the EIGHTEEN years, TEARS, CHEERS & Hurricane FEARS TR - Page 18 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Ok Ok, I’ve kept you hanging long enough! That and I had a Princess shift (only 4.5 hours!) today so I am able to write some more!
Jeff turned on the TV to watch the news while the kids got ready for bed and I listened to the message. I’m sorry if you are all disappointed, but it was only a prerecorded message from the manager of the Beach Club with weather advisory updates. But BOY was I relieved!! Tropical Storm Fay was expected to hit land sometime tomorrow (8/19) pretty hard around mid day and may even be upgraded to a full Hurricane. Due to the possibility of the parks needing to close early, all parks will open at 8am! More info on procedures and bringing in the outdoor furniture etc…
We turned on the Disney Info Channel and pretty much got the same story. Tomorrow was a originally planned as an early EMH day at Epcot, but after our Animal Kingdom fiasco, there would be NO MORE EMH for anyone but ME! Unless of course someone REQUESTED to come along! To my surprise, COREY – yes, folks, Mr. GRUMPY himself ASKED if we could get up early and go to Magic Kingdom! Evan said he wanted to go too! SO the plans were changed again and we decided on an early MK day! I told the boys if they wanted to do it right we would need to be there around 7:30 for the 8am opening so they would have to get themselves up. If they didn’t get up, I was going to leave with out them.
Sure enough, the next morning, the boys were UP and ready to go! Alicia originally wanted to come, but 6:30 in the morning was looking pretty ugly to her, so she and Jeff slept in. Today we had plans for lunch at San Angel Inn so we decided to meet up with them at Epcot. I was pretty excited about the thought of riding the monorail in a tropical storm! Seriously! I’m a little nuts that way!
The weather was pretty yucky, but we didn’t have to wait long for a bus. The cheapo ponchos we had were pretty useless though! The boys ended up using their sweatshirts. Luckily at this time it was more drizzly with on and off showers than full out rain. We got to MK at little earlier than I expected, but because of the weather, there was no opening ceremony.
They finally opened the turnstiles then jammed everyone in under the train station. Good thing too, as it began to POUR! About 5 past eight, I was tired of waiting, so I asked the CM “Are you opening at 8 today?” and she said “Yes” and looked at me like I was insane, then looked at the clock and said “OH! ok everybody can go in now!” She was kind of spacey!
We headed straight for… you guessed it… Space Mountain! It was a total walk on. We did it twice in a row!! At that point I asked the boys if they were hungry and we headed back over to the Main Street Bakery. I was worried we wouldn’t find a seat, but we lucked out and it was pretty empty in there still! Corey had the Cherry Turnover which was yummy but a bit sweet, even for him. He only ate about half. Evan had the cheese danish which he devoured, and I had the French Toast loaf which was super good, but way too big! Even the boys couldn’t help me finish it! I’ve had the coffee at Disney, so we steered clear of that and stuck to chocolate milk and orange juice! Breakfast was and very filling!!
I tried to talk the boys into going to the back of the park and trying POTC or BTMRR or SOMETHING else, but they wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear and SM again! OK… NOT me! Thanks but my full tummy can’t take another SM spin so soon! Off they went while I meandered around Main Street USA! I told the boys to call me around 10 since we would have to figure out about getting back to Epcot. Alicia had put me in charge of her park pass and I had it with me, so we were going to have to go back to the hotel, OR walk all the way through Epcot from the front of the park to the IG to meet her. UGH!
One of the nice things about being alone on Main St was I was able to stop and watch a bit of the Street Performers. They were singers and Dancers that came out of a double decker bus. I missed the very beginning but saw most of it! The sad thing was the number of RUDE guests who could have just walked around, but had to act like over tired evil-baby two year olds and have mini temper tantrums because people were standing still watching! OYE! some people just don't seem to know how to slow down and smell the roses!
Here are some of the pics from my stroll around Main Street:
While I was taking this one a CM said “Oh you must really like that building” Really, I just wanted some different shots of Main Street. “Everybody takes pictures of the castle” I replied. I was going to add I just wanted something different, but she just chuckled and walked away!!
Here are a few more:
and of Course:
This one is interesting because it was only a few minutes after the one above. Look how much the sky changes in just a couple minutes:
A bit before 10, after another ride on SM and SEVEN times on Buzzlight Year, the boys found me in the middle of Main Street and we decided to take the bus back to the hotel. Probably a safer plan than the monorail to Epcot. The winds were picking up a lot at this point! The crowds were just coming in too! Of course, we waited… and waited… and waited… for a bus. NO bus. Finally after about 35 minutes the CM working the bus station called on his walkie talkie and a bus came. I’m not kidding when I say we could leave the Beach Club any time we wanted, but we had an awful time trying to get back!!
Before we left MK I was able to get a couple more pics with the boys! A couple of my favorite pictures of the trip!
Great update. I love the monorail but I wouldn't want to ride in high wind I'm shocked that the boys wanted to do the EMH. I love the pictures with you and the guys. I see smiles
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Oct '99: CSR ~ May '02: CR ~ Nov '04: SOG ~ May '06: SOG ~ Dec '07: Solo @ Pop ~ May '08: Pop w/friends ~ Oct '08: SOG ~ Dec '09: Pop w/LeAnn ~ Sept '10: Solo @ Pop ~ Spring '11: AKL ~ Jan '12: Pop for 1/2 Marathon ~ Sept '12: 1st trip for DL 1/2 Marathon? ~ Feb '13: Pop w/pals? ~ Mar '13: Tokyo Disney w/PP's?
Karen - do you look surprised in that picture because of Tinkerbell, or because your boys are holding hands?
NO, That's Actual Shock on my face (with horrible wind blown hair and all!) that the boys ACTUALLY did what the photopass guy asked them to do with just minimal sideways teenage scowls first!
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All caught up now. Sorry you waited so long at Le Cellier, but dinner sounds yummy. You are so lucky that you got some alone time. What I would give for that? Can't wait to see what you thought of SAI.
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Even with the rain you sound like you truly enjoyed some alone time walking through the WS while the rest of the gang hung back at the resort...
Wow! What a long wait at Le Cellier, but I am glad they were so apologetic and that your meal made up for the wait. I love the Maple Creme Brule, must consider the ice wine one day as well...
So you and your escorts look like you all had a great time at EMH at MK...looking forward to hearing all about your lunch.
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It's nice the boys accompanied you to MK, even if you didn't get much time with them while there. The sky was definitely forboding. Eager to hear more.
Loving your TR. I remember Tuesday really well. I can't wait to hear about Tuesday evening. It was truly a unique experience, we were at the WL and I can't wait to hear what it was like that evening at BC! More Please!
About This Page: 
Tropical Storm Fay was expected to hit land sometime tomorrow (8/19) pretty hard around mid day and may even be upgraded to a full Hurricane. 
Due to the possibility of the parks needing to close early, all parks will open at 8am! 
More info on procedures and bringing in the outdoor furniture etc… 
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Pixie Dust
I'm shocked that the boys wanted to do the EMH. I love the pictures with you and the guys. I see smiles 
ºOº ~*~ 
the boys actually stopped for some photos!
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