The Young Commando Takes On The World Aug 15-20 **Updated 10/6** COMPLETE - Page 6 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Andrew immediately noticed the TV monitors in the DME bus. He kept asking when the movie was going to start and wasn’t pleased when I said we were still waiting for people to board the bus.
We were finally on our way and the movie started after about 5 minutes. After a while Andrew kind of leaned over and whispered “This is a dumb movie.” I think maybe he was expecting a real movie instead of just a welcome video. He also couldn’t hear it so he wasn’t too impressed.
Pop Century was our first stop. Most of the bus emptied out here. I tried to keep Andrew entertained by pointing out the large bowling pins. I got one little wow out of him then he looked at me like I was a big loser. He was more entertained with the foot rest on the bus and the buttons for the lights.
Pretty soon we were on our way and Coronado was the next stop. We pulled in about 9pm. There was another family who got off the bus with us who had stopped first at luggage services. Not having used ME before I didn’t know if we needed to stop there or not, but the bus driver told me I didn’t have to. We made our way to the check in desk. At 9:00 on a Friday night I wasn’t expecting to have to wait in a long line, but the 3 families in front of me were taking forever (or so it seemed). Andrew noticed the TV in the corner playing cartoons and asked if he could wait over there. I happily agreed since I could still keep my eye on him and it kept him entertained instead of being bored with me in line. There was a juggler/entertainer in the lobby so I watched him while waiting my turn.
Soon enough I was speaking with a very pleasant CM (whose name I can’t remember). She took care of everything that needed to be taken care of and within minutes I had my resort map, keys, and all the other wonderful paperwork that no one ever looks twice at after checking in.
We were assigned to Casitas building 4 Room 4331. I was shown where it was on the map and was assured it was an excellent location. It was right next to the “quiet” pool, near the fitness center (as if I’d ever be using that, ha!), close to bus stop #2 which is usually the first stop, and “just a quick walk” to the dig site. From the map it did look like it would just be a quick walk but more on that later. We’d also find out later just how quiet (or not) the quiet pool was.
I got Andrew’s attention away from the cartoons and we watched the juggler for a few minutes. He tried to get Andrew to come assist him with a trick, but Andrew wanted no part of it. The juggler picked a couple of other kids and lassoed them. It was pretty funny when he wouldn't let the little boy out of the rope. After that we headed to our room.
As we were walking I realized that we could see part of Illuminations. Cool. We stopped to watch for a couple minutes. We could also see the top of the Swan from our location.
After about a 5 minute walk, which always seems longer when you’re carrying two pieces of carry on luggage and a stroller, we found our building. We took the long way around to find the elevator, then to find our room. Turns out we were right by the stairs which would have been a lot faster then trucking to the elevator. But when you're 5 it's more fun to push the elevator buttons then it is to hike up 3 flights of stairs.
We were on the third floor with a view of the lagoon. Yipee, we were upgraded to a water view. We could also see the top of the pyramid at the dig site waaay on the other side of the resort.
Here are some pictures of the room.
Andrew showing off the beds
Andrew finds the TV
Ok, so now it’s about 9:15 at night and we just got to Disney. What are we going to do now? Order room service! We hadn’t eaten dinner and we were both pretty hungry by now. I ordered a 9” cheese pizza for us to share and a couple of sodas. By the time I had the carry on bags unpacked and things put away, the food arrived.
I was a little confused at first because the CM was carrying a duffel bag. The first thing out of my mouth when I opened the door was “That’s not ours.” I thought he was bringing the luggage.
He confirmed that we had ordered room service and then I realized my mistake. I was joking with him that his duffle bag didn’t look like a pizza box either. Since they already put a tip on the in room dining bill I didn’t tip him any more.
There is no food pictures of the pizza and soda. Imagine if you will a square box with a round piece of dough covered in red sauce and cheese with a can of Sprite on the side. Delicious.
The pizza was just the right size for me and Andrew to share and fill us up. We also shared the Sprite and I put the Coke in the fridge for the morning. After finishing up dinner Andrew asked about the pool. This kid has a great memory at the most inconvenient times. It was after 10:00 by this time and I knew the slide at the main pool would be closed, which is the whole point of going to the main pool. I explained to Andrew that I had thought we would be at the hotel earlier than we were and it was too late to go swimming tonight. My whole rationale behind not going swimming this late is that is totally revives Andrew. After being in the pool he’s raring to go for another few hours. I wanted to get to sleep because I knew we had to wake up early the next morning.
As soon as I had Andrew settled in bed and the lights were off our next door neighbors decided to move into their room. Why does this always happen when you’re trying to go to sleep? Oh well, I can’t sleep that good in a new place the first night anyway. The dad of the family was asking a CM where the appropriate smoking places were. What a good guest. Playing by the rules. As a non smoker I appreciated him seeking out the smoking areas instead of just lighting up wherever he pleased. What I didn’t appreciate was the CM who told him that unofficially he could just bring a glass from the room with a little water in it and smoke right there in the walkway outside his room. I couldn’t believe a CM was telling a guest this. Fortunately, this gentleman never did that (or I just didn’t see or smell him doing it).
The quiet pool was rather noisy and now it was around midnight. This would be the same for every night of the trip.
Sooner or later everything quieted down and I finally fell asleep. I was looking forward to our first day in the parks in the morning.
Up next: Our first day at the parks and the Family Magic Tour. Would it be magical or wet? Or magically wet?
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They must have stopped playing movies on the DME buses? One year we saw something with a talking parrot (live) It was pretty bad anyway though...! Can't wait for more!
WDW - August 1997 Off Property
WDW - January 2005 AKL
WDW - May 2006 Pop Century
WDW- november-dec 2007 pop century
WDW- dec/jan 2009/2010 pop century
WDW- oct/nov 2012 art of animation
WDW- sept 2013 port Orleans riverside
WDW- july 2015 beach club
Glad you finally made it to the resort and got all settled in. Pizza sounded like the perfect way to wind down and get an early night in (i fit wasn't for all the distractions). I feel for you on your plane ride...I think that parents should just be given ruby slippers that could be clicked together to make it easier on us...I want to go to WDW, I want to go to WDW....just leave out the whole taking the plane to the bus scenerio...
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I think maybe he was expecting a real movie instead of just a welcome video. He also couldn’t hear it so he wasn’t too impressed.
We pulled in about 9pm. There was another family who got off the bus with us who had stopped first at luggage services. Not having used ME before I didn’t know if we needed to stop there or not, but the bus driver told me I didn’t have to. We made our way to the check in desk. At 9:00 on a Friday night I wasn’t expecting to have to wait in a long line, but the 3 families in front of me were taking forever (or so it seemed). Andrew noticed the TV in the corner playing cartoons and asked if he could wait over there. I happily agreed since I could still keep my eye on him and it kept him entertained instead of being bored with me in line. There was a juggler/entertainer in the lobby so I watched him while waiting my turn.
The juggler picked a couple of other kids and lassoed them. It was pretty funny when he wouldn't let the little boy out of the rope. 
After that we headed to our room. 
We stopped to watch for a couple minutes. We could also see the top of the Swan from our location.
We could also see the top of the pyramid at the dig site waaay on the other side of the resort.
Playing by the rules. As a non smoker I appreciated him seeking out the smoking areas instead of just lighting up wherever he pleased. 
What I didn’t appreciate was the CM who told him that unofficially he could just bring a glass from the room with a little water in it and smoke right there in the walkway outside his room. 
I couldn’t believe a CM was telling a guest this. Fortunately, this gentleman never did that (or I just didn’t see or smell him doing it).
I was looking forward to our first day in the parks in the morning. 
PassPorter Guide Author
The room looks lovely, but what a shame about the noise. 
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