A seed was planted and here’s what grew....Magical Memories - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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.
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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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Today was Lenny’s birthday and we all had to be up early as we had an 8:15 ADR at CM’s.
I woke up about 6 and got Lenny up a few minutes later. I let Abby sleep in just a little bit later. We got ready to go and ended up at the CR early (about 7:45) since we opted to just drive there and valet. When we got upstairs, I expected to see a line of people but we were the line so we were checked in very quickly. The lady who showed us the line for the photo noticed the celebration stamp on our slip and stopped us so she could sing Happy Birthday to Lenny. Lenny was doing this . When she was done, we waited our turn for the photo and before we were even done, our pager was going off.
Standing in CM’s with the buffets to your right and the dessert one right in front of you, we were going to be seated all the way to the left right in front of the windows but because Lenny’s hip was killing him, he asked for a different table. They were able to accommodate us and we sat in the same section but at the very first table for 4 closest to the buffet line. Our server came out and got us our drinks ( I think we opted for orange soda this morning instead of juice or milk) and then told me the chef would come out to see me. It didn’t take long for him to and I have to say, out of all the chefs I saw this trip, he was the worst one. As we talked about what I could and couldn’t have, for everything I said I could have his response was "it’s up there." When I asked about yogurt he said "we have plenty of yogurt up there." So as far as helpfulness, he was sadly lacking. At TH and CP, even though there were a few things I could eat on the line, the chefs went through it with me and pointed them out. This chef never did that nor did he offer to. He just said "it’s up there" and then left with the comment "okay, you’re all set then." I certainly didn’t feel all set but I wasn’t going to let him ruin my meal. Since there we no characters coming at that time, we all went up to the buffet to get something to eat. I looked for the yogurt first and the "plenty of yogurt" turned out to be one bowl of something with some sort of berries in it. Nope, wasn’t the yogurt I had success with the rest of the week so I left it. There were some hard boiled eggs so I grabbed some for both me and Abby. Abby also had some Mickey waffles. For some reason - I think it was the early hour and tiredness from the vacation catching up with me - other than those few things and a banana I happen to grab, I have no idea what else we had for breakfast. I know we had something and enough of it as none of us walked out of there hungry. And I know what I had agreed with me as I was fine, I didn’t get nauseous at all. I also remember that Lenny got a cupcake for his birthday because CM’s gave him a chocolate cupcake. All the other cupcakes had been yellow. So other than the few details I do remember, most of the breakfast is a blur. We saw all of the characters and had good interaction with them. Mickey Mouse even said Happy Birthday to Lenny. Lenny said it was whispered so low that at first it didn’t dawn on him what happened but when it got through all the fog in his brain, that’s pretty much all I heard the rest of the day. Mickey Mouse said Happy Birthday to me.
After breakfast, we left the CR and headed to the Hess gas station. We needed a fill up and even though we were only going to the MK that day, it bothered Abby that the gas light came on. It didn’t matter that the light also went out, Abby heard it come on and she wanted Lenny to stop for gas. Plus too, after spending a day in the MK, we didn’t want to forget on the way out that night. We were finally in the MK about 10:00
and our first ride was the train. Scooters aren’t allowed on it so we did a full circle on it and once we were back, we stopped for a Photopass picture. It was already turning into a hot day so I told Abby that we were going to cut through the gift shops. Sometimes she doesn’t like this as she thinks it means we’re going to shop but I promised her there would be absolutely no shopping unless there was something she saw that she wanted. That of course got her in the door and the next thing I knew, she was cutting through the store really quickly then led us to a rack of plush that was right by the dressing room we had been in the night before (was it really only the night before). On it was a whole display of the Baby Marie cat from the Aristocats. I asked Abby if that’s what she wanted. She said yes so I told her to grab one and then find a register. We did and at first we were going to have it sent to package pickup so we wouldn’t have to carry it all day but it was only one item and not all that big or bulky so we just took it with us which made Abby happy. From whatever store that was, we cut through all the way to the end and came out at Casey’s then headed to Fantasyland (did you think we’d actually start somewhere else for a change??). We did our routine of Peter Pan then Philharmagic again. We waited in line for the Carousel and because Lenny wanted to ride, we actually waited at the Handicapped entrance/exit gate that the CM pointed out to us instead of the regular line. Because we did this, Abby was able to get Cinderella’s horse and Lenny rode right next to her on Prince Charming’s horse. We all know that Cinderella’s horse has the gold ribbon on the tail (and it’s number 37 too) but Prince Charming’s horse has the gold rope hanging by it’s head. I didn’t catch the number on his (no, it’s not number 36. I’m not sure how the numbers go but I know the number was not in the 30’s). As a CM was walking around the carousel before the ride started, when Lenny heard the word "congratulations" he thought the CM was going to wish him a Happy b-day but no, the CM went on to say "you’re on Prince Charmings horse." Lenny thought that was pretty cool. We had heard that Prince Charming’s horse was near Cinderella’s but we never knew which one it was. Now we do.
After the Royalty got off their horses, we headed to Snow White and then back to the store that had Sleeping Beauty’s dress. After seeing the dress change colors, we headed to Tomorroland by way of the path behind the castle. As we got to the end, it was almost time for Story time with Belle so we headed in for the show. When it was over, Abby and I got in line to have her picture taken with Belle (it was her choice as I promised no characters unless she wanted them). While waiting, a little girl that I originally thought was with the lady in front of us got in front of us but as the line moved, I realized that she was by herself and it grated on my nerves that this kid - who was old enough to know better - thought that just because she had a part in the show that she could cut in front of everyone who had been waiting. A father with 3 girls had done the same thing too but he was actually worse. When the CM’s asked everyone to line up against the wall, this guy just paraded past everyone with his kids and made himself first in line. I just shook my head but tried not to let it bother me too much. It was finally our turn with Belle and when we were done, Abby happily skipped away from and decided she wanted to see CoP. We went in there and there were actually quite a few people inside. I was surprised but it did seem really hot and humid out that day, more so than the rest of the vacation so people were probably trying to get into someplace cool.
After we were done napping.......I mean watching CoP, we headed to the Peoplemover. I’m so glad that they put the word Peoplemover back. Not only because that’s what it will always be to me but also because it’s a much more fitting name. I always thought the Tomorrowland Transit Authority was such a stupid name. It didn’t even sound like a ride - which is probably why we almost never rode it before this year. Just the word Peoplemover is fun IMO. Anything with the word Authority sounds like a group of people that are hanging around waiting to catch you doing something wrong or a group of people who think they know more than you do. In other words, it’s not something fun.
After the Peoplemover, we went to play Buzz again. Abby couldn’t get her Toy Story fix with TSM so we had to settle for this. I don’t know how she did it, but she hit a target twice that was worth 100,000 points. I was lucky if I could even hit a target for 100. Lenny rode by himself and had a grand old time using both lasers to shoot at things. I just don’t know what his score was (and whatever it was, he probably inflated it). When we got off, the pictures were actually pretty decent so we decided to buy them.
And at the register Lenny noticed the Toy Story 3 WII game which of course Abby said she wanted when he asked her about it. It didn’t hurt any that it had a free $5 Disney gift card and with the cost of it, I would get the 10% Disney Visa discount by using my card (plus the points too - those are always good). We went outside and because it was our last day at Disney, I was going to open Abby’s WII game so she could have the gift card but she didn’t want me to. She said that she’d use it at home in a Disney Store, that she didn’t want any more souvenirs at Disney World. Fine with that thinking, I put the game back in the bag.
It was at that point in time that the heat was really getting to us so we decided to leave the park and head to FW where we had a 4:30 ADR at Trails End Buffet. It was really early but I knew at FW there were plenty of places to sit in the shade and with the extra time, we could make our way to the Meadows Trading Post for the pressed pennies we didn’t get last year. On our way out of the MK, we saw a meet and Greet with Rabbit over to the right of Tony’s. This is the first time we’ve ever seen him so we got in line to see him. Unfortunately, a minute or two later, a CM came over to tell us Rabbit was leaving. I was really bummed about that and Abby was okay with it when I pointed out that we weren’t the only ones who would miss out on Rabbit. Taking his place though would be Daisy so when Abby heard that, she wanted to stay in line to see her again. We had one little spot left on a postcard with the FAB 5 signatures already and Abby wanted Daisy to sign it as well. Despite everyone being told to have books and cameras ready, we actually had several minutes with Daisy. She noticed Donald’s signature on the card and started to kiss it until I said "Hey wait, he’s mine." The look Daisy gave me was priceless, then she started to hand the card back to Abby without signing it. She took it back though when I pointed to Lenny and said "He’s mine, not Donald." Abby got another big hug from Daisy after that and then we headed out of the MK for FW.
When we finally got down to the boat landing, I read the signs and went to the left to wait for the boat. As I did, Lenny asked me how I knew where to go. I just pointed out the sign and he said he never even saw it. That problem was catching that day as I’d say 80% of the people who got in line in the short time we were there did the same thing (I’ll explain in a minute). So we got down under the canopy and I noticed one of the smaller launches coming in for FW. The boat that was already there (and full) on the other side was a larger one but it was going to the WL. This really worried me as we needed the bigger boat for Lenny’s scooter and I didn’t really want the added travel time of going to the WL first. I asked the CM standing there if the bigger boats were running that day for FW and he said the next one coming was the one we wanted so we waited. As soon as the small launch landed, it was announced that it was going to FW and FW only and pretty much everyone who was waiting in line with us got out of line. They all wanted the WL but failed to read the signs stating those boats were on the right and FW was on the left. So once that boat left, we were waiting there and all the people who had gotten out of line got on the next launch for the WL so we were there by ourselves for a couple of minutes before the next wave of people came down. As I was told, the next boat for FW was one of the larger ones and because the crowd was growing, Lenny made some sort of comment about how many people there were in line for FW. My only comment to him was "Watch how many people get out of this line for the other one. I bet none of them read the signs to know this side is for FW only." Lenny said "do you think?" And I just nodded and said yes. As I expected, when it announced that the left side was going to FW and FW only, a groan went up from the people waiting and almost all of them got out of line to wait on the other side. The worst part for them is a WL launch had come in while they waited in the wrong line. Lesson - read your signs. Disney can and does change things at a moments notice so never assume what you did yesterday will apply today.
So we finally got to FW and slowly walked to the bus stop. As we passed by HDD, I stopped to take some pictures of some butterflies there and while I was doing that, Abby mentioned how she wanted to do the HDD. I told her that wasn’t where we were eating and that I hadn’t gotten tickets for it. I told her maybe the next time we could eat there again. She wanted to and even though she accepted the no answer, I felt bad. As we finally made it to the bus stop, a bus pulled up and instead of asking us where we were going, the driver automatically set about getting the bus ready for Lenny and his scooter. When he learned we were going to Meadows Trading Post he wasn’t happy and told us we needed the Orange bus and that it was at WL. We’d have to wait about 5 to 10 minutes for it. We were fine with that and since I had time to kill, I decided to call Disney Dining. We had planned on eating at FW so I figured what the heck, why not see if anything was open for HDD. As I expected, there had been no cancellations and all shows were booked solid. I thanked the CM for her time and told Abby I had tried for her but I had no luck. When the bus finally arrived, Abby and I got on and even though the driver walked by us 2 or 3 times, he never put the ramp down for Lenny to get on. I was starting to get concerned but he was going off duty and someone else was coming on duty. As soon as she was done putting her water and whatever else she had with her by the wheel, she came back to put the ramp down. It didn’t work though and after about 3 or 4 minutes, she used the radio to ask what she was suppose to do. I wasn’t having a good feeling about this trip but we were out of the sun and sitting so I was willing to give her a few minutes. She was finally told she’d have to do the ramp manually and when she did it that way, Lenny was on in no time. Since we were the only ones on the bus, she asked where we were going. I told her the Meadows Trading Post and she said okay, she just had to go to the WL stop first. During the drive, I don’t know why she told us this but she told us how she had worked until something like 2 that morning and then when she got home she had to do something so in the end, she only had something like 2 or 3 hours sleep before she started her shift and that she needed one of those 5 hour energy drinks to get going with. That was not something I really wanted to know or to hear from someone responsible for driving a big bus that could have been loaded with people. A little concerned now with the bus we were on, I couldn’t wait to get to Meadows Trading Post. And when we finally got there, she doubled checked that was the stop we wanted but instead of coming back and putting the ramp down for Lenny, she only let the people waiting there on the bus then she drove again. I went up to her and said that was our stop and she said "oh, it was?" I couldn’t believe it, then she said she’d turn around to let us off and I wanted no part of that. I just said to her "it’s just right there. Can you get away with letting us off here? It’s not that far and we can just walk. There’s no need to turn around." She must have liked that idea because she pulled over a little bit and then let us off. I thanked her but I was just thankful to be off the bus with her. Apparently her 5 hour drink didn’t do a thing to wake her up.
So we walked back to the trading post (it really wasn’t far - it only took a minute or two to walk back following the sidewalk - which in FW are not in a straight line from point A to point B) and walked along the porch all the way around the building. We didn’t see a penny machine so we went in the store. As luck would have it, it was right there at the door we used and while Lenny and Abby got the pennies, I did a little bit of browsing. There was nobody in the store and there wasn’t anything that caught my interest so I went back to Lenny and Abby. There was a checker board set up right there and Abby wanted to play a game so I sat with her. A minute later, a group of people came in and then came over asking if I had lost any money. Since it was folded exactly how I do it when I stick it in my pocket, I took it and thanked her. The kids who had found it were disappointed but they were told that they did something nice by returning money, something nice would happen to them. And as I played checkers with Abby, I started to think that I didn’t have money in my pockets that day but since we were the only ones in the store, it had to have been mine. Plus too, I had walked around the store with my hands in my pockets and where they found the money would have been where I pulled them out again. Whether it was mine or not, I looked at my phone - which was also in my pocket - and saw that it was time to leave (my phone said something 4:10). Abby didn’t want to leave the game but we had to leave if we were going to make dinner on time.
Once we got outside, there was a bus passing by the trading post and when he saw us, he stopped and got it ready for us. The bus was on our side of the street and not the bus stop side, so I was surprised that he stopped. When he asked where we were going, I said to the Settlement Trading post and he gave me the weirdest look. He then proceeded to tell me I was there. "No, this is the Meadows Trading Post. The Settlement Trading Post is up with Pioneer Hall and near the Marina." Again the driver gave me a look and then said "fine, whatever." I was kinda ticked at that - I’ve been to FW enough to know where I am and which Trading Post I want. Besides, it was the most un-Disney like attitude I’ve ever seen. But he loaded Lenny up and took us to where we wanted - the Settlement Bus Depot. I really just wanted to pull the driver off the bus and say "This is the Settlement Depot which means the Settlement Trading Post is here also, not where we just came from" but I didn’t. I just walked away and when I came across the sign hanging on the fence that said Settlement Trading Post I pointed it out to Lenny and just made the comment either the drivers at FW just have absolutely no clue where anything is or they just have a problem reading signs and comprehending them (yes, I had that problem this trip but I didn’t have an attitude when I figured out I was wrong).
And as we neared the HDD, I saw people hanging around so I decided to try one last time at the ticket window for a show. There was still nothing open for the first two shows but one had opened up for 9:30. That was just way too late for us so I thanked the CM and we went to Trails End Buffet. Even though someone was standing there, she wasn’t accepting people to check in yet which I thought odd so I checked my phone to see what time it was. My phone had stopped keeping time again (it still had the same time as when we left the Meadows Trading post) so I had to turn it off then back on again. This time it came up with 4:25. Since TEB isn’t a character meal, and it wasn’t actually 4:30 like I thought it was, I didn’t care that we were asked to wait and was unconcerned as to what time we did get in there. Abby had found a set of horseshoes so she and Lenny started to play and I was happy to watch them as we waited.
Once we were checked in, we were taken upstairs and seated right away. Just like at Chef Mickey’s that morning, most of the meal was a blur. I don’t remember what we ate. I don’t even remember if I saw the chef at this meal or not. I’m leaning towards not because I do remember going up to the buffet and getting Abby some dinner then going back and getting my own dinner. Whatever it was we had was good because all of the plates were taken away empty. And at this meal, instead of getting a cupcake to celebrate his birthday, Lenny got a big piece of Strawberry shortcake that looked so good. I tried a little piece and it did taste as good as it looked. After we left the restaurant, Lenny asked me where you get the horse rides from. I just kinda looked at him and said "the wagon rides are at 7, I don’t think we should wait around for it and the carriage ride, which is over there, is $45 and you make reservations for it". He then asked if I had made the ressies. "No, why would I have done that?" "I thought that’s why you scheduled dinner so early here. So we could have a horse ride after dinner." I really have no idea where he got that thinking from. I did early dinners because we like to eat early, whether it’s a character meal or not. Needless to say, I was surprised by his thinking but as we got closer to where the horse and carriage wait, I asked the driver if the carriage rides are strictly by reservation only. She told me that no, they do take walk ups when they have time. I asked if she had any time and when she asked when I said "how about now?" She had the time so even though I had failed at my attempt to get Lenny and Abby into the HDD, I was successful in getting him his carriage ride on his birthday. And I think the best part about it was when I planned out my money, I had allotted some for a lunch at TEB on our arrival day that I ended up canceling. When I canceled it though, I kept the money in case Lenny’s birthday dinner was more expensive than I planned on - which it was. What I had leftover though was enough to cover the carriage ride and a tip for the driver so even though the ride was an "extra" expense, it was one I didn’t have to worry about as I already had the money. We really enjoyed the ride and as we went around, I pointed out different things to Lenny and Abby. I was glad to see that they still have the old bike path we used to ride down as kids staying at FW. Before we knew it, we were returning back to where we started but instead of the 20 or so minute ride the driver had quoted to someone else, we got closer to 30 or 35 minutes. For us, it was really a nice way to top off dinner and a good way for it to settle before we headed back to the MK.
Abby with Luke
Once back in the MK, we headed to Splash Mountain. Even though Abby said she didn’t like the drop and wouldn’t go on it more than once this year, she was willing to go on it this time. Maybe because the first time the picture wasn’t very good so we didn’t get it. Lenny even wanted to go on it and get a good picture - and he really, really hates the drop. It was finally our turn to ride and as we were going around the left side of the drop, a log came down. Between that and the water cannon going off, , all the water that was in air came right down on top of us and we got quite wet. Instead of getting upset about it though, Abby laughed and said it was okay, that we would dry soon (did I mention that day was the hottest of our trip it seemed?). When we got off the ride, we went to see our pictures and Lenny’s arm was right in front of her face. We were bummed but only in Disney would Lenny say something like "wanna go on it again?" Lenny hates the drop but thanks to something he saw on tv, instead of letting the drop get the best of him, he tightens up his muscles or something so the drop isn’t that bad for him anymore (he still doesn’t like it, but he’s more willing to go on it now.) So we got in line and went on it again and this time we got a good picture of us. I feel bad as Abby still looks really scared on the drop but at least she starts laughing when it’s done saying "it’s not so bad."
When we went to get the picture, the CM noticed Abby’s shirt and when Abby announced it was her dad’s birthday, the CM took out a bag and wrote "Happy Birthday Len" on one of the balloons. When I handed Lenny the picture in the bag, he had to look at it twice and then he asked "how did she know it was my birthday?" DUH - I think he forgot that we were all adverting his day this year. From Splash Mountain, we headed back to where else but Fantasyland. Abby shocked me though by saying she wanted Winnie the Pooh. From there, Abby then decided she wanted to ride Dumbo. After we took a couple of pictures of the Dumbo on the ground (boy there were lots of them that night), all 3 of us rode.
And it was I think the first time since Lenny’s first trip that he rode with us. I think he rode more just to see what was going on construction wise behind the walls than for any other reason. Our next ride was Peter Pan and after we were done visiting Neverland yet again, we decided to go to the Polynesian. Lenny wanted to see the fireworks and from having seen the fireworks briefly at the TTC one night, we knew we’d get the full affect from over there. As we tried to leave Fantasyland, we noticed the ropes that get put up at night were going up so we headed to Tomorrowland to leave that way. I didn’t hear it but as we were walking, Lenny said he heard someone say "Farewell Priness Abby." He looked around and saw a CM but he couldn’t place where he had seen her before during the week. And I think what surprised him the most was the fact that she said "Princess Abby" when Abby wasn’t wearing that shirt (she was wearing her "it’s my dads birthday shirt").
We finally made it onto Main Street
and past the train station. Thinking Poly, we started to get into the resort monorail line but then I rememberd that Lenny needed to go to the van first. That meant we had to go back through security just to get to the express monorail. The guard was good though, he barely looked at anything because I had mentioned how we went the wrong way and needed the express monorail. Once we got to the TTC, the plan was for me and Abby to start to walk over to the Poly while Lenny zipped to the van to get the tripod. I forget what happened but we all ended up walking to the van instead. Once we got there, Lenny was going to grab the tripod but I said since we were all there, we might as well drive over to the Poly instead of walking there and then walking back. Lenny agreed so we packed everything up and drove over. No questions were asked and the guard let us right through. We valet parked again but this time Lenny took the time to get his scooter out. His hip had been bothering him all day and he just didn’t feel up to the walk to the beach. Once we got some spots on the beach, I left Lenny and Abby to run to Cap’t Cooks. We still had some credits left and a little bit of time to kill so what better way to spend it then with sodas and ice creams on the beach. The fireworks were really good from over there and we really enjoyed it. Yeah, we couldn’t see Tinkerbell as they started showing Wishes again but I liked how uncrowded it was. And then once they were over, there was no mad rush to get anywhere. We could take our time putting the tripod away and we could walk at our leisure back to valet.
When we had left the MK for the Poly, the plan was to go back into the MK for the 11 PM showing of the MSEP but that plan was kind of forgotten the minute we got on the monorail. I did remember it once the fireworks were over but we all decided that the fireworks on the beach were a really good way to end the vacation. We got the van (where I ended up using that $3 that was found on the floor at Meadows Trading Post as a tip), packed the scooter back up and headed to AS Sports for the last time. We all headed to the room and once there, I noticed the messge button was flashing on our phone. I retrieved the message and it was a CM letting us know we had a package waiting for us at the gift shop. I really wasn’t surprised as the Imageworks CM I had spoken to over the phone the previous day said she would get a new Nemo picture out to us. Abby was tired so she went to bed and Lenny said he’d go to the gift shop for me while I started getting everything organized to pack. Part of me wanted to wait until the morning to pack but I wasn’t tired enough to just let it go for the night. Besides, Lenny was planning on cleaning up the van when he got back from the gift shop so it wouldn’t be fair IMO for him to start doing that while I was sitting doing nothing.
Lenny finally came back from the gift shop and all I could say was "what is that? That’s not ours!" Instead of walking in with a flat bag containing a folder of pictures he walked in with a big bag that had a box inside. He told me he didn’t know what it was but it had our name on it. I was really confused as to why we would be receiving a box so I opened everything up. We did get a folder with our Nemo picture - several of them in fact. We got another 5x7 as well as an 8x10 and 4 wallets. I was surprised by that but what was in the box just left me in shock . Inside was a monogrammed pair of Mickey ears for Abby and a Figment magnet (I keep thinking there was a third thing in the box - maybe a pencil or something small like that - as well but both Lenny and Abby tell me it was only 2 things). I was really just in shock and probably did a good imitation of a fish as I just had no words. I knew we’d get the picture but I never expected the CM to send over everything she had. Our trip had started out on a really magical note with a brand new bed in our room and it was finishing on the same magical note with extra pictures, a pair of ears and a magnet. I wanted to pick up the phone and call Imageworks to thank someone, anyone for the last bit of magic on our trip but since it was well after 11 pm, I figured no one would be there to answer the phone so I didn’t. When I finally recovered from the shock of what we had received, I went back to getting everything all packed up and Lenny headed out to the van. After a while though, I was really fading fast and just had no clue as to what I was doing so Lenny (who had since come back from cleaning the van) said it was time to call it a night. Everything else could wait until we woke up. Since it was something like 1 am, I agreed and I think I was asleep as soon as I lay down on the bed.
Doesn't matter how long it takes to finish your report. I will be here to read it. I hope your DH is doing well
Thanks Dawn, and thanks for asking about Lenny. He's doing relatively well. He did have a little bit of chest pain the other night but he has another doctor appointment coming up so hopefully he remembers to mention it. After having the cardiac catheter, I'm surprised he started having pain again so soon so we don't know what to think.
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Great update. For the first time ever, my family (well, all but me) decided against doing the HDDR again (it's a tradition for us). They decided they wanted to try WCC instead. I'm afraid they are going to wish we booked HDD once we get there. What a great surprise that you received w/ your Nemo pictures. That's awesome!
Great update - no worries about the wait! Sabrina got that Marie plush on our trip too - she cuddles it every night at bedtime What a nice surprise from the CM at Imageworks!
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Stacey
Why do these kids look so pathetic?
Find out in: A New Grade, A New House, and A Surprise!Final Thoughts 01/30
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