The Holi-Canoli! Whirlwind Trip That Wasn't Supposed to Be - Page 22 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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Lucky you-3 rides on TSMM!!!! And I can hardly wait to hear about HDD!!! It is one of our favorites!!!!! I am getting excited just waiting to hear your review!!
We finished up our lunch and walked along the Streets of America and came across a PP photographer. We made use of his services.
The Muppets were calling our name so we went there to catch a show.
I finally remembered the key under the mat, and we started looking for it. Michael and Victoria liked that little touch.
We enjoyed the muppets. Victoria enjoyed it more than ever because before we left for Disney, we watched all the seasons of The Muppet Show so she understood all of the jokes and knew all of the characters. It does make a difference when you understand who everybody is.
We headed over to Star Tours. It isn't one of our favorite attractions, but we had some time to spare since we were waiting for the next showing of Indiana Jones. So, we rode it.
Victoria had never seen Indiana Jones, so I remedied that last month. Michael had never seen the show either. It was time to remedy that as well. We found really good seats near the front. It was good to get out of the heat. We hadn't expected Michael to leave the severe heat only to come to FL for heat just as bad.
I didn't take anymore pictures. I just wanted to enjoy the show.
We hadn't ridden the Great Movie Ride yet so we walked that way. Whenever we say HSM, we avoided it like the plague. The movies are cute, but we really didn't want to see it here.
A little tidbit about this handprint...
As Charlton Heston was signing his name, someone called his name, and he looked up. When he returned to signing his name, he didn't realize he left out the 'l' in his first name, so he signed it "Charton Heston," and it has stayed that way. I thought that was pretty funny! Please don't ask where I get my information. I'm a voracious reader and read it somewhere. I'm always reading something.
We saw "Voyage of the Little Mermaid." It was really cool in there after being in the heat and humidity. We always like this show.
Up next we went to the Animation Academy. Victoria really wanted her daddy to experience learning how to draw a character. While we were waiting, we said hello to Frozone.
We LOVED the drawing class. Unfortunately for my sweet DH, it was a pretty difficult character. It was so hard, Michael ended up giving up. The artist was simply too fast for him. Awwww...but his sketch looks really cute, so if you promise not to laugh, I'll post it. Victoria and I think it is cute. Victoria's is, of course, amazing!
And Michael's....Isn't it cute?
I'm not quite sure what Michael and Victoria found so fascinating on the ceiling in the Animation Studio. Perhaps they were simply being silly, but I this picture.
As we were leaving, we had to pass the Queen's path. She insisted we needed a picture of her.
Stitch was nearby, too, with a big alien hug.
We hadn't had enough of TSMM, so we went there. We got really lucky. We didn't have a FP this time and walked through the queue then a CM asked us how many were in our party. We said three. She sent us through the FP lane, and we were taken to the handicapped loading section. Score! We hopped right onto a ride! I couldn't believe it. Victoria rode alone and looked like she meant business!
I took pictures of our scores, but I can't remember whose is who's. Oh well. They are close.
After our fourth wonderful ride on TSMM, we wanted to ride TOT again before we called it a day. If I'm not mistaken, we DID have FPs for TOT, that's why we didn't have them for TSMM. TOT was a walk on, so we held on to our FPs.
Self-portrait on TOT.
We enjoyed our drop tremendously and hopped back in line, this time using our FPs.
We hadn't seen Beauty and the Beast in years and years, so we knew we wanted to see it. No sooner had we found our seats in the theatre than it started to rain. Not just a light rain. It was a monsoon! It POURED! I'm so glad we were under cover. Very soon, the show started.
Lumierre has to be my favorite character, so I was pleased I got such a good shot of him.
This is my favorite picture I got of the show. it! As a bibliophile, I relate to Belle and her love of books.
I must say, we were not impressed with the Prince in his human form. He was not very attractive.
Thankfully, the rain quit while we were watching the show. It was a great show, and I'm so glad we stopped to see it again.
We got pictures in front of the hat before leaving the park.
We drove back to the resort to rest. Our ADRs for HDDR weren't until 9:30 p.m. I took a nap. Michael might have napped, too, but I have a feeling he played the Wii with Victoria. I am so glad I brought it with us for this trip. We really enjoyed it. Michael probably took advantage of the fast internet, too.
We left for HDDR with plenty of time to spare. We found the resort and parked and took the bus to Pioneer Hall.
We got our tickets, checked-in, and had our picture made. We were taken inside, and I couldn't believe how empty it was. We paid for Tier 1 seating. No one was in the balcony....at all. We only filled half of the bottom floor. That's it!
The show began! The actors were so cute! They did a great job. They went around finding out where everyone was from. One of the guys came to our table. We told him we were from Texas, and they sang a little song about Texas. Very cute! We enjoyed the show very much.
The chicken was a little dry, but it was still good. I don't eat ribs, but DD and DH do, so they enjoyed those.
We enjoyed the show and the antics and the flag-waving and washboard playing. It was a hoot!
All in all, we had a fantastic day, but now we were stuffed and pooped and ready to plop into bed. We grabbed the bus back to the parking lot, hopped in our car, and drove home. I think we went straight to bed. It had been a long day.
I love HDDR! Glad you all enjoyed it also! And how wierd that it was only half full - it sounds like you guys went at a slow time of year (all those short waits) and wow on all the TSM rides also!
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Laura, I'm finally all caught up. What can I say? There aren't words to say how happy I am for you and your family. Amazing! I love how much fun you had on your trip and especially am enjoying how much you all truly love each other. You have brought me joy on a day when I just am not feeling any. Thanks. Can't wait for more.
OK, I am all caught up now. Glad you are back on the boards.
I am so glad your DH made it home safely! You had me in tears. My BIL is in the Army and has been to Iraq and other places.
Sounded like a great day at TL and then at DHS. Love all the PP pics.
Can't wait for more.
Great DHS day! I love your pictures from AA-even Michaels! Great update & pictures!!! I can't believe how few people were there compared to when we went in Jan- it was sooooo crowded!
and I couldn't help but admire the wonderful food pictures you took compared to mine
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Laura love your TR. i booked a trip for the end of May to DLP, i am actually doing a Cosmos tour of England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France and then staying an extra 5 days at DLP at the Thomas Cook hotel with a 5 day DLP pass. In september (last 2 weeks) i want to return to WDW with Amanda for the free disney dining
Laura, I'm finally all caught up. What can I say? There aren't words to say how happy I am for you and your family. Amazing! I love how much fun you had on your trip and especially am enjoying how much you all truly love each other. You have brought me joy on a day when I just am not feeling any. Thanks. Can't wait for more.
Awwww. We had a lot of fun, and I'm so glad I could bring you some joy. We do love each other very much...all three of us. I'll have more tomorrow!!
OK, I am all caught up now. Glad you are back on the boards.
I am so glad your DH made it home safely! You had me in tears. My BIL is in the Army and has been to Iraq and other places.
Sounded like a great day at TL and then at DHS. Love all the PP pics.
Can't wait for more.
My DH would stay deployed if he didn't have to leave us. He absolutely loved the deployment ministry but missed us terribly just as we missed him. We are looking to stay on here at Hood because he'd like to go to Afghanistan now. At least he wouldn't have to deploy again until he promotes to Major. Phew!