A Dream That Came True! The First Timers TR - COMPLETED 9/10 - Page 20 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
We head to Les Chefs for lunch and who do we see? Marie!
Lunch at Les Chefs was fabulous!! We had French Onion Soup to start with.
Then I had the Quiche Lorraine and Scottie had the Macaroni Au Gratin.
We both enjoyed our food so much. For dessert, I had (of course) the Creme Brulee and he got the Creme puffs (with a little extra decoration).
After, I grabbed a Grand Marnier Slush, which was heavenly!!!
We headed to the Kim Possible station right nearby, where I explained to the CM about my feet and asked if there was any way Scottie could do a mission in this area instead of back in Norway? The CM said "of course we can do that for you!" and promptly set Scottie up for a mission in the UK which was right next to us!
In the UK we met up with Mary Poppins...
and Alice!
I loved Epcot so much, the detail in the scenery was amazing.
Scottie started his mission and we checked out the UK area.
One of the cool things at Epcot during the holidays is their Holidays Around the World, in almost every country you will find their version of Santa Claus telling the story of how they celebrate Christmas. The Santa in France...
Scottie finished his mission and we decided to walk around the world showcase and he chose to do another mission in Japan this time. Back in France, we had to stop and see Aurora!
I love the mini maze.
We also passed by Beauty and Beast, but the line was already closed. I loved their christmas costumes!
Morocco was truly beautiful and we even saw Jasmine and Aladdin but since Scottie had already seen them, we passed on by.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I've just spent an hour catching up to your entire TR -- I'm sooo super glad that you've had some Disney magic during your trip!!! Seeing all your pictures really makes me want to visit WDW during the holiday season! And you're toooo stinkin' good with those cliffhangers!!! More please!!!
I am so sorry that your feet are causing you so much pain! But you all managed to have a wonderful meal and some fun exploring WS.
We did end up having a wonderful time at that! I really want more time to spend in Epcot for next time though lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Your meal at Chef's sounds like it was wonderful and I just love all the shots with the characters!
Le Chefs was definitely fantastic, I highly recommend it. I was so pleasantly surprised that Scottie got into the characters as much as he did!
Quote:
Originally Posted by ksumyers
I've just spent an hour catching up to your entire TR -- I'm sooo super glad that you've had some Disney magic during your trip!!! Seeing all your pictures really makes me want to visit WDW during the holiday season! And you're toooo stinkin' good with those cliffhangers!!! More please!!!
Thanks for reading! Our trip was full of magic and I really want to go back during the holidays again! More on the way right now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
What great pictures from Epcot! Sorry about your meltdown!
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Sorry about your feet hurting. I certainly have been there before! Your lunch looked so delicious Glad you're enjoying yourselves at Epcot.
Thanks! I wish I hadn't had the problem I did with my feet, but it definitely could've been worse lol. And besides, we still ended up having a great time!
Japan was gorgeous! I couldn't stop taking pictures of all the buildings and scenery.
Scottie's mission there was incredible too, there were so many special effects...from smoke to water rushing in the pond to a special visitor in the souvenir shop!
The Japanese storyteller was so good, we stopped to listen.
In the US area, we were able to listen to the candlelight procession even though we were just passing by. It was beautiful!
Next was Italy...
Scottie was hoping to see Snow White in Germany, but when we got to the line they had closed it. She would come out again in 30 minutes but we would never make it from here to China to see Mulan too. I explained to Scottie that he would have to choose which one he wanted to see as they were both scheduled at the same time and it was the last time of the day. He decides to see Mulan in the hopes that he'll see Snow White at Akershus where we would be eating dinner and we start to walk away. Suddenly, we hear "Little Prince!! Come here mom and Little Prince!" It was the photopass photographer and the CM escorting Snow White. They had heard our conversation and decided to make some magic for us!!! They asked us to just wait around close by but not in line. When the last person had taken their picture, the CM waved Scottie over and explained to Snow White that he really wanted to see her and she graciously agreed to wait just a minute more! Not only that but she explained to Scottie exactly how a Prince should offer his arm to a princess, which he promptly did with the biggest grin!
We loved the buildings in Germany!
Now, we headed to China with plenty of time to see Mulan and ended up first in line! Mulan was so cool, she kept asking Scottie about all his warrior medallions (his disney pins lol). He in turn asked her about Mushu and she told him that Mushu was in the temple but that she would tell him hello.
By now my feet are really hurting and we are in Norway, so I decide to see if there is any way they can up our ressie at Akershus. Our ressie was for 8pm and it was barely after 6pm so I wasn't really expecting anything. But surprisingly, they were able to push it up to 7pm. So now we only have a 45 minute wait before we get to eat. We rode the Maelstrom which we really enjoyed. Then we walked on down to Mexico to look around a bit. We saw Fiesta Donald
and the Mexican storytellers.
Then we rode the Grand Fiesta ride,
it was really cute but a bit hard to follow. Of course, I was tired and that might have had something to do with it. Anyway, when that was over we headed back to Akershus for our dinner.
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Sounds like a great trip so far. We haven't visited during the holidays and you are making us want to. Glad Snow White made a little more magic for you guys. Can't wait to hear about your Akershus dinner. Perhaps a little more Cinderella time??
I am so sorry that your feet are causing you so much pain! But you all managed to have a wonderful meal and some fun exploring WS.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Love your pictures from around the WS! Beautiful! You are still doing so much in spite of your aching feet.
I am so grateful that we were able to have a fun time in spite of my feet, but I sure wish I could stop that from happening at all lol. I'm sure part of it is my size, but seeing as I've gone from a size 42 to a (now) 18W I am not about to complain lol. I am so much in love with Epcot now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disdadnmi
Sounds like a great trip so far. We haven't visited during the holidays and you are making us want to. Glad Snow White made a little more magic for you guys. Can't wait to hear about your Akershus dinner. Perhaps a little more Cinderella time??
Brent
I simply can't imagine going at any other time now, it was truly a magical experience. Akershus was very cool, but more on that in just a bit!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
More great pictures from WS! What a great moment with Snow White!
I now want a better camera so that next time I can truly do the WS justice lol. Scottie is so infatuated with princesses now it's funny, and it all started with that moment.
The main princess that night was Belle and Scottie was thrilled! He completely charmed her and she told me what a wonderful little prince I had raised, then she kissed him on the cheek!
We were quickly seated and shown to the appetizer buffet. I loved the detail in the room.
While we ate our appetizers, Mary Poppins comes by.
Then our food arrived, I had the chicken over risotto and it was delicious.
Scottie decided to eat the pizza, but he didn't like the crust and ended up not eating much. It didn't matter though, he was too excited about all the princesses in the room. They circulate in the same way the characters do at Crystal Palace. Next to our table was Ariel, and Scottie nearly dropped his drink trying to grab the camera and shove it in my hands lol.
They brought our dessert and not only did we get the Dessert Trio with Rice Cream, Chocolate Mousse and Pastry
but they also brought Scottie a special birthday cupcake.
Better than that, they gave him a birthday card signed by several princesses!
He loved it! He was slightly disappointed though that even though Cinderella had signed his card, she was not in attendance at Akershus that night. He was so sad because hers was the only picture he didn't have.
After dinner we realized that we had never used our FP's for Soarin so we headed that way in the hopes that we could still ride it. The CM at the entrance said of course we could still ride! Scottie and I both LOVED this ride!! It was brilliant! We both agreed that this was our top ride of the whole trip!
After Soarin, we ran over to Test Track while everyone else was watching Illuminations and got on the last ride of the night with a 5 minute wait time! While on Soarin, we had met a wonderful family with two girls about Scottie's age and they also had headed to Test Track. The mom and grandmother didn't really want to ride so I offered to let the girls go with us, which they gratefully accepted. After the ride, they gave Scottie their email address and he now has a pen pal!! Well, email pal lol.
We headed back to the resort for some much needed rest. Overall, I was tired but my feet weren't too bad because we took it so easy strolling around the World Showcase. I set us an early wake up call since tomorrow was our last day and I had a special plan.
About This Page: 
TinkBrat
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
More please!!! 
Sorry about your meltdown! 
Glad you're enjoying yourselves at Epcot.
Linear Mode
