The Light at the end of the tunnel to the Caribbean Beat Trip Report Sept 18 to Sept 29 - **Updated 3/31** COMPLETE!! - Page 4 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
It was very nice to meet you and your family, Amy! It was kind of surreal to see you guys sitting there, because I recognized you from your pre-trip report. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip. Looking forward to your TR!
Okay after a long drawn out process I am going to finally start my trip report & it's only been almost a month since we are left for WDW. I was putting it off hoping that it would make my trip feel like it was still happening. I should change the title of this trip report to Light at the end of the tunnel to puddle jumping. We did have great time & I hope that I will be able to do a great trip report. My mom has now became a member of the boards so maybe she will chime in from time to time. So sit back, relax, try not to get to wet, & enjoy the story.
Day 1: Tuesday Sept 18th We got up around 3:00am to leave for the airport. Most of the car was packed the night before other than the last minute stuff. We were supposed to leave for the airport at 4:00am par my Dad's orders. Around 4:00 we had all of our stuff loaded & were ready to go. My dad was still in his pj's, we actually pulled out of the drive around 4:20. We were at the parking garage & on our way in the shuttle to Pittsburgh International Airport by 5:45. Check our bags at curbside than on to security (which took about 30 mins). At about 6:30 we got something to eat at McDonald's.
My mom & dad at McDonald's for breakfast before our flight
Shayne having some pre-boarding breakfast!
Walk down to our gate for Southwest to catch our 7:50am flight. It was 40 degrees when we left PIT.
Our plane
Mom & I on the plane.
We had a lot of turbulence on our flight but we got to MCO 5 mins early at 9:55am.
On to the DME there were maybe 5 to 6 other people in front of my dad in line. We got on the DME & waited maybe ten minutes before we were off. On to our home for 12 days CBR we shared the bus with the Yatch Club but was the first stop & there by 11:00am. There were 2 or 3 groups in front of us to check-in. We were checked in & given our keys to the world, & she gave us a map that said building 24/2nd floor but no room number it wasn't ready yet. So we asked if we could be in building 25. My mom had requested Martinique building 25/ 2nd floor. Then we faxed a poem requesting Martinique building 25, 2nd floor, that if they had a corner room we wouldn't mind. She came back & said that they didn't have anything until Thursday. So we just kept the room they gave us. We went to the bathroom & changed our clothes since it was in the high 80's. Then we were going to check our carryons with bell hop & go to OPR for some lunch. We were getting everything situated. When the lady came over to tell my parents that our room was ready. So my mom went in & got our room number. The CM told her that there was a package for us. We had order a basket from Memories by Betsy. My mom asked if they could take it to the room for us. The basket was for my dad & brother. So we take our carryons & get on the internal bus to find our room. I think they should give better maps at CBR so you don't have to walk around for 20 mins looking for your room. Boy, were we lucky it was a great room. It was a corner room on the second floor just around the corner from the steps that went to the pool & laundry room. I couldn't believe how nice it was. I am so glad we opted to keep it. We will never second guess the room assigner. So we unpacked the stuff from the carryons & went down to the OPR for some lunch. We must have hit the OPR at the right time the whole time we were there because we didn't have any wait at all. The busiest time was the one morning that we had breakfast. So we ate lunch & did a little shopping we were suppose to go to MK to do some shopping today. Well that was the plan my mom is lactose intolerant but if she takes lactaid she is OK. Well she had a smoothie for lunch not even thinking that it was dairy & forgot to take lactaid. So we went back to our room to find our luggage had arrived by 1:50pm. My mom started not feeling good so we unpack. I had groceries being delivered from gardengrocer by this time I called down to find out if our grocer have arrived & to send them up. They said the front desk had them & would send them up. About 10 mins later they show up with the basket from Memories by Betsy that my mom & I had order. So my dad thought it was part of the groceries & gave a great tip. They were surprised & the basket was great. So then we thought we would try to go to MK for some shopping my mom thought she was okay. We were just getting ready to leave when they showed up with the groceries this time. So we put that away then off to the bus stop for MK. My mom started to get sicker. So we missed the first bus & then we are sitting there she tells us to go ahead without her. The whole reason of going to MK was that she & I could do our MK shopping out of the way. That way we didn't have to worry about using some of touring time to do that. Well we decided to go back to our room for a while. I went up & took a nap by this time the temper was flaring & I was exhausted. So I lay down. My parents are smokers so they went down to the designated area. So here is my gripe about that the smoking area is benches set up along the main pathway to OPR from the hotels. My parents got some of the most rudest comments & fake coughs as people were walking by. I do think that they need to have more places of the beaten path for that. I hope that people understand they are smoking where they were suppose to, there is no reason for the comments & rudeness. We took a nap while my brother went swimming, anytime we where at the CBR he was in the pool. So about 5:00pm we went to the bus to EPCOT so we could make our ADR at Cape May at 6:30pm. By the time we got to EPCOT & had some PhotoPass memories done it was time to head over to the Beach Club. A margarita was calling my name but no such luck we didn't have anytime. We walked through the world to the boat were we hear the dock guy telling a family that it would be closer & faster just to walk so we just headed over there. We were early so we looked around there gift shop & bought some stuff. We check in & was seated within 5mins. This was my dad's choice for an ADR, well the food was okay just not what he was expecting. After dinner, we took a few pictures & went back to our hotel. The next morning was going to be early so we walked down to OPR to refill our cups. Then I went up & went to bed I was still exhausted & cranky.
Stay tune to see my favorite picture of MK & how drowned rats look like at a tour.
My dad after a full belly checking out the scenery at Beach Club
One of my favorite pictures this was the Boardwalk from beach Club. We were too tired to walk around & check out the Boardwalk. I did get a great picture of it.
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.
Thanks for your great trip report so far! Looking forward to lots more. Sorry your mom did not feel well. It can be so stressful with all the hurrying around for flights and all.
Day 2: Wed Sept 19th Here came the rain, rain, & more rain. In the past two trips, we had rain only once for about 10mins right before a parade was ready to start. I got up about 6:15am so that I could get a shower before everyone else got up. We wanted to be out at the bus stop at between 7:30-7:45 so we could catch the MK bus. We are doing the Mickey Magical Milestone Tour at 9:00am. So I shower, pull my hair up afterwards because everyone is still sleeping I can't get ready. I grab a pack of donuts & bottle of water to head out to the beach to take some early morning pictures (don't have any of those b/c we are usually not up that early). I walk outside to find out it is raining so I walked around the hotel on the bottom floor & went back up to our room. I passed my mom on my way into the door going to have her smoke & tell her that it is raining. So I go back to the room & get ready for our first official day at MK. So we had bought rain poncho the time it rained for 10min but never wore them. So we pack them in our bag & off to the park We were out of room by a little after 7:40am we waited maybe 5 to 10 mins for the MK bus. The whole time it is raining on our way to the park. We get off the bus & put on our rain poncho. Went though the whole bag check thing & through the turnstile. We had decided to rent a locker so that we didn't have to lug around the stuff during the tour. The line for lockers was long. So once we got our locker, it was time to check in for our tour.
This was our first view of MK & our first whole day in a park!
We had a few minutes so we stood there waiting for the tour to begin. Becky was our tour guide & did a wonderful job in the pouring down rain. The other family for the tour never showed up so it was just the 4 of us. She pointing out some hidden Mickey’s that we didn't know about & we learn all about the history of Mickey Mouse.
Mickey Mouse House & Mickey Mouse with our fam
Our tour was over about 11:00 so we were trying to decide if we wanted to go to another park, shopping at DTD, or rough it out at MK b/c the crowds are low. It is still raining heavily. My dad favorite counter service is Peco's Bill so we figure that we could go get lunch then deciding what to do. Well we decided that since we didn't go to MK to shop yesterday that we could do that & at least we were under cover. The rain started to let up about 12:30pm so 6 hour straight of rain. Not my idea of a perfect vacation. On the other hand it was an experience that I will never forget. So we decided to ride POTC since we were there & the line was short. I got my very first Dole Whip when we got off of the POTC. It was ah so yummy I could believe that I had walked past this in our prior trips. Off the Emporium for some shopping. We actually visited almost all of the shops on Main Street. Then it was getting close to time for the parade so we opted to go the train station to see if we could get a place. This was our favorite place to watch the parade. We got a spot & got to meet Pluto. After that we went to check out the new Comedy Club. My mom & brother both got a big kick out of it. My brother was laughing so hard it was contiguous it made us laugh. Then we were off to Buzz Light-Year. We rode couple more rides then it was time to leave for our ADR at Chef Mickey's @ 6:20pm, we dropped off stuff at our locker & went to catch the Monorail. Once we got to the Contemporary we had a few minutes to kill we check out the gift shop. My mom actually find a collar for Zeus on sale for $4.00 we were amazed. My friend had left me a message that he was doing well but the first day he was there he broke his collar. Off to Chef Mickey's for dinner. The food was great this was the first time that we have eaten dinner here. We usually have breakfast the service was mediocre but hey it was GREAT can't complain & love the mashed potatoes. After they had to roll us out of our chairs we made our way back to the monorail to MK. We got to our locker just as the fireworks were starting, cleared out our locker & headed to bus. We didn't want to have to fight the crowds to watch the fireworks. We were going to be at the MK Sunday for PM EMH so we figure we could just watch them then. Back to the resort we refill our cups & relax. I sent my brother & friend a coconut postcard & got some other post cards to send out. Then off to bed for me.
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.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
your pictures!
Sounds like you got a great room 
Sorry your Mom got sick, and you Dad didn't like dinner 
More please 
GEAUX SAINTS!!
Dana
Glad you had fun on the tour, and a great meal at CM 
More please 
Can't wait to hear more
Linear Mode
