A Dream That Came True! The First Timers TR - COMPLETED 9/10 - Page 9 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
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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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Glad you found the moleskin. Can't wait to hear about Universal and Harry Potter.
Found some great Curves trainers to wear next time lol! They are super comfortable while walking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessie092408
Your desert looks delicious! Looking forward to hearing about your experience at WWoHP. We had so much fun there in September, at least before the crowds got bad.
We didn't have really big crowds thank goodness! It was tight enough with small crowds, I can't imagine going during busy season.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Sorry your meal at Shutters was not up to par, I had a similar experience a few years ago! Hope UIA is great! I can't wait to hear about Harry Potter World. I'm really looking forward to visiting it one of these days.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sorry the meal at Shutters wasn't good, but the desserts looked fantastic! More please!
We definitely will not be going back to Shutter's. In fact, that was for us the only down side to CBR. If you could just order the chocolate cake and take it to your room, then maybe lol.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elbodans
i'm very much looking forward to reading about your day at universal! my husband and i are going in may and, while i'm excited, he CAN NOT WAIT!
and speaking of can not wait--i'm another one of those people who is stalking this thread, waiting for the next installment! i was excited to see one today! i'm sorry about your poor feet and your unfortunate meal. i don't do well in close-toe shoes for very long--but sadly, sandals don't work in all temperatures! as unattractive as it may be, if sandals are not an option, i wear my hiking boots!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Principessa_di_Fata
I'm definitely watching very closely to see how Harry Potter is... we're going in two weeks and six days!
So far this TR is great! I love the cliffhangers, lol! This is too much fun!
Harry Potter world coming right up!! I will say this much, it was so worth the money!! (At least if your a fan!)
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I set our wake up call for 6:30am as our shuttle pick up was at 7:30am. We woke to extremely different temperatures though!! No problem, just get one of the sweaters I packed. Wait a minute!?! Where are my long sleeve shirts and sweater? Oh No! In the rush the morning we left, I forgot to put them in the suitcase! Ok, surely it can't be that bad....oh yes it can, the weather forecast is for really cold temps the rest of our visit! I put the moleskin on my feet and the thickest pair of socks I had while Scottie was getting ready. So, we head out early so we can stop by the gift shop and find me something warmer to wear. Scottie found a Mickey Hoodie that he really wanted, and I found a cute long sleeve t-shirt. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $60 on a hoodie or jacket type. Now wearing layers, we head to the front doors to meet up with our shuttle from Mears. We load on a small minivan that already had two other groups and off we went to Universal. We arrive and the driver gave us our cards with the number to call for pickup and wished us a happy time. Up the stairs and through the City Walk to get to the entrance which was already getting lines at 8:10am!
We bought our tickets for the day and stand in line. They open a new line right next to us and we now are second in line!
The person on the gate heard me and Scottie talking about how this was his best birthday ever and she said she'd be right back. She came back with another lady who gave Scottie a special birthday sticker and then asked him if he liked Spiderman or the Hulk? He said he liked Spiderman and she handed him a phone. His face lit up almost immediately, he had just gotten a special birthday call from Spiderman himself! He waited till the lady left and whispered to me "Stitch's wake up call was better!" I busted out laughing. While we were waiting, the people on the gates nearest us kept up a running commentary with everyone, including Scottie. At one point, they teased him saying he couldn't possibly enter the park wearing his new Mickey Mouse hoodie! One of them said "Don't you know you're in the wrong park for that?"
Everyone, was very nice and tried to make the wait a bit more bearable. At about 8:50, they decided to start letting people in.
People immediately went rushing and pushing past! It looked like alot were heading the same way we were, but I told Scottie we would just browse the gift shop by the entrance and let the worst of them pass us by. While in the gift shop, Scottie (who doesn't know a stranger lol) started up a conversation with one of the employees. I look over and now he's got three ladies laughing and talking to him! Quite the charmer, my little man! I walk over and he's telling them all about how huge a Harry Potter fan he is lol, which is true. One of them says, well since it's your birthday you should get something special! She reaches behind the counter and hands him a paper ticket, which turns out to be a commemarative ticket for the Grand Opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Apparently they were only given out on that day and now being sold!
After this, we head through the Dr. Suess area, which Scottie had no interest in at all, the rides weren't attracting my attention either lol. Then we head past Poseidon's Fury
straight back to Hogsmeade.
The first glimpse of the Hogwart's Express had Scottie giddy with excitement!
This area is themed so well and looked so realistic, you almost expected to see Harry, Ron and Hermione walking by lol.
We immediately headed for the castle and the Forbidden Journey ride, knowing this would probably be a long wait, but it was the main reason we had come. Scottie had been looking forward to this one ride more than any other! We get to the gates, only to find that the ride is experiencing technical difficulties and is closed!?!?!?!
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Ahh, blisters. I'm know stranger to blisters. I've learned to travel with all the right medical stuff to treat blisters, but like I said before, the Crocs really helped. Sorry your meal at Shutter's wasn't that great. At least dessert was good. Loving the start to your day at Universal, especially all the Harry Potter pictures!
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I am sorry about your blisters. I hope the crocs helped. I have never had a pair but I might try them out one day. I ended up with blisters too but could never get that mole skin to work for me. I just used band-aids. I also used different shoes including flip flops that seemed to help. Too bad about your dinner, was that the only place you ate that didn't sit too well? Scottie looked very cool in his Mickey shirt! His special Harry Potter ticket is neatO! We have never been to IOA or even US so I am very excited to read all about. Well I have been to US when I was 13 but it was small & new, & I don't remember much about it...only the King Kong ride. If you find that key lime recipe I would love to have it. I hope to read you got to ride that you got to ride Forbidden Journey.
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Ahh, blisters. I'm know stranger to blisters. I've learned to travel with all the right medical stuff to treat blisters, but like I said before, the Crocs really helped. Sorry your meal at Shutter's wasn't that great. At least dessert was good. Loving the start to your day at Universal, especially all the Harry Potter pictures!
I will always travel with first aid for blisters now lol!
Quote:
Originally Posted by kalsmomma
Oh no! I hope it wasn't closed all day. Poor Scottie
We were both upset that the ride was closed. I admit I thought I had just wasted alot of money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by countrykid
I am sorry about your blisters. I hope the crocs helped. I have never had a pair but I might try them out one day. I ended up with blisters too but could never get that mole skin to work for me. I just used band-aids. I also used different shoes including flip flops that seemed to help. Too bad about your dinner, was that the only place you ate that didn't sit too well? Scottie looked very cool in his Mickey shirt! His special Harry Potter ticket is neatO! We have never been to IOA or even US so I am very excited to read all about. Well I have been to US when I was 13 but it was small & new, & I don't remember much about it...only the King Kong ride. If you find that key lime recipe I would love to have it. I hope to read you got to ride that you got to ride Forbidden Journey.
I did find that recipe! I just prefer a key lime pie to have a sweet but slightly tart lime flavor, too many times it's just not enough lime flavor. Shutter's was definitely the only place we were upset with. Everywhere else was wonderful!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Sounded like a great start until you found out the ride was closed! . More please!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Sorry that Shutters was a disappointment! Great start to WoWHP until the ride was down! Hope it gets better!
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneyfreeeak
Oh no! I hope you get to ride the Forbidden Journey!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bsblady01
more please
Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovedisney247
Closed? Oh no! I hope they got it up and running quickly! It sounds like quite a magical birthday for Scottie!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
What a shame the ride was down.
The elusive Harry Potter ride......will we ever get to ride it? Next update coming up!
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More please! 
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your TR! You can tell by Scottie's huge smile he is having a wonderful birthday trip! Can't wait to hear more!!
Oh no! I hope it wasn't closed all day. Poor Scottie
I just used band-aids. I also used different shoes including flip flops that seemed to help. Too bad about your dinner, was that the only place you ate that didn't sit too well? Scottie looked very cool in his Mickey shirt!
His special Harry Potter ticket is neatO! 
We have never been to IOA or even US so I am very excited to read all about. Well I have been to US when I was 13 but it was small & new, & I don't remember much about it...only the King Kong ride.
If you find that key lime recipe I would love to have it.
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