or the Contempo Café in the Contemporary – I’ve heard good things about it.
The cruise gathering starts one hour and 15 minutes before Wishes. I assume Wishes will be at 10pm that night so that means we will need to be there by the latest of 8:45. We will aim for 8:30.
This is something new for all of us, not just this tour but seeing the fireworks from the lake on a boat. This is also a surprise for the boys. I need to see if I still have the crocodile hat Evan wore last time he meet Captain Hook – I’ll have to bring it this night.
After the cruise it is back to the hotel and a good night’s rest.
Firsts:
Evan – Everything in New Fantasyland, The Plaza, Parade, P&P cruise
Me – same as Evan
Mom – same as Evan
Eric – same as Evan
After a quick breakfast in the room we are heading over the MK. As always I would like to be there as early as possible so we will see how that goes.
We will be heading to MK on that Saturday too!! In the morning and will stay through the parade since we have 1:05 ADR for Crystal Palace! I'll try to FP+ the parade unless my daughter wants to use it for something else.
__________________
Margaret
May 1996 All Star Sports May 2000 Dixie Landings Dec 2001 Caribbean Beach - Barbados June 2002 Caribbean Beach - Aruba March 2003 Paradise Pier - Disneyland Aug 2011 Sheraton Vistana Aug 2014 Animal Kingdom Lodge (Yay!!)
Sounds like some nice MK plans! I wasn't too keen on the Circus theme either, but I kind of liked it when I saw it. The Dumbo play area is really cool (although a lot smaller than I thought from the pictures).
Sounds like a great MK day and we love the Plaza! Always wanted to see the fireworks from the lake, can't wait to hear all about it!
First time at the Plaza but it sounds good. I don't really care too much about the "pirate" stuff but being on the lagoon seeing the firewrks should be pretty cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Glad Wrigley seems to be feeling better. Another great day of plans!
Thanks - I'm gald he is better too - as of today he is allowed to jump on and off the couch - still no stairs when I'm not home.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Glad Wrigley is doing better!!!
Another great day of plans!!! We did the P&P cruise before and LOVED it!!!! There are a TON of snacks available!!!
That is what I was hoping - DESSERT!!! I've heard it is best to see the characters first and then get snacks as the lines are shorter then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Nice MK plans! The Pirates and Pals Cruise sounds like lots of fun as well as a nice relaxing way to see Wishes.
I don't kow how "relaxing" it will be with a bunch of excited kids but it will be interesting to say the least
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
Glad Wrigley is feeling better!
Plans for MK sound great. We've never done the Pirates and Pals cruise, but it sounds like fun! Looking forward to hearing about how you liked it.
Thanks - Riggs is doing better. He came off the steriods this weekend so I'm hoping we don't have any relapes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great plans for MK!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcc0313
Love the plans at the Magic Kingdom and what a great surprise for the boys....I think they will love the cruise
I hope they will like it - hey it's Captian Hook. Plus I don't think either have been on many boat rides so that, in and of itself, will be cool.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissNDisney
We will be heading to MK on that Saturday too!! In the morning and will stay through the parade since we have 1:05 ADR for Crystal Palace! I'll try to FP+ the parade unless my daughter wants to use it for something else.
Cool! Maybe we will see you. If you see us be sure to say Hello. PM as we get closer and maybe we will both have FP+ for the parade and could meet up there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by stardust190
Sounds like some nice MK plans! I wasn't too keen on the Circus theme either, but I kind of liked it when I saw it. The Dumbo play area is really cool (although a lot smaller than I thought from the pictures).
Thanks. I guess I'm just confused with why they did half of the expansion with one theme and the other half with a different theme. Hopefully I will like it once I see it.
Finally after a full week of run around time, we have a slower day. I say slower because this is the pool day at the resort and although there isn’t any running around at a theme park, the sun can really zap your energy.
Breakfast will be in the room or at the hotel and we won’t have to set the alarm for this morning.
After we get up I want to head over to tour The Art of Animation Resort. This looks so cute and Evan just adores Lightning McQueen. This is also the closest we will get to Carsland in Disneyland for a while. I wanted this to be a surprise but Evan saw the planning DVD which had this resort and some program on Destination America and asked if we could go here. I think he was disappointed that we were not staying here but I told him we would go over and explore. Hopefully I can still surprise Eric. This is the beauty in having our own car we can just drive ourselves over, do our touring and drive directly back, no waiting for buses and doing all the transfers.
I’d like to see if we can get into one of the Animation classes they do in the lobby then we don’t have to try and get one at the Studios plus it will be a lot easier getting the drawing back to the resort without bending it.
I think about an hour or so and we will be done touring. After that it is back to Shades of Green for the rest of the day. It will be pool time and resort time. They can spend some time in the arcade. We can pool hop between the 2 pools (one newly renovated and the other should have a new children’s play/splash area). Let them play at the playground. If we need to nap we can do it pool side or go back to the room. When we are hungry we will eat at the snack bar. I don’t think they have afternoon activities like they do at the Disney resorts but perhaps they will.
We have nothing planned all afternoon until our dinner at T-Rex. I wanted a 6pm time slot but was only able to get 5pm. I keep trying but nothing is open yet. I figured around May I’ll call the restaurant directly to see if I can get 6pm. I’m also going to join the Landry’s Club. With that I believe you get front of the line, even without an ADR and before those with ADR’s. If that is true then I will cancel the 5pm ADR completely and we will just arrive whenever we want for dinner.
After our dinner at T-Rex we will start to do some shopping at the Marketplace. Number one on Evan’s list will be the Lego Store. I’d like to go to Goofy’s candy and Basin and since both Evan and my mom are left handed then the lefty store. And the Christmas shop and Once Upon a toy – oh who am I kidding – every store. I think the Design your own T-shirt will be fun for the boys too. We will probably just wander around and check things out. I am not sure we will do World of Disney as that store is so big and can take so long. I might save it for later in the trip.
Walking around and shopping can actually wear a person out so when we get tired we will head back to the hotel for bed.
Today’s plans really are flexible so I’m using this as a back up to the Pirate and Pals cruise in case it rains on Saturday.
Firsts:
Evan – AOA, new pools at SOG, T-Rex, most of the stores at DTD(MP)
Me – Same as Evan
Mom – Same as Evan
Eric – Same as Evan
Pool time and some exploring around AoA sounds like fun. Evan will LOVE the cars section, it's really great!
We have a Landry's card, and you are right, it does get you immediate seating at TRex. We had an ADR there last August, but when the hostess saw our card she told us that reservations weren't necessary. With the card, you are guaranteed to be seated within 10 minutes
About This Page: 
Deb
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Holly: 
The Pirates and Pals Cruise sounds like lots of fun as well as a nice relaxing way to see Wishes. 
I say slower because this is the pool day at the resort and although there isn’t any running around at a theme park, the sun can really zap your energy.
This is also the closest we will get to Carsland in Disneyland for a while. I wanted this to be a surprise but Evan saw the planning DVD which had this resort and some program on Destination America and asked if we could go here. I think he was disappointed that we were not staying here but I told him we would go over and explore. Hopefully I can still surprise Eric. This is the beauty in having our own car we can just drive ourselves over, do our touring and drive directly back, no waiting for buses and doing all the transfers.
Linear Mode
