My "first" trip to WDW!! (1/25-2/1) - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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.
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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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Welcome to the Passporter Boards! I know what you mean about the liquid paper--I don't buy pens anymore, but I think I should buy stock in the company that makes the mechanical pencils I buy!
Thanks everyone! I'm gonna try and update it regularly. I still have to finish unpacking and work on my PhotoPass pictures but I have the next two weeks off work, so I'll have some free time (I'm a shadow at a pre-school and the child I work with is on vacation, LOL, should have co-ordinated better!)!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueCinderellaEyes
I Love the Believe T-Shirt. Cant wait to read more
Thanks! It's from the Vancouver Olympics actually, CTVs theme was"Believe" and I really liked the shirt, I really didn't think too much into it until after!
Okay adding the next part now!
Last edited by ThumperBunny; 02-05-2011 at 12:14 PM..
(Okay I just wanted to go back to my first post and say, technically if you “do the math” I should be 28, but I went in summer 87, so just after my 4th birthday... I’ll be 28 in May)
Since Orlando is a 25h drive from home, there was no way we were doing that, waste of precious Disney time! We decided flying was the way to go! (about 3h give or take!) We were able to get a direct flight both ways at a great price, which was another big factor in our decision! This was also to be my first ever plane ride, so it was a mix of excitement and pure terror! Haha!
Our flight to Orlando was scheduled to take-off at 8:35am, and arrive at 12:35pm, allowing us a good half day extra at Disney. My day began around 5am, I was hoping to sleep in until 5:30am, but the parents were up and moving around, so I finally rolled out of bed at 5:15 or so. I wasn’t hungry (combination of nerves and the stomach still being asleep), so I got dressed and packed up the few last minute cosmetics I needed (yes even that early I need a bit of make-up). My brother arrived at 5:50am to pick us up, we loaded his car and by 6 we were on the road, hit no traffic and arrived at the airport in 15minutes, yah forgot to mention the airport is close by . My mom and I were able to check-in beforehand, but it wouldn’t work for my dad, so we had to line-up, but it only took like 5 minutes. Check-in, got our luggage tags and boarding passes, dropped off our luggage and headed to security. The agents were really friendly and helpful which eased the stress. We were randomly selected to do the full body scanners and the guy laughed at me when I said I was excited to try it. It was like 3 seconds and I guess I looked disappointed it was so quick as the agent made a joke about it. Next we passed through customs, no problems either, and finally we were at our gate. It was now 6:50, yeah... over an hour to wait. I listened to music, watched the sun come up, had a little bite, compared the temperature at home (about -17C or 1F) to Orlando (18C or 65F). Finally at 8 we were allowed to board. 8:35 came and went, and no sign of take-off... first two people had checked luggage, but were not on the plane, so they removed their luggage. Then the pipes to the bathroom were frozen, and the since it had snowed a bit overnight we had to de-ice... Finally about 9:30 we were in the air. Overall the flight wasn’t bad, no turbulence and pretty smooth overall. The only bad part was when the gravol wore off (since the plane was delayed it happened near the end of the flight) and my mom said I turned a nice shade of green. I took another dose and within 20 minutes I felt normal again. I watched most of The Social Network, it was okay, not really what I thought, but it helped pass the time.
Landing was smooth, and was only 30minutes late, so we did make up some time in the air. As soon as we landed I looked out the window and saw no snow and PALM TREES! Sign number one this was going to be a very magical trip! I could feel the heat as we exited the plane, okay correction my hair and I could feel the humidity! But seeing as it had been close to -40 with the wind three days prior, I was NOT complaining! We headed to the MCO monorail, and set off to begin our Disney trip
Our plane at the gate, snow on the ground....
Horrible picture, but look at me I'm on a plane!
Not much further now:
Up Next: Disney’s Magical Express and arriving at our hotel!
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Great update! If this was your first flight, I guess you drove in '87?
Yup, my parents were both teachers, so we were all off in the summer, and we took the month of August and drove from Canada down to Florida and back. We did 4 days at Disney (only MK and Epcot then), as well as Sea World and Kennedy, and then we drove down to my great uncle's house on the beach before heading back home.
After a successful landing at MCO, we headed off the plane, and headed off to DME! We took the MCO monorail (and met a lady with a little baby cat, it was soooooo CUTE! LOL!), and then crossed over to side B. As we were walking by security (on the other side of a glass wall), I saw a girl maybe 8-9 with a Mickey stuffy looking so sad that she had to go home! I knew that would be me (+ a few years in age, hehe), in a week. Anyway we easily found DME, found the line for All-Star Sports and headed off. There was a bus waiting there, and we were able to get on it right away. It was pretty full, but we waited a good 15 minutes or so after we got on until we left. We didn’t mind, although we were anxious to leave! The people in front of us were actually from about 1h south of us, although were not on the same flight, so we had a nice conversation about the weather!
The bus trip was uneventful, although I took a million pictures of all the signs leading up to WDW! Finally we passed the Official WDW sign, and it finally sunk in that yes I am at DisneyWorld! We first stopped at CBR, and I took lots of pictures of the flowers and decors because I felt like I had travel through time, coming from heaps of snow to spring flowers. We then headed to Pop Century, and most of our bus got off there (I think there was a family reunion on our bus!) and again snapped lots of pictures. It was amazing to see live all these things that I had only seen before in pictures.
It took a few minutes to unload at POP, and once we were back on the road, it was off to All-Star Sports! I was practically bouncing in my seat, lol. Of course that may have been because I was tired of sitting and wanted to stretch my legs. We pulled up to the lobby, and we were the only people getting off there. We all got some Mickey stickers, which I took to give to my Sparks (the Canadian equivalent to Daisy’s) We took a minute or two to look around and then headed inside for check-in. I had done online check-in the night before, but there was no one else checking in so it would have been quick either way. My mom and I explored the lobby a bit while my dad got all the info. I had requested closed to transportation, mostly because we wanted to stay in the football section, and that’s what we got! Our room was ready, so we quickly peeked into the Shop and Food Court, and then headed outside to our building. When you walk out you’re right in front of the pool, and to see people SWIMMING outside (as opposed to skating!) in January was fantastic!. We were in building 7, second floor, facing away from the center field. We got to our room, and our lovely Mickey towel was waiting for us! We explored a little bit our room, and then took out from our carry on what we would need for the afternoon , then headed over to the buses to head off to the Magic Kingdom. We waited maybe 5 minutes at most before a bus came. (we had great luck all week with the buses!!) It was us and another couple, so I figured the bus would head over to the other All-Stars, but we headed straight for the MK! YEAH!! It was awesome seeing the monorail go by, then driving by the Contemporary, and finally before I knew it, we were pulling right up the Magic Kingdom!
I want these seats in my car:
Go Mickey!! My mom wants one of these for the house
Headed to the Magic Kingdom!
Up next: Welcome to the Magic Kingdom (aka, we should have brought an umbrella!)
Yeah, you're finally at Disney. We stay at AS Sports too - usually in the Surf's up building. We like being close to the food court, the pool and the parking lot (we drive down).
Hurry back - I can't wait to hear how your day at MK went.
Yup, my parents were both teachers, so we were all off in the summer, and we took the month of August and drove from Canada down to Florida and back. We did 4 days at Disney (only MK and Epcot then), as well as Sea World and Kennedy, and then we drove down to my great uncle's house on the beach before heading back home.
Great trip to FL! Do you know which beach you visited?
It's fun reading about your excitement in being at WDW! Looking forward to more!