For the First Time in Forever...Sisters Trip!!!! - Page 5 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
You might think that would be a LOT of Candy Canes, if you didn't know about Disneyland Candy Canes. Yes, they are very big, and made fresh, but they are 13 for one. Before tax!
Spoiler alert: The migraine symptoms went away and never came back for the rest of the trip. Wahoo!!! I always get worried that something with health is going to ruin my trip to Disney. Does anyone else get that? Like, I'm going to get sick, hurt, migraine, etc. Silly, I never worry about that in real life situations. I have a strong immune system, as I'm constantly exposed to viruses in my work as a school nurse.
Friday AM continued:
After riding BTMR twice, we got back on the scheduled touring plan.
Picked up FP for SM and got a return time for 9:55-10:55. Perfect! We then rode Matterhorn. I LOVED it, and that would be a theme for this trip. Matterhorn has such an old-fashioned feel to it, the action of the sleds and the progression of the ride are so different from the more modern coasters. I found this really charming. I also was able to use my legs, pressed outward on the sled, to support my body and prevent feeling beat up by the ride. Essential. Sis thought it was a painful ride, even if fun.
Next up...we headed to IASW, but it was down for the moment. What to do next?
We decided to head into Toon Town. We rode Roger Rabbit, which I didn't love, and Gadget's Go Coaster, which I also could take or leave. Didn't spend much time exploring Toon Town. This has never been a favorite of mine, and I mostly enjoy it when I have a little kid to share it with.
We left Toon Town pretty quickly, and headed to Adventureland, where we rode Indie with Single Rider. What a great queuing area this ride has. As for the attraction itself, I don't love it, but it's fine. I like the ride vehicles a lot, and like seeing other groups move through the attraction area from a distance. I also love the big ball.
We went from Indie to Jingle Cruise. This is my favorite place in the park, for the queuing area alone. I also love the jungle with all the plants. the animatronics are a big whatever. The skipper makes the ride.
The posted wait time was 20 minutes, but it was actually more like 5-10. The line never went upstairs. I was disappointed in this, but knew I would find some way to make it back when it was more crowded, so I wasn't sad. We had a good skipper this go-round. For a lot of the ride, she let a kid in the front say all the jokes, since he knew the script pretty well. I thought that was sweet, and when she did deliver the punch-lines, her delivery was great.
We made our way out of Adventureland, on our way to SM, but I wanted to take a peek into frontierland to see if Farley was fiddling. He was, and I got in on an audience participation version of the 12 days of Christmas. Sis took some pictures and video. I love Farley, he's my favorite Disneyland performer. If you don't know him, he's been doing small crowd comedy and fiddling shows at DL since the 1980's. I never saw him as a kid, that I remember, and just discovered him on the Big Thunder trail in 2013. I've made a point to see him on the 2 trips I've taken since.
After having #funwithfarley, we headed back to SM for our FP. We grabbed a FP for Star Tours on the way.
Hyperspace Mountain is the best ride overlay ever! I'm from the Star Wars generation, and as much as I don't really enjoy the movies, I like the aesthetic and the sense of modern myth that comes with. The music is familiar and I like the idea of liking it. I just am not an action movie person, so once the battling starts, I'm no longer interested.
Anyways! We rode HSM with FP, and it was GREAT! I mean, way more exhilarating than I remember. I'm sure they haven't changed the track, but then, maybe they have. It seemed more thrilling, smoother, and faster than I remember it. Is that possible? That, in combination with the theming that gives the ride a sense of progression, makes for a change for the positive in my book. Totally super fun!!!
Up next: Fried Chicken and Yule Log. 2 park firsts for me based on recommendations from disneytouristblog.com
Considering how you were feeling earlier, you certainly packed a lot in on this day!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Considering how you were feeling earlier, you certainly packed a lot in on this day!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
My goodness, talk about a jam packed day! You certainly got through lots on your first day.
We do like to go commando early. I really enjoyed the drama of getting a wristband for candy canes. I'm glad Sis wanted to do that! It was silly and fun, and didn't cost me a dime either! I took a bunch of pictures on my iphone, but I have never uploaded them anywhere, they just sit on the phone. Any kind souls want to walk a gal through it? I know i could figure it out, and maybe I will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
You all have gotten so much done this morning. I'll have to remember Farley whenever we finally get to go back to Disneyland.
One of the most enjoyable things about being a Farley fan is seeing the other Farley fans out there. The first day, he had a woman in her 70's (guessing, hate to be wrong) stop in to show him a photo fossilized crocodile skull she found on the beach. They clearly had a history of many conversations about fossils in the past. The next day I spent a little alone time watching him work from a distance. He had to keep the "old time" friends in line and at bay as he payed due attention to a girl he had roped in for a photo. I've seen people bring photos of themselves with him from the 80's, Grandmas with their Grandkids saying "the first time he met you he was a baby", all that kind of stuff. Really neat. Plus, he knows every joke, nearly, and is an excellent fiddler.
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.
I was feeling really really tired at this point. In fact, I began talking about going back to the hotel to sleep. I hadn't had a full night's sleep in over a week, due to hormone weirdness, holiday movie watching, and excitement about the trip. I was just plain beat.
We decided it was time for lunch, both because we were a little hungry and because we just needed a rest after the commando touring.
As a faithful disneytouristblog reader, I was eager to try the fried chicken at the Plaza Inn. They had ample seating in the sun. It wasn't warm today, but it was in the 60s during the day, and it was clear. Happily, Sis was into sharing meals on this trip. That worked out really well.
Before we left, our parents gave us some mad money, and I decided that mine would go to any in-park purchases. With each purchase I took a picture of what I bought next to the card they gave me with the $, with the change peeking out. So, I definitely have a photo of the chicken, perhaps I'll get a photo uploaded at some point.
I thought the chicken was very good, the green beans were average in flavor but thankfully not overcooked (yay!), and the mashed potatoes had a weird tangy flavor that wasn't to my taste, but was edible. We had a very pleasant meal, and when it was over, I was still tired and not keen to move on yet. I decided, even though I wasn't hungry anymore, that I would try the Mocha Yule Log. This photo is Tom Brickers, not mine:
Mine didn't look quite so fancy, since I got it in a to-go box, but it did have a cunning little red-capped sugar mushroom for garnish, which I can't find a picture of anywhere.
My opinion: Everything about this treat was excellent, except for the cool whip garnish, which was absolutely gross. But whatever. The cake and buttercream was amazing, and it had lots of little crunchy pearl things on it that gave it texture. Each bite had some crunch to it, as if they mixed in large-crystal sugar with the buttercream. I really liked it a lot and would get it again. I don't like lots of sweet, so this lasted me 3 sittings. I learned later that it is only good cold. If the buttercream was soft, it really wasn't worth it. I had a few bites of it at room temp, and said "what a waste!" and threw it in the motel room fridge to have later, when cold.
Enough about Yule Log... But I do recommend it!
Up Next: A bit more in Adventureland, and we are off to CA!
Wow that Yule Log looks so good and I'd be all over that!
__________________
October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Hey faithful readers! I hope to finish this report...though the memory banks are not what they once were! I'll make some notes and hopefully finish reporting on the sisters trip soon!
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.
KimmyAnn1147 I absolutely luved reading thru this pre trip and trip report. I really thought the pre trip Outfit report was awesome and the Yule Log look very scrumptious. I basically took a glance you your report so I can get some ideas on how I can set up my Trip Report I am going to for my Sweet 16 that happened late October into November last year. I won't have a Pre Planning Report like you did so well because Mom surprised me and took me out of School for 5 days so I didn't know we were going.
About This Page: 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Essential. Sis thought it was a painful ride, even if fun. 
PassPorter Guide Author
You certainly got through lots on your first day. 
We have some yule log here and I think I might have to open that tonight! 
Lindsay/Linds, age 16, luver of Disney 
Linear Mode
