Have a Happy Birthday - Part Two - COMPLETE w/Final Thoughts **Updated 11/25** - Page 26 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Breakfast at Tusker House looked like great fun and the food sounds delicious (I am getting so excited to try it next month). Sorry that you had a bit of a wait on the Safari and Kali but both rides sound like it was worth the wait (even though Kali ended up getting you a new outfit as well )
We had got hit with such a wave when we went on that we were dripping from head to toe and no matter how much walking we did I was just plain soaked...it was the first time ever I actually had to head back to the resort to change...
Sounds like a great morning so far....can't wait to hear more.
great update jill
too funny about mary devall and the fake comment
Juan and I got totally soaked on kali last oct - it was almost obscene but not quite there
wish I had thought to buy new clothes
hurry back with more please
Don't ever sit by me on KRR! You will be drenched . . . completely . . . totally . . . happens EVERY time! I don't know why, it just does. So now, if it isn't a really hot day, I don't ride.
Love Maddie stealing the tots! Can't wait to hear more!
I took Maddie up and while I was putting syrup on her waffle, she helped herself to 3 tater tots from a child’s plate beside her.
Ohhhh, my goodness! I laughed and laughed and laughed after reading that. That little angel bogarted some other kid's tater tots. Ooooooh... that's the most charming story ever!
And I loved Mary Devall's indignation that the kindly CM had taken her napkin. Just delightful -- cutest kids in the world!
Eileen
I got Sharon's reference to A Christmas Story right away! And it was the Bumpas' dogs. We always got phone updates from the neighbors on the dog antics while we are away!
After the girls finished their ice cream, it began to sprinkle a little bit, so we decided to move on. Up first was Dinosaur since it was inside. As we approached, a British lady stopped us and offered us 3 FP’s since she said they had just ridden it numerous times. Thom and Mary Devall took off while Maddie and I turned back to go see Pluto.
As soon as we got in the short line, the PP photographer left due to a problem with her camera. Poor timing because Thom had the camera and my cell phone in his backpack. I normally keep my cell phone in my pocket, but I had given it to him since my pants were sopping wet and had yet to get it back. Maddie had her turn and just enjoyed giving Pluto a hug, a kiss and touching his feet (feet were very big with Maddie on this trip ). Just as I told her to tell Pluto goodbye, the PP photographer ran over and started snapping. She said that as soon as she knew her camera was fixed and she saw Maddie hugging away, she had to get the picture. She even continued to give Maddie further instructions, so we took a little more time than normal with Pluto.
We next went over to TTS where we had a short wait. Once again, a couple just plopped themselves down in the back of our dinosaur. I don’t know why but that really bothers me because the CM tells you to sit in one dinosaur. At least, they did a pretty good job of controlling the dinosaur. As we were spinning round and round, I spotted Thom and Mary Devall headed our way. I waved my arms and yelled their names each time was passed them and finally on the fourth attempt, they spotted me.
We met them at the exit and then decided to venture over to EE. As we passed the mountain, Maddie pointed to it and said “Look Mar Vall, Space Mountain!” Mary Devall got the biggest kick out of that. Bless my little baby’s heart!
The standby line was at 40 minutes, so Mary Devall and I decided to ride while Thom and Maddie took off further into Asia to see what kind of fun they could find. Mary Devall and I were through the line in less than 20 minutes and waited in row 3 for the next train. When the teenage girl who was standing in front of us with her mom saw Mary Devall jumping up and down and clapping her hands, she asked in a nervous voice “Is she actually excited to go on this ride?” We discovered that she had never been on EE before and was scared, but I think seeing Mary Devall so excited made her feel a little better. Mary Devall and I planned to do puppy dog faces for our picture but we looked more like deranged people in the ride photo so that one quite didn’t work. We had a great ride and found out that the teenager in front of us really loved it!
I took this picture on our ascent up EE. Mary Devall was supposed to look scared, but she looks more bored than anything!
We looked around in the store for a little bit hoping to find some long sleeve EE t-shirts for Christmas presents, but none were to be found. I couldn’t get Thom on the phone so we started walking towards Asia assuming that they had gone to Flights of Wonder. I had an ulterior motive for walking down this way because I had been dreaming about the frozen mocha at the tea stand for months now. I bought a frozen mocha for me and a giant chocolate chip cookie for Mary Devall and then we sat down at one of the tables beside the Kidcot station and relaxed.
Mary Devall announced that she wanted to do the Kidcot station (just this one, she promised ) after she ate her cookie. Within minutes, I spotted Thom and Maddie headed for us. We found out that they had just missed a Flights of Wonder show, so decided to go to ITTBAB instead.
I told him that EE was down to a 20-minute wait if he and Mary Devall wanted to ride. He was about to take off when Mary Devall decided that she needed a bathroom break. We switched children and Maddie started eating what was left of the cookie. When they returned, Thom had a beer which then made me want a Yak Attack.
Mary Devall decided to ditch the Kidcot station in favor of an extra ride on EE with her dad, so Maddie and I sat at the table for a bit longer finishing our snacks. She announced that she was thirsty, so I decided to check out the bar beside the Y&Y counter service. Perfect! A Yak Attack for me and a lemonade for her (of course, this was after I asked if she wanted lemonade and she said no. I asked her what she did want and she said “You pick” so lemonade it was.)
It was starting to drizzle again so Maddie and I headed back to EE to wait for Thom and Mary Devall. With the rain starting to come down heavier and heavier, I could only imagine what a mad house it must be in the EE gift shop so we stayed outside. I pulled two ponchos over Maddie’s stroller to give her and her giant cup of lemonade a little cocoon and then I made myself put on the last poncho that was still a bit wet inside from my run in with KRR. I also had on Thom’s baseball hat, so I’m sure that I was quite a sight.
Well, we waited and waited and waited some more and I finally broke down and decided to go inside the gift shop. It wasn’t nearly as crazy in there as I had imagined. As soon as I hit the door I could see Thom and Mary Devall coming off their train. We met them half way and discovered that Maddie was sitting in a pool of lemonade. We Koenigs girls were having a hard time keeping ourselves dry today! We changed her clothes quickly and then decided to head out. Before we even made it to the gate, the rain had stopped and Maddie had fallen asleep in her stroller.
We made it back to WL about 5:30 and I realized that we were going to have to turn around and leave again soon since we had 6:30 ADR’s at ‘Ohana. I just wanted to sit down and rest my feet for a second though so we went to the lounge where I helped myself to a glass of wine and just a few appetizers so as not to ruin my dinner.
We finally forced ourselves to get up and moving - - we had two little girls to transform into princesses. I had already warned Mary Devall that there was no way I could get her hair into a BBB bun, but I did manage to do a fairly decent job of pulling back the front and placing the crown in her hair. She was happy so I was happy.
We caught our own private bus to MK (I was SO tempted to ask the bus driver if she would just drop us off at the Poly since we were her only occupants, but I couldn’t get up the nerve ) and then took the monorail to the Poly. Misti and her family were already waiting in the bar, so Thom and the girls joined them while I checked us in. When I joined them, Misti had just ordered me a glass of wine and handed it to me. I do that girl!
We sat around and chatted about our afternoons until our pager went off. We were seated at a great table right in the middle of the room and were soon being offered salad, dumpling and wings. Jack sat beside me and he was so good about trying everything. I could tell that everyone was enjoying themselves and the food. Although I did love the potatoes, the noodles are a nice addition. The meats were fantastic as usual although I could barely do justice to any of them. We decided to order kids meals (chicken nuggets and hamburgers) for the children since we weren’t sure how much of the adult food they would eat. This turned out to be a good move because they all ate very well.
I love this picture! Maddie looks like she had one too many lapu lapus!
As soon as we hit Main Street, Misti took Bryce with her to buy her a costume. We took some pictures of the kids and then the villain show started so I took Jack and Mary Devall closer to the castle to watch. Jack was so sweet - - he told me “Thanks for taking me.” As soon as it was over, I saw that the rest of the crew had come up not too far behind us.
Misti and Bryce appeared with her in a Jasmine outfit (which absolutely thrilled Maddie since they now matched ) and then she left with Jack to buy him a costume.
We pulled up a piece of curb to wait for Wishes to start, but Thom decided to take Maddie to ride some rides since she isn’t totally thrilled with the fireworks at her age. Once they were on their merry way, I entertained the girls by taking their picture.
Before Wishes started, Misti and Jack returned - - or should I say Capt’n Jack. He just glowed in his costume. All of the kids were so excited.
We had fantastic seats for Wishes and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. For the first time, I video taped it and took the occasional picture with my camera phone. We don’t stop to watch the fireworks that often, so I was glad that Misti’s family had really wanted to see them.
After the fireworks, we caught up with Thom and Maddie near the race cars. We all went on with the exception of Linda who waited for us. I rode with Maddie who is getting much, much better with her driving. There was a line of cars at the end, so I took the moment to take some pictures.
What Maddie looks like with road rage.
A CM finally came down the line and asked us to leave our cars and walk to the exit. Apparently they were shutting down that lane. In my flurry to get us out, I realized that I didn’t have the camera case. Thom went back and found it for me though.
Maddie really wanted to ride “her” rollercoaster, so we headed to Toon Town. Jack and Misti took a bathroom break, so Thom and I took Bryce, Mary Devall and Maddie to ride. I rode with Maddie and Thom was allowed to sit behind the girls. Everyone had a great ride and we hopped right back on. In the meantime, Misti and Jack got on the ride and got to ride it two times in a row. After everyone had two rides each, we hit the Wonder land candy trail.
During the evening, Mary Devall had made it her goal to convince Bryce and Jack to go on SM with her. By the time we hit Tomorrow Land, they were ready so Thom and Misti took them (Misti just knew that Jack was going to hate it) while I had other ideas for the rest of our crew. Linda and Nicky were under the illusion that I was just going to let them warm a bench, but as soon as the others were out of sight I said "Come on! We're riding the TTA!"
Linda and Nicky had never been on this and just it! As soon as we were off, we headed for SM and spotted the group headed our way. I immediately noticed that Jack didn’t look traumatized and Misti said in shock “He loved it!” Bryce even loved her second time too!
While we were in the area, we decided to go on Buzz since it was something that everyone could do. We were a party of 9 so I ended up riding by myself - - and I won!
The one thing that Jack had requested was to ride PotC, so I lead us across the hub in the direction of Adventure Land. Thom stayed behind to grab a couple of drinks for us (I needed my traditional cherry freeze from the Lunching Pad ). We stopped at a couple of candy stops along the way before Thom finally caught up to us. I wondered what had taken him so long until he confessed that he had some pictures taken of himself in front of the castle.
Everyone was so excited when we got to PotC that they left Thom and me as we parked the stroller. There was no line, so by the time we got to the front, our party was already getting on a boat. We scooted around a few people in front of us, but they closed the gate on us before we could get in the seat with Linda and Maddie. The CM had someone reopen the gate, but they only let Thom in. The CM asked me if I could wait for the next one, but before I could even give him “the look” the gates were opened again. We all had a blast and Maddie didn’t even mind the “big slide” this time. Thom and I were surprised when we felt a cannonball whiz past our heads when we were between the ships. That was not necessarily a feeling I would care to repeat!
As soon as we got outside, we spotted Captain Hook and Smee but they were just leaving. Another mom was asking them if they could pose for just one more picture with her son. The next thing we knew, Captain Hook and Smee were posing with Jack. The mom said “that’s not my son” but we were able to take advantage of the situation. I didn’t even know that there was a PP photographer there until these pictures were uploaded from our card! What a way to end the evening!
Everyone was absolutely worn out by now with 15 minutes to spare in the night. Thom suggested going for one last character meet where they have several characters in one room in Adventure Land, but I convinced him that Misti’s family was ready to go. Maddie was getting a bit fussy herself, so I picked her up from the stroller (which Mary Devall immediately occupied ) and carried her out. As we left, CM’s were standing outside of the gates filling our already full bags of candy with even more candy. We said goodbye to Misti’s family and then got in line for the boat. One had just left so we were first in line for the next which came in about 15 minutes. We all were wiped out and fell right asleep.
As usual Jill, you Koenigs just amaze me with your never ending energy! So glad you enjoyed a great day at AK followd by a wonderful dinner and then, a full on blast at MNSSHP!
danielle
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~Shoot for the moon, if you miss, you will land among the stars~
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I laughed and laughed and laughed after reading that. That little angel bogarted some other kid's tater tots. Ooooooh... that's the most charming story ever! 
does anyone know what I'm talking about 
), I'm in a fit of giggles.
I normally keep my cell phone in my pocket, but I had given it to him since my pants were sopping wet and had yet to get it back. Maddie had her turn and just enjoyed giving Pluto a hug, a kiss and touching his feet (feet were very big with Maddie on this trip 
). Just as I told her to tell Pluto goodbye, the PP photographer ran over and started snapping. She said that as soon as she knew her camera was fixed and she saw Maddie hugging away, she had to get the picture. 
She even continued to give Maddie further instructions, so we took a little more time than normal with Pluto.
I don’t know why but that really bothers me because the CM tells you to sit in one dinosaur. At least, they did a pretty good job of controlling the dinosaur. 
We discovered that she had never been on EE before and was scared, but I think seeing Mary Devall so excited made her feel a little better. Mary Devall and I planned to do puppy dog faces for our picture but we looked more like deranged people in the ride photo so that one quite didn’t work. 
I couldn’t get Thom on the phone so we started walking towards Asia assuming that they had gone to Flights of Wonder. I had an ulterior motive for walking down this way because I had been dreaming about the frozen mocha at the tea stand for months now. 
I bought a frozen mocha for me and a giant chocolate chip cookie for Mary Devall and then we sat down at one of the tables beside the Kidcot station and relaxed. 
and a lemonade for her (of course, this was after I asked if she wanted lemonade and she said no. I asked her what she did want and she said “You pick” so lemonade it was.
With the rain starting to come down heavier and heavier, I could only imagine what a mad house it must be in the EE gift shop so we stayed outside. I pulled two ponchos over Maddie’s stroller to give her and her giant cup of lemonade a little cocoon and then I made myself put on the last poncho that was still a bit wet inside from my run in with KRR. I also had on Thom’s baseball hat, so I’m sure that I was quite a sight. 
We Koenigs girls were having a hard time keeping ourselves dry today! We changed her clothes quickly and then decided to head out. Before we even made it to the gate, the rain had stopped and Maddie had fallen asleep in her stroller.
) and then took the monorail to the Poly. Misti and her family were already waiting in the bar, so Thom and the girls joined them while I checked us in. When I joined them, Misti had just ordered me a glass of wine and handed it to me. 
and then got in line for the boat. One had just left so we were first in line for the next which came in about 15 minutes. We all were wiped out and fell right asleep.
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