TR: Thingamabobs, Zebra & Giraffes, Oh My! Completed 3/25/15 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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Today we were up around 7am as we had a breakfast ADR this morning. So we quickly got dressed and out the door to catch a bus to MK.
We arrived at MK just as the park opened. Scott went ahead of us to get us checked in for breakfast at Crystal Palace, while Emily & I stopped in the Emporium. We had gotten one of those 20% total purchase coupons the day before from Casey’s and she wanted to start shopping right away! (you have to use the coupon before 1pm) Emily quickly found a necklace and some pins she had eyed the day before, as well as a couple of packs of the miniature collectibles. We were reunited with Scott soon enough and were seated at our table fairly quickly!
We enjoyed our yummy breakfast – visiting the buffet a few times! I love the made to order omelets here, and of course Mickey Waffles, and Pooh’s Puffed Toast (which Emily has mastered making at home!)
We especially enjoyed our visits with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet.
After breakfast we had some time before our first fastpass of the day, so we headed for Pirates of the Caribbean ~ and we found a Photopass Photographer!
After our pirate adventure, it was time for our fastpass for some royal visits ~ first visits were with Cinderella and Rapunzel! I swear, I wish I could take Rapunzel home – she is always just so adorable!
Emily was quite excited to see this:
Next up was the much anticipated Anna & Elsa!!! Emily and I were so excited to meet them…….okay, I think Scott was too! They both loved our tees, and Anna was just such a doll – another princess I would love to adopt!! She was so into character! Anna spent so much time talking to us, especially Em, while Elsa was actually sort of quiet. I love that Em looks star struck!
After our royal encounters, we still had a bit of time before our next fastpass, so we stopped over at Haunted Mansion for some ghostly fun! I so wish that they would add a ride photo with the hitchhiking ghosts here! I attempted my own with my phone (kind of hard to see).
Our next fastpass was ripe for Peter Pan’s Flight! This is a ride that will never get old!
It was mid-day now and we really wanted to spend some time at the resort, so we started to head out of the park, stopping at the Confectionary so that Emily could purchase an Olaf Apple and water for the ride and a diet coke for me. Scott found a Monster Energy Drink.
We headed back to the resort for an afternoon of hanging out at the Big Blue Pool ~ something we had wanted to do for quite some time now (one of the reasons for staying at this resort)! We quickly went to our room to change into our swimsuits and cover ups and decided we should grab a quick lunch before getting settled at the pool, so we went to Landscape of Flavors. Scott had a Surf & Turf Burger with fries and a water, Emily & I shared the Mongolian Fish meal (we even had some naan bread!!!!) with a diet coke and a water. It was delicious!
In route back to the pool, I took many photos of the Lion King section! I absolutely love the detail that has been put into this resort with each themed section.
Then we headed for the pool! We spent quite a bit of time here, relaxing, playing, listening to the music under water, and taking lots of photos! I seriously do not think Emily will ever believe she is too big to play in the splash areas! I do have to say, it was quite a bit of fun! And again, the attention to detail here is just amazing!
I was trying for my best Nemo impersonation!
Of course Scott and I had to try out the pool bar! He had a Yuengling and I had the Island Moon-Shine (Troy & Sons Platinum Moonshine, Blue Curacao, Coconut, Pineapple Juice, and Coconut Water)!
Before we went back to our room for showers we did stop over at the pool in the Little Mermaid section ~ it was much quieter over there, but also a nice pool – great for little ones! We noticed there were quite a few tables with chairs so you could actually sit and enjoy yourselves with snack/lunch/beverages.
We finally made it back to the room to shower and get ready to head back to Magic Kingdom for the evening!
Up Next: Dinner with the Beast!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
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Fun afternoon at the pool! My kids still like some of the splash features - and I love watching them being kids, despite most of the time seeming so much older already.
Fun afternoon at the pool! My kids still like some of the splash features - and I love watching them being kids, despite most of the time seeming so much older already.
And lunch looked yummy, too!
Thanks! That's what we love so much about Disney, you can still be such a kid! And that lunch......YUM!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
What a cool day! I am so excited for CP breakfast next year. Also, you took great pictures at AoA! It was great to see the pool, my bf's kids are fishes disguised as humans and an AoA suite is our front runner for the trip. I'm excited to show him the pictures!
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~ Jenn **Disney is REAL LIFE Magic, so much more than optical illusions **
You certainly crammed in a lot of character meets this trip - and I love the shots with Anna and Elsa.
Thank you! We love our character meet and greets!
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start to the day at MK! Love all the pictures! Sounds like a great afternoon at the pool!
Thank you! The pool day was perfect! Couldn't have asked for better!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Wonderful photos from MK and the pool! Emily is such a sweet mixture of beautiful, poised young lady and full-of-fun child!
Awe, thank you Laurie!!! She is a keeper
Quote:
Originally Posted by TinkerbellJenn99
What a cool day! I am so excited for CP breakfast next year. Also, you took great pictures at AoA! It was great to see the pool, my bf's kids are fishes disguised as humans and an AoA suite is our front runner for the trip. I'm excited to show him the pictures!
Thank you! We love CP - especially for breakfast. Glad I could assist with the AoA photos!
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Lisa Co-Guide to Sharing the Adventure: Disney World Trip Reports
Great morning at MK! I'm definitely adding CP breakfast to my next trip. YUM! About the hitchhiking ghosts, I may be wrong, but I think I read now there's a MM ride photo at that exact same spot.
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Also, you took great pictures at AoA! It was great to see the pool, my bf's kids are fishes disguised as humans 
and an AoA suite is our front runner for the trip. I'm excited to show him the pictures!
~ Jenn 
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