Walking in a Disney Wonderland, December 8-15, 2009 - COMPLETE!! 5/7 - Page 47 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
This morning we had a 10:05am ADR for Donald’s Safari Breakfast at Tusker House. We left the hotel at 9am and were at AK at 9:25am. First we had to stop for a few photo ops.
Then we headed towards Tusker House and browsed in the shops around there killing some time before we could check in. We also grabbed FPs for Kilimanjaro Safaris before checking in. We checked in and then waited our turn for our picture with Donald. The in-laws ended up purchasing the pictures and we therefore got them on the PP card too. Breakfast was amazing!! I love the juice here! Mike grabbed Dylan some breakfast first as we could see Goofy & Daisy were going to be at our table soon. After they visited the rest of us got food. And then Mickey was last for us too see, although we did see a few characters again walk by us as we were eating. The character interaction was great here and Dylan had a great time with them.
And here I think begins the LOVE for Mr. Mickey Mouse! (He's always watching where he was):
After breakfast we rode the Safari, then did the Pagani Trail, and then headed to Rafiki’s Planet Watch where we ran into Jiminy & Rafiki. Dylan also pet and brushed the goats – I stayed out as I had his sippy cup with me.
After coming back from Rafiki’s we headed out of the park. Dylan fell asleep on the way. He got a good little nap in as we reached the bus stop it was 1:30pm and we had a 25 minute wait for a bus (I think this was the longest we ever waited for a bus). We were back at BC by 2:30pm and Dylan had awoken. We snacked in the room and watched some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Dylan can’t get enough of this show & Mickey!). I also did a few loads of laundry during this time. Mike and his dad went to the pool for a bit; Dylan wanted nothing to do with the pool so that’s why we stayed behind with him. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.
Up next…DHS & more PP meets
Those pics of him and the characters at breakfast absolutely brought a tear to my eye!! What a doll he is!!! It just gives me a warm fuzzy! I'm so glad I finally got caught up on all this! I have been reading it at work, but can't see all the pics from that computer! So now I get to go back and see what I've been missing!
Registered Message Board Members Get Our Free Newsletter! When you register you'll have the option to sign up for our weekly PassPorter Newsletter. It's chock-full of feature articles; news; tips; contests; photos; and special offers in our online store.
all caught up now and love the update. I really liked Tusker House Breakfast and will agree the juice is delish.
I love his interactions with Mickey. I just love watching kids and characters. It really makes me smile to see new little ones loving disney, making new disney fanatics
I have waited a few times around 20 mins or more at AK. Not sure why its like that sometimes. The only thing I can figure is that its so far away in general but its a real pain when you just want to get back to the room!
Looks like a great day at AK. Cant wait to read about the PP meet!
Kelly I am all caught up. Wow, looks like a fabulous trip. Dylan is too photogenic. He has the same green Goofy shirt as Skyler, so please don't seem shocked if you see pictures of him wearing the same shirt! How's your pregnancy going? I hope all is going well with you. I love the pictures of you & Mike too!
Thanks about the pics Becki! Pregnancy is going good - 'morning' sickness is finally over, so i can eat again!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jodileigh
Those pics of him and the characters at breakfast absolutely brought a tear to my eye!! What a doll he is!!! It just gives me a warm fuzzy! I'm so glad I finally got caught up on all this! I have been reading it at work, but can't see all the pics from that computer! So now I get to go back and see what I've been missing!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the pictures! I thought about not putting so many in, but they just tell the story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scdisneyfan
all caught up now and love the update. I really liked Tusker House Breakfast and will agree the juice is delish.
I love his interactions with Mickey. I just love watching kids and characters. It really makes me smile to see new little ones loving disney, making new disney fanatics
I have waited a few times around 20 mins or more at AK. Not sure why its like that sometimes. The only thing I can figure is that its so far away in general but its a real pain when you just want to get back to the room!
Looks like a great day at AK. Cant wait to read about the PP meet!
Thanks Crissy! Dylan better be a Disney fan alright!! He does Mickey! We've watched so much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse lately it's crazy!
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.
Glad to hear your pregnancy is going well. Dylan & Skyler both with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (besides Handy Manny & Imagination Movers). Dylan is too cute brushing the animals.
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.
We left for DHS at 4:30pm and took a stroll along the pathway. There was a PP guy out and we grabbed a few pics before moving on.
As soon as we were inside DHS, we headed straight to Sci-Fi as we had a 5:25pm ADR. I saw Amy (iamgrumpy) and her mom go in too – I ended up catching them before or after dinner – I can’t remember exactly now. Terry tried to get us FPs for TSMM, but they were gone. Mike & I have yet to ride this, BUT that will all change come August. I have no idea what anyone ate here, but I know I had a cheeseburger & fries. We all LOVE Sci-Fi, we go every trip – it’s a must do for us! Mike says it isn’t Disney unless we go to Sci-Fi.
After Sci-Fi we saw VoftLM and then headed to the Animation area to see if we could see any characters. We were in luck Sorcerer Mickey was still there!! And without too long of a wait. This was by far my favorite part of this trip. Dylan decided this time he was going to walk to Mickey instead of me carrying him over to meet him. Well when it was Dylan’s turn, he went running over to Mickey. Mickey tried to get down on one knee so he could be on Dylan’s level, but Dylan didn’t quite understand so he mimicked him and got down on one knee too. It was so cute! I think Mickey was quite smitten with Dylan as we spent a good 5 minutes with him and I don’t think Mickey wanted to let Dylan go. I was the one that was like come on let’s go because there was still a bit of a line behind us. As you can see from the pictures – it was a great character meet!!
Since Dylan did so well with Mickey we thought we’d try and catch Buzz & Woody too, but we had to hurry as the time was drawing near that they’d be no longer out. We made it though and it was a fairly quick wait – all those things to help keep you in line busy were a nice touch. Dylan went right up to Buzz & Woody too! My little boy wasn’t afraid of the characters anymore!
I had a little conversation with Woody. I gave him a green marker to sign with and he didn't want to because that was Buzz's color. It took me a while, but I finally figured out what he was trying to say to me.
After meeting our Toy Story friends we made our way through the Osborne Lights – wow was it crowded!!! We came up through the back and made the way to the front, so we were like fish swimming upstream, but I had a PP meet to get to.
FYI - The 'snow' that was falling we think is what ended up not making my FiL's camera lens not work anymore. He got back home and had it cleaned, but it didn't help. He bought a new lens and now the camera's working fine. Just an FYI for any future trips for anyone.
I found everyone quickly and the ornament exchange got under way soon, but first was an important stop to get a drink where I finally got to meet Cheryl (chezp) – so is just SO nice and such a lovely person. For the ornament exchange we all stood in a circle and kind of played ‘hot potato’. I ended up with the ornament from Lesley (WDWfan) which was a glass bell with Cinderella castle on top and Tinkerbell hanging inside the bell. So cute!! Then it was time for the Osborne Lights meet and finally got to meet Princess Sharon – she’s great too!! Dylan loved her Goofy ears. I unfortunately didn’t get to stay long as the rest of the family was getting restless so we headed out and I missed the group shot. [I ‘borrowed’ pretty much all of these pictures from other people’s TRs.]
After I rejoined the family we went and saw Muppets then Mike & I did Star Tours. After that we decided to call it a night and head back to the room. We spotted more PPs outside 50s PTC having lots of fun. We were back home by 11:20pm and into bed soon after.
Up next…a new restaurant for us, which has become a favorite!
Kelly I love your updates, ad what an accomplishment for Dylan to not be scared by the characters anymore. I couldn't help but Awwww out loud over the pictures of him with Scorcerer Mickey & Buzz & Woody. Defanitely the cutest pictures ever. Skyler just got excited seeing the pictures of Dylan with Buzz & Woody as he's now into TS. Looks like a great time at the PPer Meet. Love the pictures of you with Cheryl & Princess Sharon. The picture of you, Mike, & Dylan during your meal at Sci Fi is cute too.
Thank you so much for the kind words and I am so glad we got to meet. What a magical character encounter Dylan had with Mickey - those photos were just too precious.
Those pics will last a lifetime I mean seriously I'm so excited that he had such a great character interaction. Such great shots!
I do love sci fi We had it on the list this time but nixed it at the last second and I hate that because its been a while since i've eaten there.
Looks like the PPmeet was great fun! Psha is super nice right???
I love the pic of you and cheryl its a really good one
I love the pic of Dylan with the little green monsters at Buzz and all you can see is his head LOL how funny!
ohhhhhh I cant wait to hear what your new fave resturant is???? is it le cellier???
Truly priceless character interaction with Mickey and Buzz and Woody! Dylan! You have definitely got to ride TSMM! That PP meet has looked like so much fun in everyone's TRs. I can't wait to join in on the December fun some year. Can't wait to hear about this new fave restaurant.
About This Page: 
for Mr. Mickey Mouse! (He's always watching where he was):
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
PassPorter Guide Author
and I am so glad we got to meet. 
What a magical character encounter Dylan had with Mickey - those photos were just too precious. 
Dylan! You have definitely got to ride TSMM! That PP meet has looked like so much fun in everyone's TRs. I can't wait to join in on the December fun some year. Can't wait to hear about this new fave restaurant.
Linear Mode
