Simply Having a Wonderful Disneytime: Good, Bad & Ugly Trip Report! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Yikes, that is a bit stressful, and with lack of sleep, well, ANYTHING can be stressful.
Love the SDS (stupid, dumb, sidekick)!! I could use that too! (and luckily MY DH is NEVER online!)
Went back and read PTR and have gotten caught up on TR. I hope you all get some rest to get rid of those grumpies. I look forward to reading more about your trip.
Wow, what a rough start to your trip. My husband and I always are sleepy/grumpy on our first day too, and after our honeymoon trip decided trying to add parks on top of travel was a bit too much for us! I can imagine how having a small child who is raring to go would add a whole 'nother dimension of stress. I hope that bag showed up eventually! I always get stressed when the bags are late too.
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About an hour after Sds had spoken with Holly and as things were starting to boil over (OK, so they were already boiling over!), there was a knock on the room door. And there stood Keith (notice how I remembered the name) with Sds's bag. The angels sang...Hosannas poured down from the heavens...OK, so maybe I'm exaggerating a teeny bit. Joy to the World, the luggage has come!
I told Sds he could hold off unpacking...we are heading out to relax and have some FUN! Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth to all men!
We take the elevator down to the first floor and walk out to the boat dock (taking photos along the way). Jimmy wanted to play on the beach a bit, but I assured him there would be plenty of time during the week. (OK, bad mommy...but I really didn't think it was going to get THAT COLD!).
We caught the boat over to the Wilderness Lodge. A nice leisurely ride which allowed up to soak up some sun and chill out. (which was MUCH needed). Once we dock at the WL, we take our time and wander around. I was hoping the geyser would go off while we were there, but it didn't. So we ambled past the pool area and inside.
And right there, in front of the HUGE (and gorgeous) tree, was a photopass photographer. Time to get that pre-paid card to use!
The tension continued to diminish as we wandered around the hotel, taking more photos and doing a little window shopping.
We eventually made our way back to the boat dock and caught the boat that would take us to the Contemporary. But first stopped at Fort Wilderness. And while we were there, our captain's shift ended so we had to wait for another one to arrive and take us back to the Contemporary. But it didn't matter. We just sat there on the boat in the warm sunshine.
Once we arrived back at the Contemporary, we made our way up to the Grand Canyon Concourse and the monorail (the 3rd ride of the day for Jimmy & I; the first for Sds). The monorail was pretty packed! We stayed on until the Grand Floridian. Exiting there, we wandered a bit. Making our way down to the first floor, where yet another Photopass Photographer awaited. Another magical moment as we have a family portrait taken while the Grand Floridian Orchestra plays Christmas tunes in the background. Stress, stress has gone away..don't come back we want to play!
We admired the Gingerbread house (containing several THOUSAND eggs -- never thought a HOUSE could kill me! ). Then we walked, SLOWLY to the Poly. (With Jimmy playing statue along the way...he would run ahead, stop on the grass and stand perfectly still until we passed him...then he would continue on).
We made our way past Luau Cove with tropical breezes gently blowing and the wafting scent of bar-b-que. My mouth was watering! I was ready for our meal at the Kona!
In the Grand Ceremonial House we called my in laws. There were in a cab on the way to the hotel. They were very close, but traffic was terrible (remember this was the weekend that they were filming the Christmas parade...which is why I wanted to stay far away from the Magic Kingdom...no matter how tempting it might be). We checked in and Grandma M & Grandpa M arrived. (To make things easier here, I'm going to call them GMM and GPM). GPM was sick, but seemed pretty all right to me. GMM is all in tizzy because GPM is sick and maybe they shouldn't have taken this trip...they should have cancelled...this is the worst trip ever...Enough drama for you?
Thankfully, our buzzer went off pretty quickly and we were escorted to a table at the far end of the restaurant (near the Sushi Bar/Former Coffee Bar). Our server was very nice and went and got Chef Johnny for me (photos to follow -- I took photos with pretty much every Chef I dealt with...it's going to be my new tradition every time we go to Disney). Lots of things looked good on the menu, but I decided to go with Teryaki Strip Steak (as did Sds). Jimmy had a burger and fries (always a good choice). Don't recall what GMM had (or maybe I just blocked it out -- she has gotten pretty crazy about what she will and won't eat...and that's a LONG story which I won't get into here), but I'm pretty sure that GPM had fish. Sds and I also indulged in some adult beverages -- a Island Sunset for him and a Kona Cool Sundown for me. DELICIOUS! And the meal was just as good (of course I hadn't really eaten that day which probably added to it). I practically licked my plate! Big thumbs up for Kona! We hadn't been for a couple of years and I'm very glad we came back.
After dinner, it was definitely time for us to head back to the hotel and crash. While GMM and GPM used the facilities, we took some photos (there was a small tree on the 2nd floor landing with a "throne" next to it, so more holiday photos were a must). Also did a little shopping. I was looking for a new monorail shirt for Jimmy (Por Favor Mantangase...) as he has outgrown his old one. But I could find only adult sizes, no children (and this was to be the case throughout the whole trip. ). We advised GMM and GPM to take the monorail with us. They could get off at MK and catch the bus back to AKL while we would continue on to the Contemporary.
Back at the hotel, there were some remnants of hors d'oeuvres left over so I snagged a few pieces of cheese & grapes while I waited for Susan (the concierge on staff that evening and a wonderful lady) to bring me a "Do Not Disturb" sign. (Knew we'd be crashing within the hour and it was still very early).
In the room, our beds had been turned down and Jimmy had devoured the chocolates left out (he calls them mints even though he knows they are chocolate. I guess to him, anything left on your pillow is a mint!) and Sds had done some unpacking. I get Jimmy bathed and ready for bed. He and his stuffed friends, Bobby & Turtle, climb into their very own king sized bed and are fast asleep by 7:40 (which is just around bedtime at home).
Sds and I finished our unpacking and got into bed ourselves (after relaxing showers...needed to wash the final vestiges of stress off me!). I think we were both in bed by 8 PM and probably asleep not long thereafter.
Both of us awoke around 10 or so that night as Wishes was going on at the Magic Kingdom. And let me tell you, you can REALLY hear the BOOMS from the 14th floor rooms facing the MK. I think we both just kind of did our best to ignore it and fell back into blissful sleep knowing that the stresses of the "real" world were behind us and all of our Disney holiday week lay ahead for us to enjoy!
I just caught up with your ptr and tr! It finally hit me that your Amber is the one who gave us such a great experience at the R&C over 3 years ago. She was such a sweetheart, so I'm thrilled to hear that she's still moving up the ladder!
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Melanie
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Disney Magic - Oct 2015
(and luckily MY DH is NEVER online!)
). We advised GMM and GPM to take the monorail with us. They could get off at MK and catch the bus back to AKL while we would continue on to the Contemporary.
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