Look out Disney! Here we come! TR - UPDATED 12/14 - COMPLETE!! - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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!
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What a wonderful day!! Your dinner looks delicious and your beautiful photos are making me homesick for my favorite place on earth!!. The only glitch seems to be the bus wait and in perspective, that's not too bad!!
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Glad to be reading your TR! What a bummer about not getting to keep your tradition of viewing the photos on the TV. But I'm glad everyone enjoyed discussing the day together!
Glad there were a lot of choices at Boma. I find Disney is pretty good with food adjustments.
I hate it when they don't tell you why you are waiting when it's not obvious.
Can't wait for more.
They did a great job with the dietary restriction!
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Originally Posted by xwewhisper
We love Boma and so glad you were able to make it on time and enjoy lots of yummy offerings
It's a little overwhelming with all the great choices!
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Originally Posted by lauriep
What a great meal! Your photos of the lodge are wonderful.
I was pleased with the low light photos, because it is awfully dark in the lodge area.
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Originally Posted by Cam22
I've always wished that the bus drivers would let us know the cause of delays, too. Dinner at Boma looked so delicious. Glad you all made it in spite of the bus delay.
I'm sure there wouldn't have been an issue if we were a few minutes late, but I always make an effort to be on time for things, and it really frustrates me when, due to extenuating circumstances, I am late for something.
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Originally Posted by chezp
Sounds like you did really well at Boma with all the choices!
Indeed! There were so many great choices!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
What a wonderful day!! Your dinner looks delicious and your beautiful photos are making me homesick for my favorite place on earth!!. The only glitch seems to be the bus wait and in perspective, that's not too bad!!
: it really wasn't a big deal. Just frustrating to sit there and wait.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great meal at Boma!
It was superb!
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Originally Posted by MayraLR
What a great meal at Boma!
Yes it was!
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Originally Posted by Soarin829
Glad to be reading your TR! What a bummer about not getting to keep your tradition of viewing the photos on the TV. But I'm glad everyone enjoyed discussing the day together!
I know, we always like to review the day in pictures. It's just not the same looking through them on the camera.
September 17 – part 1
Epcot
We got our wake-up call at 7:00 AM and were up shortly after. We showered and had our breakfast, which was really very convenient with the full kitchen! We headed out toward Epcot and were at the International Gateway by 8:45 AM. It was awesome walking through WS with almost no one around!
We headed toward Test Track but were stopped at the rope where we waited until 9 o'clock. You can see the reflection of the people waiting for RD in the window.
Cute little birdies!
While we were waiting Jeff happened to notice the T-shirt of someone waiting next to us. It said “Clarence small plane society”. Since we also live in Clarence, Jeff asked if they were from Clarence, NY and when the answer was yes, he struck up a conversation with him. When we found out each other’s names, we realized we have relatives in common! It's such a small world isn't it?
We finally were ushered over to TT, and even though I heard a few remarks about the attraction not running this morning, we were able to get in line and design our vehicle. But this is as far as we got. After our vehicle was designed and we were ushered into the queue, we stood there for about 10 minutes not moving at all. There was an announcement every so often that they were having technical problems and our testing would be delayed. At one point we moved onto the ramp that leads to the next level, but then we stopped there for another 10 minutes. Finally the line started moving and we were excited until we realized they had the exit door open and were ushering everyone out the exit. They gave us a FP for return anytime that week. At this point it was raining a bit, but not even enough to get out the umbrella.
We ended up going to Innoventions and Jeff and Tom rode Sum of all Thrills which was a walk on. I browsed around MouseGears and then came back when they were finished.
On my way back to Sum of all Thrills...
Jeff and Tom had fun in Sum of all Thrills, and once we joined up again we headed for Mission Space. This was our first fast pass of the day.
It was raining a little more now but we got out the umbrellas and didn't let it slow us down. Once at MS, Tom wanted to ride the orange side so Jeff rode with him and I rode the green side by myself. When we met up again, Jeff was not feeling well. We stood in line for Universe of Energy, but he wasn't sure he could make it though and didn't want to be stuck on the ride, so we skipped it. We ended up going to The Land for a break. Tom had a vegetable roll sushi and we just sat in one of the booths and relaxed for a bit.
Oops, forgot to take a photo until there was only one left!
Then Tom and I rode Soarin’ with our FPs. Jeff still wasn't 100% so he sat this one out.
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The walk from the resort to Epcot looks so nice and relaxing. I would love to stay at one of those Epcot resorts just so I can enter through the International Gateway and take photos of an empty WS.
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Nothing beats entering Epcot in the early morning at the IG! I love the walkway along Crescent Lake and the canal. Sorry Jeff's system didn't like Mission Space Orange. I've never been on Orange or Green and can't even imagine the feeling. Hope he soon felt better. Were you thinking of Cora as you went through Mouse Gears?
Sounds like the Orange Side might have been a bad idea? Loved the pics of the empty World Showcase!!
Definitely a bad idea!
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Originally Posted by chezp
Sorry Test Track was down and Jeff didn't feel great after going on Mission Space.
It wasn't one of our best mornings! : But it did make us slow down a bit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
The walk from the resort to Epcot looks so nice and relaxing. I would love to stay at one of those Epcot resorts just so I can enter through the International Gateway and take photos of an empty WS.
It is really a beautiful walk! I thought I'd gotten more pictures of WS as we walked through, but I guess not. Probably because I was always playing catch up with Jeff and Tom! I'd stop for a photo or two and they just kept right on going.
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Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great pictures from your morning! Sorry Jeff wasn't feeling the best!
I know he's ridden the Orange side before, but this time it affected him more than the last.
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Originally Posted by lauriep
Nothing beats entering Epcot in the early morning at the IG! I love the walkway along Crescent Lake and the canal. Sorry Jeff's system didn't like Mission Space Orange. I've never been on Orange or Green and can't even imagine the feeling. Hope he soon felt better. Were you thinking of Cora as you went through Mouse Gears?
Yes, that walk is so peaceful and pretty in the morning!
I was ok with the Green side, though it is quite close in there. But the Orange side spins and I can't do spinning rides. Apparently Jeff can't either!
Yes! I was thinking of Cora in Mouse Gears! They had such cute little girl things!
And I was tempted but I didn't buy anything...yet
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Originally Posted by bluejn
Signing in, sounds great so far
Thanks for joining in!
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Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
World Showcase looks so beautiful when no one is around! Sorry about TT and Jeff's not feeling well. . Your photos are wonderful!!
It really is nice walking around WS with no one else around! TT was a disappointment, but at least we had a FP for later. And Jeff not feeling so well just made us slow down for a while.
After Soarin' we headed toward World Showcase.
I have some PP pictures and even though I'm not exactly sure when we stopped, this seems as good a place as any to insert them...
Once in WS, we stopped in Canada and watched O Canada.
This is always a favorite for Jeff and I and Tom enjoyed it as well. I know it’s corny, but Martin Short always makes us laugh. Then on to France for Impressions de France. This is one of my favorite attraction movies!
Our lunch reservations were for Via Napoli in Italy. Luckily Jeff was feeling better by now and was up for eating lunch. On the way through Italy we stopped for a PP.
After checking in, we had a short wait, but stayed in the vestibule because they did not give us a buzzer.
We were seated in the side room which is smaller and out of the bustle of the main room, but there were quite a few families with small children in that area as well, so it tended to be loud. At one point after we ordered, I took a walk to take some photos of the ovens.
I ordered the Insalate Pollo and Jeff and Tom split the large Carciofi signature pie (artichoke, fontina, mozzarella and truffle oil). And between the two of them they ate the whole thing! They each had a beer as well. My salad was nice and fresh. I especially liked the honey citrus vinaigrette.
Our server was Eleanora and our water girl, as she called herself, was Giada. They were both so sweet and personable, that I couldn't pass up taking their picture on the way out.
During lunch we noticed that it was raining pretty steady, but as we headed outside, we noticed the sun was finally coming out! But…it was still raining!
For about an hour, the sun was shining and it continued to rain. No pictures because the camera was tucked safely away. Finally, the rain stopped but oh my, was it humid!
We walked through WS and then back into FW for a FP at the Character Spot, stopping on the way for a bathroom break, and a few pictures.
We had a little wait at CS. Maybe 10 minutes or so. Not too bad. Pretty soon we rounded the corner and there was Mickey!
Then Goofy...
I thought my face was dirty here and then realized it was a shadow from Goofy's whiskers.