Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising LIVE TRIP REPORT COMPLETED 3/8 - Page 23 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
What a thoughtful Valentine's gift you gave Mark! Can't wait to see all the pictures both of you will take. Before our October 2014 trip, I came on here and was reminded about Memory Maker. Thank goodness as I had kept overlooking it on one of my lists. It's almost Disney Time!
Can I just say now that I’ve ever so jealous of all those people who’ve already headed to Florida? I keep seeing people’s photos in Facebook, either from there or making their way down. Some of them are coming back before we get there, so we won’t see them, but we will see others, which does excite me, knowing that soon we’ll be seeing old friends again and making new ones.
I checked out the weather again, and it’s all looking pretty good! There are a couple of days with highs in the high 60s, but the rest of the time it’s all into the 70s and 80s. The first four nights we’re there, it will be cold at night, with temperatures getting down into the high 40s, but then again, those are the sort of daytime highs we’re used to over here, so that will be a pleasant change. That at least helps to give me an idea of what we should be packing to take with us.
As far as packing goes, we’ve got as far as getting the cases downstairs, as we’ve learnt that is the best way to pack, then you don’t have to deal with getting heavy cases down when you’re ready to leave. It was so funny, as Mark looked at me and said “are we just taking three?” we’re taking three out with us, with another inside, so we can come back with four. Flying Premium Economy with Virgin Atlantic means we get two cases free, so that’s not an issue, and try as we might, whenever we attempt to take two cases out, it just never works, so heck, why bother?
I think pretty much all the clothes are now down, along with most of the other things we’ll need. Although we haven’t officially put anything in a case yet, we’re a long way there, and I’ve printed off the packing list, so I can check that we’re not missing anything. I like starting a few days early, as in my case, I find things we need to buy (dental floss so far ) whereas for Mark, it’s a case of realising he’s short on whatever clothes he needs for this trip, which inevitably means a last minute clothes shopping trip. You can see this is a regular thing…
I went to have a look at the park hours again, just to check they hadn’t changed, and then I saw the hours for the Magic Kingdom for today – 8:00am – 3:00am! Admittedly, the last two hours are Extra Magic Hours, but even so! Wow!
Well, from what I can see, a few things have changed – the odd extra hour here and there (Saturday 28 February now has the same hours as today! )… and I say that, as the website is currently showing “schedule unavailable” for both the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on Saturday 21 February. I wonder if that means more tweaks to the hours are in the works?
We went out for a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner later on, and when we came back, we figured we’d watch a romantic movie. Sky, our TV supplier, had a Valentine’s section, where you could watch romantic films, so I picked Titanic, but it was only after we started to watch it, I realised that it might not have been the best choice, given that we’re heading out on a cruise in just over a week’s time…
Sunday 15 February
Packing is officially underway now in our house! There’s quite a bit in the suitcases already, and just as importantly, I now know what needs washing, as we have a couple more loads to do before we head out, so that can be done easily enough.
Monday 16 February
Well, after not much happening yesterday apart from packing, there’s certainly been a lot going on today. The first thing was I got a call from Virgin Atlantic at work. It was an automated message that basically said it was a courtesy call about our upcoming flight and that no-one from their call centre was available to talk to me. Ok, so now I’m freaked out. I called the number they gave, only to be told that it was a courtesy call, just to see if everything was Ok for our flight and if I knew the flight time. I did say that perhaps the automated message needed to say that, as it had completely freaked me out. Ok, so I guess I know to expect similar messages before our other flights.
When I got home, there was another surprise, a courier package delivery. Ok, not expecting anything… When I opened it up, it was our Memory Maker card. Hmmm…. Interesting, as I thought that would be added to our Magic Bands. They were lucky it made it in time, as it was only sent on 12 February, and mail from the US can take a week to get over here.
Then I opened up my email to find a message saying our Magic Bands would be waiting for us when we got to our resort. Er, I’d hope so, as presumably you’re not sending those over to us? It was at this point that I realised I don’t think I ever customised our Magic Bands. Oh well, no big deal, except if we mix the two up, and no doubt we’ll end up with different ones for each of our resort stays, as that’s what happened last time, so the mix-up opportunities are endless!
Later on, we got another email from Disney, this time with the health questionnaire, although unlike any we’ve seen before on our cruise. This one includes the now-obligatory ebola questions, which I think we can safely answer to, then there’s the usual question about whether you’ve had a stomach upset, but I don’t remember being asked before about having a sore throat, runny nose or headache before. Those have got to be filled out on the day of sailing, and hopefully we’ll still be able to answer to those questions as well.
Mark was very good, and went to the doctor’s to pick up my doctor’s note for the Guest Assistance Card, as I had completely forgotten to go and get it last week. Something to do with buying his camera instead, so I had a good excuse! Anyway, now we have it and it’s safely packed away in my travel documents, so that’s another thing done.
As we didn’t have that much to watch on the digital box, and I’d downloaded quite a few movies, we watched Winnie the Pooh, the movie from 2011 that has John Cleese narrating it. We hadn’t seen it before, and boy, it was so funny. It’s all about Eeyore losing his tail, so there was lots of donkey action, and there were also a couple of attempts to kill Piglet, which appealed to someone else in the house. We both loved the line Roo came up with “send the pig!” Classic!
Once the washing was done, I piled a lot more stuff in the suitcase, and all I can say is thank goodness we’re taking three. Suddenly my side is looking very full indeed, now all my clothes are in there, along with some of the bigger items, such as shoes, dressing gown, shawl etc.
I also did another check on the weather, and certainly for the first week, it all looks very pleasant, except for the day we arrive, which is showing highs in the mid 60s. I can definitely live with that, and the rest of the week it’s a lot warmer. The second week is still showing showers, but you know what, that doesn’t worry me at all right now, as it’s still a long way off, and we all know what showers in Orlando can be like, over and done with very quickly. Regardless of whether it’s raining or not, we’ll still head out – it’s just as well we’re packing our Disney raincoats we bought on our Med cruise last summer.
Tuesday 17 February
The Tesco order is now booked for when we get back, so that’s another thing done. For those who don’t know, we shop online for our groceries with Tesco, and we’ve done this since they started the service back in 2001. It works so much better for us than going to the stores, and especially so when you get back from vacation and come home to very little food. As we land at 9:00am, I gave ourselves plenty of wiggle room, and have booked the order for between 3:00pm and 4:00pm. We should be home I reckon somewhere around 11:00am or midday, but at least if there are delays, hopefully we’ve covered ourselves adequately with going for a relatively late delivery slot in the day.
This week’s DVC News newsletter had a link to the recreation activities at the various DVC resorts, so I had a quick look at Bay Lake Tower and Animal Kingdom Lodge Villas. I couldn’t see much point in checking out Saratoga Springs, given we’re only there for one night. There’s nothing that interests me at Bay Lake Tower, but there’s certainly a heck of a lot going on at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Sadly the wine tasting at Jiko is only held on a Wednesday, and of course by then, we’ll have moved to the Beach Club Villas. Typical!
I was reading trip reports this morning and read Lisa’s (lfredsbo) and the photos of the Festival of Fantasy parade got me so excited! We’re going to be seeing that on Saturday – oh boy, it really does feel real now!
Later on at work, someone commented that it was quite warm outside (about 50 degrees and I am so to those of you with feet and/or inches of snow right now ), and someone else said “I wonder if it’ll be nice for the weekend.” I’m sure you can imagine what I came back with – or at least the gist of it. “I know it’ll be nice for the weekend for me!” I replied!
Wednesday 18 February
Well, this morning I woke up to find a friend had tagged me on Facebook with a link to this article – sounds intriguing. Maybe we’ll get to see some filming….
There was nothing new in this week’s All Ears Newsletter, which sort of surprised me, but I guess in a way it shows that I’ve been keeping up with all the news, and that’s why nothing is new to me.
The parade is so awesome....You are going to LOVE it!
I am loving this style of pre trip report and I think I am going to use it as I start to make plans for our trip. We have started talking...nothing set yet or even destination or dates, but we know we want warm weather!
Being gone for such a long time, I think I'd start packing a week or two in advance! And that is very odd that Disney mailed you a memory maker card. Wonder why - as I thought all memory maker things are associated with your magic band? And why can they mail that but not the bands? All these questions that you can't answer.
Tomorrow!!
__________________
Tanya
Every click helps feed .6 bowls of food to rescued animals. Give a quick click every day and help animals in shelters! www.theanimalrescuesite.com
"Then I opened up my email to find a message saying our Magic Bands would be waiting for us when we got to our resort. Er, I’d hope so, as presumably you’re not sending those over to us? It was at this point that I realised I don’t think I ever customised our Magic Bands. Oh well, no big deal, except if we mix the two up, and no doubt we’ll end up with different ones for each of our resort stays, as that’s what happened last time, so the mix-up opportunities are endless! "
Your names should be printed on the inside of the bands, so mix-ups shouldn't be a problem. Also, the second set of bands won't present a problem either as all of the bands will be active and either will get you into the parks, your room, etc. I sometimes take back bands from previous trips to have a variety and all work.
And, speaking of bands, our Magic Bands arrived yesterday!!
About This Page: 
Can't wait to see all the pictures both of you will take. 
Before our October 2014 trip, I came on here and was reminded about Memory Maker. Thank goodness as I had kept overlooking it on one of my lists. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
Now I can say we head up to the airport tomorrow night! 
There are a couple of days with highs in the high 60s, but the rest of the time it’s all into the 70s and 80s. The first four nights we’re there, it will be cold at night, with temperatures getting down into the high 40s, but then again, those are the sort of daytime highs we’re used to over here, so that will be a pleasant change. 
That at least helps to give me an idea of what we should be packing to take with us. 
we’re taking three out with us, with another inside, so we can come back with four. Flying Premium Economy with Virgin Atlantic means we get two cases free, so that’s not an issue, and try as we might, whenever we attempt to take two cases out, it just never works, so heck, why bother? 
) whereas for Mark, it’s a case of realising he’s short on whatever clothes he needs for this trip, which inevitably means a last minute clothes shopping trip. 
You can see this is a regular thing… 
)… and I say that, as the website is currently showing “schedule unavailable” for both the Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom on Saturday 21 February. 
I wonder if that means more tweaks to the hours are in the works? 
Something to do with buying his camera instead, so I had a good excuse! 
to those of you with feet and/or inches of snow right now 
), and someone else said “I wonder if it’ll be nice for the weekend.” I’m sure you can imagine what I came back with – or at least the gist of it. 
You're so close now! 
Linear Mode
