The Surviving Deployment Trip Report, Updated 10/18 COMPLETE!! - Page 30 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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
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.
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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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Victoria's costume is so great. She looks a lot like Alice. Sounds like the two of you are having a great time and having lots of magical moments with Michael the bear. The CM's are so magical. They were just starting to put up the decorations when we left in Aug. So neat to see how they turned out. Can't wait to hear about the party. Hurry back.
Just got all caught up. I really like your pictures. Made me feel like i was there. Wait a minute i was at that party on that day. LOL I love all the disney magic you experienced with CM and Michael the Bear. sorry about your room fiasco though. Yuck glad they took care of that. BTW glad Your feeling better!
So sorry about your room, but sounds like they took care of the situation.
It's fun to hear what you two were doing at the party before we met you. I love BOTH your costumes (I remember seeing you walking around while we were standing in line for our Snow White photo!) Your photos are great - and I love all the things you and Victoria are doing together.
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
Victoria's costume is terrific! As everyone else said, she really does look like Alice. It sounds like you two had a wonderful time just walking into the park. LOL I think it was very appropriate that Victoria (as Alice) had a candied apple sticking out of her head, it kind of went along with the whole Wonderland thing. LOL (You know where the unexpected often happens.) Great pictures. I can't wait to hear more about the MNSSHP.
I love your attention to details in your photos, lots of things i hadn't noticed and i am glad i get to see them in your photos.
You are such a good seamstress. That dress is wonderful.
I am glad that everything worked out for your room
I am only a good seamstress because I had a wonderful friend help me. I have never sewed a thing in my life! The pattern made no sense to me at all. My friend showed me how to cut the fabric with the pattern and then she pieced the patterns together and showed me where to sew. It was fun. We worked on the costume for three days. It was fun. I would surely try it again, but only with my friend's help.
Victoria's costume looks amazing. You did a great job. I love your flamingo hat!
Great start. Can't wait to see how you enjoyed the rest of the night.
I like the flamingo hat, too. Many people would say, "Did you know you had a bird on your head?" I would answer, "It's a mallet!" Some got it. Some didn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ArielsMomto2
Victoria's costume is so great. She looks a lot like Alice. Sounds like the two of you are having a great time and having lots of magical moments with Michael the bear. The CM's are so magical. They were just starting to put up the decorations when we left in Aug. So neat to see how they turned out. Can't wait to hear about the party. Hurry back.
We had a great time! Victoria really wanted to be blonde so she'd look even more like Alice. Oh well. I thought she looked quite good just the way she was.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great updates Laura! Love the pictures from DTD and MNSSHP! Glad the room was cleaned!
Thanks! I was glad the room was cleaned, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tylerdylansmom
Just got all caught up. I really like your pictures. Made me feel like i was there. Wait a minute i was at that party on that day. LOL I love all the disney magic you experienced with CM and Michael the Bear. sorry about your room fiasco though. Yuck glad they took care of that. BTW glad Your feeling better!
Thanks! I am slowly getting better. I've had a slight relapse and am back on Nyquil and now ear drops. My ears are hurting. Good grief! It is really lingering.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nimros
So sorry about your room, but sounds like they took care of the situation.
It's fun to hear what you two were doing at the party before we met you. I love BOTH your costumes (I remember seeing you walking around while we were standing in line for our Snow White photo!) Your photos are great - and I love all the things you and Victoria are doing together.
It's funny that you saw us, but how can you miss a flamingo on a woman's head? I got a lot of looks that night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Victoria's costume is awesome! She really looks like Alice! Great pictures of MNSSHP!
Thanks! It was fun to make.
Quote:
Originally Posted by B.M.
Victoria makes a great Alice!
I think so, too!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PamelaK
Victoria's costume is terrific! As everyone else said, she really does look like Alice. It sounds like you two had a wonderful time just walking into the park. LOL I think it was very appropriate that Victoria (as Alice) had a candied apple sticking out of her head, it kind of went along with the whole Wonderland thing. LOL (You know where the unexpected often happens.) Great pictures. I can't wait to hear more about the MNSSHP.
Thanks! She really wanted to be blonde, but oh well. I guess the candied apple out of her head isn't too odd afterall.
What a great morning at DTD, how wonderful that they made you a new shirt. Your lunch at WPE looked delicious, it is definitely a great meal there and such a nice variety to chose from.
Glad that housekeeping took care of the issues with the room and that everything was in tip top shape when you returned. Love the pictures from the MK, your costumes are great. Can't wait to hear all about the party.
I love this picture...what a wonderful shot of the both of you.
I think that picture of you and Victoria waiting for the bus is my favorite!!! Such a great shot! And count me in as one who loves the costumes! Great job on Alice. I definitely need to plan a trip during MNSSHP next year!!
__________________
Betty Sue
Affiliated with CruisingCo.Com/MouseEarVacations.com
Disney Destination Specialist/ BettySueS@cruisingco.com August '09 Trip
Day 2, part 3
We really wanted to ride POTC, so on the way there, we decided to ride the Jungle Cruise.
We walked right on a boat, and our skipper was thrilled to have Alice on his boat. We were seated in the front of the boat right next to Alex, our skipper. He was fantastic! Full of energy and all of those corny jokes.
Then we came to the point where we had to get down to hide from the savages throwing spears at us. We all ducked, but Victoria didn't. Alex yelled, "Alice! Get down! What are you doing, Alice? Duck!" It was so funny!
Our fearless skipper, Alex.
As we moved into the cave and came to the area with the snakes, Alex was hunched down steering the boat, and I said, "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes." Alex said to me, "Hey! You aren't supposed to say the good lines!" I said, "Well, you didn't say it." He then said, "We aren't allowed to talk in the cave." It was so funny. We had a really good time with him.
As our cruise continued, I kept talking back to Alex with little quips and jabs, and he said, "The flamingo keeps talking to me."
We made it back safely from our cruise, said goodbye to Alex, and headed for POTC.
There was no wait whatsoever. It was nice walking right on the ride.
*Pause* What I have failed to mention during this TR so far is how blazing hot it was. We came to WDW from Texas. Yes, it's hot in TX, but give me 110 with no humidity in TX any day rather than 90 with 100% humidity in FL. UGH!!! The humidity was about to kill me. I don't like to sweat, and I have never sweated so much. I was carrying the backpack, and my back was wet. I hated feeling sweat trickle down my back. Yuck! So, it was really hot to us. We felt like we were baking on some days and melting on others. Anytime we could get indoors, we took that opportunity.
I say all of this now because we were really looking forward to riding POTC to get out of the stinkin' heat!
*Back to the TR.*
We enjoyed our ride on POTC. It is a nostalgic ride for me because it is my dad's favorite. He always loved riding it.
We stepped outside and saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. Victoria quickly got her sketchbook out of the backpack, and we got in the very small line. Captain Hook loved his picture. He couldn't get over it and showed it off. Smee signaled that he loved his picture, and he kissed it.
Mr. Smee then wanted a picture with Michael the Bear and was holding him when Captain Hook snatched Michael from Mr. Smee so he could get his own picture. We felt so sad for Mr. Smee.
Then, Mr. Smee got Michael back and snuggled him. It was so sweet!
We left those two and headed for BTMRR. We saw Goofy posing for pics so we got in line. Goofy had to leave for a two-minute water break so I took a couple of pictures.
Goofy returned. He was not very personable. Oh well. Who can blame him in the miserable heat!
We moved on to BTMRR. We both love this ride and were both excited about taking Michael the Bear on his first mine train adventure.
Our wait was nonexistent, and we were soon on the wildest ride in the west.
Our ride was over, and we wanted to ride again, so we hopped back in "line" and were on another mine train lickety-split!
When the ride was over, they said we could ride again if no one was in line. So, we rode again. While we were waiting to go, Victoria snapped this picture. Notice that my flamingo isn't standing quite as straight anymore. This CM had seen us come round and round a few times and hopped in the picture. Victoria was cracking up, and I didn't know why until I saw the picture.
It was funny riding this with a flamingo on my head. I like to raise my arms on coasters (and take pictures ), so I had to hold the flamingos legs with one arm, and I would raise my other arm. Otherwise, my hat would have blown right off my head.
We enjoyed our three back-to-back rides on BTMRR. We stopped in the Frontier Trading Post, and I got a MNSSHP pin. I also found this "hidden" Mickey in the store.
We were getting a little hungry and decided to head over to Cosmic Ray's for some dinner. On the way, we saw Donald "Davy Crockett" Duck. We had never seen him dressed like this before and got in line. Donald loved his picture. He kissed it and gave Victoria a big hug, showed off his picture to others in line, and then wanted to pose with his picture.
We said goodbye to Donald and went to Cosmic Ray's. I got the bacon double cheeseburger with fries, a large soda, and chocolate cake. Victoria got the cheeseburger with fries, a large soda, and chocolate cake.
As we made our way to a table, the skies opened up and it poured. We were glad we were indoors as I had forgotten to pack our umbrellas or our ponchos. But, we were sad it was raining, because this was the night of our party. We started praying the rain would end and soon.
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I got a lot of looks that night. 
PassPorter Guide Author
And what a wonderful Photopass photographer. 
This CM had seen us come round and round a few times and hopped in the picture. Victoria was cracking up, and I didn't know why until I saw the picture. 
We started praying the rain would end and soon.
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