I said I needed a break but....this is not what I meant - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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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.
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We had to walk all the way around the Dream tower as one side was all closed up for renovations. This took us a while as I was still sans scooter. The boys loved looking at the pool area and Goofy was now outside entertaining and being silly for everyone. We got up to the 10th floor and we could tell they were working of the renovation in some rooms. You could smell paint very slightly but I have a VERY sensitive nose so I am not sure if most people would. I should have asked my hubby if he did.
Our room was all the way at the other end from the elevator but worth it once we got there. It was very fresh looking and we could tell it had been just finished. It was beautiful. There was a carved headboard that went over both beds of the castle and even had a little fairy dust I will talk about later. There were many cool little disney features and hidden mickeys. The side of the either bed that was not next to the middle lamp had these cool mini lamps built in that were perfect for reading when you did not want to wake up the other people in your room. I will post (or try) pics at the bottom of this post and then add a few in a new post right after. I loved the colors in the room and the carpet was very cool. The details in the bathroom were very neat, from the sink handles to the lamps and the tiles in the shower.
Our view was very nice of the pool but I knew with my foot I would have to miss the pool fun this trip. Hubby called for our luggage to be brought up and than we planned to go down to pick up my scooter and go to the parks if only for a little bit before our dinner seating at 5pm. The bellman was very nice and told us he thought we were the first people to stay in the newly remodeled room!
Sorry, my hubby took all the pics as I tried to keep the boys at the door so they did not turn out the best. A few have water spots and you can see Ty’s dragon on the sink in the bathroom poor hubby was hurrying.
I don't know if you can see but if you look closely at the blue/green tiles you can see a hidden mickey. I didn't see them until I was in the shower using it.
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Thanks for all the cool pictures. And thanks for the hints about the hidden Mickeys. After several minutes of looking at the picture, I finally found some
I can't believe it's taken me this long to read this! I kept meaning to and then I'd get distracted.....
Anyway, holy smokes!!! Talk about throwing a wrench in your plans, geeeez! But sounds like you and your DH took it in stride. Your room looks amaaaazing! I'm glad you were able to get a renovated room, totally worth it! Can't wait to hear about your scooter! (seriously, my mom loved having hers at WDW - she has COPD and a bum knee so I understand!)
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Once we received our luggage and put Ethan’s medication (reflux) in the fridge and grabbed our pin lanyards and the snack bag for Monday we set out to pick up my scooter. Down we went and across to the other tower and we saw Goofy again. This time Ethan was not as shy and gave Goofy lots of smiles and a high five too!
They had my scooter all ready and charged up at Bell Services and they showed me how to use it. Ty was fascinated immediately of course. He started calling it “mommy’s motorcycle” right away. It was bright red and about as cool looking as these things can look. My hubby made sure he knew how to charge it up at night and off we set! I kind of played around a bit to see how the scooter handled and it was very nice. I did have to be careful of bumps as there are no shocks in a scooter and the jarring bumps sent the pain in my foot to the moon. I learned to lift my foot up from the scooter when I would drive over bumps or DL trolley tracks.
Our plans were a mess for the first day with it now being 3pm. We had dinner at 5pm so we decided to go to DCA first as the boys LOVE Bugsland and they can ride while mommy rests her foot. The medication was helping some but the pain was not gone by a long shot. I quickly learned the speeds that work best when close behind other people as we worked through security and into the park. I felt like my “hind quarters” were way bigger than they really were and that I could make it through some tight spots easily. There were no crowds or lines at all and we made it quickly back to Bugsland. Ty was so excited and chattering about all his favorite bugs that he was going to see. My sweet boy! My hubby and the boys did Heimlich’s Chew Chew, the Ladybug Boogie, Flik’s Flyers in short order. I think they did a couple rounds on some. Ty asked to ride Tuck and Roll (bumper cars) for the first time and there is a height restriction on that one so Ethan could not go. Hubby was ready to say no but I convinced him to leave Ethan with me and go with Ty. Now Ethan is a handful and often likes to run and explore but I just turned off the scooter and let him sit in my lap and play with the buttons and he was happy. I also opened the snack bag and he had a fruit leather and he was a good boy. Hubby checked in with me via hand signals from the line and I signaled we were fine. They waited one ride cycle and made it on. Ty loved it.
We did a potty break as Ty is in the middle of potty training and we were planning to ask him to go often. We had decided to use pullups for the first day or two in the parks and then shift into his big boy underwear if we are feeling he was doing well enough with all the distractions. There is a nice family restroom right there in Bugsland and the boys took care of business.
We headed out of Bugslands and as we left hubby asked if I wanted to shop a bit at PT Fleas for pins. I did, as it is my fav pin store in either park. I found a few and a couple for the boys too. All set we headed back to DL hotel and our dinner reservations. We passed several wine and beer tasting stations since it was Food and Wine Festival but with my medication there would be no tasting this trip. I am not a big drinker so not a big loss. I tried to convince hubby to get a taste but I think he wanted to have all his senses sharp with me not fully functional and our two crazy boys. He is a good guy!!
We checked in at Goofy’s and had a few minutes to wait as they were just opening. It started to get quite crowded, as we wanted in the seating area. I had a hard time getting around people when they called our name to be seated. One wife gave her husband what for because he did not hear me asking to be excused to get around him. We got to the table and they just moved a chair out of the way so I could just drive right up to the table. Ty quickly remembered this place and was already on the look out for characters. They told me I could take my scooter right up to the buffet but my being a novice on the "motorcycle" I opted to limp up instead. I did not want to run over a kiddo only trying to get some dessert! We stuffed our tummies and hubby and I were very pleased with everything we tried. I had heard all the meals past breakfast were not very good but they had yummy creamy mushroom soup and a roasted corn salad that were very good. Hubby was very pleased with a super moist pork tendorloin. The bruschetta was very fresh and tasty. I had some Salmon that was good but not wonderful. The boys ate tons of pasta and chicken and salad and ribs and fruit and they were too full to even eat much dessert even after the staff sang happy birthday to both boys. We of course had tons of visitors, Chip and Dale, Mulan, Cinderella, Goofy, Minnie and Pluto. I was particularly impressed with Mulan, she was very sweet and made a big fuss over Ethan who was covered in spaghetti sauce. She said he should be good friends with Mushu and she would have to arrange a meeting over large bowl of noodles! So cute. Now my boys have not ever really met any of the princesses before and they did just fine.
We finished up and I suggested we go back to our room and get unpacked and settled. I needed to get my sad foot some ice and rest. My poor hubby had to unpack us (under my direction as it is usually my task) and get two boys bathed and dressed for bed. Ty wanted to snuggle with mommy and was very careful of “mommy’s owie” and soon drifted off to sleep. Ethan took a bit more time to settle in but soon we all settle down for some rest.
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Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
There were many cool little disney features and hidden mickeys. The side of the either bed that was not next to the middle lamp had these cool mini lamps built in that were perfect for reading when you did not want to wake up the other people in your room. I will post (or try) pics at the bottom of this post and then add a few in a new post right after. I loved the colors in the room and the carpet was very cool. The details in the bathroom were very neat, from the sink handles to the lamps and the tiles in the shower. 
Waiting to eat with Goofy - DLR May 2010
It was bright red and about as cool looking as these things can look. My hubby made sure he knew how to charge it up at night and off we set! I kind of played around a bit to see how the scooter handled and it was very nice. I did have to be careful of bumps as there are no shocks in a scooter and the jarring bumps sent the pain in my foot to the moon. I learned to lift my foot up from the scooter when I would drive over bumps or DL trolley tracks. 
I am not a big drinker so not a big loss. I tried to convince hubby to get a taste but I think he wanted to have all his senses sharp with me not fully functional and our two crazy boys. He is a good guy!!
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