Mission: Characters - Halloween 2009 - Page 3 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Welcome! We're happy you've found the PassPorter Community -- the friendliest place to plan your vacation to Walt Disney World, Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland, and the world in general! You are now viewing the PassPorter Message Board Community as a guest, which gives you limited access. As our guest, feel free to browse our messages by selecting the forum you want to visit from the list below.
To post messages and ask questions, join our FREE community today and you'll get access to tools and resources not available to guests, such as our vacation countown timers, "living" avatars, private messaging system, database searches, downloads, and a special PassPorter discount code. Registration is fast, simple, and completely free. Just click the Join Our Community link.
If you think you've already joined, log in below now. If you don't remember your member name or password, please visit our Member Name and Password Recovery page. You are also welcome to contact us.
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
Loving your updates. Someday I have to try the orginal!
As crazy as this sounds with me being from Europe... I've visited Disneyland 5 times, and only once made it to Florida.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What wonderful drawings! I also love what they did with the California letters for Christmas.
Thank you.
I think they've removed the letters now, or at least they're about to remove them. With the remodelling of California Adventure and the park entrance being moved they'll be gone for a while.
Day 9 – November 5 - part 1: What exactly are they doing up there?
Another Magic Morning,
another series of rides on Buzz.
One of the CMs recognizes us and tells us to stay in the vehicle when I try to get out. “You’re my frequent flyers, you can go again.”
Andrea rides the carousel again while I go on Mr Toad’s Wild Ride.
The Pixie Hollow line seems short again, so we pay the fairies yet another visit.
After 40 minutes (and this was in a line of a size that we needed 20 minutes to get through on the other days) we begin to wonder what on earth is happening behind those blades of grass.
15 more minutes later the mystery is solved: the first photo stop is not operating this morning. Tink, Fawn and Terence are all at Tink’s photo stop. My three favorites! This is way too cool.
They’re all over my pins again. Fawn doesn’t recognize Jessica Rabbit, so I tell her she’s Roger Rabbit’s wife. That makes Tink go: “A rabbit can’t have a wife.” Thankfully I remember last minute that this time there are kids behind us in line, or I would have asked her: “Where do you think the cute baby bunnies come from?”
Hey, Fawn’s the animal fairy… and one of the recordings you hear in line is “you’re as cute as a baby bunny.” I wouldn’t have been that far off with that reply.
Today’s our last chance to see the Aladdin musical, that means off to DCA again.
We meet Chip and Dale along the way.
The Aladdin line has already started building up and I don’t have a real idea what to do with the scooter, so we join and look for a CM. The first one we see is when the doors open. He asks me “Can you transfer?”
Yeah, I guess technically I can, but I really don’t want to leave the scooter god knows where out of my sight now for 45 minutes… plus all those stroller hits from the PFF Rope Drop Adventure really did make my leg hurt. I make a quick decision and tell him “no”. He tells me to go inside and ask for another CM, he’d direct us. They can only seat one other person with me… fine, it’s just me and Andrea anyway.
We find the other CM quickly. He directs us to a fabulous spot in the last rows of the first block of seats. We’ve never been that close to the stage before. Andrea starts joking. “You know, you should break your foot more often.” I don't think so.
I swear I took those photos without flash. I've seen pictures of higher quality, but I think I did pretty good for my first try:
After the show we stroll through the stores and buy drawings in Off the Page. I got Shang from Mulan last year, but this year I really want to have a Chip & Dale drawing. While Andrea pays I notice Peter Pan is walking to the Drawn to the Magic stage. Oh-uh… I tell Andrea and we run over the Boulevard to catch the second half of the showing.
After the show I’m meeting Peter and Cinderella.
We hang around in the area until DCA is closing and finally bump into Sulley too.
The Tropicool from Rita’s Baja Blenders was something we always had wanted to try too… Andrea gets Lemon Lime, I chose Strawberry.
I can definitely see this being refreshing on a hot day, but right now it remembers me of a slushie and I’m not a big fan of those.
And the Mickey pretzel of course:
Some night shots from Disneyland… taken before our return to the hotel:
Princess Tiana is coming to town:
At the hotel we check out the bar downstairs.
I can’t remember the name of Andrea’s cocktail anymore:
and this is what I got. I think it was called “Magical Star”, complete with glowing ice cube.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Aladdin is closing some time in August. It will be replaced by a Toy Story musical some time towards the end of the year.
It's really a shame. I loved that show too and yes, it was amazing. Hyperion Theater was closed when we went in 2008. I was really glad that we did catch the show one last time last year.
Rafael and my friend Val are picking us up for a shopping trip, plus we need to register for the sci-fi convention the three of us are attending tomorrow and on Saturday.
Our first stop is DSF… pin shopping. The actual ice cream store isn’t open yet, so we head over to Hollywood and Vine for Build a Bear and Virgin… to find the Virgin store closed. Huh? Great.
I buy some candy at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and I need to mail some letters too. On our way to the post office we stumble into fans waiting for a signing with some of the actors from Twilight: New Moon. Oh too bad, I wish I would have known earlier. Of course they ran out of wristbands hours ago. My friend Heidi is a huge fan, I might have even tried and battled the lines.
Andrea wants real food before we get ice cream and insists we go to McDonalds. Since when does McDonalds count as real food…? But well, if you’re hungry…
This is across the McDonalds we were at – we had a good laugh:
DSF is already decked out for the Holidays too.
My “breakfast” is the Pin Traders Delight Sundae. This is without marshmellows – they really upset my stomach last time, and I am not taking any chances after the Monte Cristo worked so well.
I fiddle around with the GPS and notice that the Disney Employee Center is really close, not even 5 miles. Despite the name this is a place where you can supposedly buy exclusive pins without being a CM. Pretty please can we go there? We still have time before the convention registration starts and even more time before I have my appointment at Bibbedi Bobbedi Boutique.
Rafael doesn’t really have an idea about the address, but say he’ll give the GPS a try. After getting lost three times we finally make it and find ourselves in front of a large office tower. There is a parking garage next to it, but it does have signs at the entrance saying “CMs only” and “visitors with permit.” We’re neither, so Rafael grudgingly agrees to circle the building until we find parking on the street.
I very enthusiastically head for the exit of the building, but then Val grabs my arm. “We can’t go in there. Look, they even have a reception desk.” Hey, if you don’t want to go just stay here, but I am going in there!
Then I spot the familiar green and white sign saying “Starbucks.” I grin, point there and tell the others: “If someone asks, we want coffee.” Not that I ever touched a coffee pot since I was force-fed some when I was ten. But if it brings me closer to pins, I am buying coffee.
Turns out the “Disney Employee Center” is kind of a glorified kiosk. But they do sell pins, and the CM at cash does confirm I can buy them. I don’t think she understand why I almost did a happy dance though.
Searching for parking did cost us more time than we thought, but at least that means no lines anymore when we finally hit the convention hotel for registration. Of course registration doesn’t go smoothly either… why am I actually expecting the employees of that organiser to be helpful? Due to that last delay we hit really bad traffic on the way back to Anaheim, and I am seriously running late for Bibbidi Bobbedi and even more late for the meet with a fellow pin trader.
Val, Rafael and Andrea go to park the car while I rush to the castle.
Unfortunately I didn’t take into account that I’d hit parade time. A very special level of hell must be reserved for those who go against the traffic at parade time with their strollers – and that level is even more special if you have a triple stroller. I didn’t even know those things existed!
I make it only a little bit late for my Bibbidi Bobbedi appointment, but of course the pin trader I was meeting has given up. Can’t say I blame her. Thankfully she’s really understanding when I get hold of her later.
I’m the first “adult princess” of the day, and that has some cast members slightly confused. Also as you may have noticed on the pictures posted my hair is really short. (We did check with the Fairy Godmothers a couple of days before if they could actually do something and were told they could, either Pop Princess or Disney Diva – just the classical bun look would be out.)
Before:
The Fairy Godmother in Training that gets stuck with me is really nice, but one can tell she has trouble with my haircut. She apologizes frequently that she’s not been doing it too long and technically is still in training. She almost forgot to give me my sash, but besides that I think she did a great job.
I had booked the package that included having the nails done. I guess technically one could do with the cheaper one, but it’s only $ 5 and the nail polish does smell delicious. Plus the story about Tink and her friends making the polish out of strawberries and glitter is really cute.
My diabolical trio is MIA, but then suddenly another pin trader I knew from online shows up looking for me. At first I don’t even get that she’s looking for me because we didn’t really agree to meet. She just remembered I mentioned the appointment and came to say hi and trade for a pin we had been talking about. Isn’t that sweet?
I’m almost finished when the trio shows up. Rafael giggles. “Hi Cindy Lauper.”
Well, I like it.
Presenting the Haunted Mansion princess.
In a spur of the moment decision I decide to do the photo package too. Thankfully they can squeeze me in.
Rafael, Val and I get a castle shot done
and go to grab dinner at Bengal Barbecue while Andrea gets in line for the Fantasmic package. It’s 6.30 PM again and she’s second in line this time. Generally looks like this day things are going more slow… it’s almost 8 PM until the line is that long again.
Chieftain Chicken Skewer from Bengal Barbecue:
Safari Skewer:
And Tiger Tails – guess who asked for Tigger Tails by accident?
After a quick ride on Haunted Mansion Holiday it’s time to get seated. This time we use the entrance at the podium right away so I can leave the scooter.
I’m completely surprised that we get to see the “Remember” fireworks. I am convinced those were not on the schedule when we left. Even Tink is flying.
When we leave to go back to the hotel respectively car we bump into Mickey and Minnie. I never saw characters out that late, it’s way past 10 PM at that point.
I love your trip report! Your pictures are awesome!
Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrincessSharon
I'm enjoying your TR. You really did meet a lot of characters! I am envious of your leisurely pace, I must say. I look forward to more!
Thank you too.
I learned one thing during previous visits: I am so not the person who can do commando style. This "It's 9.30 AM, we have to go on Space Mountain now" is nothing I would be comfortable with during my vacation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Love your make-over. What a shame about the Aladdin musical - I didn't know that.
Yeah, unfortunately they really don't advertise it well at all that Aladdin will be going away. It's a fantastic show, I could see lots of people squeeze in last minute trips to see it again.
Day 11 and Day 12 – November 7 and 8: non park days.
Saturday morning we leave early to the Marriott at LAX for the sci-fi conventions we were attending: a Stargate SG-1 show and the Annual Farscape convention.
This is completely and totally off topic, so I’ll spare everyone rambling about that unless someone really wants to hear about it. LOL
I’ll post one picture though, the reason why Val managed to convince me to go to Bibbidi Bobbedi Boutique: The Jedi Princess and her minions.
Technically the plan had been both of us on the shot with Joe Flanigan (Major John Sheppard from Stargate: Atlantis, or shortly the one with the red light saber) and Paul McGillion (Carson Beckett from Atlantis, the one with the blue sabre). But Val had a family emergency and had to rush home, so I flew solo there in the end.
I had some cute and funny photo session shots done over the years, but this one definitely topped them all.
The light saber effect has been photoshopped in though, the real light up effect didn't show up at all with the special lights used in the photo shoot area.
After the show was over Sunday evening we were heading back to our new home for three nights: The Grand Californian.
We make a Target stop along the way - we need some more food and I’m a bit afraid Andrea might get nuts if she doesn’t get at least a couple of DVDs. We don’t find everything she wanted, but quite unexpectedly the first season of Castle is on sale… and Nathan Fillion so rules.
Check In at GC is very smooth, and we’re being given a nice room near the secret entrance to DCA. Here’s some shots from the room:
You may have spotted the DVD player on one photo. So I can officially confirm now that at least some standard rooms do have them.
We watch an episode of Castle (curiosity beats being tired) before falling asleep.
We get out early for Rope Drop – Andrea still has her Toontown Magic Morning tickets, and I want a good space in front so we can get there fast.
A lot of the Christmas decorations are already up.
When we get in there’s an announcement they’ll be doing tapings for the Christmas parade… Ryan Seacrest will be hosting, and Demi Lovato is the star guest. Didn’t they want to do that yesterday? Maybe I should have checked the schedule online after all.
We squeeze in second line and Andrea grabs breakfast at Blue Ribbon Bakery. (Sorry, no pictures, it really was too crowded.)
When the rope drops we make a beeline for Toontown. Either it is a really slow day or everyone is staking out spots on Main Street for the Parade. We are first to arrive! The place is completely deserted.
I wasn’t really aiming to meet Mickey again. But he’s the first to spot us, jumps and claps his hands and comes running towards us. Guess I am meeting him after all.
We also see Pluto, Minnie and Goofy.
The Christmas decorations are up too, including a very nice Christmas tree right in front of the performance area.
Now the characters come even closer:
Unfortunately if you’re sitting to the side this doesn’t exactly give you a great view.
After the performance we meet Chip and Dale
before we leave. Donald is the only character we don’t see out again. Weird. The week before Halloween we saw him all over the place.
IASW is still closed and they’re working on painting the railings. Too bad… I was really hoping for a soft opening.
After another spin on Buzz we go to check out New Orleans Square looking for the exact place of Tiana’s Meet & Greet.
There’s a photographer out near Big Thunder Mountain again, so we stop for a picture:
At New Orleans Square we find this little guy, among other shiny things.
Turns out that the Meet & Greet is really located in the Court of Angels. Please, someone tell me I don’t have to go up those stairs?!
Then it’s time for Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee. A friend of mine has been really enthusiastic about the whole Princess and the Frog thing and we promised to check it out for her.
It’s a bit unclear where to go – the first CM we find tells us to wait in the Mark Twain loading area… where after 10 minutes another CM informs the waiting group that no, we can’t get on the boat. We stroll off to find a place to stand at the Rivers of America.
I will fully admit that I was kind of sceptic about the movie – but the show is fantastic and really convinced me to give it a try.
When the show is over we rush to the Meet & Greet area. No one’s there, except some CMs. What? Okay, I didn’t really expect 2 hour lines like when Pixie Hollow opened. But I did not expect us to be first in line.
The CMs tell us that Tiana will be out in about 20 minutes. I tell them it’s okay, we’ll just wait – the area looks closed off at that point. Then they offer we can come inside and start the line. We don’t have to go up the stairs, they set up a quite cute area near the small fountain.
If someone wonders what that noise was, that was the mountain falling off my heart.
When Tiana and Naveen arrive
there’s exactly five groups in line. Color me stunned.
Tiana and Naveen are nice and pleasant, introduce themselves and try to chat a little.
When we leave the line has grown by exactly three families.
Andrea really likes Louis the alligator and asks if I’d mind seeing the show again. I most certainly don’t, so I stake out our prior spot again while she grabs lunch for us from Golden Horseshoe.
The second performance is just as fantastic as the first one.
As you may guess from the amount of photos dedicated to the different characters Louis is doing pretty well in building up his fan club.
Afterwards we head for Critter Country one last time and again there’s three characters out: Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger. Yeah! Andrea says she’ll sit out, so I get in line. Christmas decorations are up here too:
The CMs announce that the three will go on a break soon and only Pooh will come back. No! I am lucky though, when I made it up to the front and the CM realizes I am on my own I am allowed to go through as the last person. The CM with Eeyore doesn’t realize that though and tells everyone Eeyore is going for some honey now until her co-worker points out that there’s one visitor left – me.
We say good bye to Haunted Mansion Holiday with a last ride
and then slowly pin-trade our way back to the entrance and over to DCA before we leave the parks through the secret entrance. A friend of mine is coming in for some more pin trading and I don’t want to be late again. I can’t resist taking some shots at the castle though – last time I was there with the Christmas decoration up the stage for the filming blocked everything.
And of course I almost forgot to take a picture of my special favourites from Nemo:
My friend Jackie and I have dinner at Tortilla Joes. Andrea wants to start packing and stays behind... only to experience a fire alarm in the GCH! Thank god we decided on going out... 5 floors down the stairs on crutches would not have been pretty.
TBC in Day 14: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.
Glad you enjoyed your convention. That light saber photo is pretty cool! Smart idea to end your stay at the Grand Californian. What a beautiful hotel that is! And it's fun to see the Christmas decorations go up a little at a time!
__________________
Mickey's so happy to see me back, he can barely contain himself!
Glad you enjoyed your convention. That light saber photo is pretty cool! Smart idea to end your stay at the Grand Californian. What a beautiful hotel that is! And it's fun to see the Christmas decorations go up a little at a time!
Thank you.
One of the people working at the convention actually took a picture of that light saber photo... we're still trying to figure out if she liked it or if they will use it for a "wanted" poster at the next show.
I always have some problems with that convention because their idea of "organisation" doesn't really go along with my understanding of that word. LOL So my boyfriend's parents gave me the GCH stay as their combined birthday/Christmas present last year to as they put it "get me back in good mood." But I must say while the Grand Californian was nice, I most likely wouldn't stay there again if I had the choice between all resort hotels. It is a great hotel and I really enjoyed my stay. But it was just missing those little Disney touches that I really enjoyed in the Disneyland Hotel last year.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
I also love what they did with the California letters for Christmas. 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
I tell Andrea and we run over the Boulevard to catch the second half of the showing. 
It will be replaced by a Toy Story musical some time towards the end of the year.
Linear Mode
