Walking in a Disney Wonderland, December 8-15, 2009 - COMPLETE!! 5/7 - Page 29 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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We made out way off the plane, hit the restroom for a potty break and diaper change and then made our way on the monorail and then to DME. It was about 11am when we got in line for our bus. I had time for a quick phone call to my Mom to let her know we arrived safely and then it was time to get on the bus. Dylan loved looking out the windows and announcing everything he saw on the way. He even watched a little of the video too. We stopped at POR first and then Beach Club was up next.
Once off the bus, we were greeted immediately and taken inside to check-in. I had done on-line check-in hoping that since we would arrive well before the 4pm check-in time we’d have a room ready. I was really hoping for a room with a view of Epcot, but we didn’t get one. Oh Well! The room that was intended for us wasn’t ready, but they found one that was ready so we went ahead and took it. I thought that was best with Dylan probably needing to run around a bit.
We headed to the room and dropped our carry ons off before heading back to the Marketplace to grab some lunch. I had a turkey & mozzarella sandwich (which Dylan ate a bit of too), Mike had a veggie wrap. We also got a ½ gallon of milk, 4 bananas, and a 2 liter of Diet Coke ($24.06). We took all this back to the room to rest and spread out a little.
The tree in the Villas lobby.
While we were in the room our checked bags were delivered! YEAH! I went ahead and unpacked a bit. At 1:30pm we decided to head out to MK. A bus was waiting when we walked up and we were on our way!
Once through bag check I had to go to Guest Relations to have our AP vouchers turned into our APs. There was no line, but we had some difficulty exchanging. I bought the renewal vouchers through DVC Member Services, which are apparently the same price as a child renewal so our vouchers said child, not adult. Luckily we had all the info we needed to get it straightened out (DVC Membership cards & our expired APs).
Our first stop was the Harmony Barber Shop as Dylan was in desperate need of a haircut. There wasn’t too many people in front of us so we decided to wait. He was perfectly fine until it was his turn to go. Then we sat in the chair (him on my lap) and he lost it! He cried the entire time. He cried enough and so bad that I started crying. It was so hard to listen to my baby do that, but he needed the haircut. Once he was done he was fine within a few minutes. Kids!
Waiting for a haircut - see how long his hair was!
While I was paying the 3pm parade had started so we watched that from the Barber Shop. Then we decided to ride the train – since we told Dylan we would once he got his haircut. We rode it to Toontown then got off and shared a frozen lemonade. We decided to head towards the front and go down Main Street and look in the shops.
Not a happy camper.
We knew we wanted to head to DHS for Fantasmic! And we were discussing how to get there when I said why don’t we take the monorail to Epcot, walk through Epcot, and then walk to DHS. This is definitely not the easiest way to go, but since it was our first day we didn’t have to do too much. So we headed to the monorail from MK and arrived in Epcot at 4:45pm. Then we walked through Epcot to the International Gateway then walked to Beach Club and then followed the path past Yacht Club and behind Boardwalk to DHS. Yes that was one long walk – probably longer than our infamous summer walk from SSR to DtD (some of you may remember that story), but this was more pleasant.
I forgot that we got this picture taken on our walk through WS. I it!
I this photo. How come I can never seem to find photo pass photographers just standing around in those areas???
Great update...sorry about the security guard at the airport. It's a gamble on what you're going to deal with when you get there. And the haircut fiasco...poor thing But at least you got it over and done with early enough.
I this photo. How come I can never seem to find photo pass photographers just standing around in those areas???
Great update...sorry about the security guard at the airport. It's a gamble on what you're going to deal with when you get there. And the haircut fiasco...poor thing But at least you got it over and done with early enough.
On the picture - I just saw one of the photographers standing around so I asked where she was taking pictures and we had our choice of the lagoon in the background or to go in the phone booth - you see what I chose.
The haircutting gets worse every time. It's starting to get in his eyes again as a matter of fact., so I'm sure they'll be tears again soon.
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I love the phone booth pic too so fun! poor thing with the haircut....I think I would've been crying too! Wow that is a long walk! I've done half of that walk but it seems like it would be nice walk if you took your time!
Great update!
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Oh Well! The room that was intended for us wasn’t ready, but they found one that was ready so we went ahead and took it. I thought that was best with Dylan probably needing to run around a bit.
I went ahead and unpacked a bit. At 1:30pm we decided to head out to MK. A bus was waiting when we walked up and we were on our way!
Kids!
it!
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
But at least you got it over and done with early enough.
PassPorter Guide Author
Dreams, Wishes, Hopes... these are the parts of childhood we should never lose.
Deb
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