Saving the Magic (with Cam and Luke plus Morgan) COMPLETED - Page 72 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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.
So I was behind 15 pages!
What a great day at AK. It was very hot & humis that day and I remember when it started to rain as we'd just gotten on the DME bus.
I love Heather's poses in all the ride photos.
Tusker House looked like fun! I just love that place - the food & characters.
So I was behind 15 pages!
What a great day at AK. It was very hot & humis that day and I remember when it started to rain as we'd just gotten on the DME bus.
I love Heather's poses in all the ride photos.
Tusker House looked like fun! I just love that place - the food & characters.
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.
And speaking of cute, the pic of Morgan and the Mickey balloon hanging out in the bed is super cute!
It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself that Dinosaur is just pretend, I still get all scared like on that one. I think Steph and I look like Morgan in our ride photo.
So I was behind 15 pages!
What a great day at AK. It was very hot & humis that day and I remember when it started to rain as we'd just gotten on the DME bus.
I love Heather's poses in all the ride photos.
Tusker House looked like fun! I just love that place - the food & characters.
That's right, you all were leaving that day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shelley the Pooh
Loved your pics of the Gibbons! So cute!
And speaking of cute, the pic of Morgan and the Mickey balloon hanging out in the bed is super cute!
It doesn't matter how many times I tell myself that Dinosaur is just pretend, I still get all scared like on that one. I think Steph and I look like Morgan in our ride photo.
I always manage to be smiling at the dinosaur, but I think it's more relief that the ride is almost over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JaimeandChad
Wow! Was not expecting that. Thanks!
Yes, I take a lot of photos. My DSLR allows me to snap them one right after the other. So I usually take 2 - 4 at a time in rapid fire, just changing the zoom as I go.
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
I awoke at 7:20, so I quietly checked e-mail and Facebook and played AK Explorers until the alarm went off at 8:00 AM. I did a Stefanie and chose a new t-shirt to wear, the pink WDW one from MouseGear. I also finished a load of laundry from yesterday and managed to get a load of denim short washed in the dryer and a load of darks started in the washer.
I had thought this might be a rope drop morning, but we were all tired from the first three days and it was an overcast morning. Instead we left at 9:50. We did manage to walk through the tunnel right as the Main Street singers and dancers were performing so we enjoyed the show while we waited to move down Main Street.
I don’t think I’d ever been this close to the horses. So cool!
We had a short wait at the bus stop for an MK bus. Once at the park, we made our first stop at the Emporium for a new poncho for Morgan. Rain was predicted so we wanted to be ready. She also found some cotton candy, if you remember we had looked for it to no avail at Animal Kingdom the day before. She was very happy.
We got another Main Street/Castle PhotoPass pictures taken without having to hunt down an available photographer.
Then the three of us walked over to Adventurland. Morgan chose as our first attraction to climb the Swiss Family Tree House. We haven’t done this since she last went with us in 2006 as the climb was too much for Stefanie’s little legs. Morgan showed lots of wonder at how it was built and had everything they needed. I decided right away to take quite a few pictures so that I could finally scrapbook this attraction. With my arthritic knees and ankles, I’m not sure how many more times I’m going to want to climb that tree. Morgan loved helping out, yelling frequently, “Take a picture of this, Aunt Cam!”
Looking back at the empty queue as this was a walk on at your own pace.
From one of the lookouts, I got this cool picture of the castle.
Luke walked down to get FastPasses for Jungle cruise as the wait was 45 minutes. Our next choice of rides was Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride, which initially intimidated Morgan with the wait, which was only 20 minutes. We stayed in line, and in the end she loved controlling the carpet and avoiding the spitting camels, making for some very sudden lifts.
Afterwards, we headed to the Enchanted Tiki Room. I’m not sure she enjoyed this attraction enough for another visit this trip, but I’m sure she’ll want John Paul to experience it next summer.
As we began walking toward, Pirates of the Caribbean, Morgan also began to remember this one from 2006. Once it was done, we could use our FastPasses to Jungle Cruise. We were soon boarding Ganges Gertie with a skipper who was just okay, but that may have been because our crew was very quiet.
By this point I needed lunch and a restroom break. I chose the Adventureland restrooms that are kind of tucked away, but usually very clean. After our nature break, we decided to try Pinocchio Village Haus for refueling. But as we came out of the secret passage to Frontierland, Luke noticed that The Diamond Horseshoe Saloon was open for dining, something new for us. So lunch plans immediately changed. This was one of my favorite lunches of the whole trip. Luke and I had the BBQ Turkey sandwiches with chips and Morgan had a turkey sandwich with chips. We ate upstairs and people watched. Very ! As we headed back down the steps, Morgan almost forgot her backpack. I asked her if she felt lighter, but she didn’t think so. Luke called her again and she finally realized what she was missing. She is so much like her Mom and me at times.
Outside she noticed the Riverboat as we walked up Liberty Square, and since it had just arrived back at the dock, now was a good time to get in line. But not until Morgan had a few pictures taken of her in the stocks.
Morgan chose to ride on top, running back and forth to see what was on each side. She was especially fascinated by BTMRR in the daylight, and so was Luke who got me quite a few good shots for the scrapbook.
Luke got some nice photos from Tom Sawyer Island and Haunted Mansion as well.
We had a very calm and relaxing cruise around the island. Since it was an easy walk from where we disembarked, we headed to Haunted Mansion next. This attraction had Morgan a little anxious. The ominous skies did not help any. Then soon after we got under the cover, the rainstorm hit and then got progressively worse. Even under the shelter we needed our ponchos. The line moved slower as fewer folks chose the cemetery route. Soon enough though we were herded into the stretching room while Morgan had a nice grip on my right arm. I warned her I would do my witch laugh when the lights went out, which actually seemed to relax her some as she loves to have me do this laugh for her and her friends.
The next room, which Luke describes as the cattle herding section, kept her wide-eyed. She decided she wanted to ride in the middle at this point. I loaded first into the doombuggy, then Morgan, and finally Luke. We were off on our guided tour of the Haunted Mansion. She had lots of questions along the way, but thought it was pretty spooky cool. We wanted to try it again when she could try the interactive queue.
Outside it was still raining though it was at least less windy. We splashed our way to Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe where we casually browsed with other wet folks for a dry spell. We bought Luke a poncho before venturing across the way to the Hall of Presidents because this rain seemed fixed to stay for a while.
With a 12 minute wait, we huddled together at the presidential seal.
A woman came over a few minutes later to get a picture of it while we were absorbed in conversation. If she’d have asked, we would have moved. But instead she stepped on Morgan’s foot. Morgan jumped in the air, moving out of the lady’s way. But not a single I’m sorry for causing such pain.
I decided to take a few pictures of the displays myself, but I did so without stepping on anyone else’s feet.
Once in the theater, Morgan requested a seat close to the front so she could see everything really well. Luke got a good row and we were nearly in the center. She leaned over during the movie portion to tell me that a lot of the pictures had been in her social studies textbook. When Lincoln stood and spoke, she was in awe, so her audible “Aaaaah!” when the curtain was raised on all the presidents proved to me she was enjoying this attraction. I remember really wanting to see with with Stefanie her first trip, but also being worried that she’d be bored. Instead she was enthralled. In fact, it became one of her favorites, especially after she studied presidents in school. That’s my girl! Morgan asked if actors were playing the presidents and was so amazed when I said that they were audio animatronic robots. Her mouth literally flew open. When Washington spoke, she leaned in and said, “Look how they are all looking at him. That is so cool.”
The rain was still coming down, but not as hard, so we made our way over to Fantasyland. Luke took several castle shots.
Then Morgan saw Aurora’s gown in a nearby shop so we went to check it out. Good idea as the rain started up again in earnest. We hung out awhile, browsing.
With no let up in sight, we peeked out the door and realized we were right next to Mickey’s Philharmagic. So ponchos on we ran the few feet to the entrance and raced through the entire queue, grabbed 3E glasses, and entered the theater, snagging seats fairly close to the front and center. Morgan loved it, reaching out frequently to snag items! No pie smell this time! But we could smell the champagne as the corks popped off. After returning our glasses we again braved the weather and joined the it’s a small world queue, which began outside, but moved quickly enough that we were in the shelter soon. This was another ride that Morgan remembered.
We have never been to the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon so we may have to give it a try in October.
Morgan is so funny! I love the pictures of her in the stock. She looks like she is having such a good time.
The Hall of Preisdents is one of my favorites. It always amazes me how life like all the presidents look so real.
Great pictures as usual.
So much to enjoy in this update, mostly Morgan's continued enthusiasm and inquiring mind! I really appreciate the photos of all the details in the Tree House, as I've never been up there. Wonderful view of the castle from there. I always enjoy Luke's architectural shots-- they point out details I've never noticed before.
Awesome pictures. I don't think I've ever managed to do the Treehouse. I think I'll have to add that to my list of things to make sure I do on my next trip!!
Just curious...what kind of camera do you guys have?
Wonderful update! I love the tree house but my girls seem to be getting too old to really take in the fun and enjoy it. We always use the same restrooms!
But honestly, how rude to step on someone's foot and not even apology! We have never done the Hall of Presidents because the girls were too young to understand fully and enjoy it. I will have to try it now that they have studied the Presidents.
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.
Another great update. The pics are AWESOME. I am too hitting Swiss Family Treehouse this trip before arthritis takes control of my knees and feet. Dylan loves it especially the views of the castle from the top.
I have never seen the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon open we might have to check that out next week.
Another great update. The pics are AWESOME. I am too hitting Swiss Family Treehouse this trip before arthritis takes control of my knees and feet. Dylan loves it especially the views of the castle from the top.
I have never seen the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon open we might have to check that out next week.
About This Page: 
Wow! Was not expecting that. Thanks!
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
Disney Magic - Oct 2015
! As we headed back down the steps, Morgan almost forgot her backpack. I asked her if she felt lighter, but she didn’t think so. Luke called her again and she finally realized what she was missing. 
I warned her I would do my witch laugh when the lights went out, which actually seemed to relax her some as she loves to have me do this laugh for her and her friends. 
When Lincoln stood and spoke, she was in awe, so her audible “Aaaaah!” when the curtain was raised on all the presidents proved to me she was enjoying this attraction. I remember really wanting to see with with Stefanie her first trip, but also being worried that she’d be bored. Instead she was enthralled. In fact, it became one of her favorites, especially after she studied presidents in school. That’s my girl! Morgan asked if actors were playing the presidents and was so amazed when I said that they were audio animatronic robots. Her mouth literally flew open. When Washington spoke, she leaned in and said, “Look how they are all looking at him. That is so cool.” 
[SIGPIC]Ricky, Sharon R, Richard
Linear Mode
