Southern Fried in Mickey's World Updated 12/31 - Page 8 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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
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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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This sounds like it was quite an amazing tour! Definitely, something I'm interested in and will put this on my list for my next trip! Quite the tory regarding Walt, the trains and the Rose Garden and with the latter, it found a home in WDW below the Hub area, until the refurb a few years ago. I miss that area as it was my destination for the fireworks show and not as crowded. This area basically still exists but not the same as it was below the Hub area and a lot of people missed it, which was good!
Sorry, you missed out on taking some photos the last part of the tour! But, you provided so much great info and your experience on this. Hope you provide a photo of the pin you received!
Were there any other extras you received taking the tour such as HEA fireworks viewing, FP+s etc? Just curious!
BTW, how much was the tour?
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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!
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Don't you find that they just cram so much information into each of these tours that you can't take it all in? I really don't know how they remember it all. It sounds like superb value.
That tour was a bargain for all you did and learned!
Absolutely!
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperDave
This sounds like it was quite an amazing tour! Definitely, something I'm interested in and will put this on my list for my next trip! Quite the tory regarding Walt, the trains and the Rose Garden and with the latter, it found a home in WDW below the Hub area, until the refurb a few years ago. I miss that area as it was my destination for the fireworks show and not as crowded. This area basically still exists but not the same as it was below the Hub area and a lot of people missed it, which was good!
Sorry, you missed out on taking some photos the last part of the tour! But, you provided so much great info and your experience on this. Hope you provide a photo of the pin you received!
Were there any other extras you received taking the tour such as HEA fireworks viewing, FP+s etc? Just curious!
BTW, how much was the tour?
No extras with this tour though that might be a neat addition. I'm sure they'd charge more then.
The cost is $54 but we got a percentage off with our DVC membership.
This sounds like a great tour, especially for train enthusiasts like Luke. I love the WDW tours. They are always well done.
Luke and I definitely loved it for the trains, but the information on Walt was an added bonus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
That tour sounds so cool!! I think we may try it next year with Logan!! Thank you for your thoroughly enjoyable review!!!!
It was very cool, and I'm sure Logan would love it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Don't you find that they just cram so much information into each of these tours that you can't take it all in? I really don't know how they remember it all. It sounds like superb value.
They guides for these tours have exceptional memories. I can't imagine how they keep it all straight and present it with such energy and enthusiasm.
When the tour was over, both us were suffering from insufficient sleep the past two night in a row. With an hour before our first FastPass, we were clueless as to what to do. Eventually, we settled on Uptown Jewelers, but the Move It, Shake It parade meant a crowded Main Street. Plan B had us walking through the confectionary and then browse the Art of Disney. We did make it to Uptown Jewelers where we wandered the front section of the store before heading in to Pandora. Before the trip I had decided on one charm, the new Seven Dwarfs one. But yesterday morning when I put on my Pandora bangle, my Mickey charm dropped off. I saw it, picked it up, and placed it back on the bangle, but I decided I needed to buy two clips to make sure I didn’t lose any charms. I settled on two different Mickey clips. Photos are courtesy of the internet because I find jewelry photos difficult.
Once we had paid for my purchases and the sweet CM had gotten them all strung on my bangle, we crossed the street to browse the Emporium. We started just past Casey’s and wandered the entire store. Ultimately, I found a Halloween t-shirt, Halloween reusable bag, and Halloween dish towels. All of which was sent back to the resort.
I wanted to check out the Magic Bands, but there was chaos in this area where a majorly indecisive group of young Brits were taking up all the space. They did finally make their choices, allowing me to move up , but in the end, I didn’t find a single one I liked.
As we exited the store, we heard the Dapper Dans. They were singing right across the street, so I asked Luke if we could move closer and listening for a bit. Unfortunately, our time was a little off as this was their finale for this performance. We enjoyed it nonetheless.
The time for our first FastPass had finally arrived. We headed into Tomorrowland for a spin in Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. We were surprised to see that the FastPass queue was wrapped around to Monster Inc. Looking around, it was obvious that this was a BUSY day at the Magic Kingdom. The queue moved quickly in spite of its length. Then Luke and I let the universe down with pathetic scores. Mine was just over 20,000 and Luke’s was near 35,000. With us Zurg remains strong!
Breakfast had now been many hours ago, so we decided on lunch at Pecos Bill’s. I got the Southwest Salad and added chicken while Luke got the beef nachos. Again, I failed at food photos, but in my defense, I was starving and sleepy and the restaurant was very crowded. Luke managed to find and get us a table with exactly two chairs. WooHoo!
Feeling better with our bellies full, we walked back to it’s a small world for FastPass #2. This may be the first time in many, many trips that I didn’t take a single photo on this attraction. After the happiest voyage on earth, we thought we’d use some of the time before FastPass #3 by seeing Mickey’s Philharmagic via standby. We walked the short distance there and then realized that the standby line was all the way back to iasw. The sign posted the time at 60 minutes. No Way! Instead we walked back to Memento Mori where we could browse the shop and enjoy a wee bit of air conditioning. While in there I picked up a map and times guide since I didn’t have time for that when we entered with the tour.
The store got busy so we moved to a shady spot outside to wait in the shade. We kept watching the FP queue for the Haunted Mansion grow longer and longer. Figuring where we would start in this line and how long it would take for us to get to the touch points, we entered the line back at the Liberty Bell at 2:20 and precisely, at 2:25 we scanned our bands and the light shown green. We enjoyed our visit with the 999 Grim Grinning Ghosts and one followed us home. While in the FastPass queue, Luke took several photos of the front of the mansion minus some overgrown trees that have been recently removed.
While he was taking photos, I checked the DME app in hopes of finding a fourth FastPass, but the park was busy and very few were left, and most of those that were left were for times during our dinner reservation.
Stay tuned for what we do.
NEXT: When It’s This Muggy, It Can Only Mean Rain!
PS: Since Jennifer has announced here that the boards will be ending on December 31, I had set up a closed group on Facebook, Cam and Luke's Adventures -- Trip Reports. Flickr.com has also announced that their free account will soon be limited to 1000 photos, which I've probably already surpassed. I don't want to spend the $49.95 for a pro account since I won't need it in the new year. I'm not sure I'll have this finished before the new year as I'm still on the third day of our trip. I'll keep posting here as long as I can, but if you'd like to be included in the Facebook group, please let me know as I do intend to keep this one up, especially for our first (and probably only) trip to Aulani in Hawaii this coming May. Thank you all for reading my trip reports! You have helped me save so many memories!
Oh my goodness! I had no idea the boards were ending. I’m so sad! I don’t post much, but I love reading trip reports and other tips I’ve learned from these boards. I’d still love to follow along on your trips, Cam. Do we need to be Facebook friends or can I just request to join your closed group?
Thanks for sharing about the train tour you and Luke went on. It looks really interesting. We’ve never taken a tour before but I have my eye on one for our next trip - Caring for Giants Tour at AK.