Live, Laugh, Relax with Cam and Fam Completed 7/31 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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!
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You know Cam,
I never realized how much I miss the Pete's Dragon float from DL. I was actually almost in tears to see it again. And that was just your great photo. I can only imagine how I will react when we see it in August. While you were able to catch the "Alpha" showing, we will see the "Omega".
It sounds like it was a great 3/4 of a day. I can hardly wait to see the other photos from the parade and please tell Luke he took some awesome fireworks photos and your location has inspired DH to film the new show from a great new viewing spot!
__________________
My 19 year old hero! Hurry home! (A.K.A. D_Stitch)
Wow, Luke's fireworks photos are amazing. There's nothing like seeing them centered over the castle like that. Also, fantastic photo of Pete's Dragon! This parade is the first I ever saw at WDW in , I think, 1989, and I'd love to see it again. Thanks for the memories.
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I love the Mickey magnet! Where did you find one that big? I have the "mickey family & kids" on my back window, Cindy castle plate on the front, & a WDW character frame on the back. Definately can't miss our vehicles !
It's a decal rather than a magnet. Luke took a paper coaster to a company here in town and had them copy and enlarge it to create a vinyl decal to put on my hood. I think it cost about $50. Luke put it on himself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Where on earth did you get the decal for you Mickey Mobile--its awesome!
Those are some of the best fireworks photos I've seen posted on the boards--props to Luke and his obviously steady hand!
It sounds like you had a great first day! I can't believe how much you guys manage to pack in to every single minute.
The company here in town that makes vinyl skins custom made it for Luke from a paper coaster I had brought back from WDW.
I couldn't believe how well he did on the fireworks shots without a tripod. I think I'm always in motion so a tripod is necessary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dale_Loves_Mickey
You know Cam,
I never realized how much I miss the Pete's Dragon float from DL. I was actually almost in tears to see it again. And that was just your great photo. I can only imagine how I will react when we see it in August. While you were able to catch the "Alpha" showing, we will see the "Omega".
It sounds like it was a great 3/4 of a day. I can hardly wait to see the other photos from the parade and please tell Luke he took some awesome fireworks photos and your location has inspired DH to film the new show from a great new viewing spot!
You'll have to say goodbye for both us to Disney's Electrical Parade. I truly enjoyed it both nights we saw it.
We really lucked out on the MS train station spot. I think a lot of people left there because they wanted to be on the street for the fireworks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
Wow, Luke's fireworks photos are amazing. There's nothing like seeing them centered over the castle like that. Also, fantastic photo of Pete's Dragon! This parade is the first I ever saw at WDW in , I think, 1989, and I'd love to see it again. Thanks for the memories.
Luke and I have tried to remember if we saw the Electrical Parade or SpectroMagic when we took Stefanie in 1997.
New Adventures for Stefanie and a Farewell to ToonTown
I had set the alarm on my iPhone to wake me up at 9 AM. I didn’t linger long in bed after it went off and ate a little breakfast, took a few notes, and unpacked our goodies from the Emporium. Stefanie was up by 9:15, watching Disney TV while Luke was playing Sleeping Handsome and didn’t get up until 9:40. We were all ready by 10:50 and headed to the buses in maximum humidity. We walked right up to an MK bus and we were off for a big day.
First order of business when we arrived was the ever popular in-front-of-the-castle shot. Then we were off to Tomorrowland, but first another PhotoPass opportunity came up with a new view and background for us. I’ve finished editing my PhotoPass pictures and the CD should be here sometime this next week, so I’ll add this in when that gets here.
The sky was dark upon our arrival and kept getting darker (rain was predicted for today), so we felt Monster Inc. Laugh Floor would be a good place to hang out and stay dry. Before we entered the queue, Luke ran over to get us FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear. Once we were in the Monster Inc queue, we only had a 10 minute wait. The show was great though some of the chosen audience stars were slow to catch on for their roles. But that just added to the funniness. The guy chosen to play Randall seem to think he was supposed to be a raging bull as he put fingers to his head like horns and roared and swayed from side to side. Hilarious! One of these days I’ll learn a joke (actually remember a joke for longer than a few seconds) and share it here.
The FPs for Buzz wouldn’t be ripe until 1:05, so we next boarded the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which was a walk on as it usually is for us. While we traveled through Tomorrowland, Luke took loads of pictures for me as I want to create a Tomorrowland spread in my scrapbook this year. At some point in our ride, Stefanie announced that she was finally hungry. The kid never eats breakfast except for her Mamaw and Granddad, but even then breakfast is around 9 or 10.
Tomorrowland Transit Authority
Astro-Orbiter from TTA
Space Mountain from TTA
Monster Inc. Laugh Floor from TTA
Tomorrowland Speedway from TTA
Space Mountain again from TTA
The Castle from TTA
We thought it sounded like a good time to listen to Sonny Eclipse and eat burgers, so we headed to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café for lunch. Cosmic Ray’s was very busy, very crowded. Luke and I ordered a Bacon Double Cheeseburger with fries to share and one Coke and one Diet Coke. Stefanie got the kid’s chicken nuggets and fries with a Coke and cookie (Mom and Dad got to split the cookie). We had a little trouble finding a table until two young ladies motioned us over as they cleared up their stuff. So sweet! More guest to guest magic! We later returned the magic by flagging down another family as we left. Stefanie did not remember ever seeing Sonny Eclipse so we stopped to adore his crooning and piano playing. While Luke and Stefanie finished their drinks we browsed Mickey’s Star Traders.
Sonny Eclipse at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe
We could now gain entrance to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, so off we went. We all three earned very odd scores, causing us to question the accuracy of our guns. Stefanie earned the highest score of 106,600 (way high for her), I earned 30,300 (unfortunately, not too unusual for me), and Luke only scored 7,900 (way below as he usually maxes out). Very strange, but we still had fun!
Next up was the Carousel of Progress, a favorite of ours, and we loved it yet again. When we exited CoP, we noticed Tomorrowland Chip and Dale signing autographs. They are favorites of Stefanie (and me and Luke, too) wherever we meet them. Without evil intent, Stefanie offended poor Dale when she told Chip that he was her favorite. Dale shed quite a few tears and Stefanie had to do a whole lot of apologizing before Dale recovered. those munks!
Stefanie checking out her lanyard while in line for Chip and Dale
All starts out well with the munks!
Dale crying that he is not Stefanie’s favorite.
Stefanie explaining and apologizing to Dale.
All is forgiven!
Group Shot (and boy does my hair look wild)
Luke knew I was anxious to visit ToonTown as this trip would be our last chance to do so. He still had the camera so I advised him to take as many pictures as possible. Minnie’s house was very busy and crowded. We actually had to get in line to enter her house, so I guess lots of folks were paying farewell to ToonTown. Luke photographed Stefanie had the mailbox as this had been a tradition for us. I told him to photograph everything in Minnie’s craft room as it’s my favorite. We took probably our last traditional Mom and Daughter picture on the sun porch, too.
Minnie’s Mailbox
Minnie’s Mantel
Minnie’s Radio
Minnie’s Curio Cabinet
Minnie’s bookshelf
Minnie’s artwork Stefanie at Minnie’s Sewing Table
Stefanie at Minnie’s Desk
Stefanie acting as Vanna White at Minnie’s fridge
Minnie’s kitchen countertop
The traditional sun porch pose!
Close up of Cam and Stefanie on the sun porch
Minnie’s gardening work bench
We then moved on to Mickey’s Country Home. Stefanie posed for another picture in front of a mailbox. Then Luke took loads of pictures inside and out.
Mickey’s Mailbox
Mickey’s Bedroom
Mickey’s Living Room
Mickey’s Fireplace
Mickey’s Comfy Chair
Mickey’s Game Room
Mickey’s Kitchen Remodel
Pluto’s dog house
Mickey’s gardening overalls
Mickey’s Garden
Mickey’s Garage
Outside of Mickey’s House
Outside of Minnie’s House
Stefanie said she wanted a drink, but looked over at Goofy’s Barnstormer as we were passing it. She mentioned that she wanted to ride this one, and Luke and I pointed out that the line was not very long. And to our amazement she announced that we should get in line. She has been so afraid of this one and though she has mentioned riding it before has always backed out. So we immediately got in line. The lady in front of us turned around and we realized that we had met each other the night before at the DHS bus stop for MK. Stefanie and her daughter talked while she and I talked pretty much the entire queue. Stefanie is teaching me to make new friends. Finally, we were on the ride. Stefanie, “We’re in an airplane. Going uphill – This is NOT bad!” Going downhill, her head was buried in my side. Then she sat back up, “Mom, this is good.” But then the curve through the barn sent her head back into my side. At the finish of the ride, she looked back at Luke. He asked, “How was it?” Stefanie gave him a thumbs up and said, “It was good!” All the way off she kept repeating, “I rode Barnstormer!” I texted my DSis June as she knew how exciting this would be for Stefanie.
Goofy’s Barnstormer
Stefanie ready to ride for the very first time
And we’re off!
“It’s good, Dad!”
Now to deal with Stefanie’s thirsty and bravery, we stopped at the Weenie Wagon for a Coke, but they were sold out. Instead we took some final shots of the ToonTown Sign.
Cam and Stefanie with the ToonTown Sign
Next: Meeting a princess, dinner, and some presents
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Yeah Stephanie! Congrats on your conquering Goofy's Barnstormer. I have yet to ride to be honest with you. Love all the photos of Mickey & Minnie's houses. I did the same thing last March_April having to go over to ToonTown more than once to take photos.
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
cant wait to read about stefanies adventures in toon town
Deb
those munks! 
Great pics from Minnie and Mickey's houses! 
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