Nala & pride "A Bucket Full of Magic" TR - Page 22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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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
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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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So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Just got all caught up again! What an amazing trip you're having! And your writing is so evocative...you have me laughing out loud one moment, and tearing up the next. (And I have to confess, I'm another one who cries during FotLK. Next time I won't feel so embarrassed about it!)
Thanks for sharing it all with us. Really looking forward to more!
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what a great experince at the folk
such a sweet thing that the cm did for kiara and glad she got to experience that
too bad grumpy missed it
hope serafina's ankles stop swelling
can't wait to hear the rest of the day
When the FOTLK was over, we decided to stay in our seats and let the masses file out rather than have Sarafina try to maneuver the scooter through the crowd. We were some of the last to exit and easily found Grumpy waiting for us. It was close to 3 o’clock, and we knew it was time to find a spot to view one of our must do’s on today’s list, Mickey’s Jammin Jingle Parade.
I was so looking forward to seeing this, as the regular parade is one of my favorites, so we headed to our favorite viewing spot, the Dawa Bar. There were several good reasons for wanting to watch the parade from the Dawa Bar. The first was it is a pretty good spot to see the parade. The second being that my favorite adult beverage a the AK, that of “Lost on the Safari” was readily available, and the third was the close proximity to one of the few things on our list we were yet to do, the safari.
My plan had been to hopefully get in line for the safari after the parade passed and be able to catch one of the final rides of the day. It was easy to find a table at the Dawa, and Grumpy ordered a round of drinks for all of us. It was a nice little break and gave Sarafina a chance to prop her feet up for a few minutes.
The parade was due to start shortly, so we found a spot at the end of the bridge and waited for the fun to begin. Our spot wasn’t the greatest, but it was good enough considering we waited until almost the last minute before claiming it.
While my pictures didn’t turn out so good of the parade, as they all have many heads of total strangers in them, we still have a good view and all of us enjoyed the parade. I thought the holiday version was adorable and I was so glad we made a point to take the time to watch it.
The parade pasted us and we all returned to our table to discuss what to do next. I knew what I wanted to do, and told everyone to sit tight while a made a short walk to check the wait time for the safari. Much to my delight, it was posted at a mere ten minutes! I quickly made my way back to the pride and informed them of the news and asked who was game to join me. I was hoping for a foursome, but once again, Grumpy decided to sit this one out. Sarafina was on board, but Kiara, who was fading and showing the signs of wear and tear, wanted to stay with her father. Between him and Sarafina, they managed to talk her into going on the safari, and the three of us made our way to the queue, leaving Grumpy to stand guard over the scooter, and his Safari Amber.
We stepped into the queue and walked and walked and walked, and at some point I was sure we were going to stop as we reached the back of the line. But that never happened. We walked all the way through and right up into the second to the last row of a waiting vehicle. Two other women came up behind us and when they were loaded up into the last row of our truck, the adventure began. And as we pulled away from the station, I happened to turn and notice an almost completely empty queue behind us. Little did I know what a wonderful thing that was going to be.
Even though our driver had been doing her spiel for many hours, she was still perky and fun and stayed true to the script. For the most part. We moved along and it was clear to see that many of the animals were heading in to bunk down for the night. The only giraffe we saw was one lone one that was on his way home for the evening. Most of the other hoofed animals were doing the same, but I didn’t mind. A safari seeing only the backsides of the animals as they were calling it a day was better than not seeing the safari at all in my book.
While the animal action was not all that great, our tour guide started to do something that every WDW guide book tells you they will not do. SHE STOPPED ALONG THE WAY! Not only did she stop, she gave all of us with a camera fair warning about what she was seeing up ahead and told us shutterbugs to get ready. Never before had that happened on any regular safari I had been on. In fact, I think she stopped longer at some spots than our driver did when we did the Sunrise Safari some years ago (and paid a pretty penny for it).
Clearly the fact that we were one of the last trucks out of the station had much to do with this, and it was a huge bonus and made the ride all that much more enjoyable. But, as we moved on, I quickly discovered it was about to get better.
We came to the elephant enclosure and once again, only one was still on stage. He, or she, was making its way towards the path that I am sure led home, and I feared the best shot I could get was another backside view. But, the elephant stopped and decided to browse on a bush, and thanks to our driving stopping and allowing us to get pictures, I got this one:
The next animals we came to were the cheetahs and I fully expected them to be doing their usual thing, that of lying under the cover of the trees and barely able to be seen. Much to my delight, just as our truck pulled up to them, one of them got up and began to run to the front of its enclosure. Our driver noticed it moving and again stopped so we could watch. This animal was so graceful and beautiful in its movement and was so very quick to appear front and center.
Another one joined this one, making the swift bound to the front of the enclosure. I by this point, had moved the camera away from my eye, as I wanted nothing blocking my view of this rare moment. Being a fan of the big cats, I was thrilled at what I was seeing. And even more thrilled that we had come at this time of day and had a driver who was allowing us to witness it.
Next were the lions, and I fully expected them to be in their typical mode of completely inactive, or worse yet, completely unable to be seen. Unfortunately, as we made the turn and headed towards the lions, the sun, which was now getting low in the late afternoon sky, met us head on. The light of it was blinding, and as everyone on the truck shielded their eyes from the brightness, we all at the same time saw the male lion lying on the tallest rock.
There was a collective “oooohhhhhh” that echoed through our vehicle as we all caught site of his majestic silhouette . But sadly, with the sun coming straight at us, even the best photographer in the world would have been hard pressed to get a shot. Our driver, who had once again stopped, was well aware of the sun, and moved the truck to the other side of the rocks were it was blocked.
While the male didn’t cooperate and cast his gaze towards us, (he was way to busy checking out a hoofed beast in front of him) the female came into view. She too was transfixed on the animal in front of her, but the light was much better for a picture.
What a stunning beauty she was!
Needless to say, after seeing the cheetahs and now both the lions, I was officially ready to call this the best safari I had ever experienced. I was so happy we had waited until the end of the day, as our timing and our driver had made this little trip through the wild so very special.
I was perfectly happy to put my camera down and enjoy the rest of the ride, but this little guy decided to get pretty close to our truck.
Being a Lion King fan, it would be impossible for me to not love seeing a warthog. Kiara got a kick out of him too and said he looked like he was smiling at us.
Now, I do have to say something about the safari. This was the first time we had sat so close to the back of the truck. I had always wondered what the stern warning about back problems or expectant mothers was all about, but I now knew. While our previous rides in the front of the vehicle had never been that bumpy, our ride in the back was completely different. It became a source of entertainment for the three of us, as well as the two women behind us, who had it much worse. Whenever our truck would hit the smallest bump the five of us would get bounced around like mad. We all started laughing every time we would hit a bump in the road, and when we hit a really big one, Kiara would yell “Whoa, whoa, everybody hold on”. That caused all of us to laugh even more.
So, I guess the moral to the story, or rather, the point to my ramblings, is if you have any of the health issues posted in the warning, request a seat towards the front of the vehicle. They really do mean what they say!
We arrived back at the loading dock all in one piece, and had some great memories and photos to show for it. It really was a magical safari, thanks to our guide that gave us the opportunity to really enjoy our surroundings and the beasts within it. I was so thrilled I got to see the big cats and the safari was icing on what had been an already wonderful and amazing day.
The only thing on our list left to do was the Pangi Exploration Trail, but at this late hour, I figured it was either closed, or would have little to no on activity on it, so we skipped that. While I had hoped to spend some time on that trail, I wasn’t
too disappointed, as our day had been so full and so magical. The three of us made our way back to the Dawa Bar to collect Grumpy and the scooter, and I was well aware the time to leave my most favorite Disney park was close at hand.
Once the pride was back together, we slowly made our way out of the park. Most of the crowd had headed out before us, so it was a pleasant walk that allowed me to soak up all the beautiful details of the AK for those last, final moments. I fully expected for Grumpy to quickly head to the bus stop, but when he noticed a Photopass photographer at the entrance tree with no one waiting in line, he suggested we get a picture.
I was glad he did, as we hadn’t done well at taking advantage of the opportunities for a group shot as often as I would have liked. But, I did find it odd that Grumpy, at the end of a long day, was more than willing to take the time for a photos. However, being in my usual state of “Disney dumbness”, I didn’t give it much thought.
From there I thought we would head to the busses, but Grumpy spotted a DSA, and decided he wanted to spend a few moments there. Again, part of my brain found this odd, but the vast majority of it didn’t give it much thought. Since the DSA was right outside the gift shop, Sarafina suggested we head inside and do some shopping. We had seen a few things that caught my eye that day, but hadn’t taken the time to purchase anything, so I was game for taking a final look at the AKL merchandise.
We didn’t purchase much, but I did see a cute little sun dress, that I had seen elsewhere in the park, I thought Kiara would love, and while at the counter checking out with it, I saw those cute little Mickey head key chains that I seem to have a mad obsession with. I couldn’t resist digging around in the little tub that held them to see if there were any I couldn’t live without. I was thrilled to find a pirate Mickey, and more digging produced several rainbow Mickey’s. I thought those would be a perfect little gift to give Grumpy’s brother and his life partner as a thank you for dog sitting our little three legged wonder for us.
Being that it was my last opportunity to shop at the AK, I considered the fact that I had made it out of the shop with just one little sun dress and three even smaller key chains, an amazing feat of restraint. We headed out to hook back up with Grumpy and Kiara, and I was surprised that he wasn’t as impatient as I thought he would be. That was odd for him, but again, I didn’t give it much thought.
Finally, we headed to catch a bus back to the BC and lucky for us, one came quickly. I was happy to have a seat and rest my tired feet, and I couldn’t help but reflect on just how perfect and magical the day had been. From the wonderful meal at a new restaurant for us, to Kiara’s burst of courage to tackle a thrill ride, to the amazing viewing of a favorite show that my darling daughter got to take part in, to the safari where I got a rare glimpse of some of my most favorite beasts in the animal world, the day had been AMAZING!
I was so caught up in an emotional high over the day, that Grumpy’s out of character behavior went right over my head. And for that matter, I also didn’t notice that Sarafina seemed to be working with Grumpy. Had I had my wits about me, I would have realized the two of them were plotting against me, and blatantly stalling our return to the BC. Over the course of our last hour in the AK, I am now sure there were winks, nods and even secret conversations that occurred between the two of them that I completely missed.
There was a reason they were making every effort to keep me at the AK. I however, had no clue what it was. As incredible as my day had been, it was about to get even better.
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Another great update Nala, with a fantastic safari! I can't believe that the day can get any better than that, so I am anxiously awaiting your next update!
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What an amazing safari, and you got some great shots. Loved that you were actually able to get a shot of the cheetah, as the closest I have even seen one is the shadow sitting under the trees . I loved the lion photo as well...the light definitely added to the shot, she looked so regal.
The best picture had to be however of the four of you by the AK tree...what a wonderful group shot. You all look so happy, definitely a gret day all around.
Definitely looking forward to what Grumpy and Sarafina have in store for you...
Incredible Safari ride! You got some great shots of the big cats--I can't wait to see the new Disney Nature Film that comes out on Earth Day this year--it follows the stories of three families of big cats!
What a magical safari! I love the way your driver slowed down for all those photo opps. And you are so right about sitting at the back of the truck - now I have chronic fatigue, and being thrown around can make things worse, I always request the front of the truck!
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and the third was the close proximity to one of the few things on our list we were yet to do, the safari. 
I quickly made my way back to the pride and informed them of the news and asked who was game to join me. I was hoping for a foursome, but once again, Grumpy decided to sit this one out. Sarafina was on board, but Kiara, who was fading and showing the signs of wear and tear, wanted to stay with her father. Between him and Sarafina, they managed to talk her into going on the safari, and the three of us made our way to the queue, leaving Grumpy to stand guard over the scooter, and his Safari Amber. 
Little did I know what a wonderful thing that was going to be. 
They really do mean what they say!
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