Celebrating as One Big Happy Family: 5/10/14 - 5/18/14 - Page 21 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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So glad mom was ok to go on the trip. It sounds like a wonderful 1st day. I love just relaxing at the resort, such a great way to start a trip and then be already for the parks the next day.
Glad that they found out what was ailing mom, hoping the medication works and that she is feeling better soon.
Love the family photos that you did. They are great.
Day Two: Sunday, May 11th
Part One: Hope Turns Bashful
Everyone was up early this morning because we wanted to get to MK before rope drop. We ate breakfast in the room, or maybe I should say Hope and Chad did because I wasn’t hungry yet. I did have a cup of coffee, which sort of counts right? Anyway, we were out the door and on the bus in record time, which never happens!
We were actually early enough to rope drop that we were able to get a pretty decent view of the opening ceremony this time.
Maybe it was because I wasn’t sure when my next trip back would be or because my whole family was here with me this time, but watching the ceremony got me pretty emotional. Of course I had to get myself together before my brother could see me because I knew he would never let me hear the end of it.
As we made our way into the park, CMs were continuing the Mother’s Day tradition of handing out carnations to all the moms that walked past them. I always think that’s a really nice gesture, and it just goes to show you just how much Disney puts into all the little details. Once we were inside we made our way down Main Street so that we could get to FL for our first scheduled FP’s of the day…Peter Pan’s Flight. Of course we all had to stop to get our picture taken in front of the castle.
Then we made our way towards Peter Pan, but not before stopping in Sir Mickey’s so that they could buy Trinity her very first set of Disney pins to trade. Once that purchase was made, we jumped in line and soon enough we were flying high over London with Peter and the gang. Our next set of FPs were for Enchanted Tales, but I was starting to get really really hungry, so it was decided that they would all get on Pooh, while Chad and I grabbed a quick bite to eat first. Right before we split up, a CM was walking by and Mike asked him when the Mine Train would be opening up. Of course the CM told us the official opening date, and my brother says, “It’s my very first trip, don’t you think that deserves an early opening?” The CM laughed and said “of course it does”, and if it were up to him he would’ve done it, but because his last name isn’t Disney, we were out of luck.
Excited to be riding with Mimi.
Corinne captured Trin’s very first pin trade, and Hope’s first trade of the trip.
Chad and I headed over into the new FL area, and ended up in Gaston’s Tavern, where we decided to try LaFou’s Brew (on the recommendation of the guest in front of me) and a Warm Cinnamon Roll.
Now, I’m a HUGE fan of the frozen Butter Beer they serve over at the WWoHP in US, and LeFou’s Brew is supposed to be Disney version of this, but this just didn’t do it for me. From now on I’m going to stick with the Butter Beer, but the Cinnamon Roll was delicious, and I don’t even like cinnamon rolls that much, so that’s saying something.
They called us when they were walking over to Enchanted Tales, and once we met back up, we got right in line to see Belle. Hope kept saying how much she wanted to get picked to be the Beast again, but then we got inside Maurice’s Workshop and everything changed. While they were doing the little pre-show, I could tell something was a little off with her. She was standing there with Trin, being very protective over her because all of the adults were in the back, and she was now “in charge” of her cousin, but she kept looking back at me with this timid look on her face, and I didn’t know why. After they walked through the mirror, the wardrobe started asking for volunteers, but Hope barely even raised her hand, and kept looking back at me.
Trin got picked to be Mrs. Potts, and I’m coaching Hope into raising her hand to be Chip, but she wasn’t quick enough, and they picked another little girl. When it was all said and done, she was given the roll of the salt shaker, which is something they just hand out to everyone that didn’t get picked to play one of the main parts. After that, she had this sad look on her face for the rest of our time in there.
When the show was over, I held her back while the rest of our group went ahead so that we could have a little chat. As soon as I asked her why she was so sad, she started to get tears in her eyes. Then she told me that she got confused and forgot that she was supposed to put her hand up until it was too late. By then someone had already been picked to be the Beast, and she thought I was going to be upset with her. She sort of shut down during the rest of the picking process I guess, but I think she was already nervous before we even walked into that room. I told her that we were there to have fun, and I would never be mad at her for not getting picked to be the Beast. Once I had her smiling again we caught back up with everyone, and decided to go over and get on IaSW.
After the ride, everyone was starting to get hungry, everyone except for Chad and I, so they opted to stop at Pinocchio’s Village Haus to grab a bite to eat. I asked Hope if she wanted anything, but she wasn’t hungry either for some reason, so the three of us told them to call when they were done, and we walked over to Rapunzel’s Tower. I had read about searching for Pascal’s friends over there, so I thought that might be a cute waste of time.
Sure enough I found the sign that told us what to do, and then the search began. The chameleons are scattered throughout the entire area, so I just included a couple photos of them.
And of course we needed to get a shot of Rapunzel’s tower while we were there.
They finally called and told us that Trin wanted to ride the carousel, but I didn’t feel like making my way through the crowds again, so I told them we would just continue to wait where we were. They wanted to go ride BTMRR, so why should I backtrack only to walk right past the spot we were in now?
Thankfully the carousel ride was short, and we were all back together and on our way over to BTMRR. On the way over, we noticed that Chip and Dale were out, so we stopped to get our very first autographs of the trip.
As you can see, Chip and Dale were in rare form, with Dale being extra bold and putting Hope’s autograph pen in her ponytail.
After we said good-bye, we started walking over to BTMRR again. We stopped to check out SM and see if the girls would want to get on it next since we did have FPs for it. Both of them said no, so we decided we would try it again another day.
The wait time for BTMRR was 40 minutes, but I have to say that time flew by because of the interactive queue. While we were in line, Hope started to say she didn’t feel good, and we all thought it was probably because of the heat and her lack of food and drink. Mike made her drink some of his water and I pulled out some goldfish crackers I had packed. After a few minutes passed she was back to her old self again.. While all of that was going on, I told dad that I didn’t think it was a good idea for him to get on this ride because of his back. He kept saying he thought he’d be fine, that it wasn’t that jerky, but my gut was telling me it was a bad idea.
Of course we got seated all the way in the back of the train. Take a good look at this picture because not all of us will be smiling when it’s over.
As soon as we started off, and the train lurched forward to make it up that first hill, he was done for. It jarred his back, and he felt it right away. I kept asking him if he was ok, and in between her screams, Hope kept saying she was worried about Poppy. Once were pulled back into the station, he said he was ok, but I knew he was lying, and I knew that he should have listened to me.
Hope looks SO grown up in this picture!! Sorry she was all confused and upset by being picked though.
I had no idea about all the chameleons by Rapunzel's Tower. How cute & fun!
I hope your Dad is ok!
I'm with you on La Fou's Brew, blech! I didn't even finish mine But looks like a great morning so far and glad Hope was able to get right back to her old self! Hope the ride wasn't too much for your dad's back!
Some great photos! Poor Hope looks sad in Enchanted Tales. What a shame she thought you'd be mad at her! I had heard about Pascal's friends around the Rapunzel area but now I've got to go searching myself. Uh, oh... I don't want to think about what your dad now has to face after jarring his back.
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Great photos from the family shoot! Great start to your MK day. We keep missing the opening ceremony by just minutes. Your cinnamon roll was huge. I think I need to try one of those. Love the interaction with Chip and Dale.
Oh no, your poor dad! I don't ride BTMRR anymore because of my back.
And poor Hope! It's easy to get flustered in those situations, and then so heartbreaking when you realize what happened....
Hope the day turns around!
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.
Hope things with your mom are now heading in the right direction. It's always stressful when it's your mom. Mom's are like superheros.
Sorry that Hope had a rough time with Belle. It's funny how kids get ideas in their heads and are afraid of disappointing others. And I hope your dad's back isn't too horrible for the rest of the trip. My DH had back problems right before our trip. He refused to sit out some of the rides and while it wasn't too bad for him he did have some soreness issues after things like BTMRR.
I've only been to the MK opening ceremony once, but it made me emotional too! And some people just don't get that, but people on here do! Your cinnamon roll looked amazing! I must try one. I didn't know about the cute chameleons... I'll have to look for those sometime.
I agree with you about Lefeu's Brew. It sounded good, and I so wanted to like it, but I couldn't take more than one sip. At least the souvenir mug we got it in is cute
Hope your Dad's back isn't hurt so badly that it ruins his trip!