Holy Great Movie Ride (April 5 - 10)! TR Begins - COMPLETE!! 6/8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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The bourbon chicken is what Andy got for dinner that first night and he loooooved it!
I used my tripod for the Tree of Life at Night and EE at Night and any of the action at night shots. Got a great one at Wolf Camera that is easy to put up and very lightweight.
Another great TR update. Love it. You are also starting to change my mind about eating at Yak and Yeti. you make it sound so yummy. So when we go in Sept. and we don't like it, can I blame you? HAHA! j/k!
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The safari tours and your Yak Attack sound great. I am looking forward to one of those Le Cellier sounded yummy also. As always great pictures of Epcot and AK
Thursday morning was our Magic Kingdom morning and we were ready to go bright and early that morning. Well, maybe not so much bright, it was a bit overcast this morning, and it looked like it might rain at any moment, which I think in the end, worked in our favor. The park had opened at 7 because EMH was every morning during that week and I think we arrived sometime around 8. We were headed down Main Street when we spotted the Mayor himself just walking around and chatting with folks so I asked him if I could have my picture with the Mayor of Main Street. He was a bit fresh but in a funny way.. He was said something about never minding having his picture with a pretty young girl. Whoa. Easy Mayor
After pressing the political flesh we made our way over to Space Mountain to grab some FPs and since there was nobody in line we walked the 10 minute wait walk to the ride itself. I think we went left this time… After that we decided to ride the Astro Orbiter since it always seems to be like Peter Pan and have a bajillion minutes long wait. There was nobody in line first thing this morning. The CM working the ride saw me taking a self portrait of me and Andy in our Astro Orbiter and offered to take one for us
We decided we should probably go check out BTMRR since it was still nice and early. On the way we stopped for some pictures around the hub.
Andy and Brer Rabbit had a moment…
On the way to BTMRR I took some pictures in Frontierland, including one of Pecos Bills that I posted on my photoblog a couple weeks ago. There was NOBODY in Frontierland it seemed. And hardly anybody in Adventureland for that matter. We walked right onto BTMRR and went on the wildest ride in the wilderness.
After screaming through the mining mountains we realized we were extremely hungry and since it seemed nice and not crowded, we thought we’d give the Main Street Bakery a try. We’ve only eaten here once for breakfast because there is always a line out the door it seems. And you know what it was like this morning???
Yeah. This was at like 9am folks. 9am… park had been open for 2 hours. I was amazed.
I ordered up that fabulous, larger than life cinnamon bun. Here’s a nice before picture…
Aaaaand after..
Andy helped me put a good dent in it
We meandered through the Emporium to see if the D&B bags were in there since we had our 20% off merch coupon from eating at a CS (which had to be used before noon and select stores)… that coupon by the way, was printed on your CS receipt. If you didn’t know that they were doing this promotion and you’re not a receipt checker, you’d have never known that it was there. While in the Emporium we ran into the Mayor again and who joked with us that we hadn’t gotten very far. We corrected him and told him our morning thus far and he was pleased to hear we had just enjoyed the fabulous sticky bun across the street.
After breakfast I had promised Andy that he could go through the Swiss Family Treehouse. He has wanted to do that every trip and we just never get around to it. So this time, I kept my promise..
It’s a bit narrow up in there (this was my first time in the treehouse) and I wish there were more space to stop and actually take in the detail without being run over by the crazy heads who feel the need to run everywhere.
We were headed around to the Haunted Mansion when we spotted BOTH of favorite classic characters out in Frontierland.. so we had to hop in line. When we got up there for our turn Donald noticed my Donald jacket and was a big fan, but he was not impressed with my Mickey ear tattoos on my foot In the end he decided the jacket made up for it. As we were walking away, Goofy grabbed my big girl D&B purse and started pulling me back. I was like WTF? He was totally examining it, pointing out to Donald that their hats were both on it. Goofy gave it a thumbs up…. Does Goofy need a man purse?
Checking out the tattoo and not liking it…
Checking out the big girl purse…
Backing up a bit… strange experience in line. This family behind us, well not family, a couple ladies and some kids, saw my tattoo and started asking me about it. Then they wanted to know how often we came and we told them. They seemed shocked. I was like, you’re here, too aren’t you? They just couldn’t believe we came so much without children and I made it clear I didn’t have any nor did I want any because I teach. They both made a comment about they were teachers, too, but they have kids. I corrected them and let them know I used to be a regular classroom teacher like them (oh wait, one of the was a PreK person) and told them that I now was the librarian over 560 something kids. I was good on children. Afterwards I asked Andy if I was rude, but he didn’t think so… I was just being honest. And don’t harass me in line at WDW about being at WDW… sheesh.
Next up was the Haunted Mansion, which again, was a walk on ride. We decided to wander through Toon Town next since this would probably be our last time… we’re not sure when everything will be gone, but Andy insisted on a ride on the Barnstormer.
We wandered around and took some pictures before heading out to use our Space Mountain FP. This time we went right to get the different experience
Last on our MK agenda was the Carousel of Progress. I took a photo in the attraction which I posted on the photoblog awhile back.
After the Carousel we went back through the Emporium to do some shopping. I picked up a cute, soft, Minnie rattle for my niece, Addie, and this sweet chip and dip bowl… they have this line of dishes now that have passport looking stamps for the country of origin for the food that should be served on it. So the cheese plate has France, the chip and dip has South America… they are very cute. I wanted that chip and dip bowl since I saw at the WoD earlier in the week, so we went ahead and go it since we had our 20% coupon. It started to rain while we were in there and since we had forgotten umbrellas this trip, we bought one. We’ve got like 3 now… we did have 4 but one broke. And of course, as soon as we stepped outside, it stopped raining. Nice.
By now it was getting close to our lunch ADR at Ft. Wilderness so we headed out to catch the boat over.
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