Pre-Trip Report: Our Dream Disneymoon (12/16-23) COMPLETED - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Day 4 – Our Name in Lights Breakfast at Kouzzina (ADR)
Lunch at Sci-fi Dine-in (ADR)
Dinner at 50’s Prime Time (ADR)
Osborne Family Lights
Our morning starts bright and early, with a trip to the Boardwalk! FDH and I really looking forward to breakfast at Kouzzina … the breakfast menu looks awesome. And it’s the perfect spot for a pre-Hollywood meal so that FDH can get a boat trip in!
As far as DHS, we're a bit split on this one. I feel a little "meh" on the park (I've never been), and FDH has great memories. I am keeping an open mind. Maybe it'll be full of Disney magic!!
My must do list is really all about Toy Story Midway Mania! I also want to make sure we have some time to play on the Honey! Set. FDH's must-dos are Rock n Roller Coaster and Great Movie Ride.
Since I'm not as excited about the park itself, we decided to make sure we had great, interactive meal experiences. We looooove B-movies, so Sci-Fi was an obvious choice for us. And I can only hope that FDH is made to sing “I’m a Little Teapot” in 50s Prime Time. My mom used to say we shouldn’t play with our food … but we are looking forward to playing while we eat at the very least!
Other things we’d like to do include checking out Echo Lake Apartments, Starring Rolls and the Writer’s Stop. If there's time, we'll do Muppets 3D and Tower of Terror, too.
If we finish early enough, I'd also like to pop back over to the Boardwalk to take in whatever the evening's entertainment may be.
We hope to experience our FIRST Disney disappointment today … Star Tours was high on our must-ride… but I guess we’ll have to catch it next time around, as it’ll be closed for refurb.
I’m also kind of bummed that we won’t be able to do Fantasmic on this trip, but FDH has seen it before, and he didn’t care for it. And we really couldn’t make it work without missing something else, so I gave it up. Next trip!!
I'm feeling sad just writing about Day 4 because it's the mid-way point of our trip!!
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.
Congrats on the upcoming wedding.
I saw your post to my Dec 12-18. I don't think we have plans yet on the 16th, so I will keep you updated. We may acutally end up in Epcot, so it would be cool to meet.
Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Things are getting a little crazy at work and with the wedding ... I REALLY need this vacation!!
In exciting, sort-of-Disney news: my bagallini arrived today--I ordered one just for Disney (sure I'll use it on other trips). I was so excited when the package came. FDH thinks I am such a dork.
Anyway, here're our plans for day 5:
Early to Rise with the Elephants Lunch at the Yak and Yeti (ADR)
Dinner at the Grand Floridian Café (ADR)
Wishes from Poly Beach
We’ll be up bright and early for EMH at Animal Kingdom!! We'll eat leftovers or granola bars on the bus over. I want to be there for rope drop so we can get on one of the first safari tours and get a FP so we can ride it a second time. The safari is a big must do for us.
We also would like to hit Everest and Kali River Rapids, and we hope to have some time to walk one of the exploration trails and explore Harambe village. Our "second tier" to-dos are the Primeval Whirl and Tough to be a Bug.
We’re very much looking forward to lunch at Yak and Yeti. I’ve read that AK is very HOT even in the cooler months, so a nice, leisurely break will be appreciated, I am sure. We’re also super psyched by the menu. Every time we look at it, we notice something new and delicious that we MUST try. Ordering is going to be a nightmare (but the good kind, where you get to eat delicious food at the end!).
Depending on how we feel after lunch, we’re either going to power through ... or go back to our hotel for a nap. Day 5 is going to be a LONG one ...
After AK (or our nap), we’ve got fairly late reservations for dinner at the Grand Floridian Café. As I mentioned in my first post, I ordered a special mini two-tier wedding cake as a surprise for FDH. Some friends who live in the Florida-area may also be joining us for this dinner … should be sprinkled with fairy dust and completely, totally magical!
After dinner, I hope to continue the magic with a romantic stroll over to the Poly Beach. I’m hoping to snuggle up with FDH and enjoy a cocktail while we watch Wishes over the water. The perfect opportunity to wear our wedding ears and be shmoopy!
Then, as everyone else is leaving MK, we’re going to head back into the breach for evening EMH!! I said it was going to be a long day. Honestly, we’re probably going to be beat at this point. If all we do is Big Thunder Mt and Splash Mt, I’ll be happy!! (Maybe some shopping, too? And double maybe Jungle Cruise.)
Yea ... so we're pretty much going to be on the move from around 5:30 a.m. until around 2 a.m. ... sleeping in is going to be a BIG priority for Day 6 ...
Up next: Another Epcot Day! And maybe a meet up with some PPers!!!