"Can I Play on Your iPhone?" A WDW Trip in a Digital Age (May 28 - June 7) - Page 17 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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.
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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 was worried, since the last post mentioned the family issue. Thanks for the update. Hope things on the family front improve and the marathon goes well. That's some undertaking!
Lots of pixies for all you're dealing with, Karen! Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, but I completely understand that sometimes life gets in the way.
You all have been so sweet and supportive. I seriously can't tell you how much it means to me. My Dad had a pretty major health crisis which has led to a really major surgery and hospital stay. But, lots of time spent in waiting rooms means lots of time to write my trip report. I actually have several updates written up so maybe you'll get more regular updates. Although... I'm worried that Jilly will think that it was the bathing suit shots that really got me posting again. And then that makes me REALLY worried about what pictures she's got for the next time I drop off of posting.
Sunday, May 29, Part 3
Even though we had arrived at the theater in plenty of time, things were filling up quickly. We grabbed seats at the far right side of the theater. Mary Devall and Maddie spied a couple of empty seats a few rows in front and they scampered up there to get a better view. Mary Devall was so cutely excited to see the show, it was warming my heart.
Dork Side had given a good preview of the audience inside. It was Dork-a-palooza Baby! There were costumes of all kinds, geeky t-shirts, adults with light sabers, etc. etc. And before people think I'm being all judgey, let me just say that Zack and I fit right in. As Zack says, nerd is the new cool! (I'm also trying to get him to say 40 is the new 25, but I think his fears of me becoming all cougarific are preventing full buy-in.)
Thom, on the other hand, was seeming a bit uncomfortable. You see, this wasn't black and white cargo shorts with black socks breed of dork. This was schedule your next D&D group while simultaneously coding the next upgrade to Facebook dork. So, I decided to bridge the dork divide by talking sports. Y'all, I'm a dork diplomat!
For me, the Stars of the Saga show is all about the pre-show.
See Mary Devall's and Maddie's cute little heads?
A group of stormtroopers acts as "security" before the show and there's a running series of gags that they change up just a bit each year. The one thing that they always riff on touches on a bit of Star Wars trivia. Get your pencils out peeps, I'm about to bring you over to the Dork Side!
In Episode 4 (New Hope, the first movie, original Star Wars, whatever) when Luke and Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca are being chased around the Death Star, one of the Stormtroopers is apparently a little taller than the others. One of the security doors opens up and a group of Stormtroopers charges through. Tall Stormtrooper totally clocks himself on the head. Anyway they always have a running gag with this video and it cracks me up every time. Wait. What? I AM just as dorky as the next girl. What have I done? Dork side! Come back!
The show itself is fine, except in this case Anthony Daniels is a little too full of himself for an actor who would only be recognized inside his C-3PO costume, doing the C-3PO voice. But Mary Devall and Zack were entertained by the movies and Star Wars talk respectively.
And, I had purposely scheduled to come to the last show on Sunday knowing that Mickey Mouse would be out to present mouse ears to the actors and to sing the Mickey Mouse Club closing song.
That made Maddie happy.
We exited the theater into another crowd surrounding a couple of Jawas. Karen's tip of the day number six: If you're going for Star Wars Weekends take a trip to the dollar store for some toys to trade with the Jawas. This time, I'd gotten some mini-Slinkees and some sparkly, metallic pens. Zack was duly impressed because, "Jawas like shiny things." This still cracks me up, like the friends of the Jawas are picked based on the extent of their knowledge of Star Wars canon versus, you know, who fits into the tiny costume.
Regardless, I have found that we've gotten better trades when we've traded purchased items versus trash.
This time, we scored a half pack of gum and some character gummies.
Eh? Karen's tip of the day; worth exactly what you pay for it.
It was getting close to our first autograph time with Ashley Eckstein. We headed over in the general direction with a security escort...
I could slide out of my wristband, but Zack couldn't get out of his and he had a later time. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say to somebody 13 years younger than me who did voice work on a show I'd never seen before. But, Mary Devall seemed excited to meet her once she found out she was on That's So Raven. So, we handed her the Clone Wars Season 2 DVD Zack had brought to get signed and pushed her into the Sounds Dangerous lobby by herself. Them are the rules, even if you're 9. We did spot David Eckstein (Ashley's husband and a former MLB player) hanging around. I tried not to pelt him with stuff (see 2002 World Series for reference ).
Mary Devall emerged a few minutes later having loved her encounter. Ashley had told Mary Devall all about her clothing line. (Trust me peeps; that's Mary Devall gold!) And, she'd acted out a scene from That's So Raven for her.
It was just about time for Zack to meet Dee Bradley Baker. In case you don't remember from my update just a few days ago (OK, 57 days ago), he not only voices all the clones on the Clone Wars, but a bunch of other animated characters from other shows. Most importantly, he voices Perry the Platypus. Unlike the signing for Ashley Eckstein, Dee Bradley Baker was in a tent on the edges of Echo Lake, meaning Jill, Mary Devall, and I could watch and photograph Zack's interaction.
Plus, with all her cuteness (and a little tip off from Zack), Mary Devall caught Dee Bradley Baker's attention and got her own personal Perry voice demonstration.
It seriously caused Mary Devall and I to geek out; Jill and Zack were a little more chill about the whole thing.
The only item left on the Big A$% spreadsheet (yes, my friends, it exists!) was to use our Fastpasses for Tower of Terror, hopefully with the whole Koenigs clan. Eh? Maddie was thinking that hanging out with dad and working on a little pre-dinner "fessert" sounded way better. Now looking back at it, that sounds better to me too. What was I thinking?
After our respective rides and snacks, we'd closed out a successful day at the Studios. A quick bus ride back to the Lodge and we were just in time for some appetizers and cocktails in the Old Faithful Lounge. Big A$% spreadsheet for the win!
Zack and I returned to the room with Mary Devall in tow for a little leftover chocolate cake. Zack decided to watch Clone Wars at Mary Devall's request. So, we popped in the DVD, cut up some cake, and had a little picnic on top of the bed spread. Well, I started out on top, but as soon as my fork scraped that plate clean, I was curling up under the covers and crashing hard. I was vaguely aware of Mary Devall leaving at some point and woke up with a snort in a pool of drool a couple hours later. TMI?
Because my Club Level value sensor was tuned to high, I woke up just in time for desserts and after dinner drinks in the lounge. Now, I know some of you are thinking, "Wait. Didn't she just have a big ol' piece of chocolate cake?" First of all, no one ever said anything about the size of the piece. It could have been quite dainty. It wasn't, but it could have been. Second of all, Club Level value sensor... high.
After some fancy cookies and fancy drinks in fancy little after-dinner drink glasses, the whole crew was headed down to the bus stop
and on a bus to Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours.
We hot footed it to Buzz Lightyear around fireworks crowds to grab Fastpasses... kind of. The Fastpasses were running out for the night so Thom was only able to snag three of them. But then after besting an 18-year-old, minimum wage CM in a battle of wills, he managed to walk away with enough for the six of us.
We headed for the TTA with Zack and the girls in one car and the parents behind. Jill's talked about the epic battle between Mary Devall and Maddie over getting Maddie to ride all the big rides, especially Space Mountain. The battle reached a fever pitch on the good ol' TTA. Mary Devall was desperate to "show" Maddie Space Mountain from the safe confines of the TTA. But as soon as we went into the building, Maddie disappeared into her seat with her eyes shut tight.
This led to some serious screaming which I found seriously funny since (a) it didn't involve my child and (b) we were in a separate vehicle. It became even more funny when Jill, Thom, and I loudly exclaimed, "I can't believe people who let their kids run hog wild at Disneyworld. The nerve."
I'd gotten a text from Heather that she and Brandon were in the park. We agreed to meet at Carousel of Progress and after hugs and hellos we headed into one of my favorite attractions. I love the music. I love the classic animatronics. I love that it has Walt's fingerprints on it. But, mostly, I love that stinkin' dog.
He's so freakin' cute and expressive. It cracks me up so hard that the dog groans at his owner's bad jokes.
Seriously, it's cracking me up right now and then it's making me remember how Heather and Brandon were amused at my snorting laugh which is making me crack up even more. LOVE that dog!
Brandon and Heather's long travel day was catching up with them so we said our, "See you laters" and headed over to Buzz.
I'm pretty sure I rode with Thom and I'm pretty sure I kicked the crap out of him. I don't remember, but I'm pretty sure. And no, peanut gallery, it is not more likely that I am blocking out that he beat me or something. I'm pretty sure me crushing him was the way it went down.
The kids were starting to fade fast. Surprisingly, after two desserts, a long nap, and a half pot of liquored up coffee, I was doing fine. I figured some raspberry lemonade slushies might buy us a little time. I bought three of them, handed them to the kids, and we slowly worked our way over to the Haunted Mansion.
Even slushied up, Maddie was getting nowhere near the Haunted Mansion at night. Jill stepped off to the side with maddie while the rest of us checked out the new interactive queue.
After we got off the ride, Jill and Maddie were suspiciously absent. A quick check of texts told us that they had headed back to the room. It was getting past midnight, so after a ride on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad we were headed back to the Lodge as well. The first full day of vacation had been a great one!
__________________
Karen, aka Zack's Mom - Lover of all Things Disney and the San Francisco Giants!
Can I say I was so happy to see your update... for a number of reasons...
1) I am hoping that you checking in and posting means your dad is doing much better, sending continued for his recovery.
2) Ok, it has been to long since I just sat back and laughed, I so much miss reading your posts
3) Did not want Jill to totally smoke you on the TR competition
4) Seeing your update came at the most perfect time as I sit in this house waiting for Irene to come visit and thinking how some other NY PP is sitting pretty in WDW leaving Irene in her dust (I am mentioning no names , not that I am not totally happy that she is missing all this "fun" but I so wished she had room in her suitcase)
Super excited your posting again! GREAT day, long funfilled one at that. I have to know, if Mary Devall went in alone, how did you get the pictures of her? How cool she got to see a small acting from her! And then the voice of perry! Super cool! I love the eat cake, nap, eat dessert, then mk emh! Sounds like my kind of vaca!
Zack really does seem like the coolest kid ever. I am super glad you are posting again, and I hope everything is over with the health scare, and your Dad is on the mend. I know I am happy about more updates!
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Saturday, October 9, 2014 - Kaitlyn and I before the Happy Haunted 5K at ESPN Wide World of Sports
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