Forums Closed
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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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!
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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.
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10-23-2005, 03:57 AM
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#31
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY!!!
And . . . yeah . . . just where IS the hair pic?
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10-23-2005, 09:21 AM
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#32
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Community Rank: Trekker 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Maine
Posts: 1,831
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Great update! Love your pictures. I'll join with those who want to see a pic of the frizzy hair! I'm one of those people that has stick straight, thin, fine hair, and I'm actually envious of hair like yours!
Looking forward to more!
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10-23-2005, 09:34 AM
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#33
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 1,144
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
You made me laugh so hard I woke up everyone in the house with the past grandmothers house comment! 
It's ok, they had to get up anyways! More please... |
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10-23-2005, 10:49 AM
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#34
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Great start Melanie  
Okay, great pictures too  Are we going to get to see any of you 
Hurry back! |
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10-23-2005, 11:31 AM
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#35
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Community Rank: Trailblazer 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Fl
Posts: 5,517
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Great update!!!! Love the pictures! Could Jordie be any prettier?????
And I laughed so hard, soda came out my nose. Thanks a lot!
Kelly
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10-23-2005, 12:58 PM
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#36
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Recovering VMK Addict!
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Thornton, CO
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 13,087
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
[ QUOTE ]
Great update!!!! Love the pictures! Could Jordie be any prettier?????
And I laughed so hard, soda came out my nose. Thanks a lot!
Kelly
[/ QUOTE ]
Jordie is gorgeous!
Poor Fortissimo is wearing Diet Coke now. (serves him right for waking me up at 5 this morning!) |
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10-23-2005, 04:23 PM
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#37
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Wannabe Snowbird
Join Date: May 2002
Concierge Level: 7
Posts: 34,137
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Hurry back with more! You are totally cracking me up! I'm loving reading about "the other side" since we stayed at POFQ at the end of September!
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10-23-2005, 06:36 PM
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#38
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Community Rank: Explorer 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Longfellow's "Jewel by the Sea"
Posts: 14,165
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
[ QUOTE ]
Great update! Love your pictures. I'll join with those who want to see a pic of the frizzy hair! I'm one of those people that has stick straight, thin, fine hair, and I'm actually envious of hair like yours!
[/ QUOTE ]
It must be a Maine thing, my hair is like that too. But I totally appreciate the wallpaper boarder shots. Thanks for a fabulous read, hurry back so we can read allllllll about Downtown Disney and lizards and Boma.  Oh, and I toss out everything but the stickers too...but mine just hang on the fridge in tact, I've never vandalized corporate property with them.  That I remember.... Hurry back! |
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10-30-2005, 10:45 PM
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#39
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Community Rank: Trailblazer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Houston
Posts: 5,162
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Trip Date: 9/3/05 - 9/10/05
Resort: Port Orleans Riverside
Disney Freaks Involved: Me (Melanie/joyjoy), My BF (Alex), my 19 y.o. daugter (Jordie), Alex's 15 y.o. daughter (Kira)
Reason for trip: It is time.
****************
Howdy, Disney Dorks![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]
It's me again. Thanks again for all the fun comments. I wish I was more reliable with the updates, but I just suck. HOWEVER! Since last we spoke, I've learned something wonderful. I get to go back to WDW at the end of November for a few days so yayyyy. Now it's not so painful to relive the moments of our Sept trip. Whether or not that means the updates will come any quicker remains to be seen :don'tcountonit:, but still! I'm not sad anymore! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] = me. Okay, where did I leave off?
Oh, okay. So we were starving and decided to take the boat to DTD. Off we go! Hey look! Me with straight hair!
That's my bf showing off his $300 refillable mug. What a deal! Oh, and don't get all complimentary about the hair. Wait till you see the "after" picture a few hours from this one. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]
Here are our babies sitting on the other side of the boat.
The boat ride from PO-R stops first at French Quarter [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] and takes about 15 minutes to DTD. The captain told us about the Treehouses that you see on the way. Sad, really, that they are in such disrepair. I guess they are just not as profitable as building a whole new resort (Hi Saratoga Springs over there![img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] )but they do look like they used to be quite cool. He said there are talks about revamping them to use as housing for College Program kids but nothing firm. Rumor alert.
We got to DTD and went straight to Earl of Sandwich. I was nervous about the dining plan because I just couldn't fathom that these people could figure it out. I tell the counter girl what we're trying to do, and I'm all "Okay. We want to use ONE counter service for the two of us (gesturing between me and Alex) but just ONE, okay? We'll have the Caprese (Mozarella, tomato, basil, olive oil - YUMMY) with a diet coke and a brownie and then SHE wants the All-American, that's another counter service credit, are you following me?" And the girl goes, "Uh, why don't you just tell me what you want and the system will break it all down." Me: "REALLY???" So we ordered and ...... IT WORKED!!!! I gazed at the receipt lovingly. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] This was going to be easy peasy Japanesey. The sandwiches were really good, everybody was happy. Time to shop!
We shopped at Once Upon a Toy for a bit, and meandered around toward World of Disney. At one point Alex couldn't take it anymore :wimp: and sat on a bench just like the guy in the planning DVD. We kept seeing ALL these lizards all over the place so he photographed one.
Kira thought they were cute but I was grossed completely out. I hate lizards. (Sorry, LizardCop. But if you really are a Lizard Cop, you need to get to Downtown Disney right away because there is a problem down there. Thank you.)
I love World of Disney. I was on a mission this trip. Some of you may remember that when we were here a few trips ago I took my much loved Mickey watch to have the clasp repaired at the watch section here. I still loved the watch, but the clasp again had become so worn that it fell open all the time and I was afraid I'd lose it, so I had quit wearing it. I needed a new watch and that was one of the things I planned on blowing part of my retirement on. No, I didn't get one of those $400 watches. I didn't get anything this day, I was just in research mode. They had a really nice selection and I picked out a few possibilities, but had to check some other shops, first. We tried on Stitch hands.
Those are fun, but what the heck do you do with them? Kinda like the Mickey hands. Fun idea and cute as a button, but really. You gonna wear those things when it's cold or something? You can't even dial a cell phone with them on. Here's what they're good for. You get back from Disney World and friends come over for dinner.
You: "GAHHH! Look at my scary Stitch hands I got at Disney World! Aren't they HILARIOUS??!!??"
Your guests: "Haha. Wow."
You: "Yeah. Right. Okay." [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img]
Speaking of Stitch, we saw a van he wrecked outside of WOD. That Stitch. Wreaking havoc everywhere he goes. Also outside WOD we saw ...... rain. Surprise. There goes the 'do. We made our way slowly toward the boat dock. I say slowly, because Kira and Jordie are incapable of passing a single cash register without making a donation. Alex told me later he actually was getting kind of nauseous in WOD. I'm not sure if he was tired, hot, overwhelmed, horrified to be spending his life's fortune on crap or what. Odd. I feel strangely exhilirated in there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Anyway, by the time we got to the boat it was really raining pretty hard. We stood under the canopy with some other folks and started talking about plans. The couple next to us were commenting on Cirque du Soleil. They had just been. Here's the conversation:
Lady: "Oh, you HAVE to do it! It is soooo amazing! Breathtaking! Gorgeous! Never a dull moment! Fantastic!"
Us: "Oh, we'd LOVE to! Love it! Watched the tv show! Love it! Gush! Gush!"
Lady's Husband: "Eh. It's alright. Not worth the money though."
Us: [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/ukid.gif[/img]
Silence.
Lady and her Husband: "BWAHHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Just kidding. It's fantastic."
Whewwwwwwwwwwwww. They were funny.
The boat finally comes and it stops raining but the damage had been done. Here's proof. Okay, remember the "before" picture? Let me refresh your memory:
Okay, now lets have a look, shall we? You probably won't even recognize me, but that's me on the left looking the other way. I'm no doubt too ashamed to show my face.
See? I told you. You know, it looks kinda like that right now.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blushing.gif[/img] Anyway.
We got back to the room and the carpet was dry and our suitcases were there. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] The blow dryer still didn't work, but that's okay. We don't use that wimpy blowdryer anyway. I think those are only good for blowdrying babies' hair. That's what they are. Baby blowdryers. The girls changed clothes, I straightened my hair and we got ready to leave for dinner at Boma. We [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] Boma. We stayed at AKL last time and I was afraid we'd be all "AWWWWW [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]" when we got there and not want to leave. Anyway, we decided to take the bus BACK to DTD and catch a bus to AKL. There's a ride. They don't make it easy for us non-car renters to get from resort to resort, do they?
Animal Kingdom Lodge was as lovely as ever. Man, was it CROWDED, though! I kind of remember that. The lobby is always bustling. The fact that the other resorts are all sprawling and spread out disperses the billions of guests, but at AKL all elevators lead to the lobby so it's always kinda crazy. It was about 7:40 and our ADR was at 8 so we checked in and got the beeper. We went to check out Arusha Rock, thinking we could see us some of them zebras or somethin'. Nope. The viewing area was closed! Why? Rain? Please. Zebras don't care about the rain. Oh, well, the pager went off anyway and we headed back in to Boma. What a madhouse! We were seated and told all about the buffet and I sheepishly told the waiter we were on the dining plan and...... he didn't throw us out! I was still having a hard time believing how smoothly this thing was going. The buffet was awesome, as usual. They didn't have the vegetable soup I liked so much last time, nor the Kofta (vegetarian "meatballs" made with lentils and veggies) but it was still outstanding. Alex declared the falafel and sauce to be the best he'd ever had. Jordie and Kira ate a bunch of animal flesh plus about a TON of hummus and flatbread. Jordie went nuts over the greenbean/tofu dish. I love the pap with tomato sauce. People. I know what you're thinking. Get over it. It's pronounced "PAHP". The desserts were to die for, of course. Whoever invented that freakin' zebra dome should be canonized, in my opinion. We got the card and wrote down a few recipes we wanted and I started reminiscing over the LAST recipes we got from here. God love 'em, I know they want to help, but really. The recipes are nuts. They go like this:
Kofta
Rinse 25 lbs of dried lentils. Soak 2 hours. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for 8 hours.
Meanwhile, with your other hand, peel and julienne 100 large carrots.
Add 600 ml (Oh. Metrics now. Thanks) of asoefotida. If not available (read: If you are unable to get to the local market in Botswana today) , substitute Melegueta Pepper. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]
Now granted, I'm not the GREATEST cook in the world, but GEEEZ, could ya make it any more complicated? Ever the optimists, we ordered a few recipes anyway, and the next time I have 3 days to commit to experimental cooking, I'm all over it.
Here are some pics of us at Boma:
No, we don't normally dress alike. Only for our ballroom dancing class. Haha! Just kidding.
Jordie and Kira practicing the Two-finger Cast Member Hand Gesture:
We wisely decided to take a cab back to PO-R and it took about 15 mins/$17 vs 1 hr/free. Worth it.[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
We changed into swimsuits and headed for the hot tub. FREAK ALERT. Omg. I don't know WHAT was going on there, but there were some weirdos in the 'tub that night.
1) Old hairy guy that kept letting the bubbles fill up his trunks then squooshing out the air :shudder:
2) Lady in pink bikini that maybe should have gone with the one-piece that stared, STARED! at us the whole time without blinking
3) Couple obviously not speaking to each other, obviously entertaining ideas of drowning each other by the looks of their evil glances.
Gah! We didn't stay long. Walking back to the room, we were like, "Uh, is it just me or was that weird?". We never saw those people again. Thank God.
Okay! I'll be back soon with our first full day - at Epcot, our favorite! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img]
Thanks for reading! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]
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10-31-2005, 12:14 AM
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#40
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Dopey's biggest fan!
Join Date: May 2004
Location: China Spring, TX
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 26,975
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Yet again . . . freaking hilarious!!! Sorry about the poofage of the hair in the rain, though! That's why I keep my hair in a ponytail . . . always! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img]
Looking forward to more!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]
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10-31-2005, 05:43 AM
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#41
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RED SOX NATION!!
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Connecticut
Concierge Level: 9
Posts: 136,854
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
[img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]
What a great update! You look absolutely fine with the curly hair [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img] A great time had by all!
More, More, More!!!
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10-31-2005, 06:02 AM
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#42
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Maine
Posts: 1,831
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Just as I suspected -- I'd love to have your curly hair!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/082502yes_prv.gif[/img]
Your report is totally cracking me up. Keep it coming please!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img]
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10-31-2005, 07:15 AM
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#43
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Community Rank: Trekker
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Orlando, Florida
Posts: 1,144
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
What a way to start my morning! You are so funny. Thanks for the update. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/applause.gif[/img]
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10-31-2005, 08:34 AM
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#44
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Community Rank: Legend 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Newtown Square, PA
Concierge Level: 6
Posts: 23,859
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
Oh my gosh!! All I can say is [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/rofl2.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif[/img] Awesome report!! Jordie and Kira are both beautiful girls!!
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10-31-2005, 09:22 AM
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#45
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Community Rank: Explorer
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Niagara Falls
Concierge Level: 3
Posts: 12,431
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Re: The Kansas/Texas 2005 Rendezvous at Disney World
I think I laughed out loud about a million times with this update! YOu're too funny!!! And your hair is FINE curly.
Those hot tub people were defintate weirdos.
Can't wait for more!!! Hurry back!!!
Jennifer
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