My solo trip to the World - Booked and back in a week! COMPLETE - finally! 4/24!! - Page 19 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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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.
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Thanks for the offer to help. I have picked up a copy of the HM book and have gone back over your posts. I think it will be easier now. The beach scene still presents challenges. I see the obvious one in the sky but the resolution on my monitor is not fine enough for me to find the ones in the sand and the water. I am really enjoying your TRs.
Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince
It's a free app called WDW Wait Times, and I thought it was pretty accurate. They get their times from people in the parks, so I would try to send wait times in whenever I remembered. It's fun to check it once in a while now that I'm home, too!
Thanks for the info, I have that one and am glad to hear it is quite accurate
Whew! All caught up. There's so much good stuff there Beth!
My 13 yo son, Ian, has the HM book and he is great about leading us to new ones we've never seen before.
Maharajah Jungle Trek is my ablsolute favorite. You can get completely immersend in the details there and really think you've stepped into Asia. I heart it!
I see that you are going to do the half marathon in January. I am doing the Des Moines half marathon in October in preparation for the full marathon at Disney in 2011. You go girl!!!
Wow what a great TR! I just caught up with your posts, and am glad that I was told to check your TR out! I am booked to do a solo trip in Dec. and have to admit that after the first exciting burst at going alone, I began to have second thoughts and began to worry some. Now it appears that this could be the trip of trips! You have great photos and have made the idea of travelling solo look like so much fun! (as long as I am in a safe room near bus stops and front of buildings...as I am staying in two different resorts..then I think this trip will turn out ok after all)
I am soooo looking forward to reading more from your trip.....waiting with baited breath, more please!
I love the tilted photos. Makes for great conversation! Those shots from the BC are all great. There are tons of HM's there!! Here comes the rain....
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I took ZERO notes this evening, so I'm totally getting my timeline from my photos and my feeble recollections!
While I was dining, I listened to WDW Radio's Top Ten Things to Do When It's Raining in WDW. I'd brought it along on my iPod for just such an occasion. Lou and Tim gave lots of tips about which attractions are better when it's raining, but their top tip was to be sure to hang around while it's raining, because A: the rain will probably only last a little while and B: everyone else will leave the park. Well, I'm here to tell you, with no offense meant towards Tim and Lou, that neither of those things held true for me. Fantasyland was PACKED as I walked through it later on...and this was no ordinary Florida rainstorm. It rained for at least an hour straight!
I left Columbia Harbor House about 7:30, and it was still raining quite a bit. Of course, I didn't have my poncho (although I don't really care for those things anyway!) so I tried to dodge the raindrops as I left the building. One of the Top Ten Tips was to find an indoor attraction. Seems simple enough here at the Magic Kingdom, and since I was in Liberty Square, I went over to the brand-spankin'-newly-updated Hall of Presidents. A ton of people were huddling in the entranceway (WHY do people do that, btw? Just go in already!) so I couldn't tell if the show was running or not. I asked a CM, who told me that a show would be starting in 10 minutes! Yahoo! I was really looking forward to this update, although I couldn't tell you the last time I did this attraction (maybe 2001?) Being a military brat, though, I have a soft spot in my heart for all thing patriotic, so I knew it would be right up my alley, and it was! Very moving, very cool, and yes, some tears were shed.
I believe I scooted through the very crowded Fantasyland next, stopping only to take this photo: You've heard of the backside of water? Well, this is the backside of Cindy's castle!
I was headed to Tomorrowland, so I decided to take the "secret" path from Toon Town. This engine is named for a great friend of Walt's, a machinist for the studio, who helped Walt build the train for his backyard, which, in turn, helped lead to Disneyland!
This trail is always empty (except during MNSSHP, when it's Alice's trick-or-treat trail), and you get really cool views from there.
I love photographing the castle from different angles!
I took some Tomorrowland photos as I headed towards one of Rick's and my favorite WDW attractions: the Carousel of Progress!
RIP Stitch's Super Sonic Celebration
There was a short wait for CoP, and I amused myself by singing along with a fellow guest as he sang "Now is the time...now is the best time...now is the best time of your life!" I looked for HMs while I was in the attraction, but they are tricky to find and impossible to photograph. I did see one - a Mickey nutcracker in the final Christmas scene!
Speaking of HMs, there is one on the FP machines at Buzz Lightyear: Clue 47, page 28
Up next was another indoor attraction that I hadn't experienced: Monster's Inc Laugh Floor Comedy Club! My kids love this movie ("Hey, looks like we're out of snow cones!"), but we just hadn't fit it into our spring trip, so I wanted to try it out for them. I've heard plenty of mixed reviews, but I have to say that I LOVED it! I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time! It didn't hurt that I was seated in the row behind "that guy"! If you haven't given this a try yet, really, you must! It is definitely worth the trip!
The park was open until 10 p.m., so I had some time to fit in a little more before I had to call it a day. But first, some more castle photos!
I really wanted to ride another of my favorites - Jungle Cruise! - in the dark, so I wandered into:
When I got to the Jungle Cruise, it was still down (or 101 in Cast Member speak).
All outdoor attractions had been closed during the storm, and they had to take special care with JC because of all of the foliage in the boat path. They can't have branches or anything getting in the way of the boats as they go by. I talked for a while with the CM, another Michigander, but he said that it probably wouldn't be up for a while yet and to check back before the park closed.
Originally Posted by mom to 3 princesses and 1 prince
While I was dining, I listened to WDW Radio's Top Ten Things to Do When It's Raining in WDW. I'd brought it along on my iPod for just such an occasion. Lou and Tim gave lots of tips about which attractions are better when it's raining, but their top tip was to be sure to hang around while it's raining, because A: the rain will probably only last a little while and B: everyone else will leave the park. Well, I'm here to tell you, with no offense meant towards Tim and Lou, that neither of those things held true for me. Fantasyland was PACKED as I walked through it later on...and this was no ordinary Florida rainstorm. It rained for at least an hour straight!
I found the same to be true on our last visit, we waited all day for the rain to stop and the crowds to thin, but they didn't. (I guess the experts can't always get it right!)
I love your picture from behind the castle, not many people think to take one from that side, very .
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) so I couldn't tell if the show was running or not. I asked a CM, who told me that a show would be starting in 10 minutes! Yahoo! 
I was really looking forward to this update, although I couldn't tell you the last time I did this attraction (maybe 2001?) Being a military brat, though, I have a soft spot in my heart for all thing patriotic
, so I knew it would be right up my alley, and it was! Very moving, very cool, and yes, some tears were shed.
If you haven't given this a try yet, really, you must! It is definitely worth the trip! 
, too!
(I guess the experts can't always get it right!)
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