40th Birthday Extravaganza-Pretrip report - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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
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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.
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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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more please sounds like you are having a great time at the world more please.
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Heather - "I'm Tinkerbell's biggest fan!"
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Day 4 April 8, 2007
Well we were still on the bus on the way back to the hotel when the clock hit midnight and I officially turned 40. My dd was teasing me the entire trip about getting old but she wasn't really being mean and we were having a good laugh about it. When we woke up the next morning we got up and got dressed and went downstairs to the Cape May Cafe for a birthday character breakfast. Our waiter James was the best. We all had our matching tshirts on that my bf Marion made us with the fab 6 artwork sent to me by Eileen (thanks a ton and I'll post pictures if I ever figure out how). The food at the buffet was very good and the character interaction was also good. Minnie was even kind enough to wait a few seconds while I had to change batteries in my camera. All the characters were writing stuff on the paper on the table to me and I ripped the end off and kept it. Goofy sat next to me when James brought out my big chocolate cupcake and light the candle and the entire restaurant sang to me. After breakfast Courtney took my cupcake back up to the room and then we headed out to Epcot. It was morning EMH for Epcot that day so I thought WS opened an hour early also. Unfortunately I was wrong. We went into FW and Courtney got in line for MS. Kelsey and I went over to the big pin booth and got the F&GF pin along with a Easter 2007 pin and a EE pin (we were still hoping to get on that ride and we usually try to pick up a pin as we ride certain stuff for the first time). After that we stopped to listen to the Jamminators. They were very good and a lot of fun to watch. Courtney called and said it was going to be a longer wait than he thought and for us not to rush back to the MS area. Eventually he just gave up because something was broken and he wasn't waiting for it to be fixed. We had already gotten Fastpasses for TT so we headed thru the butterfly exhibit and then off to WS. I got some great pictures of the topiaries and wanted to hit the big store as you go into WS but it wasn't 11 so they weren't open. We got to Norway about 10:40 and decided to get in line for Maelstrom. At 11:00 they came out and said it would be a little while longer. The tourist in front of the line ended up getting ignorant with the poor employee and asked her if they were working on the ride or sitting on their a_ _es. The employee said they definately weren't sitting on their
a _ _es. I was so happy that she came right back at them. I know they have to be nice all the time but the way the people in the front of the line were talking to her really wasn't necessary. We were about the 3rd group back and shortly after the exchange the ride opened (around 11:15). We rode in the first viking ship and when the ride was over we went into the gift shop and bought a passport. My plan was to go around WS and have a cast member from every country write a birthday greeting in the passport for me. After purchasing the passport we had it signed on the second page in Norway and then doubled back to Mexico. It was very cool talking to every person in the different countries and they were all very nice to me and wrote birthday greetings and then told me what they said. The lady in Japan made me a little origami bow and taped it on the bottom of my birthday button. She was extremely nice. Probably why she was the only one with a line because she really took her time with all the guests. At the American pavillion Kelsey and I got our picture taken with Donald Duck who was in a tuxedo and they were having an egg hunt for the little ones. Mine isn't so little anymore so we left after having our picture taken. Courtney is buying Kelsey & I a combined gift this year which is a big piece of exercise equipment (think bowflex) but I really liked this beach towel outside of the American pavillion that had Mickey heads that looked like all the different countries flags so he bought that for me for my birthday so I had an actual present on my birthday. After going all the way around the "world" we went back for our fastpasses for TT (Courtney had already snuck back into FW by himself once his window opened up and got a Fastpass for MS for later). We rode TT and then headed back to the room for a rest. We were watching college baseball on tv and resting it was lovely. Courtney headed back to FW without us to ride MS and Kelsey and I left the room a little later but earlier than we had to so we could watch Off Kilter before our dinner ADR. We watched their entire set and then headed to Japan for my birthday dinner at Teppyaki. We had a great meal. I had the Filet Mignon, Courtney had scallops and Kelsey had the chicken off the kids meal. I also had a glass of plum wine and some sushi and Courtney had a beer and some sushi with steak in it that is seared real fast on the grill. It's a little confusing because if it's cooked then it isn't sushi right????? The meal was great and then I got a piece of cake and a chef hat that had writing on it. After dinner we left WS and got on the boat to MGM. Courtney got to ride ToT and RNRC while Kelsey and I did some shopping and went to MV 3D. We were wandering around at the back of the park on the very empty Streets of America which was really cool. I'm not a huge fan of MGM but was glad that I hit the park during our visit. Courtney never got to see LMA but maybe he will if we ever get him to go down again. We rode the boat back to the resort and were very sad because tomorrow we were flying home. We had started packing while watching baseball during our break so we could get up early on Monday and go to AK to ride EE. I had already requested late check out for the next day so we didn't have to be out of the room until 1:00 and our towncar was coming around 3:30 for our 5:45 flight home. We went to bed but Courtney was watching tv and I'm a very light sleeper so he put a movie in his laptop and watched that. Kelsey was pretty much passed out on the sofa.
Up Next - Can't we stay another day???????
It sounds like you had a great birthday day Kris Great meals, great gifts, and a wonderful time! Can't think of a better way to spend your 40th birthday
Day 5 Monday April 9th
Have you ever seen the commercial on TV where everyone is driving around on flat tires because they all back up out of the car rental places over the metal spikes because they want to spend an extra day in Florida. Well that was us today. We had packed most of our stuff on Sunday so we got up this morning and headed straight for AK. It was raining lightly so I grabbed 3 ponchos that I had brought down with us. We got to AK fairly quickly and went straight back to EE. I must say since there was no real line we missed most of the cool stuff in the que. I was looking around a little but mainly walking straight for the ride car. We got right on a train and I didn't really have enough time to chicken out. The biggest ride I ride at WDW is BTMRR. Everyone compare the two as fairly similar but I think EE is more intense that BTMRR. The hill you can see really isn't too bad because it's on a bank but the backwards part is what had me screaming like a little girl. Kelsey was next to me and Courtney was in the seat behind us. I made it and looked for a shirt that said I survived EE but I didn't see any. I know I'm totally whimpy but it was a huge deal that I rode that. Courtney wanted to get right back on and I talked Kelsey into going on again too. I was afraid she didn't have any fun on the ridethe first time because she was so worried about how I was doing. She rode it again but she didn't want to do it any more after that. We went and rode Dinosaurs and then left AK. We took a bus to AKL and then jumped on a bus to DTD. We did some shopping and then went back to BC and got our bags together and called for a bell hop. They stored our bags and we headed back to WS. My entire reason for staying at the BC was it's proximity to WS. I just love WS and I think I was in there 5 times in 5 days. We wandered around and had some funnel cake and Courtney got lunch in Morroco. We made our way around to Canada and were watching Off Kilter again when I remembered that I never had our boarding passes printed out. We headed back to the hotel and I just knew we would get "C" and never be able to get seats together. I was very disappointed in myself that I had totally forgotten the day before. Darn that WDW for being so much fun that I forgot about everything but celebrating with my family!!!!!!!! Next trip I am going to tape a sign to my room door stating what time and day I had to go and get them printed. We headed back to the hotel but I didn't have our confirmation number because it was in a pocket of my passporter so we went out to the bell hop area to get the number. They let me in the room with the luggage so I could just grab that sheet of paper out of my bag but no one could find our luggage. I started just checking racks of luggage and couldn't find it. Someone was stacking luggage in the last row and I couldn't get by him. When there was finally a small space I snuck by and that is where we found our luggage. I got the number and went to print the boarding passes. We didn't have much time so we just hung around the hotel until the towncar came. Quicksilver had called me the day before and backed our pickup back by 15 minutes so they weren't coming until 3:30 and our flight was at 5:45. That seemed kinda late to pick us up and now that we wanted to be the first people in row "C" it seemed even later. The driver was around 5 minutes late picking us up and after we got thru security we hustled to the terminal. We were right behind a single lady in line so that wasn't bad. We sat on the floor behind her chatting about our trip. She too had be in WDW (another WDW lover from the way she spoke) and we had a nice time chatting until it was time to board. When we boarded there was a lady sitting on the isle and the two other seats were open so Kelsey & I went there and Courtney took the seat on the isle behind us. After take off the lady offered to switch with Courtney so he could sit with us since she was just trying to be across from her husband and sons. The flight got in about 10 minutes early and we retrieved our bags and called the car place to pick us up. We got home around 9:40 and were very disappointed to be home. Of course all Kelsey and I could talk about was the trip and going back to celebrate her 13th birthday in 2008. I can't think of a better way to celebrate your 40th birthday than with the ones you love in one of your favorite places on earth. It definatly was a trip of a lifetime and I'm glad I worked so hard planning and saving money in order to do it. And of course thanks to all my passporter friends for all their advice that made the planning even easier.
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.
Great report Kris, I really enjoyed reading it. Sounds like you had an awesome trip and you're right, there's nowhere better to celebrate your birthday! Thanks for sharing
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Thanks for the wonderful trip report Kris. I think we are taking the same flight when we leave Philly (oy ) What a relaxing trip you had during one of the busiest times of the year. Great job
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.
Wow, Kris! You go Girl! Lots of great reporting here!!!!!
(Checking to make sure Court isn't looking over your shoulder!!!!)
Next time, enjoy the trip even more...just you and your daughter!
My daughter is 14. She and I have been making trips together for two years now. LOVE IT! Keep up the good work!
(Too bad you had to go all the way to the front gate of EPCOT when you were staying at the BC!)