Florida flowers and Caribbean cruising - the trip report! THIS SECTION COMPLETED 4/12 - Page 41 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Some amazing photos of the FOF parade. This looks like a good one. Great closeups and such great perspectives from your amazing viewpoint. Hope to check this one out on my next visit! Always liked the "Move It, Shake It" parade with the catchy music. Remember that for the first time when walking up Main Street and hearing the music and got me in such a great mood as I was en route to meet many PPs for lunch at the CP for our first DOD meet in May, 2009! Are they still performing this parade? I think it was, last Spring, when I was there!
That's a great memory from that trip, although I also remember how hot it was that day. I couldn't believe so many fellow PassPorters were dancing in that heat!
I think it is still going, but it's very limited now. I seem to recall seeing it posted as being on in the late afternoon during our stay, but I don't know if anyone has better information that that?
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Loved the photos of Mark with Grumpy! Perhaps, these could be classified as separated at birth?
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
Saturday 21 February – part ten: “so why’s Piglet off the menu then?”
Once the parade was done, we slowly made our way through Liberty Square…
… and headed over to the Crystal Palace. Now here is where I knew we had problems with the American cell phone. I’d tried to text Marnie (Colexis Mom) last night, and hadn’t had a response, which I didn’t think was promising. Now I tried to text Michael to let them know where we were. When we found him and his wife Judy, he hadn’t had a text from me, and he’d sent me a couple and we hadn’t received them. Why did I have a feeling things wouldn’t be this simple?
Once we all found each other, I went to check in, which turned out to be tougher than I thought it would be. First, the guy at the front of the line was insistent that he had booked lunch, but the Cast Members were equally insistent that he’d actually got dinner booked at 4:00pm. That took a while to resolve, shall we say? Then the Cast Member couldn’t find our name. Thank goodness I carry our ADR numbers with us, as she found that with no issue.
Then it was the painful wait to get in. I don’t know how long we waited, as in fairness, we were happily chatting away, but it was frustrating, because every so often you’d hear a Cast Member say a name, or from where we were sitting, more like mutter a name, as we couldn’t hear it, then we’d catch ourselves listening and stopping our conversation. At one point, Michael went up to check our name hadn’t been called, and it hadn’t. The Cast Member said they were having issues turning the tables around, but I’m sorry, we’ve been coming here for 15 years, and that’s been an issue all that time. About time they got it sorted really!
Of course, you can tell what’s coming next. We get taken to a table where Pooh and Eeyore have just both passed by. Thankfully, at least the bear of little brain had some brain and headed back to see us, but the donkey was a bit further on, and there was no way we were getting him to return.
As there were then no characters in sight, we went up and hit the buffet, and I started off with the salad items…
Mark had generously looked after the cameras while the rest of us went up, so we were all back… in time for Piglet! Yep, you got it, Mark was missing the pig. However, Michael wasn’t going to let the pig get away easy. Instead, he started on the bacon references, and Piglet did not look impressed. Neither was his handler, and boy, she was good! She stood there, and without missing a heartbeat, told us why you could never eat Piglet. Firstly, he belongs to Christopher Robin, she explained, and Michael quipped “so that’s why he’s off the menu then?” but she wasn’t done, and she had a classic follow-up line, telling us he was off the menu, because Christopher Robin owned stuffed toys, and that meant that Piglet was stuffed with fluff, and therefore wasn’t edible. It really was classic, and you could tell she’d had encounters like this before – and I promise I don’t think it was Mark…
Despite all the ribbing (sorry – couldn’t resist! ) we did still persuade Piglet to pose for some photos, but you’ll notice in one of these shots, Michael is looking around….
… and here’s the reason why: Piglet’s best friend had made it back in time to see him!
That done, it was time for the next round at the buffet…
… before we had to be back in time for a bit of bouncing with Tigger!
By now, I figured I had time to go for desserts, before my donkey boy arrived, and I didn’t do too badly. I even had some turtle cheesecake, and it was the best American cheesecake I’d had. This led to quite a discussion about what turtle meant, as I’d never come across it before, and say turtle to me, and I think Crush, not a food.
Eventually, I looked up and said to Michael and Judy “grey boy at 11 o’clock”, and sure enough, he was slowly making his way over. I think, if memory serves me right, either Pooh or Piglet, or maybe even both had already been back around a second time by now, which just goes to show how popular Eeyore is, as it takes him so long to circulate.
Mark got his photos taken with him, then told Eeyore how much I love him, and I showed him my necklace and watch, and Eeyore was very cute, and told me that he loved me too. We got some great photos together, and he was blowing me kisses. I then said to Eeyore that Mark and I had been married 15 years, and joked that I could leave Mark for Eeyore, and Eeyore did the sweetest thing, and something I’ve only ever seen Minnie do before in Aulani. He joined our hands together – obviously a fan of matrimonial harmony then!
Just before Eeyore left, Mark told him about the issues he has with Piglet and how he likes bacon, and Eeyore stood and listened, and nodded. I did a double take, stared at Michael and said “did I just see that?” He was looking just as stunned as me, and said and immediately Eeyore corrected himself, and started to shake his head, but that was it as far as Mark was concerned, he’d found another allay in his war against the pig.
Piglet did come by again, and Mark got another sweet moment with him…. Not! I believe Michael has a photo from across the table, where you can see Mark being less than friendly to Piglet, shall we say, but I think he needs to post that for you to get the full idea of what was going on….
We were so busy chatting away that I really do not know where the time went. I looked at my watch, and suddenly it was 2:30pm. We had an absolute blast with them and it was fascinating to learn more about both of them, as they both have some great stories to tell. I love the way with meets like this you can start out as complete strangers and a couple of hours later be great friends.
Eventually, our server, whose name I can’t remember, started to get less and less subtle about us moving, with the check bought out, and finally I figured we should move, as I didn’t want to get caught up in the madness of the 3 o’clock parade.
Once again, we’d had a blast at the Crystal Palace. It always seems to deliver year after year, with great food and a lot of fun, and that’s why we keep coming back here.
Crystal Palace
Appetiser 8½ N/A
Entrée 9 9
Dessert 8½ N/A
Service 7 7
Atmosphere 10 9
Value for money 10 9½
Great lunch at CP. Very funny how Piglet's handler handled the bacon jokes. And that was sooo sweet of Eeyore taking putting your hands together. How precious.
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Oh my gosh, how fun!! What great character experiences as well as a lovely meal!! I know you look forward to this meal and I am so happy that it did not disappoint!!
Crystal Palace never disappoints us either! In fact, I rather miss it as we've been trying other restaurants the last few trips and haven't been in quite a while. So happy to hear it's as good as always! (and busy as always!)
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What a great meal with all your friends from Pooh Corner! Too funny about Mark & Piglet, and SO sweet that Eeyore wants you to stay with Mark. No home wrecking for him!
By the way, I'm on hold with DCL as we speak - after 20 minutes of a constant busy signal. Now they're saying wait time in excess of 15 minutes......at least they have great hold music!
We waited quite a while for lunch last time too. I agree it's crazy popular but then they've been doing this so long now it seems it'd be better paced out. Perhaps they fill too many ADRS per hour?
Again excellent character interaction and your donkey is just too sweet !
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PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
What a great time at Crystal Palace! I totally agree with the wait to get in, it never seems to change no matter what time of day either. So glad you have a great meet with some passporter friends. I hope you get your phone sorted out soon, must have been so frustrating. Hope you got past main street before the parade started. I can't wait to read more.
The picture with both of you and Eeyore holding you hands is just so priceless!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
What a fantastic meal all around!
I found it interesting you had no idea what a turtle was! Love those things. My Dad makes chocolate candy every year for Christmas and he actually has a turtle mold to make turtle candy!
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Great closeups and such great perspectives from your amazing viewpoint. 
I think it was, last Spring, when I was there!
I couldn't believe so many fellow PassPorters were dancing in that heat! 
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Then the Cast Member couldn’t find our name. Thank goodness I carry our ADR numbers with us, as she found that with no issue. 
it hadn’t. The Cast Member said they were having issues turning the tables around, but I’m sorry, we’ve been coming here for 15 years, and that’s been an issue all that time. About time they got it sorted really! 
Yep, you got it, Mark was missing the pig. However, Michael wasn’t going to let the pig get away easy. Instead, he started on the bacon references, and Piglet did not look impressed. Neither was his handler, and boy, she was good! She stood there, and without missing a heartbeat, told us why you could never eat Piglet. Firstly, he belongs to Christopher Robin, she explained, and Michael quipped “so that’s why he’s off the menu then?” but 
We got some great photos together, and he was blowing me kisses. I then said to Eeyore that Mark and I had been married 15 years, and joked that I could leave Mark for Eeyore, and Eeyore did the sweetest thing, and something I’ve only ever seen Minnie do before in Aulani. He joined our hands together – obviously a fan of matrimonial harmony then! 
and immediately Eeyore corrected himself, and started to shake his head, but that was it as far as Mark was concerned, he’d found another allay in his war against the pig. 
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Katie's graduation
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
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