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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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That orchid wall definitely doesn't fit in with the rest of the room theme. Otherwise the room looks great. I didn't know you had stayed at the Royal Pacific. Reminds me so much of the Poly with the South Pacific theme to it but not nearly as big of a hit on your checking account! Always wonder what Disney is thinking in regards to some of the resort pricing and especially the deluxe and moderate resorts as well.
I will be doing a split WDW/USO stay in October and the RP is one that I am considering for my trip. I don't want to give too much away as I hope to do a PTR eventually. The thing is, I'm only about 60% through my current TR from last October. May have to have two going at once shortly and not easy with work stuff.
I'm not Cheryl and amazing how she can have four TRs going at once and update them daily as long as she is not on holiday! Just insane how she does it!
Cheryl is a super woman!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Since we'll probably never stay at one of the US resorts, it was especially fun to see what they look like! I didn't care for the orchid wall paper but other than that, all the rooms were beautiful!
It really is a nice little bubble at Universal. Much easier to get around too.
My cousin, Katie, (the one who cruised with us last Oct) just stayed in one of these rooms and she loved it. She said her husband wanted to sleep in one of those beds. LOL.
And then we went back to the bus which was taking us to City Walk. Tonight the groups were being divided to eat at different restaurants in City Walk. We were told we were going to Pat O’Briens. I know some people who love this place and go yearly…so that sounded good.
We were seated and we looked at the menu….you have got to be kidding me. I thought this place was Irish food. Nope…it’s Cajun. I really was not ready to eat Cajun food a second night in a row. I looked at the options and I really was at a loss. Several others were feeling the same way. It’s Ok to have once in a while, but 2 nights in a row was a bit much. Patty and I seriously talked about heading to get pizza.
Lidia said she was ordering some appetizers for the table. We were all using the dining plan tonight, but appetizers are separate, so that was really nice of her.
For my entrée I ordered some steak medallions. They were to have something cajun on top of them and I asked for it not to be there. I basically made the dish as American boring as I could. LOL.
We all were given the same dessert. Something I did not realize was part of their dining plan. I thought you could choose what you wanted, but they made it sound like it’s a Chef Specialty each night on what you get. I think it was some kind of chocolate cake type thing and ice-cream if I remember right. It was good, however the menu had benets and that is what I really wanted.
I was pleasantly surprised with all my food and it was much better than I thought it would be. I really expected myself heading off to get food after, but what I got was perfect for me and pretty much all of us agreed that it worked out fine.
Now one of the gals I follow on Passporter’s, Cheryl, was visiting Orlando and we had some contact on a potential meeting. Tonight was the night we had talked about meeting up if possible. We both had very busy schedules so we knew ahead of time it may not work out. Our meal was going pretty slow, but we were having a good time. I am not sure if service is normally slow here or if it was just made that way since we were in no hurry to leave. Our server was excellent by the way. Our main courses had not even come out yet and I remember thinking to myself that there was a good chance I would not be able to meet up with Cheryl. Not long after that, Cheryl messaged me and said they were done with their dinner at Portifino and just too tired to head to City Walk so it wasn’t going to work out. I told her we were still at dinner and totally understood as it probably wasn’t going to work out on my end either. Later, when I was reading her trip report, I found out that they were literally arriving at Portifino about the same time we were leaving. We just missed each other. I racked my brain to think if we may have passed by each other, but I am pretty sure we never got that close to each other. By my figures I was probably getting on the bus the moment they were arriving. Such a bummer!!!!
Once dinner was over, a few headed back to Sapphire and a few of us walked around City Walk for a little bit.
And delicious. I think she had a local lady make them and deliver them to her. I took them back to the room and gave Lenora’s hers and then headed back to the patio bar for a little bit.
And when I got to the room I realized I didn’t have my camera. UGH! I ran back down and asked and they had found it and actually had Pam’s name on it as they knew she had been sitting at the table. I was so happy to have it back and I told them how much I appreciated it.
Back in the room once again and it was time for bed. Another very full day tomorrow. Today we were basically in work mode for over 12 hours, and even though it is a fun kind of work, including dinner, it was a long day.
That was certainly a long and busy day for you but it seems like you truly have a good time with your co-workers. All the food at dinner looked delicious! The kids must love the minions rooms!
The minions room was adorable! And it looked like a pretty good view from the suite, with the water right outside! It seems a bit odd that you were told where to eat dinner, when you were using the dining plan. Were they still doing work-related things during dinner?
Thanks for the tour of the Norwegian Epic - very interesting to see everything on board.
Interesting about Volcano Bay and not everything being online when it opened. I can't say I'm surprised. We were like you, staring at it, going "how the heck is that going to be ready in just a few weeks time?"
Oh my goodness, what an amazing time you had on the parade - how cool is that? Now I understand the title of this trip report!
Lovely shots from the various resorts - I recognise them from my photo tour done around the same time as yours Oh and on that subject, I think we must've missed each other by maybe 15-20 minutes? The people had arrived for that party at Portofino Bay, and the sunset was slightly more intense. I'm so sorry it didn't work out that night. One day... hopefully!
Looks like a nice evening with a lot of fun. Pat O'Brien's is well known in New Orleans. I've been to one in Memphis on the renowned Beale Street. I had one of those Hurricanes and they are good, deadly and go down way too easy! Nice tours of the hotels and great photos from everywhere!
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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!
That was certainly a long and busy day for you but it seems like you truly have a good time with your co-workers. All the food at dinner looked delicious! The kids must love the minions rooms!
Those rooms look like so much fun.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamcarey
The minions room was adorable! And it looked like a pretty good view from the suite, with the water right outside! It seems a bit odd that you were told where to eat dinner, when you were using the dining plan. Were they still doing work-related things during dinner?
Well we were all scheduled to eat at different places and even though it was the dining plan, it was on their dime, so we had to follow along with their plans. A lot of these type of events make you sign something that you will participate in everything and they usually have at least one meal in a restaurant that you have to go to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
All caught up again.
Thanks for the tour of the Norwegian Epic - very interesting to see everything on board.
Interesting about Volcano Bay and not everything being online when it opened. I can't say I'm surprised. We were like you, staring at it, going "how the heck is that going to be ready in just a few weeks time?"
Oh my goodness, what an amazing time you had on the parade - how cool is that? Now I understand the title of this trip report!
Lovely shots from the various resorts - I recognise them from my photo tour done around the same time as yours Oh and on that subject, I think we must've missed each other by maybe 15-20 minutes? The people had arrived for that party at Portofino Bay, and the sunset was slightly more intense. I'm so sorry it didn't work out that night. One day... hopefully!
I hope you had a great trip. I saw some pictures on facebook and it looked like a lot of fun.
I am glad I got to tour the Epic and see things first hand.
I think they are still trying to get Volcano Bay up and running the way it should. They stopped selling express pass for it because the waits even using that were so bad. My friend Cass was supposed to go next week but she asked for her money back and they did refund her. She is just going to do the Universal parks and take a rest day now too. (and maybe some shopping).
The parade was just so much fun. We laughed so much and it was a total high.
It's such a bummer about missing each other, but we both had agendas and I knew it was hard for both of us to make things work...basically the stars had to align just right. Someday it will happen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
Looks like a nice evening with a lot of fun. Pat O'Brien's is well known in New Orleans. I've been to one in Memphis on the renowned Beale Street. I had one of those Hurricanes and they are good, deadly and go down way too easy! Nice tours of the hotels and great photos from everywhere!
I never knew that. I will admit I am not familiar with New Orleans at all though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
The minion rooms are adorable. We love Cajun, so two nights in a row would be fun, but your steak medallions looked good in American boring.
I wish I did...LOL. I don't hate it but it's one of those things where maybe once every year or 2 sounds good. And some of the dishes I like better than others. The selection included on the plan was not to my liking as much, but the a la carte stuff looked more appealing of course.
We went in through the Hard Rock entrance to City Walk and I was lucky enough to be one of the first off the bus so I got through fast and they told us to head over to Islands of Adventure, where we would be having breakfast today.
We also had been handed a new ticket. Hmmm? I asked why as we had a 2 day ticket already and when I inquired before this conference we were told we would only get a 2 day ticket with the event. Well that was wrong info. This ticket was just for today and we could use our last day on the 2 day ticket tomorrow if we wanted to after our last session ended. UGH! I wish I had known. I had changed my flight to leave tomorrow instead of Thursday, which was my original flight. Had I known we would have an extra day I would have not changed it and used the ticket for one final park day. Oh well.
Here I am, all loaded up. I had on my lanyard, then a VIP lanyard, my headphones (No earbuds for me today) and then the little box we plug into to hear the guide. And my backpack as well.
The ride takes you in a circle outdoors and then you head into the cave. If it is raining they do have a bypass where it will start right inside the cave.
Our trucks have a “fake” driver and he talks to us and on his radio. I learned the next day that each of the trucks actually have different drivers with different accents and dialog. As soon as you get in the action pretty much starts. It’s video screens on both sides of you and the dinos and Kong are attacking each other and we are in the crossfire. Kong is the good guy here.
There is so much action going on on both sides of the trucks and you can’t take it all in at once. The truck of course is bouncing around as well.
Lisa is a bit of a ride scardy cat. She admits it. She screamed a high pitched scream the entire ride. Andrew sat next to her and totally laughed the whole time.
That was a lot of fun. My opinion…it is a really cool ride and you will need to ride it a few times, preferably on each side of the vehicle to take it all in, but after that, I don’t think it’s that fabulous to ride over and over. Would I do it each trip…yes! But it’s not one I think I would wait in a long line for to do. I will admit, I loved the old Kong over at the Studios they used to have. That was an amazing ride and I liked that one much more.
Something I learned on this tour…the Family Circus…Billy has lines on the ground for the path he takes. You can follow it and be part of the cartoon. I think I took better pictures later in the trip.
Some video as we listened to Andrew explaining some really neat things….but I don’t think you can hear him well. I kept forgetting I could hear him so well because I had headphones on.
We then rode Spiderman which is a cool ride…and Lisa screamed the whole time. LOL.
After that we went backstage (where no pictures are allowed) to go in the back side and see the ride vehicles and how they work, which was cool.
As we were walking out this character (I don’t know my characters…is this the green goblin?) and he was playing with Brook. I quickly snapped some pictures.
And then Andrew reminded us we were back stage and not to take pictures…Oops…I totally forgot in the moment.
Also, Universal ONLY allows 2 service animals in their parks…dogs and ponies. (I know, I thought it sounded funny that they allowed ponies too) and back here was a little fenced area where the ponies could go and do their business or wait while their owners were on a ride.
We headed back out and got a glimpse of more super heroes and I again, I don’t know them.
Those of us who wanted to ride did so…again with front of the line access. I had never rode this before and figured it would be best to ride it when I had friends. Wow…what a ride. It kind of goes up normally for half the way and then it says something like it’s gonna speed up and BOY does it! I left my stomach back there and it took a while for it to catch back up. But it sure was fun.
Once we got off, we then headed over to Seuss Landing.
We then were taken to the family room where those who didn’t want to ride waited with our bags and the rest of us rode. The family room is so nice because at Universal instead of just child swap they have family swap per se. The whole family can walk through together and those who don’t want to ride can wait in this room then. That way you don’t have to be separated all the time and can spend more time together…for instance if Grandma and Grandpa are just going to sit on a bench and wait, well now they can experience the queue with you and wait in AC then.
After the ride we headed out as we were now going to take the train over to Diagon Alley and have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.
We were using our dining plan quick service credits here today. Something we found out today is that some specialty drinks are not included on the plan. ….butterbeer is one of them, but does count as a snack credit. I was set on getting some too, but I decided later to just get something else.
Another mistake I made…I assumed the food was the same here as over at the 3 Broomsticks….it is not! It was English food and most did not sound appealing. Oh no…another meal I was worried about. I have had the fish at 3 broomsticks before and it wasn’t that great. Just ok…so I really didn’t want that. I went with a combo of the cottage pie and fishermans pie.
Mine ended up being fine, but it isn’t something I would normally order and I probably won’t come back here for lunch as I know for me it’s not what I like and Claire would never find anything to eat here.
After we ate, we had a little time and I headed out to the bathroom and I think I went and made a call home and took some more pictures.
Andrew told us that the dragon has sensors up there and if you hear him rumbling like he is ready to blow…but then doesn’t, it’s because the winds are not ideal.
I debated on trying butterbeer ice-cream this time. Stephanie had it before and said it was awesome. The only thing is it was soft serve and I kind of wanted hard scoops. Well my decision was easy because they were actually out of butterbeer at the moment...so I went with the exact same combo I got last time….salted caramel and blonde brownie.
No picture of it this time but it was just as tasty.
We ate our ice-cream and made our way over towards Men in Black. Andrew asked us who got high scores and I was pointed at because I had beat everyone the other day. He asked my score and he told me that was actually a very low one for him. Wow! He told us his average score which was just amazing…and then he gave us tips on how to get higher scores.
Andrew was really talented and would sing and dance every so often. He was so much fun. He could sing Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC and you would swear you were with the real deal.
Bird having a snack…looks like he hit the jackpot.
He talked about different movies filmed here and what each area was from. I think part of it was replica’s while other movies actually had parts filmed here.
Some of the gals wanted to ride Rip Ride Rocket…..there is no way in HECK I will ride that. Andrew said we would meet on the lawn of the concert area and he was going to ride with those who wanted to. Since I had a bit of time, I went off and walked around, drank my pop and I think I texted home.
I used to play the trombone so I love seeing them.
I then joined the others who were stretched out on the grass relaxing and I did the same. Soon the rest of them came back….all full of adrenaline from the ride.
Now at some point in time Andrew took us back stage and we looked at the actual studio area with the sound stages. I can’t remember if it was after or before Despicable Me. It was neat to go back there and see different things…but of course no pictures. I can remember years ago when the Nick area was back there and they took you on a sound stage tour and you could even be part of the TV shows and the audiences. In fact, one year my oldest daughter Paige went there with her step-mom and watched one of the shows and then she got talked to. I can’t remember what it all involved, but they gave her the date she would be on TV and we did record it way back then. Paige felt like a celebrity.
Anyways, it was really neat to be able to go back there and see things. I wish they still had the Nick Studios open.
After our official tour was done, we were allowed to go into the gift shop before heading out to our next destination. When on a VIP tour you get a discount that day as well…Wish I had known ahead of time as I had bought most of the stuff I wanted already. I did buy myself a t-shirt though…one I had been eyeing over the years and it changes in the sun light.
Now when you take a VIP tour, it is proper to give the guide a tip. Andrew was beyond awesome and towards the end of the day we started texting each other asking how much each was giving. I seriously thought going in that $5-10 would be fine per person. I was so clueless at what an amazing experience this would be. If I could have afforded $100 from just me I would have easily handed that over to him. In the end I think most of us gave around $20 give or take. We elected Brook to give it to him, so we all slyly were handing over our money to her.
Once shopping was done, Andrew was taking us to our next destination, which was dinner as a group at the Red Coconut, which is more of a club, but was totally ours for the next few hours.
Brook handed him our tip money. We just found him so fantastic. He told us that he can be requested for VIP tours and they do try their best to honor those requests. Of course, now after having a VIP tour, it is impossible to think about touring the parks without one. LOL. VIP tours are pricey. You can get private ones which are pretty outrageous in price or group ones which are a bit more affordable. Of course with the private one, you can do a more customized plan. When traveling as a group with others you most likely will have to go with the set plans, though you can make suggestions of things you would like to do and if all agrees then you can deviate from the plan.
So we then headed into the Coconut Club. Little stations were set up with food. Patty and I had both joked that if they had Cajun tonight we were both leaving. LOL. Well it wasn’t much better. I don’t think I took a single picture in there. There were different things but most were not to my taste. I tried a few small things but it wasn’t filling and then I went for dessert, hoping that would save it….nope! It was disgusting. I threw it away. I was so disappointed with food this trip. It wasn’t all bad, it was just that most served was not really things I liked and many times it was more of an appetizer type setting. After a long day in the park I needed real food.
There was still one more event today…yes…we had REALLY long days. We were going to see the Blue Man Group. Honestly I was so tired I couldn’t imagine sitting through it tonight. I had already seen the show twice in the last 12 months. I enjoy the show, it is super funny, but seeing it a 3rd time in such a short time period was not making me excited. I went and asked Lidia if it was OK if I skipped it since I had seen it twice this year already and she said that was perfectly fine given the circumstances. I found out a few others at the conference had done the same thing too.
I figured I could go back and pack my clothes up and be semi ready for departure tomorrow.
And it was…I couldn’t eat it all but it really hit the spot.
After I was done eating I put the leftovers in the fridge and then I went to work organizing my suitcase and then I took some last minute pictures in the room.
I then turned on the TV and just crashed on the bed. I was so tired and it was so nice just being lazy for a bit. After a while Lenora and Michelle came to the room. Michelle was picking up her treat from Lisa I believe and then we chatted a bit. They said the other girls were going to meet at the patio bar but they were both too tired to do so tonight.
Michelle then left and I debated going down. I was so tired and I was like…no I’ll just stay here….well…you know…cool things always happen if I don’t show up. Lenora was like, nope I am staying in the room….but let me know if anything fun happens.
Ok then….so I headed down and find the girls. They had had a wonderful time at the Blue Man Group and I do wish I was with them to see it….but I don’t regret my decision at all to skip it tonight. I had been going strong for several days and I just needed that rest.
So we sat and chatted and then Lisa casually says……There’s Rick Springfield….and at that moment the other 7 of us sitting there all did that high pitched squeal scream that young girls do. LOL. Holy Cow…he just came out and is just hanging on the patio with what we assumed were his band mates.
I was sitting on the end and had a decent view so I took my cell phone and tried to take a few pictures and all came out as blob. He was too far away and it was too dark for anything decent. UGH!
So I was sitting there mad I couldn’t get a picture and I just stood up and said “I’m gonna ask him for one”. I think some of the girls shrunk in their seats……like I was crazy….and yeah I might be. LOL
So I walked over to Rick…yeah we are close now, and on a first name basis……and I said “Hi, Can I get a picture of you? We are here on a conference to promote Universal and if I could get your picture, we could use it in our promotions.”…well it wasn’t exactly that, but along those lines. And he said “If you want a picture, it has to be a selfie” and he jumped up and ripped my phone out of my hand and walked over to our table. OMG!!!!!! The girls saw him coming and I never seen them jump up so fast to get in this picture. It was totally hilarious.
And then we all crowded in around him…notice that Pam and I put our heads on his shoulder. I mean it was MY PHONE and I went and asked….so I was going to be RIGHT there. LOL.
We thanked him and then he went back and sat with his friends for a bit. Pam asked the waitress to find out what he was drinking and send a drink over to him. He left shortly after that.
Soooo…..as soon as he left the girls were all saying…quick send me the pictures! LOL. Then Brook said I needed to post them online so I started doing that….but first in our group message I posted the pictures and a reply quickly came from Lenora….”you’ve got to be kidding”….and Michelle’s sentiments were pretty much the same. LOL.
Then we started posting pictures to our private business page where we talk shop…and of course those who hadn’t been able to come were all commenting on them too. We were just so giddy! I am so glad I decided to come down….remember…something cool would happened if I didn’t go down and I would miss it. Never truer words spoken!
We chatted for a bit more as we were on our celebrity sighting high, but finally we had to call it a night. We still had a half day tomorrow and then sadly most of us were leaving.
Lenora was still up when I went back to the room and she was still mad about missing out. I don’t blame her…I would have been too.
We then went to sleep for the final time at Sapphire Falls.
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How cool to have breakfast at 3 Broomsticks! But even cooler to meet Rick Springfield! Great photos with him, too. What a great day you had with Andrew and your VIP tour.
How cool to have breakfast at 3 Broomsticks! But even cooler to meet Rick Springfield! Great photos with him, too. What a great day you had with Andrew and your VIP tour.
I really like 3 broomsticks. It usually has some good food and I really like the breakfast there too.
it was so cool to meet Rick Springfield. Not something we ever thought would happen.
Our meeting was more of a wrap up where we talked a bit about the experiences over the past few days and then we played some games to test our knowledge. We had 4 teams and even though you think you know a lot….when under the pressure of being the first to answer in this type of situation you go completely blank. Unfortunately our team did not win today.
It was then time to go. Some people had flights right away and I think a couple actually left before the class was officially over. Most of us had later flights and a few were staying on with family or just doing other things.
Lenora and I left and I wanted to ride Kong again so we headed right out to the boat launch.
We headed to Islands of Adventure then. Lenora had a client text her (happened to be a relative too) and there was an issue and it ended up being something kind of major. Her heart was no longer into spending the last few hours in the park sadly.
I took some pictures on the way to Kong….finally getting the Family circus trail.
I tried to take in more detail this time and see more from this side. There is a lot going on, so you do kind of need to ride it a few times to get it all.
We kind of just walked around and we had planned on getting lunch, but Lenora was really having some major issues and she was going to have to make some phone calls and the waits could be long so she ended up heading out and back to the hotel. I just kind of wandered around a bit and looked around. I couldn’t figure out what sounded good to eat….then I got a message from Michelle….are you missing your camera….Holy Crap! I did it again. This morning I had put things at several chairs to save places for all of us. I obviously didn’t do a good job at collecting them…one being my camera….which I had put at a spot that no one actually ended up sitting at. Thanks Goodness Michelle saw it. I told her to drop it off at luggage services and then take a picture of the pickup tag and send it to me….and I did get it back.
So I took the train over to Universal. I can’t remember if I did any last rides or not, but I am thinking I didn’t. I went through Springfield and thought I would get some Simpson’s themed food but the place was pretty darn busy and I just didn’t feel like waiting. Brook, Stephanie, and Wendy were at the pool and they told me to come back and hang with them and they were getting lunch there….nachos I believe….and they were really good. Ok, twist my arm….I’ll head back.
I first ran into Lenora and she was sitting at a table. She said I could join her but I said I would find the others first. I guess I thought she was going to come over too, but she didn’t.
I found a lounger and chatted with the girls. A waiter came over and I told him I want a fish sandwich and I asked for cheese and tarter on it. No problem. I believe I order fries and some Mango tropical drink. I told him I only had so much time but he assured me there was more than enough time.
Well the food took a while to come and I was getting nervous. When it did come, it did not have cheese or tarter…oh well…..I woofed it down. Then my drink came but they were out of the specialty cups so he said he would charge me less. I told him to bring the bill as I had to head out soon. He was slow with that and then it was wrong and he had charged me full price for the drink. Finally I was able to pay the bill with the correct amount.
In the meantime it was nice chatting with the girls about different things. Wendy had gotten some good news so we were all happy for her.
While I was paying my bill, Lenora messaged me that our shuttle was here….wait….what? they were like 20+ minutes early. I told her I was on my way back up to the lobby but I still had to get my bags. I said goodbye to the others and made my way up. As I got about half way there Lenora messaged and said false alarm…..someone had told it was for us but it was not. Phew! I grabbed my bags and we headed out and the shuttle was there….maybe it was our shuttle after all as it was practically full. And I was supposed to get in the 3rd row….um I am a big gal and that wasn’t happening. Luckily someone moved and let me in the 2nd row.
And off we went. We knew a couple of the others from the conference in our shuttle. We chatted a bit, but Lenora was mainly on the phone.
Both Lenora and I were flying Southwest but different flights that had similar departure times…which is why we were on the same shuttle. We got dropped off…and Wow! HUGE line to drop off luggage. Lenora got right in line and I fiddled around a bit then got in line.
We then headed through security and we both had TSA precheck, which in Orlando is a Godsend!!!! It still had a small line, but it went so much faster. We then took the fake monorail over and we then parted. Lenora’s gate was not near mine at all.
I found a seat near a plug and settled in for the wait. Stephanie, Wendy and Brook had used a private transfer back and they really weren’t too far behind us. Stephanie messaged me her gate number and it was right next to mine, so when a seat opened up I grabbed it to save for her.
She finally showed up, so we sat and chatted. As my flight got closer I had her watch my bags as I went to the bathroom. When I was coming back I was startled to see Lenora. Her gate had changed and she was now over in this wing. I think her flight had been delayed a bit too, but she would be boarding soon.
We said goodbye one final time and then I went back to my seat and chatted again with Stephanie until my flight was called.
We were told the flight was not completely full…..YaY!!!!!!! So I sat by the window and a lady sat with me on the end. Then I put my bag on the middle seat and fiddled with it for quite some time. LOL. Everyone went right on past. YES! Then we kept waiting and were told we were waiting on bags from a connecting flight…then another family came on….and passed us….then we waited some more…and more people boarded and passed us. Thank goodness! It was kind of funny as literally the last people that got on…which was now past our departure time….the wife looks around and says….well are their seats together in the back. The flight attendant told her it was unlikely but they would most likely be closer to each other in the back. YES!!!! I love it when the middle seat is empty!
We then did take off and made our way back to Ohio…where it was winter.
We made up time in the air and were not really late arriving. I got my bags and then headed over to find the shuttle to the green parking lot. Soon the bus came…thank goodness as it was chilly and a bit snowy. Not too bad yet, but Skip messaged me and said a storm was predicted and if it was bad when I landed to just stay the night with my sister. The roads looked fine so I decided to head home.
I was dropped off and the right spot (thanks to having a picture taken as to where my car was this time) and then headed to the car and threw the bags in the trunk and got it warming up. I then set my gps and headed out and paid my parking bill and set off for home. I was hungry now though. I knew at one point I would pass some fast food places so I decided not to try and go out of my way. And sure enough I was soon right by my sister’s house and I stopped at the Wendy’s to get a sandwich to eat on the way home.
And then I took off again. I was tired and just wanted to get home. I usually listen to an audio book when I drive so that passed the time. At the halfway point the snow became almost a white out and I started regretting driving home. I wasn’t sure I could handle this the rest of the way home. Luckily it was only for a few miles and then it seemed to almost completely stop and it never really was accumulating.
I did finally make it home and the family was happy to see me. Of course I was super tired and couldn’t wait to get to bed. I just brought my bags in and pulled out a prize for Claire quickly and then left the rest to be done the next day.
And that concludes my Universal trip.
It was a lot of fun. I am so happy I ended up going down early so I had a full day at the parks to do what I wanted to do. Then I got lucky and got to spend a day with J. That was an unexpected treat. I had fun with Lenora and it was nice to see her again too. I am really glad we got to tour the Epic, even if the conditions had not been ideal that day and it didn’t go exactly as planned. We still got to see a good portion of the ship.
The conference was amazing. My only complaint was the food….and I can’t say it was all bad, just not to my liking and I wish we had full meals rather than appetizers for some of the events. I did overcome some of those food hurdles though. We really had long days and even though our conference was only a few days, it felt like a full week. They made sure we did as much as possible. Had I known we would have that extra ticket, I would have come home on Thursday like I originally planned and spent the rest of our final day in the parks.
We have such an amazing group and it’s always so much fun to hang with them and work with them too.
I am super excited to say that I get to see Brook, Patty, and J again on June 28 as we are all sailing the Disney Fantasy together. My other good friend/co-worker, Cass will also be on that sailing, as well as one other co-worker, Mary Rose.
We are taking kids and some are bringing husbands as well. It’s not a work trip technically but a great way for us to hang out again and our kids to meet up and get to know each other. (Claire has met Brook’s son Henry before).
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Pixie Dust
Otherwise the room looks great. 
I didn't know you had stayed at the Royal Pacific. 
Reminds me so much of the Poly with the South Pacific theme to it but not nearly as big of a hit on your checking account! 
Always wonder what Disney is thinking in regards to some of the resort pricing and especially the deluxe and moderate resorts as well. 
The thing is, I'm only about 60% through my current TR from last October. May have to have two going at once shortly and not easy with work stuff. 
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Oh and on that subject, I think we must've missed each other by maybe 15-20 minutes? The people had arrived for that party at Portofino Bay, and the sunset was slightly more intense. I'm so sorry it didn't work out that night. One day... hopefully! 
Nice tours of the hotels and great photos from everywhere! 
Someday it will happen.
But even cooler to meet Rick Springfield! Great photos with him, too. What a great day you had with Andrew and your VIP tour. 
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