'Ummm, no Mom, you ARE NOT going without me'.....a pre-trip 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
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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 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.
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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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You had me all excited about Brandon's job and determination, and now you've got me worried! Still sounds like a great trip!
LOL! Just between you and I, so far, Brandon rocks! I've been asking him like every other day about his grades, especially Algebra II. I don't think he doubts for a second that I would pull the plug on things if it isn't up to par!
Wow Jodi! I think I am more impressed with you sticking to your guns about the grades than anything else. Meaning what you say is the most important thing in the world IMO....I mean your son is living proof. The fact that he understood and found another way that included hard work to get there really shows his character. Not many boys would be willing to go that far. Everything is expected to be handed to them these days and the story usually ends with, "so he's mad at me and not speaking and has been pouting for a week" etc... It's so refreshing to hear a great parenting story! It's rare! lol You're my hero!
Awwww, thank you, Dana! Being a mom is a never ending struggle, I think! But, so far, so good! Generally the boys are pretty good and we don't have a lot of issues. But when one of them does screw up, it's a DOOZY!!! LOL!! Fortunately, it isn't often! Their biggest fault is usually their mouths! Of course, we all know they get that from me! LOL!
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Good morning, everyone! It was a crazy week, but here I am back for another update! WOOHOO! Sooooo, time to look into airfare.....Oh joy........ We did a lot of looking and such and I was soooo disgusted with what the prices were. Since they were so awful, I double checked with Brandon that he REALLY wanted to pay his own way! With prices over $300 pp/rt, that added a big chunk to the amount he would have to pay! But no, he assured me that he DID want to go and he was fine with the amount. The prices were running almost $400 pp/rt at one point. I was sick to my stomach just thinking about it. When they dropped to the lower $300's, but decided it was probably as good as it would get. It may drop a little, but not enough to make a huge difference. By the end of May, we purchased our airfare. It was $1079.40 for 3 of us. UGH!! It really annoys me that it costs that much, but, in reality, flying is our only option. And darnitall, I really do enjoy flying! I love the feeling of lifting off the ground, seeing the buildings and cars get smaller, then floating in the clouds. And the giddiness I get when I sit on that plane and know I am REALLY on my way to my happy place is just magical! So, once I get past the sick stomach feeling of paying for the flights, the excitement can kick in! Let's face it, once airfare is purchased, there really is no going back.......or is there????
Shortly after we booked airfare, DH (Jeff) really started discussing our scheduled hiking trip. Up until this point, it was very iffy whether or not he would even be able to go, so I honestly hadn't thought a whole lot about it. Well, as we entered June (trip was scheduled for July), he became more and more confident he would get the time off and could go. That's when it started to hit me that funds just were not forthcoming for this to happen. We had refinanced our house back in January/February. There were several unforeseen MAJOR costs (to the tune of over $2000) that we had to come up with. Thankfully my in laws were generous enough to help us, but I still wanted very much to repay them what they had loaned us. Plus a lot of it came directly out of my vacation fund. Also, Brandon had Summer Music Festival to attend (another expense, though not as much since he was a counselor in training this year and received a nice scholarship) and I had to purchase Justin's bike that he had earned. After much internal conflict, I finally had to make the decision that I could NOT afford for us to go hiking. What an awful thing to have to tell everyone. The boys and Jeff were so disappointed. As were my in laws. At one point I offered to cancel my Disney trip in November in order to fund the hiking trip. Yes, we would have lost our airfare $$, but there was enough in the acct to cover the hiking trip. Trust me, this was a heart wrenching thing for me to do. I soooo much wanted to go to WDW for Christmas. But I also really wanted to go hiking and didn't want to let everyone down. However, Jeff told me no, not to cancel my trip. It still wasn't 100% he could even go and he know I would be really upset if I canceled my trip and then we didn't even get to go hiking! It was with a heavy heart that Jeff told everyone we had to bow out of the hiking trip. The boys were disappointed, but they understood. Justin still had his new bike to keep him happy (which it did!), and Brandon still got to do Summer Music Festival and go to WDW in Dec, so he was happy, too. And I made them the promise that in 2012 we WOULD be going hiking no matter what b/c I am going to pay it in Feb when we get tax $$ back. We don't get a lot of tax $$, but it will be enough to pay for the hiking trip. My inlaws tried repeatedly to get us to allow them to pay for the hiking trip b/c they really wanted us to go, but I just couldn't do that. They had already been kind enough to help with the refi stuff, and I'm not one to take advantage of someone's generosity. My FIL goaded me about it every time I went to visit them, too! Since I spend a reasonable amount of time out there in the summer, he had lots of opportunities to try to persuade me! But no, I stuck to my guns and in July, they went on down to the cabin to go hiking and we stayed home. Once it was over, though, I could find my joy again in knowing that I still had my vacation coming up soon! And we did some fun day trips and such with the boys, so we still had some nice family time.
During my time of struggles in late May/early June, I also received my first call from Poly Concierge itinerary planning! Talk about bitter sweet! It's so magical to get that call! But not so magical to think I may have to cancel everything! I kept communicating with them as if I had no doubts as to whether or not the trip would actually happen. Since our 180 days was rapidly approaching, MIL and I had to do some real planning as to what we wanted to do! Dining is VERY important to us (we LOVE food and it's amazing we aren't giant sized people! LOL!!), so this was going to take some deep thought and in depth menu browsing!
Up next.....Dining is scheduled! And 'wait a minute, we are only there 5 days! Do we REALLY want to be running around like crazy people or do we want to slim down the plans a little so we can really ENJOY the fact that we are staying at the Poly'?????
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So sorry about the hiking trip, but as you say, everyone has things to look forward to and you've hopefully got the hiking for 2012 to look forward to as well.
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.
Since I know this is going to be a busy week, I wanted to get in another installment b/c tomorrow we are at 4 weeks out and with the holidays approaching, things are starting to really hop in my world! Before I get started, though, I want to share a Brandon story with everyone. For the last couple of weeks I've been on him about keeping his grades up. He has assured me that they are fine, mostly A's, a couple of B's, and a C+ in physics (yes, he has a higher grade in Algebra II than in physics! LOL!!). I kept asking him to show me on powerschool. He never seemed to get around to it. I had a sinking suspicion in my stomach that he was hiding something from me. So today, I cornered him and made him show me his grades. Guess what? He was 100% accurate! His grades were exactly what he said they were! While a C+ isn't my idea of a 'good' grade, it's a very high C+, so I'm good with it. He will only miss 2 days of that class, so it isn't so bad. I'm very proud that he's held true to his word and that he wasn't fibbing to me! YAY!!! I don't have to be a mean mom!!! Not in this instance, anyway!
Ok, back to my regularly scheduled installment. Here it was time to think about ADR's. We had already discussed meals, but now we had to really sit down and work out a touring plan to coincide with our dining choices. That's when we realized how much there really is to take in during Christmas time and the reality that we are only there 5 days (really 4 1/2 when you consider flights) really sunk in. Since this is our first time staying deluxe and it's the Poly, we really wanted to have the time to enjoy it to its fullest. So we looked at what we REALLY can't miss and what it wouldn't be a big deal to miss. Obviously, Osborne Lights, Candlelight Processional, and MVMCP were tops on our list. We quickly decided the Segway tour could be cut and done on a future trip. We also decided that DHS, while we enjoy it, could easily be made into 1/2 day for us. DTD just simply isn't going to have a place in our schedule. WHEW!! That really simplified things right there! We knew we would want to spend a little extra time in EPCOT b/c of all the holidays around the world stuff in WS. We are on DDP, so we had 4 TS options to work with. CS we kind of plan for, but that is flexible. We decided that the 29th would be the best night for us to do MVMCP. And since we are staying so close to MK, we wanted a TS either in MK or Poly. In the spirit of enjoying all we can of the Poly, we decided that we will do dinner at O'Hana prior to MVMCP. We were super excited! One down! Then we decided that doing the CP Dinner Package was something we really wanted to do. So, I got with Poly IPO and got some early details on how this works. They were awesome and answered many of my questions before details were even released! We debated between dining at Coral Reef (we've all been), Garden Grill (never been), or Marrakesh (B and I have been, MIL has not). We chose Marrakesh. It's a true favorite of mine, so I was excited! Since that was 2 TS credits, it left us with one TS to decide on. After much menu browsing (we LOVED that!), we decided Tutto Italia would be a great place to enjoy our first night at WDW! I e mailed my requests to Poly IPO and the booked Tutto and O'Hana very quickly. I also had them take care of ordering my MVMCP tickets for me. As soon as CPDP info was released, they booked Marrakesh for us. Within a week, I had my MVMCP tickets in my grubby little hands! Soooo cute, too! A few weeks after we had Marrakesh booked, Betty called me and mentioned an awesome review she had seen on La Hacienda! We had originally looked at the menu and she thought it looked pretty similar to San Angel Inn, so she wanted something different. But after seeing that review, she was really interested in trying La Hacienda! So, out I went to visit and we checked out some photos, menu, and reviews. She definitely wanted me to try to change our ressie to La Hacienda. No problem! I emailed Poly IPO again to find out if there was availability. Low and behold, within 24 hours, we were now booked at La Hacienda! YAY!! So now we have ADR's, a general touring plan, airfare. Now comes the hardest part. THE WAITING. Let's face it, that's the hardest thing, I think!
Current Plan:
Monday, 11/28: Arrive around noon at MCO. Head to Poly, munch from the offerings at the concierge lounge and wander the resort a little bit. Then head to EPCOT for our ADR at Tutto at 6:40.
Tuesday, 11/29: Breakfast from the CL offerings, MK for the opening, enjoy the first half of the day at MK, head back to Poly, maybe check out CR and GF decorations, dinner at O'Hana at 5:00 pm, head back to MK for MVMCP!
Wednesday, 11/30: Breakfast at the Poly, spend the morning and early afternoon at AK. CS lunch at Yak and Yeti CS, head over to DHS for the afternoon and evening, enjoy Osborne Lights.
Thursday, 12/1: Breakfast at Poly, then an EPCOT day. Dinner at Hacienda at 5, CP that evening.
Friday, 12/2: This is when we will make the most of those PH's!! We'll go wherever we want and catch those attractions we either missed or just want to enjoy again! Our flight leaves at 6:40 pm, so I'm guessing ME will pick us up from the resort around 3 or so. :0( I just hate seeing that bus come to take me back to reality........
Up next: Just some fun tidbits of things each of have on our 'wish list'! And OH NO!!! Major dental problems, possible surgery.....OH DEAR, please don't affect my vacation!!
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Still sounds like a great trip!
) and I also tutor mathematics and statistics. I would be happy to offer any help I can.
that you get the airfare you want.
What an awful thing to have to tell everyone. The boys and Jeff were so disappointed. As were my in laws. At one point I offered to cancel my Disney trip in November in order to fund the hiking trip. Yes, we would have lost our airfare $$, but there was enough in the acct to cover the hiking trip. Trust me, this was a heart wrenching thing for me to do. I soooo much wanted to go to WDW for Christmas. But I also really wanted to go hiking and didn't want to let everyone down. However, Jeff told me no, not to cancel my trip. It still wasn't 100% he could even go and he know I would be really upset if I canceled my trip and then we didn't even get to go hiking!
It was with a heavy heart that Jeff told everyone we had to bow out of the hiking trip. The boys were disappointed, but they understood. Justin still had his new bike to keep him happy (which it did!), and Brandon still got to do Summer Music Festival and go to WDW in Dec, so he was happy, too. And I made them the promise that in 2012 we WOULD be going hiking no matter what b/c I am going to pay it in Feb when we get tax $$ back. We don't get a lot of tax $$, but it will be enough to pay for the hiking trip.
My inlaws tried repeatedly to get us to allow them to pay for the hiking trip b/c they really wanted us to go, but I just couldn't do that. They had already been kind enough to help with the refi stuff, and I'm not one to take advantage of someone's generosity. My FIL goaded me about it every time I went to visit them, too! Since I spend a reasonable amount of time out there in the summer, he had lots of opportunities to try to persuade me! But no, I stuck to my guns and in July, they went on down to the cabin to go hiking and we stayed home. Once it was over, though, I could find my joy again in knowing that I still had my vacation coming up soon! And we did some fun day trips and such with the boys, so we still had some nice family time. 
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Can't wait to hear the slimmed down plans.
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