A Dream That Came True! The First Timers TR - COMPLETED 9/10 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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I am so sorry about your migraine - I know how painful they can be. When I get them the only thing that works is to sleep and I always dread when I feel one creep up on vacation. You son seems so understanding (you raised a great son ) and I am glad that he was fine with the changes (even missing the Jedi Training) and had a great day anyway.
So sorry about the credit card issue - glad that the bank is reversing it but it is so scary when you realize how easy this can happen, makes you scared to even use your card becuase you never know who just picks up the number. My neighbor just had this happen when she purchased a coat from a store's online ordering system. She started having charges on her card from stores in Michigan (long drive just to shop when we are here in NY). Glad everything worked out.
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Valerie, I am so glad I found your TR, I was wondering how the rest of your trip was. It was great getting a chance to meet you and your soon. I love your pics from Fantasmic!, they came out better than mine!
OMG I have missed this site!!! I had my laptop crash and was unable to get online except through my phone, which of course wouldn't pull up this forum! I have finally fixed my laptop *fingers crossed* and hopefully will stay fixed lol. I promise I WILL finish my TR in record time!!!
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We get to MK and head for Main Street, which was all lit up and absolutely beautiful! Heading down Main Street, we stopped for several photo ops in front of the castle,
and then of course Scottie is hungry again lol so we get him a mickey ice cream sandwich (It was so cold I don't see how he could eat it lol).
We head to Fantasyland as Scottie was wanting to do Peter Pan's Flight, but it was a 60 min wait time! So, we decide to keep looking around and of course we had to ride the Tea Cups!! Scottie loves rides like these, he begs me to spin him as fast as I can.
Next up, Toontown!
We went through Minnie's House since it was going away and I really wanted to see it.
Then it was time to ride Barnstormer,
which Scottie loved so much he had to ride it twice! While he rode the second time, I went in to see the wait times for the princesses, but unfortunately the wait was 90 min! I waited on a bench for Scottie and when he gets off I see him talking with an elderly gentleman and a young boy, which is no surprise as Scottie seriously does not know a stranger lol. What was surprising was to have the gentleman come to me and shake my hand! He said that he wanted to thank me for raising such an amazingly generous and polite young man! (I know my son is wonderful, but it is so nice to know that others see how special he is too!) Anyway, apparently they were in line with Scottie and the little boy was asking about his pins, to which Scottie immediately offered him one. The boy's grandfather said no that wasn't necessary, but Scottie kept insisting by saying "No, really it's fine, I have lots of pins. Can he please have one?" Of course the gentleman gave in, but not until Scottie agreed to be paid for it lol.
Next up we headed into Mickey's House.
We loved the giant pumpkin patch and mickey shaped tomatoes lol.
Then it was into the Judges Tent to meet the big guy himself! We took several photos with Mickey and Minnie, Scottie's favorite is when Minnie gave him a hug.
After, we jumped on the train and headed back to the front entrance and from there we went to tomorrowland as we wanted to eat at Cosmic Ray's. Scottie had the chicken nuggets and I had a chicken sandwich, we both had fries and chocolate cake to go with it. The food was really good! Their chicken is incredibly tender and moist.
After eating, we rush to the hub to watch the Once Upon a Christmastime Parade! The castle was all lit up and absolutely beautiful!!
Unfortunately, it was filling up fast, we found a spot where Scottie could sit at the curb and I was prepared to stand in the back, when the older lady standing near him literally spread her feet so far apart that he couldn't sit!! I was so upset, I don't think they realized I was behind them, because I heard the older lady's daughter say "mom, what is wrong?". To which the lady responded "I don't want any kids near me!" Unbelievable! I was so angry at that point that I was ready to leave. I took Scottie quietly, even though I SO wanted to tell that woman off, and we headed to the front entrance. Scottie was even frustrated with the rude people shoving and pushing and trying to keep anyone from getting a spot that he said "Let's just go mom." This was probably the worst part of our entire trip and I am ashamed to say that it was mostly adults who were acting so rudely. As we were walking by, we noticed a spot seemed to be open so we decided to chance it, when a lady nearby says "you can't stand there, they already made several people move!" At this point I had had enough! But in one of those magical Disney moments, the lady in front of us said "there's room for you both! In fact why don't you have your son stand in front of me so that he can see!" I quite literally hugged this woman with tears in my eyes! She said she was so upset by how rude alot of people were being as well. So, in the end, we had great spots to watch the parade and the nice lady even held our spots while we rushed over to get a quick shot in front of the lit up castle!!
The parade was fantastic! Scottie loved it and I was so grateful to this total stranger who turned our ruined night into a truly magical experience! After the parade, I thanked the lady again and Scottie hugged her as we made our way to the Tomorrowland Terrace for some hot cocoa and cookies. The lines for the cocoa and cookies everywhere in the park were really long but we just couldn't stop smiling and soaking in the atmosphere. We took our cocoa to the patio tables where we sat to watch Wishes. It was gorgeous! And we were in the perfect spot to watch Tinkerbell fly right overhead! It's amazing how one kind deed can change your whole night, everything that evening became magical for us!
After Wishes, we headed back to Main Street, where we just stood for a few minutes watching the "snow" come down. Scottie wanted to ride BTMR in the dark so we headed that way, but on the way we just had to stop because Scottie saw none other than Genie and Abu from Aladdin! We get in line and are almost there when they take Genie and Abu away!!! But the CM says stick around for just a minute and sure enough, here comes Aladdin and Jasmine! Scottie loves Aladdin, and the look on his face says it all!
In fact, I liked this photo so much I did it in B&W lol
The CM told me that Genie and Abu would be back in about 30 minutes, so we head to BTMR. Scottie is suddenly off running, so I get out my camera lol. How cool to see Smee and Captain Hook himself!
On we go and finally get to BTMR. I must say, this ride is so incredible in the dark!! It's like a whole different ride! After the ride we head back towards Aladdin and just as we get there, they are leaving. Because of this, most of the people in line left! We get right up there and are third in line when Genie and Abu come out. This was the absolute best interaction Scottie had with any characters! Genie was in a VERY playful mood! He kept piling pillows in Scottie's arms, while the CM is telling Genie he's gonna have to clean up the mess lol. Scottie couldn't stop laughing as Abu starts piling the pillows as well lol. Once every pillow has been stacked, Genie sneakily knocks them all out of Scottie's hands and causes Abu to "trip" over them lol. The photopass photographer was telling me I was going to have some great shots and he was so right!!
We head into Fantasyland, still hoping to catch Peter Pan's Flight, but again we see a photo op that we just have to have!
We jump into line to see Snow White's Dwarves, ALL seven of them!!! It was a beautiful setting and we loved watching Dopey dancing around while Grumpy kept crossing his arms and shaking his head lol.
Finally, we get to Peter Pan's Flight and are ecstatic to see a 20 minute wait time! We loved it! By the time we get off, it is 11:40. So we decide to head for the buses before the mad rush lol. We were able to get the first bus out and before the crowds hit! After a quick wash in our room, we were both out for the night lol.
I'm so glad someone's kindness turned the tide and that you had a chance to enjoy the Christmas parade! It's such a wonderful parade. Great day and hope the magic continued!
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Lol, I think we were! I know, those photos with Genie and Abu were fabulous. They really captured the spirit of the evening for us. I love that you can see the way Scottie's eyes shine in his pictures, he was truly having a magical time!
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) and I am glad that he was fine with the changes (even missing the Jedi Training) and had a great day anyway.
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Back!! Can't wait to read the rest of your TR!!
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