The Mighty Morphing Birthday Trip - Thread 1 - COMPLETE (last update 7/30) - Page 34 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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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
What an impressive burp that was Andy!!! Go easy on Melissa. She's just trying to entertain us That beer stein was gigantic Melissa. How on earth did you ever finish all that beer? I would have been falling asleep the rest of the night after that. Beautiful video of Illuminations. Glad to see that you got into SE before the rehab. I love the picture you took of the fountains in front of SE. It's the prettiest pic I've ever seen taken of SE. You two are so cute together. Looking forward to reading more.
We went to catch the monorail to hop over to the pm EMH at the MK. A monorail had just left before we got there so we were pretty much first in line for the next one. A family of four was standing next to us...they had a little girl, around the age of kids I'm used to teaching, and a little boy who was younger. The little girl started talking to me about the monorail and so I chatted it up with her a bit. The little girl and I kept watch for the monorail and I told Andy when it came to watch and see if anybody got out of the front....and they did So he goes running up and asks if we can ride in the front, while I step into the car and grab the family and tell them they can ride in the front. They were a little confused at first, but quickly got up and headed to the front. When we got off at the TTC we asked them what they thought and the dad was laughing and saying it was neat, but a little nerve-racking seeing the track like that. I guess riding in the front at night might be a little more interesting
We ran our way over to the MK monorail and were on in no time. We had been able to see Wishes on the monorail from Epcot to the TTC which was neat
We arrived at the MK to find it PACKED! There were so many people in the Main Street area. People leaving due to closing mixed with people coming in for EMH. We asked as we went through the ticket thingy where the different places to get a wristband were b/c we were not waiting in the two thousand foot long line at the front of the park. He rattled off all the places and told us the one near Pirates would be the best bet. That was perfect as we were heading to Splash first. And he was right! No line at all! So that's a good note we learned. Always ask where the EMH wristband distribution stations are and pick one further in the park. We did this at AK and MGM and no wait what-so-ever.
We waited in a fairly long line for Splash. I would say it's the longest we've ever waited b/c we were actually outside in the queue and we've never experienced that before, even last summer. But the line moved quickly and were inside in no time..
We decided we would actually ride in the front this time. I have always had to ride in the back b/c I HATE getting wet on rides. Thus why it took me 3 trips to even ride Splash Mtn. (first ride was with PP'ers back in 2005 at Mousefest MVMCP) And thanks to them, this is now my favorite ride in the MK!
So since we were going to take the plunge (ba dum ching) and ride in the front I had to get this picture... \
Ain't it the truth Br'er Rabbit?? Ain't it the truth.....
It was fun to ride in the front and really fun to lean over and see the drop right in front of your eyes We were pretty much soaked. My whole left side of my body was nice and drippy. My hair actually got blown over to the right side of my head with the water and the fall It was a nice look.
(You'll note there's no video clip for this segment... Two reasons really. A) it was too dark on the rides to see anything and B) see above Splash Mtn. ending )
After Splash we walked right onto BTMRR. It was like the hitting up the dryer after going through the washer I do love BTMRR almost as much as I love Splash. I don't know which one Andy likes better. We'll have to ask him?????
After BTMRR we made our way on around the park. Spectro was going on so we had to make our way around that. I stopped to take a quick picture of the castle. I noticed on our video Andy zoomed in so close to the castle here that I think he was trying to spy on Cinderella (or the fab people who were staying there that night )
When we got to the HM we had to stop and pay our respects since it was closed...
Please note the big wet spot on Andy's shirt
Then I made Andy actually make a ghost picture to fit in...
And the letter from Master Gracey himself
Then it was time to try something new. We like trying to ride at least one new thing each trip. This time it was It's a Small World. Yes folks, that's right, I'm the disgrace of Disney fans everywhere. I've never ridden IASW. When we went on our first trip in 03 it was under refurb. Then all the other times I have no better excuse than "everybody just complains about it"....... But I had to get in the one ride....and I'm glad I did...and I'll never ride again
After IASW we walked over to Tomorrowland and looked in the shops. I wanted the dancing hula Stitch we saw last year....but alas...they didn't have him anymore!! He was there last summer and last Christmas....but now he was gone. I waited too long! Oh well....
We debated on leaving the park (not b/c of the no hula stitch.... b/c we were POOPED!!!) But we decided we would do Monster's Inc. since there was NO WAIT! It did take forever for the thing to start but finally we were inside. It was okay. I wasn't all that excited about it. I liked Turtle Talk better... and for those who say they could have done more with Stitch's Great Escape...I say they could have done A LOT more with Monster's Inc. But it was cute, and I'd do it again. And I know Andy enjoyed it b/c that's his movie.
By now it was necessary we head back. I don't know if my hobbling foot had anymore steps in it. We caught the boat back to the WL which was a nice relaxing ride and we were back up in our room in no time. When I got in the room I found a nice surprise waiting for me...
Andy had me a tea basket sent for my birthday! I wondered why he looked at me all "whatever" when I was shopping for the tea sets in China Now I knew why It's such a cute little pot and the top comes off to be the pot and the bottom is the cup!!
That surprise reminds me that I forgot to mention that earlier in the day when I was in the shower a CM brought up a bday card from Chip and Dale with bday balloons. That was very nice as well
So, our first park day had come to an end. Coming up tomorrow: AK, MGM, AK
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That was a great update!! I love the teapot gift basket Andy had sent to you. Not to pry but did Andy have that ordered before you guys went or did he go through guest services at the resort?? I wouldn't mind doing that with any last minutes gifts for the kids or my DH.
Great update! How awesome of you to set up that magical Monorail ride for that family. I'm happy to hear I'm not the only fool-hardy Passporter to attempt swimming-upstream into the Magic Kingdom during the post-Wishes exodus.
I'm a disgrace-of-Disney-fans too.... I've never ridden Dumbo. I'm glad you finally experienced It's A Small World after all those trips.
Another great day for the Dynamic Duo that is Andy and Melissa. I always wanted to ride in the front of the monorail. . . . I'm going to try for it this trip. Can't wait til I get home to see the video updates. For some reason my computer at work doesn't have sound . . . .
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.
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That beer stein was gigantic Melissa. How on earth did you ever finish all that beer? I would have been falling asleep the rest of the night after that.
Beautiful video of Illuminations. Glad to see that you got into SE before the rehab. I love the picture you took of the fountains in front of SE. It's the prettiest pic I've ever seen taken of SE. You two are so cute together. Looking forward to reading more.
So he goes running up and asks if we can ride in the front, while I step into the car and grab the family and tell them they can ride in the front. They were a little confused at first, but quickly got up and headed to the front. When we got off at the TTC we asked them what they thought and the dad was laughing and saying it was neat, but a little nerve-racking seeing the track like that. I guess riding in the front at night might be a little more interesting 
\
)
Oh well....
Now I knew why 
, that is so nice of him to give you a tea basket (obviously, that's right up my alley, too 
Can't wait for more!
I always wanted to ride in the front of the monorail. . . . I'm going to try for it this trip. Can't wait til I get home to see the video updates. For some reason my computer at work doesn't have sound . . . .
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