The Mighty Morphing Birthday Trip - Thread 1 - COMPLETE (last update 7/30) - Page 28 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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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All caught up I your report, with the dual reporting and fab photos (btw I use fab all the time ) I also love the professional photos you had done, they're adorable. Looking forward to more please
So we're still on our first day at the WL. We just returned from MGM and it is around noonish....
I'm going to fill in the part of us at the lodge and then I'll wait till Andy is home to do our night at Epcot and the MK. He adds a little something to the report I think so I'll save that sort of stuff for his input
Anyhoo, after we got back to the WL we stopped by Roaring Forks for lunch. I do have to complain a bit that it is very confusing in there. The layout just doesn't make a lot of sense. It's very small for a deluxe CS. It was very busy as it was prime lunch time and the lines sort of merged together and you didn't know where to go to be at the end of the correct line. But somehow we figured it out. Andy had the turkey and brie sandwich and I had the ham and cheddar sandwich. Those sandwiches were HUGE!!! And very tasty I might add. We went back to our room to eat in peace....
I'm pretty sure Andy gives this a good yummy rating...but we'll have to wait and see.
After our lunch settled in our tummies we changed into our swimwear and headed out to the pool. We wanted to try and catch the geyser as it was approaching 2:00 and it erupts every hour.
We waited, and waited, and waited, and started to melt in the direct sunlight on the boardwalk thingy. And let me just say, we're dorks because my bathing suit is black, and I had on a black tank over it, and Andy had on a black t-shirt..... yeah...who's idea was all that?? (oh yeah, that'd be me.....)
Finally it went off... Apparently Fire Rock Geyser is in a time zone that's about five minutes behind....
We walked around the courtyard/pool a little more and took more pictures...
Then we found a nice spot and hopped in the pool. We stayed in for a bit and then decided it was time for a drink. Andy of course had a Guiness and I had the Orange Creamsicle.....Oh my my that was fab!! We sat out behind the bar area, close to the lake to enjoy our beverages. We had a lot of ducks around and it was funny to see this little line of them, probably like 5 or 6, go walking by, in a straight line (why can't my kids ever walk as perfect as that???) they walked all the way down to the lake, and then a few minutes later, they came walking back, still in their straight little line. Who knows what they were up to. But we got a good laugh out of them.
We decided we needed to head in and start getting ready for our night at Epcot. We went up to the overlook area and snapped another photo...
When we got back to the room I started unpacking our things. I love getting settled in!!! While I was unpacking Andy was watching some movie on TV called "Russkies".. all I know is it had the kid from A Christmas Story in it. I spotted him first....and then I realized, I know that other little kid.....after a few minutes of standing there staring at the TV I realized it was a little Joaquin Phoenix! I Joaquin but it was a bit strange watching him as like a 10 year old....
We both showered and changed (separately Eileen...don't start with the rest break comments ) And then it was time to head out again
Well now I'm even more unnerved about Roaring Forks if you're complaining about it. I haven't even been there and I'm confused and annoyed about it. Is it a food court; isn't it a food court; should we even bother eating there; why is it so small for a deluxe? . . . . arrrggghhh. I am so glad you stayed at WL, because this is so helpful for the Sept trip there. I think I am decided what to do on our first day now. Stay at the WL and chill . . . .
Okay, let me go back... we went right at LUNCH TIME. I mean, if there's a specific hour and minute for lunch, we went during it. They food area, where you pick up your food and pay is separate from the sitting area.... so it was quiet in there. We took our food back to the room just so we could enjoy our room (That sounded bad....maybe I've been tainted by Eileen)....
We went back and ate lunch at Roaring Forks later in the trip and it was NOTHING like it was on this day... we didn't go right at that magic "lunch time" time. I wouldn't skip over Roaring Forks completely. It makes for a nice convienent, yummy meal at the resort.
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.