Disneyland Family Reunion *Updated 6/4* - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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
After leaving ToonTown, we passed the Princess Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland. Yippee, screamed my inner 7 year old! The line was very long & there was absolutely no way to consider it given our circumstances. Belle, however being the free spirited, swift moving gal she is -promptly got in line to meet our princesses! I told her to tell Cinderella “hi” for me & get her autograph.
Then with my lips pouting & DH’s consoling arm around me, we whisked the boys away to Casey Jr. (They were elated we’d talked about this one for weeks. It was to be one of the very 1st rides, once we exited the castle.) Koda chose the “wild animal car” (very appropriate!) on the train & we were chugging off! Our favorite part is “I think I can, I think I can-I thought I could, I thought I could” on the little hill. Also, loved the theme music “Casey Jr. coming down the track”! From my vantage point on the train or “the other side of the tracks” ….I admired the Canal Boat ride & little scenery along the route. Looks cute! Doubt of a 3 & 5 yr old’s ability to sit still for that one over rode my brief moment of temptation for the ride. He, he!
The rest of the morning was spent leisurely enjoying Fantasyland. Littlest Mermaid, Captain Red Beard & Sleeping Beauty being the great Disney hosts they are, grabbed us a spot at Village Haus patio pre lunch hours.[IMG]http://www.passporterboards.com/forums/[/IMG]
We took turns kickin’ back with the baby or riding Dumbo & King Arthur Carrousel. I opted to sit Dumbo out because of possible dizziness factors, I did not want anything to ruin my experience. Loved every special moment of watching Kenai & Koda’s precious glee filled faces on Dumbo with Daddy, a view nothing can surpass! Sigh! [/IMG]
Parental Note 101: Do NOT let a 3 yr old reason you into alternate ride plans, no matter how much they whine!!! Koda insisted that Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was “not scary”. Even though my better judgment knew otherwise, I went with the moment of spontaneity…big mistake! The ride started out cute, with warm & fuzziness abounding in Gepetto’s workshop with Jiminy along side. Yikes…than fright factor hits you smack in the face on PleasureIsland & the belly of Monstro!!!! Koda was shaking uncontrollably, crying & screaming “Mommy!!!”. Live & learn my friends, live and learn! Never again will we dare that journey, at least not until Koda reaches at least 6 yrs old! Ha, ha!
After spending some time in Fantasyland, Belle rejoined our party only to state that it wasn’t worth the wait to meet a princess. However, she did get to see Snow White from afar! DH & Kenai decided they wanted to check out Main Street solo & the rest of us headed to the Castle Princess Shop. I guess the excitement & terror of the morning decided to finally hit Koda, because he fell fast asleep in his little stroller enabling me to shop freely!
I simply love the Castle Princess Shop! Truly, it is an experience for every little girl at heart. There are many cute things & details in the top of the shop’s décor. I spent a good bit of time looking up at the art pieces & taking photos of everything Cinderella.[/IMG]
Time was about the only thing I spent (wisely) & exited the shop with one purchase….a Cinderella trading pin! It’s so cool , a little stained glass window with glass slipper that opens up to a little silhouette of Cinderella! Oh, I don’t plan on trading this little gem either. I’m thinking of collecting only Cinderella pins.
Our crew exited the Princess Shop near the Plaza Garden Stage. We waited here in the shade of an umbrella for DH & Kenai. It seemed they were making a little magic of their own on Main Street! They were riding up & down Main Street on the trolley, fire engine, carriage & Lord only knows what else! They caught it at the perfect time with no riders & were able to get off, then on again, over & over. They were having a blast! So much so, they did not want to stop & join us. Our crew was waiting, listening to a High School Orchestra tune up on the stage, when who should arrive…..the Dream Squad!!!
It was a dead give away who they were with their little blue messenger bags stuffed full & standing around looking at their watches. They didn’t approach us directly, but stood just outside the side of the castle, just a waitin’ & waitin’. They were giving out Year of a Million Dreams ears!!! The back of the hat says “Live Your Dream” & we definitely had been! Yea, we were each able to get a pair! So we donned our silver shiny ears & caught up with Kenai & DH. They were also able to get their own ears! [/IMG]
__________________
Have faith in your dreams and someday
your rainbow will come smiling thru...
Thanks for all the support & interest in our TR.. Here's a little more..... Monday, May 14, 2007 cont’d AGAIN :
After getting our out Year of a Million Dreams ears, We decide it was time to head back to the DLR Hotel & grab some lunch / snooze. Huh, where am I? Koda woke up just in time for our 1st monorail ride back to the hotel! The boys thought it was so cool & even narrated their own little rambling speil, very comical! It fit in perfectly because the announcer must’ve been on lunch break & there was not the typical narration otherwise. Too bad we didn’t have a loud speaker for them, although nobody could’ve understood what they were saying.
Got back to our Disneyland Hotel suite & our message light on the phone was blinking that we had a package at the front desk? We were all curious & anxious when Captain Red Beard retrieved it. It was two autographed photos for the boys from Mickey & Minnie! WOW! How very special & hats off to Disney Travel Co. for the thoughtful details! (Only guessing that was the culprit because it wasn’t anything we’d arranged or requested.)
As we decompressed, we ordered room service for lunch. We all ate the Veggie plate, chicken fingers & a burger. It wasn’t bad, wasn’t great either-however, there’s nothing like having room service to feel like royalty! Something about those silver domed platters, tiny salt & pepper shakers & fresh linens brought right to your door, great service- ahhhh! Could almost faintly hear “Be Our Guest”? Now only if the silverware started dancing or plates had come to life, Walt’s hospitality would’ve been just over the top!!! Reality is suitable on this occasion however.
After our short siesta & munching, we freshened up for evening park activities.[/IMG] (fixin' our hair!)
I’d been hit by some sinus/allergy problems since we’d arrived in CA & opted to wear a new set of specs I’d just gotten instead of my usual contacts. (Just to give my eyes a little break.) This may have been the beginning of some of my later evening health mishaps. Main Street USA was calling our names however, so off to Disneyland we go…..
Kenai & I had started a collection of pressed pennies of our trip. We had all the better locals marked from www.parkpennies.com. Main Street’s Penny Arcade was the 1st stop on our list of to do’s. Much to our disappointment, Penny Arcade was closed completely. Trying to pick up our spirits we decided a ride on Koda’s requested Jungle Cruise was in order. Not yet, time for a pick me up…Dole Whips from Tiki Room!
Enchanted Tiki Room it’s self was crowded & we thought the kids might get scared of the birds. We opted to just hit the Dole cart outside the attraction. Oh, Sweet Lord, my taste buds were not prepared for this one! I was the skeptic, I’d admit, especially since on the Passporter boards Shelly wrote “Dole Whip is a non-dairy product that is made by adding water to a bag of dry flavored ingredients and then freezing it through an icecream machine.”. Bag-o-dry powder concoction, not on my top ten highlights of a trip, kwim? I was game for the taste though. We tried both the regular Dole Whip & Dole Whip float. I could not stomach the sweetness of the float. Koda, being the sugar-aholic that he is couldn’t get enough though! He sucked the drink clean & wouldn’t give it up for sharing! [/IMG]
Dole Whip, can’t quite get the true goodness of it’s flavor until the 2nd or 3rd spoonful-where I’m sure the crack like ingredient hits your taste palette! Yummo, Dole-icious!!!! I’m a happy, bound to repeat customer, for sure!
Floating on our sweet Dole clouds, we were off to Jungle Cruise. This was another ride I was skeptical about Koda being able to handle, even though he insisted that it’d be ok. We were all pleasantly surprised. I think the tour guide & his ability to compeletly live & breathe in character made the adventure worth it all. Great guy, natural & really enjoyed his wit. We were able to grab front row seats & Koda was shaking from head to toe again. This time it was excitement, not fear. Oh, sure there are parts that are a little frightening-but nothing like Pinocchio. He loved it! Fun, enjoyable ride & the only one our entire crew was able to ride together. [/IMG]
It was nearing the 7’o clock hour & we wanted good viewing for Parade of Dreams so we headed thru Fantasyland. Peter Pan’s Flight was beyond tempting, even to little Koda. So DH, Kenai, Koda & myself hopped onboard a pirate ship. Our Belle was off to find coffee & Captain Red Beard’s crew took a little break.
We love, love, love Peter Pan in our house. As you can tell from earlier in the TR Koda made his own lyrics to You Can Fly. I’d even been toting around our special copy of the book in hopes of getting autographs of the characters (without realizing how elusive this tale’s characters can be)! I don’t recommend doing this either, very cumbersome when going thru security checks & unpacking gear out of a stroller. Also, when folding everything down for the monorail & various other locations, it’s clumsy. One can dream though & I was dreaming about getting our special family’s edition of Peter Pan autographed.
Anyway, we love Peter Pan. Our excitement matched the thrill of loading into our own darling pirate ship on Peter Pan’s Flight & “floating” off into the sky. Kenai rode with DH, loving every moment. Koda rode with me & was doing good until the ship dipped down in front (like it was descending in air). He did NOT like that & thus the inevitable screaming, crying & shaking began once again. Go figure, my kid just rode 1,000s of miles in the air ascending AND descending on a plane?! We exited the ride with little Koda yelling, “that was NOT fun Mommy, alright?!!! Peter Pan is bad!!!! It was scary!!!”! Another live and learn lesson, I was able to laugh it off a little more this time.
We decided it best to claim a territory for the Parade, so we grabbed a spot in Fantasyland down the road from Mad Tea Party. Our Sleeping Beauty, littlest Mermaid & I got settled in, with Koda in his stroller. Kenai & DH were off to finally ride the Tea Cups! As suspected, the Tea Cups went over HUGE with Kenai! [/IMG]
They scooted over to Alice In Wonderland which apparently was only “okay”. Our Belle was off, I think looking for more coffee or looking for Prince Charming, maybe? Dunno? Then DH switched boys, left Kenai with Mickey popcorn & Mommy. DH took Koda to It’s a Small World, which went over beautifully! Turns out it lit his world in such a special way, it became his most favorite ride of all time![/IMG]
Our Sleeping Beauty bought me my 1st churro. I couldn’t finish it, but it was nice, warm & comforting. Soon, the parade started & it wasn’t shortly after that our crew reassembled. My mouth was open in awe of the characters, singing & spectacular parade sites once again. I especially loved the “happily ever after” type of theme on floats like the Beauty & Beast, Princesses, & the finale of Mickey & Minnie decked out in gold trimmed royal garb! It was every story come to life & the fact the last song of the parade was from Brother Bear was sprinkles on top of the whole day!!! “Welcome to our family time, Welcome to our happy to be time, This is our festival, you know and best of all, We're here to share it all” The streets cleared out after the parade & we headed back towards the DLR Hotel for our night. We hadn’t eaten dinner yet & decided that baths, PJs & room service sounded swell.
Once we got back to our suite the boys were treated to a welcome of little gifts in red bags, with gold sparkle ribbons -left on their pillows by “Mickey”.( I’d bought several toy type Disney souvenirs from Disney Store, Target & Dollar Tree-believe it or not!) Tonight’s Mickey gifts happened to be expandable bath mitts Goofy & Pooh, along with Disney Pixar bath fizz toys. How clever that Mickey knew that we’d all need a good washing after a day like ours & tub toys! Yippeee!! [/IMG]
Quickly after I finished washing the kids & placed my food order in with Captain Red Beard, things turned for me. Including the entire room! I was dizzy, ready to throw up & if I slightly closed my eyes was ready to fall over, with a migrane headache to boot! Way to end a perfect night, woo hoo! I tucked Kenai in & was watching Princess bed time stories told by Snow White, with Koda laying on me. I closed my eyes & DH woke me when dinner came. One whiff of the food & I just about tossed my Dole Whip / Churro bits at DH! (Not that there was anything nauseating about the food, DH tells me that all 3 of our dinners were tasty. Apparently they all had they’re own kinda midnight buffet?) I fell asleep hungry & sick, but in the sweet environment of Disneyland how could I be miserable? My dreams were of Princess’s balls and happy thoughts underneath Tink’s dust. Another morning to hope for all of Our Dreams Coming True was to come![/IMG]
__________________
Have faith in your dreams and someday
your rainbow will come smiling thru...
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
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the boys went into sensory overload mode. Hope things will be getting better!!
The line was very long & there was absolutely no way
to consider it given our circumstances. Belle, however being the free spirited, swift moving gal she is -promptly got in line to meet our princesses! I told her to tell Cinderella “hi” for me & get her autograph. 
From my vantage point on the train or “the other side of the tracks”
….I admired the Canal Boat ride & little scenery along the route. Looks cute! Doubt of a 3 & 5 yr old’s ability to sit still for that one over rode my brief moment of temptation for the ride. He, he!
Loved every special moment of watching Kenai & Koda’s precious glee filled faces on Dumbo with Daddy, a view nothing can surpass! 
Sigh!
[/IMG]
Koda insisted that Pinocchio’s Daring Journey was “not scary”. Even though my better judgment knew otherwise, I went with the moment of spontaneity…big mistake! 
The ride started out cute, with warm & fuzziness abounding in Gepetto’s workshop with Jiminy along side. Yikes…than fright factor hits you smack in the face on PleasureIsland & the belly of Monstro!!!! Koda was shaking uncontrollably, crying & screaming “Mommy!!!”.
Live & learn my friends, live and learn! Never again will we dare that journey, at least not until Koda reaches at least 6 yrs old! Ha, ha!
However, she did get to see Snow White from afar! DH & Kenai decided they wanted to check out Main Street solo & the rest of us headed to the Castle Princess Shop. 
Truly, it is an experience for every little girl at heart. There are many cute things & details in the top of the shop’s décor. I spent a good bit of time looking up at the art pieces & taking photos of everything Cinderella.
[/IMG]
(wisely) & exited the shop with one purchase….a Cinderella trading pin! It’s so cool
, a little stained glass window with glass slipper that opens up to a little silhouette of Cinderella! Oh, I don’t plan on trading this little gem either.
I’m thinking of collecting only Cinderella pins. 
They were having a blast! So much so, they did not want to stop & join us. Our crew was waiting, listening to a High School Orchestra tune up on the stage, when who should arrive…..the Dream Squad!!!
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Love the pics and glad you're having a great time in Fantasyland (except for the Pinocchio debacle 
[/IMG] (fixin' our hair!)
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