You Know You are Having a Good Time When Someone Snorts! - Page 2 - 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 The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk.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.
Great photos from around the resort - it looks very fun with some great, vibrant colours. How wonderful you got to see the Blue Man Group - that is an awesome present!
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.
Whew just caught up! I heard good things about the resort but wow I didn't realize it was so lovely and HUGE! Glad you got to experience it and how awesome that you got a Blue Man Group surprise!!
All caught up. We are Universal fans as well and always have a good time there.
Cabana Bay looks really cute and they really seem to have some nice amenities for a "value" type resort. May I ask - did the rooms have double beds or queen size beds?
Great photos from around the resort - it looks very fun with some great, vibrant colours. How wonderful you got to see the Blue Man Group - that is an awesome present!
Thanks. It is a fun resort.
It was a super awesome present!
Quote:
Originally Posted by belle0517
Signing in. Love your TR's and all of the photos you take!
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by xwewhisper
Whew just caught up! I heard good things about the resort but wow I didn't realize it was so lovely and HUGE! Glad you got to experience it and how awesome that you got a Blue Man Group surprise!!
it really is a fun resort and has a lot to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SharonK0527
All caught up. We are Universal fans as well and always have a good time there.
Cabana Bay looks really cute and they really seem to have some nice amenities for a "value" type resort. May I ask - did the rooms have double beds or queen size beds?
Looking forward to more!
They have queen beds, which is also another nice thing about them. And it was really comfy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
It sounds like you had an amazing first day!!! I love this hotel It's got such a retro 50's vibe to it. Glad you got to enjoy seeing Blue Man Group.
They really did a great job with the retro theming here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clio
Thanks for all the pictures of Cabana Bay. I wondered what it looked like inside.
Liz
It's such a fun place. I hope to get back there again.
We had a busy day planned for today and the first thing was to transfer to the Hard Rock Hotel. When staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, express pass is included. Our goal was to get over there and checked in early and obtain our express passes and then try to make it to early entry at Universal Studios. That meant we were up at the crack of dawn.
One thing I want to note is that there were several pop/soda machines around the hotel. Both Cass and I drink diet coke but most of these machines were out of diet coke. I went looking for one last night and I think I just caved and got a lemonade after looking at 2. This morning I went out and I think I still went to 3 or 4 before having any luck.
I had noticed last night that they had luggage carts out by the elevator so my plan was if one was still there I would grab it to make it much easier on us today. Cass has the same idea and when I went out she mentioned me getting one too.
We were in luck and I grabbed one and we loaded our luggage and headed down to the lobby to make our transfer. We were using Uber to make the transfer. Cass had used it to come over to Universal and said it went smoothly. She did her thing on the app and showed me how it worked as I was going to use a referral coupon from her tomorrow when we transferred over to Disney.
We got Uber XL because…..well because I pack a lot of luggage. LOL. XL means you will get a bigger vehicle and that is exactly what we would need to haul all the bags over. The car wasn’t too far away but I had to go the bathroom so I ran back in quickly.
A few last shots before we left. Cass had told him we would be standing by the blue car.
We loaded up and made our way over to the Hard Rock.
My thoughts on Cabana Bay….I loved it. I loved the theming and the whole resort itself. My only big complaint is the vending machines….and that they couldn’t let us in to see a suite. Cass had a few more issues, especially on her first day there, so she wasn’t quite as impressed as I was. It was mainly staff issues, with them taking her stuff she had under a towel at the pool (which then everyone blamed someone else for, but she eventually got it all back) and some slow service and a few other smaller issues. I didn’t have any really. As I watch air prices for our Oct Trip, I had been looking at possibly extending my stay 1 more night after the cruise and staying at Cabana Bay.
I changed my mind earlier this week though and booked Sapphire Falls. The car rental was going to run the same price as Disney transfers for the 3 of us to MCO. The hotel rate I got is just a little more than the difference of the flights on Sat and Sun and honestly if I am paying that money, I rather extend my vacation than spend it on a flight. I choose Sapphire Falls because it is new and I just wanted to experience it.
It was not a very long ride over to the Hard Rock, but unfortunately they don’t offer a luggage transfer service from Cabana Bay.
We walked right in and it was pretty quiet. Cass was good about taking pictures of front of the hotel, but I failed miserably and I don’t think I ever took a single one.
When we walked in the lobby this cool clock was in the floor.
I think it was Brandon that checked us in. He was so cool, fun and nice and pretty easy on the eyes too. He said our room was ready…our pool view room! Awesome! And Cass, said, yes that’s it. She had been the one to reserve the room and told me she had just reserved a standard and she wasn’t going to mention that when Brandon told us pool view. LOL! We had to put a credit card on hold and I put mine on this time. One of Cass’s issues at Cabana Bay was putting her card down and our room was prepaid but they double charged. She went to find out why she had been charged a 2nd time and they had some strange reasoning. Honestly we think they messed up. They told her would be a few days before those charges went off and her husband wasn’t too happy about it, so I took the chance this time…and never did my card get charges at Hard Rock.
We then went and got our Express passes from the machine. We laughed so hard doing this. The picture thing is totally messed up. Cass had to crouch to even get in. One of us ended up with a totally black picture. I can’t remember if it was me or Cass but it was a total black box. We asked Brandon if we would get any hassle over it and he said no.
We then had a Bellman take us to our room. I can’t remember his name, but he was super friendly and talkative. He pointed out everything in the room and I mean EVERYTHING. It was great, but we wanted to make the park opening and so we patiently listened and took pictures while he talked to kind of give him the hint we were on a time limit.
Are our Bellman left and we took sufficient pictures, we scrambled on out. We were told the fastest way to the parks is to go through the pool area, but only when the pool is open and of course it was too early for it to be open yet, so we headed down and found some other people heading to the parks and they kind of guided us to the right direction.
There is a little bag check area you have to go through and then you empty out right in front of the entrance. We headed in and they were letting people in already, but only so far and you had to show your room key to get early entry.
I do have to comment that with Universal you swipe your card and then put your finger down to be scanned, kind of like you used to do for Disney. I have issues with finger scans. And I can guarantee at Universal mine won’t work and sure enough I had trouble. I think they had me use my thumb to get it to take but later when I entered again it would not take and they basically have to override it to let me in. Each Team Member is convinced they can teach me a new trick to get it to work and then are amazed when their tried and true ways just don’t work on me. LOL.
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.
We did our fast walk towards Diagon Alley. I was still pretty fresh as this was my first park day, but Cass was a little slow moving because she had already been going at it for several days…and she had a blister. That being said, Cass’s slow walk is still darn fast and I didn’t have to slow my pace any for her.
It was interesting to see this area under construction. The Beetle juice show used to be back there and you could see the stage being demolished. I never did get to see that show, and honestly there is still a lot of stuff I haven’t seen or done at Universal.
They really did such a great job with this area and some people don’t even know where to go to get into Diagon Alley. At times TM’s would be out front pointing people in the right direction.
After a while a few witches and wizards came around to say they were having issues with the ride and it could be down a while…basically it could be 5 minutes or 4 hours. Of course they hope to have it running soon. After a bit, people started leaving one family member in line and going off to do their own thing. We kept moving closer even though the ride had not opened yet.
It seemed to me that they lessoned the blow of the fire compared to when I came the year it opened. I could be wrong, but it just didn’t seem like as much.
The family in front of us wanted to do something, or hit the restrooms or something. We told them they could go and that we would let them back in line. Of course about 2 minutes after they left the line started moving. As we got closer I had to go put my bag in the locker and return to the line. The family never showed up by the time we got inside.
You can’t carry any loose articles in here so your phone or camera has to fit into a pocket. I wear the Bermuda type shorts (they are actually guy shorts) that have big deep side pockets so that I can fit both my phone and camera in pockets when riding rides at Universal.
It was neat going through the queue fairly fast. Last time I think my wait was like 90 minutes (which still wasn’t bad for it being brand new), but it was 105 outside.
And then out to pick up our 3D glasses and then you go up some spiral stairs to the cart station. I think we got the first row of the cart and that was pretty darn cool. You can see things much better in the first row. Last time I was in the very last row…but that has advantages too, like when you make the drop, which isn’t really a big drop but from the back it looks much longer than from the front, which is cool.
It was a great ride and I think we went to hit the bathrooms before going back and riding again.
I can’t remember if we rode it once or twice, but we both like the ride. Then it was time for me to eat. I get a little nasty if I don’t get some breakfast. Cass on the other hand doesn’t eat much breakfast while on vacation. She came with me to the Leaky Cauldron where I got myself a bite to eat and a butterbeer.
Cass gave it a try and said it wasn’t really her thing. I love the cold version. I have had both cold and frozen and I know most people like the frozen, but I just didn’t care for it too much. I notice they now have a hot version and I bet on a chilly day that would be good.
I got a pancake platter and pigged completely out on it.
The food is good, but not great. I enjoy it, but it is not something that you would say…wow that was a great meal. It is still fun to eat in these Potter themed restaurants.
You can buy a magical wand that interacts with things and kids were doing this all over. I really want to get Claire one…you know…because I really want one, but I can’t justify buying it for myself. LOL.
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
About This Page: 
PassPorter Guide Author
How wonderful you got to see the Blue Man Group - that is an awesome present! 
Like
Thank
Pixie Dust
It's got such a retro 50's vibe to it. Glad you got to enjoy seeing Blue Man Group.
Linear Mode
